The Ethics of Ambiguity; Quiz

Take our free The Ethics of Ambiguity; quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Take the free quiz now!

How does Beauvoir claim an individual can prevent life from being defined as an escape toward nothingness? (from Chapter 3, The Positive Aspect of Ambiguity, Sections 4-5, The Present and the Future, Ambiguity and Conclusion)

Impossible or utopian goals must not be set.

All goals must consider the ambiguity of all life.

Projects must be taken in consideration of their consequences.

Existence must be asserted in the present.

What are projects according to Beauvoir? (from Chapter 3, The Positive Aspect of Ambiguity, Sections 1-3, The Aesthetic Attitude, Freedom and Liberation, The Antinomies of Action)

Activities in which the individual works toward a goal.

Activities which define history.

Activities in which the individual sacrifices freedom for achievement.

Activities in which an individual works to affect others.

What is the focus of the adventurer? (from Chapter 2, Personal Freedom and Others)

To satisfy a desire for existence in a present, subjective, abstract moment.

To define life by attempting to will himself free.

To live in defiance of oppression for ambiguous goals.

To enter the future by leaving memorable acts for the past.

What example did Beauvoir use to show how those who fight for a cause will come to accept certain contradictions. (from Chapter 3, The Positive Aspect of Ambiguity, Sections 1-3, The Aesthetic Attitude, Freedom and Liberation, The Antinomies of Action)

Martyrs who were killed by authoritarians who sought to kill their causes, but their deaths gave it more influence.

Natives who fought freedom from the British Empire during WWII with the support of Fascist regimes.

Generals who were willing to pull their soldiers from battle so they could win a more important battle later.

Politicians who were defeated in elections by foretelling the realized negative consequences of popular programs.

How do ethics of ambiguity avoid being solipsistic? (from Chapter 3, The Positive Aspect of Ambiguity, Sections 4-5, The Present and the Future, Ambiguity and Conclusion)

By the fact that the individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and other individuals.

Because it demands that individuals engage matter in the pursuit of projects.

Because goals often transcend the life of the individual who initiates them.

Because the means of an end often affect more individual than the achievement of the end itself.