View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3, The Positive Aspect of Ambiguity, Sections 1-3, The Aesthetic Attitude, Freedom and Liberation, The Antinomies of Action.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Beauvoir compare Marxism to existentialism?
(a) Marxism rejects the idea of authority in the development of organized masses.
(b) Marxism establishes moral thought through mass rejection of the moral order.
(c) Marxism rejects the moral foundations of law that are rooted in the protection of public property.
(d) Marxism rejects the idea of inhuman objectivity and locates itself in the tradition of Kant and Hegel.

2. What does Beauvoir mean when she refers to "The Antinomies of Action"?
(a) That often in the fight for or against oppression, the action contradicts the motivation.
(b) That actions, not words, are most effective against oppression.
(c) That improper actions against oppression will lead to more oppression.
(d) That the intentions of the those who act against oppression must be constantly in check.

3. What are some of the causes that Beauvoir points out that oppressors will claim to defend in their battles against those who try to overthrow them?
(a) Oppressors will fight in the name of civilization, institutions, monuments, and virtues.
(b) Oppressors will fight for prosperity, social stability, and security.
(c) Oppressors will fight to defend duty, honor, and country.
(d) Oppressors will fight for peace, freedom, and morality.

4. How does Beauvoir show how her example of moving through obstacles prove her arguments?
(a) She explained that Adalai Stevenson believed his intellectualism would over come Dwight Eisenhower's popular reputation in two presidential elections.
(b) She explained that Sisyphus was condemned to rolling the boulder up the mountain despite his the fact that it would roll back down once he got it to the top.
(c) She pointed out that Hitler had desires to rule the world in spite of the fact that he did not have the ability to take his navy outside of the North Sea.
(d) She asserted that Van Gogh, despite being institutionalized, integrated his his past as a painter and continued to communicate through his talent.

5. How does Beauvoir suggest a past accomplishment can be made relevant in the present?
(a) By keeping a record of all accomplishments to reflect upon those experiences with every decision.
(b) By tracing the affects of the act from the past through to the present.
(c) By ceaselessly returning to it and justify it as part of the project with which the individual is currently involved.
(d) By comparing present acts to the acts of the past.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the face of emerging violence of man's growing mastery of the world, what does Beauvoir suggest to individuals who seek to navigate it?

2. How does human spontaneity give purpose to a human life, according to Beauvoir?

3. At what time does Beauvoir suggest that children begin to notice the contradictions, hesitations and weaknesses of adults?

4. How does Beauvoir claim that the individual with the Aesthetic Attitude regard his role in history?

5. What does Beauvoir claim to be necessary to the desire for the slave to become conscious of his servitude?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 703 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample