View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Individual Versus Society.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is the argument called the Original Position?
(a) Because it comes before everything else.
(b) Because it was the first argument Rawls thought of.
(c) Because it is about the first thing that a person sees when they wake up.
(d) Because it was a very early argument that Rawls revived.

2. Why did Hobbes see the necessity of the Social Contract?
(a) Because he thought people were stupid.
(b) Because he thought it would help the British Empire.
(c) Because he thought people were naturally brutish.
(d) Because he thought that was the law of nature.

3. Which century was Intuitionism first developed?
(a) Eighteenth.
(b) Fifteenth.
(c) Sixteenth.
(d) Seventeenth.

4. What is the only caveat to a maximum liberty of the individual?
(a) That the individual does not make too much money.
(b) That the individual does not challenge the powers that be.
(c) That the individual is god-fearing.
(d) That the individual does not impede anyone else's liberty.

5. What does Rawls claim about the Social Contract theory?
(a) It is better than Utilitarian theory.
(b) It is ridiculous.
(c) It is the only philosophy that makes sense.
(d) It is better than Marxism.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the Veil of Ignorance in Rawls' argument?

2. How many principles of justice does the Original Position later result in?

3. Where did the early Intuitionists believe they got their appreciation of morals, rights and wrongs or fairness?

4. What does Rawls believe is the dominant theory of political philosophy throughout the 20th Century?

5. Why does Utilitarian thinking not really understand the difference between persons?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 324 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample