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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Branden, what do values in the context of ethics guide?
(a) A man's life.
(b) A man's actions and choices.
(c) A man's choice only.
(d) A man's actions only.

2. Who is Nathaniel Branden in the context of this collection?
(a) Rand's associate.
(b) Rand's husband.
(c) The creator of Objectivism.
(d) Rand's favorite writer.

3. According to Rand, what does an act of good will require in the eyes of an altruist?
(a) Self-sacrifice.
(b) Self-manipulation.
(c) Self-interest.
(d) Self-mutilation.

4. According to Rand, without these two things there can be no gray.
(a) Black and white.
(b) Reason and self-interest.
(c) Reason and rationality.
(d) Gray and white.

5. Which German philosopher does Rand oppose within her own philosophical theory?
(a) Aristotle.
(b) Sartre.
(c) Nietzche.
(d) Kafka.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Rand claim is not a valid standard of value in her essay on "The 'Conflicts' of Men's Interests?"

2. According to Ayn Rand, one must pass moral judgment in order to live what kind of life?

3. What type of tools must one use in a real life situation?

4. According to Rand, compromise is synonymous with relinquishing one's ____________.

5. What does Branden acknowledge as being one of the major causes of mental degradation?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Rand define "context" in her explanation of the four considerations described?

2. According to Nathaniel Branden, why is mental health needed for human life and survival?

3. What commonly upheld principle does Rand deem evil in Western Society as stated in her essay on living a rational life?

4. What does Rand mean when she states that one must not achieve her own interests by her own efforts only and not at the expense of others?

5. In Rand's essay, "Doesn't Life Require Compromise?", what does she claim is synonymous with compromise?

6. In "Isn't Everyone Selfish?", how does Branden describe the process upon which men act in their own self interest?

7. What is faulty about the notion that everyone is selfish?

8. What does Rand say about an act of good will in the case of an emergency?

9. What is Ayn Rand's overall attempt in the writing of her essay, "The Cult of Moral Grayness?"

10. Describe what Rand states in "The Objectivist Ethics" that philosophers and scientists have never been able to do?

(see the answer keys)

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