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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 does Beauvoir report comes to the individual at the time the world changes in his perspective?

2. What does Beauvoir identify as the certain truth contained in the nihilist attitude?

3. At what point does Beauvoir claim an individual has the ability to decide and choose?

4. What idea regarding ethics does Beauvoir attribute to Hegel?

5. How does Beauvoir claim that a slave can exercise freedom?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Beauvoir claim that the truly free will is produced?

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

3. How does Beauvoir claim that man can disclose being?

4. What does Beauvoir point out as the difference between the passionate man and the adventurer?

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

6. How does Beauvoir show that the "sub-man" passes into being a serious man?

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

8. To what does Beauvoir credit the development of many different philosophical world views?

9. How does Beauvoir claim that spontaneity affects man's freedom?

10. What does Beauvoir detail as the consequences of failure to the serious man?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Beauvoir refers to Karl Marx throughout "The Ethics of Ambiguity". Analyze Beauvoir's position on Marxism through her several references. Cite your agreement or disagreement with Beauvoir's position based history of communism since 1948 and commentaries by either Marx or detractors of Marxism.

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

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?

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This section contains 742 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample