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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. What relationship does Beauvoir identify between ethics and facticity?

2. What explanation does Beauvoir give to assert that existentialist thought helps to build community.

3. What irony does Beauvoir suggest contributes to the most optimistic ethics.

4. To what does Beauvoir compare the "sub-man" in his relationship to ethics and facticity?

5. What is the point at which existentialism is opposed to dialectic materialism according to Beauvoir?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Beauvoir claim an individual makes himself a "sub-man"?

2. How does Beauvoir claim that man can find truth in his life?

3. How does Beauvoir describe the difference between Marxists and existentialist?

4. How does Beauvoir explain the characteristic feature of all ethics?

5. What does Beauvoir suggest causes the infantile world to begin to pass away by adolescence?

6. What does Beauvoir suggest to be a flaw in Existential philosophy?

7. How does Beauvoir claim that man can rise to a higher moral freedom?

8. What type of adults does Beauvoir claim stays in an infantile world?

9. How does Beauvoir relate nature of man's existence to the past, present, and future in Part I?

10. What does Beauvoir report that Sartre taught regarding the being of man?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define Beauvoir's term, "serious man." What are the positive and negative aspects of this condition, and how does an individual move into it? Does modern society encourage individuals to accept this condition? How does the modern social view of the "serious man" affect the quality of freedom for communities, cultures, and nations?

Essay Topic 2

Beauvoir uses three stages of human development (childhood, adolescence, and adulthood) to explain the progression to free will. Summarize Beauvoir's thoughts on these three stages and give personal examples that prove her observations.

Essay Topic 3

Beauvoir suggests that, "a genuine man," rejects, "foreign absolutes," and instead strive, "to be right in his own eyes." Do you agree or disagree? Can freedom for all be achieved when everyone is striving, "to be right in his own eyes?" Explain your answer using evidence from history or current events. Give your analysis as to whether Beauvoir's position on this issue strengthens or diminishes her work.

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