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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. What creatures' 'being' does Bataille compare in "The Labyrinth"?
(a) Snake and sponge.
(b) Man and dog.
(c) Dog and sponge.
(d) Bird and dog.

2. Under whom does fascism unite society, in Bataille's account?
(a) A leader who represents the aristocratic self.
(b) A leader who represents the lower common denominator of society.
(c) A leader who identifies with the individual everyman.
(d) A leader who identifies with the state.

3. What is classical utility theory inadequate to define, in Bataille's opinion?
(a) The value of tranquility.
(b) What is useful to man.
(c) What is aesthetically valuable.
(d) The value of religious belief.

4. What does Bataille say Nietzsche questions?
(a) How a people's technology can be fulfilled.
(b) How an ideal can be discovered in the past.
(c) How an ideology can be invented.
(d) How a people's spirit can be expressed.

5. What does Bataille say is the contradiction in Christians worshiping God?
(a) They keep the poor down while their worship exalts them.
(b) They elevate God's power, but claim it for themselves alone.
(c) They hold people to scripture in private life but not in the marketplace.
(d) They only go to church one day a week, but work the other six in profane employments.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Bataille summing up in his "Propositions"?

2. What does Bataille say democracy is based on?

3. With whose picture does Bataille say Nietzsche's picture was paired?

4. What does Bataille use as evidence of his position on dialectics?

5. Which of the following does Bataille NOT use as an example of unproductive expenditure without value beyond itself?

Short Essay Questions

1. What flaw does Bataille identify in dialectic philosophy in "The Critique of the Foundations of the Hegelian Dialectic"?

2. How does the artist give meaning in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"?

3. What does contemporary society offer men in "The Sacred Conspiracy", and what does man demand for himself?

4. What aspect of Nietzsche's philosophy did the Fascists appropriate, in Bataille's account in "Nietzsche and the Fascists"?

5. How did Nietzsche respond to the decay of his culture, according to Bataille's essay "Nietzschean Chronicle"?

6. Briefly describe the theory of conspicuous consumption.

7. What is the importance of the obelisk in "The Obelisk"?

8. What pattern for self-discovery does Bataille offer in "The Sacred"?

9. How do Fascists define God, in Bataille's account in "Propositions"?

10. What do Masson's drawing symbolize for Bataille?

(see the answer keys)

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