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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What type of state is Rousseau interested in having?
(a) One that is poor.
(b) One that is interested by conquest.
(c) One that is uninterested by conquest.
(d) One that is powerful.

2. What is the main task of Rousseau's, "The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality"?
(a) To compare and contrast equality vs inequality.
(b) To discover the origin of inequality.
(c) To discover origins.
(d) To discuss the history of inequality.

3. According to Rousseau, what led to the degeneration of society?
(a) The establishment of beauty.
(b) The progress of art.
(c) The progress of talent.
(d) The establishment of talent.

4. What must Rousseau first figure out before writing "A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality"?
(a) The nature of humans.
(b) The nature of civilization.
(c) History of humans.
(d) History of greed.

5. How did older centuries think of natural law, according to Rousseau?
(a) Beyond art.
(b) Beyond humanity.
(c) Beyond science.
(d) Beyond ethics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Rousseau believe happens with the more a human knows?

2. What does Rousseau reflect on at the beginning of "Chapter 3, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Dedication and Preface"?

3. What does Rousseau's "Chapter 1, A Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences, Part I" discuss about the correlation between the restoration of the arts and sciences and morality?

4. Why does Rousseau believe the arts and sciences are responsible for the fall and collapse of human's morality?

5. What is much disagreement made over, according to Rousseau in "Chapter 3, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Dedication and Preface"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how Rousseau views the impact the size of a society has on determining an individual's motives.

2. How does Rousseau respond to the lack of direct evidence about man's nature state?

3. Discuss Rousseau's opinion on taxation.

4. How should people with great talent behave, according to Rousseau in "Chapter 2, A Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences, Part II"?

5. Describe how Rousseau feels society can become despotic.

6. According to Rousseau, how is it a paradox that the government makes man both free and subjects?

7. In "Chapter 6, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Appendix" what illustration does Rousseau give to compare the modern man to the savage?

8. In "Chapter 6, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Appendix" what happens as a result of luxury?

9. Discuss how Rousseau views passions and sensation in "Chapter 4, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Part One".

10. According to Rousseau in "Chapter 5, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Part Two" describe how the rich man becomes rich.

(see the answer keys)

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