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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 4-5, The Present and the Future, Ambiguity and Conclusion.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Beauvoir identify as the worst thing to be said for violence?
(a) It leads to our enslavement to tactics rather than thought.
(b) It forces us to sacrifice men who are in our way as well those who fight on our side -- or even ourselves.
(c) It breaks people out of the recognition of their ambiguity by defining absolute consequences for misuse of freedom.
(d) It begins cycles of violence motivated by revenge that removes freedom for all.

2. How does Beauvoir suggest that the ends can justify the means.
(a) Only if the motivations of those taking action are on full display.
(b) Only if the focus of those taking action are on the future.
(c) Only if those taking action consider the consequences before they take action.
(d) Only if the end is completely disclosed in the course of the present enterprise.

3. How does Beauvoir compare southern slaves to children?
(a) By comparing the ignorance of their condition to the ignorance of children to the realities of the world.
(b) By comparing hopes for freedom to the a child's hope for the future.
(c) By comparing their faith in a heavenly afterlife to the fantasy world that children create in their minds.
(d) By comparing their obedience to the slave owner to that of children to adults in their lives.

4. What example does Beauvoir use to illustrate "...festivals (that) stop the movement of transcendence?"
(a) Noted festivals through history note the coming decadence and collapse of the societies that embraced them.
(b) Pagan festivals that adopt Christian labels ignore the conflict between the two.
(c) Christian festivals that have been implemented during pagan observations separate Christian doctrine from its literary roots.
(d) The festivals celebrating the liberation of Paris exalted the end of the history of Nazi occupation of Paris.

5. What role does time play what Beauvoir identifies as the ability to will oneself free?
(a) Time allows the accumulation of spontaneous acts to define their direction.
(b) Time is required for the individual to understand that he is free.
(c) The individual uses time to manipulate the physical world to exercise his freedom.
(d) The goal of freedom is pursued and confirmed in time.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the challenge for those who suffer more than one oppressor, what answer does Beauvoir offer?

2. What comes of the man of action who does not recognize the ambiguity that appears during the pursuit of his goal, according to Beauvoir?

3. How does Beauvoir compare the present to the future?

4. 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?

5. What three considerations an individual make before acting are abstract, according to Beauvoir?

(see the answer key)

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