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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 the child's life begin actually become serious according to Beauvoir?
(a) By restricting his actions to those that gain rewards.
(b) By feeling the consequences of poorly thought decisions.
(c) Through following the examples of role models.
(d) By learning which erases his ignorance.

2. What does Beauvoir indicate can sometimes happen when there is a failure of the serious?
(a) Sometimes the serious man will revert to his childhood and depend on others for his purpose.
(b) The serious man will have to rely on what training he had as a child to deal with failure.
(c) It can bring about a radical disorder.
(d) Sometimes the serious man will recognize his ambiguity and act freely to establish an ethic to help him through his failure.

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

4. What contradiction does Beauvoir suggest will come to those who fight for a cause due to the complexity of the world?
(a) In order to win an urgent victory, one may be brought to sacrifice his principles.
(b) In order to win an urgent victory, one may be brought to leaving a valued friend.
(c) In order to win an urgent victory, one may be brought to the point of fighting against valid causes.
(d) In order to win an urgent victory, one may be brought to face a humiliating defeat.

5. What does Beauvoir claim defines the "sub-man"?
(a) The man who lives below the potential of his abilities because of choice.
(b) The man whose lack of being is defined by his choice.
(c) The man who rejects the passion of his human condition and lives according to the world than has been established before him.
(d) The man who avoids choice and lives a lack of being.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Beauvoir explain what Descartes meant when he said that the freedom of man is infinite, but this power is limited?

2. What does Beauvoir seek to prove regarding man's mastery of the world?

3. At what point does Beauvoir declare the death of an individual is not a failure?

4. How does Beauvoir claim that a spontaneous action, or flight, can be converted into will?

5. How does Beauvoir introduce the role of God in the discussion of ethics?

(see the answer key)

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