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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why must people create a covenant or agreement to give power to one person, or small group of people?

2. Why does Hobbes say that people attribute the unknown to ghosts, spirits, or other things that can never exist?

3. What example does Hobbes give as a meaningless combination of words?

4. What does the commonwealth need to successfully control the society?

5. Who does Hobbes insist is of the greatest value to a commonwealth?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Hobbes say about justice, gratitude, modesty, equity, and mercy?

2. Why does Hobbes insist that the people cannot protest against a sovereign?

3. How does Hobbes illustrate what he calls compound imagination?

4. What is one advantage Hobbes sees in a monarchy?

5. What does Hobbes say about having an aversion to something people know nothing about?

6. In what way does Hobbes warn against errors in logic or speech?

7. How does Hobbes say people reason?

8. What is Hobbes idea of people being created equal?

9. What does Hobbes believe about judicial interpretation?

10. What are the three sovereignties Hobbes defines?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

For the serious student, write a paper comparing Hobbes' LEVIATHAN to Machiavelli's THE PRINCE. There are similarities in both men's position with the nobility as well as some of the strictness of their ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Obliquely in the book, Hobbes seems to be defending the English monarchy. Write a paper pointing out how the religious part of the book might also have been a defense of the Church of England. Describing some of the facts about the origins of the Church of England, how do the part of the book attacking the Catholic church fit into that picture?

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper explaining how you think books on political philosophy do or do not benefit society. In the paper, see if you can identify ideas in Hobbes' book that have been used by politicians since his time.

(see the answer keys)

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