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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. According to Beauvoir, if every man is free:

2. How does the type of future facing individual humans affect civilizations such as Ancient Greece and Rome, according to Beauvoir?

3. What type of future does Beauvoir recognize of humans?

4. According to Beauvoir, what stops an individual's life from appearing as a negligible thing?

5. What does Beauvoir recognize as the paradox that faces a man who is willing to fight for a valid cause?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Beauvoir claim becomes of those who adopt the Aesthetic Attitude?

2. What is the one solution that Beauvoir offers to the oppressed?

3. How does Beauvoir dispute the idea that individual freedom does not lead to anarchy?

4. How does Beauvoir claim that we can best secure our personal freedom?

5. How does Beauvoir characterize freedom that is won through denying freedom to others?

6. How does Beauvoir claim that science can find truth?

7. How does Beauvoir show that the complexity of the world affects those who are fighting for a cause?

8. What does Beauvoir mean when she says life id ambiguous?

9. How does Beauvoir relate death to life?

10. What is an example that Beauvoir uses to illustrate the "Antinomies of Action"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Beauvoir begins Chapter One, "Ambiguity and Freedom" with a brief review of materialism, dualism, and existentialism and how they either affirm or disregard the ambiguous nature of life. Give choose one of the philosophies and summarize Beauvoir's views on it, then comment on your agreement or disagreement with Beauvoir based upon your perspective of the philosophy you have chosen. Support your argument with proofs from "The Ethics of Ambiguity" and from at least one outside source.

Essay Topic 2

How does Beauvoir claim that a "serious man" becomes nihilistic and what are the affects of nihilism on the individual? What are the consequences to the "serious man" if he resists the impulses that lead to nihilism? How does individual acceptance or rejection of nihilism influence an environment or community.

Essay Topic 3

Beauvoir examines two meanings of the word "future". Examine the two meanings and Beauvoir's contexts for those two meanings and her criticisms against the way they are applied. Choose one of Beauvoir's meanings for "future" and detail how it shapes your attitude toward your projects and efforts to develop your free will.

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