Deck 2: Karl Marx

Question 1

Karl Marx thought reification ______.

A) occurs when individuals afford objects a power over the humans that make those objects
B) is when human created social structures are afforded a power of their own
C) is the idea that emerges naturally out of daily life
D) refers to how people become unable to interact with one another outside of economic exchanges

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to Marx's historical materialism, the ______ of society refers to the ways people meet, or produce for their material needs and the economic relations that grow out of that production.

A) base
B) superstructure
C) structure
D) institutions

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Marx's concept of ______ refers to the thinking of, and then creating of material objects.

A) alienation
B) labor
C) objectification
D) species being

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Who originally developed the dialectical method that Karl Marx adapted for his own work about the contradictions of capitalism?

A) G.W.F. Hegel
B) Vladimir Lenin
C) Aguste Comte
D) Herbert Spencer

Question 5

By definition, Marx's ______ is not aware of its exploitation and conflict with other classes.

A) proletariat_
B) class-for-itself
C) bourgeoisie
D) class-in-itself

Question 6

According to Karl Marx, which of the following is true of a commodity? Select all, but only those that apply.

A) have use value
B) have exchange value
C) are produced with human labor
D) fill a human need or desire

Question 7

Marx's concept of ______ refers to how capitalism reifies relationships, or forces people primarily to interact with one another through the exchange of goods and services.

A) alienation
B) fetishism of commodities
C) objectification
D) species being

Question 8

Which of the following is a way workers are alienated by industrial production?

A) Workers are alienated when compelled to achieve their full human potential.
B) Workers are alienated from what they produce because it does not belong to them.
C) Workers are alienated when forced to master a particular craft.
D) Workers are alienated when forced to consume what they produce.

Question 9

Marx's concept of ______ refers to how capitalism perverts human labor, thereby turning human potential against itself.

A) alienation
B) labor
C) objectification
D) species being

Question 10

Which of the following is a way workers are alienated by industrial production?

A) Workers are alienated when forced to consume what they produce.
B) Workers are alienated when compelled to achieve their full human potential.
C) Workers are alienated when forced to cooperate with each other.
D) Workers are alienated from their productive activity.

Question 11

By definition, Marx's ______ is aware of its exploitation and conflict with other classes.

A) proletariat
B) class-for-itself
C) bourgeoisie
D) class-in-itself

Question 12

Which of the following is a way workers are alienated by industrial production?

A) Workers are alienated when forced to consume what they produce.
B) Workers are alienated from their human potential.
C) Workers are alienated when forced to cooperate with each other.
D) Workers are alienated when compelled to master a particular craft.

Question 13

Karl Marx thought ideology ______.

A) occurs when individuals afford objects a power over the humans that make those objects
B) is when human created social structures are afforded a power of their own
C) is the idea that emerges naturally out of daily life
D) refers to how people become unable to interact with one another outside of economic exchanges

Question 14

Karl Marx thought the fetishism of commodities ______.

A) occurs when individuals afford objects a power over the humans that make those objects
B) is when human created social structures are afforded a power of their own
C) is the idea that emerges naturally out of daily life
D) refers to how people become unable to interact with one another outside of economic exchanges

Question 15

Marx's concept of ______ refers to the human activities undertaken to change material reality.

A) alienation
B) labor
C) objectification
D) species being

Question 16

According to Marx, how does labor transform the people who do it? Select all, but only those that apply.

A) Labor helps us realize our material purpose.
B) Labor helps meet our material needs.
C) Labor frees us from exploitation.
D) Labor transforms our nature.

Question 17

According to Karl Marx, what dialectic contradiction lies at the heart of capitalism?

A) Capitalists need to exploit workers for profit; workers want to profit from their work.
B) Capitalism embraces the greed opposed by the protestant ethic.
C) Capitalism needs stability; but change is inevitable.
D) Capitalism is based on class conflict; but classes are cooperative by nature.

Question 18

Which of the following is a way workers are alienated by industrial production?

A) Workers are alienated when compelled to achieve their full human potential.
B) Workers are alienated from each other as they are unable to cooperate with one another.
C) Workers are alienated when forced to master a particular craft.
D) Workers are alienated when forced to consume what they produce.

Question 19

Marx's concept of ______ refers to the unique potentials and powers humans obtain that set us apart from other animals.

A) alienation
B) labor
C) objectification
D) species being

Question 20

In assessing reciprocal relationships and causality among social phenomena, dialectical philosophers like Marx are interested in assessing and explaining which of the following? Select all, but only those that apply.

A) past
B) present
C) future
D) alternative realities

Question 21

Karl Marx's name has become symbolically powerful, even to those who never read his work.

Question 22

Karl Marx mostly wanted to explain society because that was the first step toward changing it.

Question 23

Karl Marx's theory is often criticized ______.

A) because communism did not come about as he predicted
B) because the emancipatory subject was over-emphasized
C) for focusing too much on gender
D) for ignoring production over consumption

Question 24

Karl Marx's theory is often criticized because ______.

A) he neglected how societies always progress
B) there is a missing emancipatory subject that aspires for change
C) he focused too much on gender and unpaid labor
D) he focused on consumption instead of production

Question 25

Karl Marx's theory is often criticized because ______.

A) he neglected how societies always progress
B) he focused too much on gender and unpaid labor
C) he focused on production while mostly ignoring consumption
D) the emancipatory subjects is over-emphasized

Question 26

Which of the following did Marx refer to as "the opium of the people"?

A) Religion
B) Philosophy
C) Literature
D) The legal system

Question 27

The dialectical method of analysis does not see a simple, one-way, cause-and-effect relationship among the various parts of the social world.

Question 28

Dialectical philosophy treats contradictions as mistakes that need to be reconciled.

Question 29

Dialectical philosophers challenge structural-functionalists' emphasis on macro or large-scale social structures.

Question 30

Which of the following best describes Marx's labor theory of value?

A) Labor has a use, but not an exchange value.
B) Labor, both in terms of quantity and quality, is at the heart of all value.
C) Labor has an exchange value, but not a use value.
D) Capitalists profit by driving down the use and exchange value of workers' labor.

Question 31

Karl Marx's theory is often criticized because ______.

A) the emancipatory subject is over-emphasized
B) he neglected how societies always progress
C) he ignored the importance of gender and unpaid labor
D) he focused on consumption instead of production

Question 32

What types of secondary or subsystem of ideologies could the ruling class create when a primary ideology is disrupted and the material contradictions of the social order are revealed? Select all, but only those that apply.

A) a religion
B) a philosophy
C) a literature
D) a legal system

Question 33

According to Marx's historical materialism, the ______ of society refers to the noneconomic relationships built atop the economic production of material commodities.

A) base
B) superstructure
C) structure
D) institutions

Question 34

Which of the following best describes Marx's general law of capitalist accumulation?

A) Labor has a use, but not an exchange value.
B) Labor, both in terms of quantity and quality, is at the heart of all value.
C) Labor has an exchange value, but not a use value.
D) Capitalists profit by driving down the use and exchange value of workers' labor.

Question 35

Marx believed in objective social science; that philosophers could separate their values from the social facts they uncovered.

Question 36

What types of secondary ideologies emerge when a primary ideology is disrupted and the material contradictions of the social order are revealed? Select all, but only those that apply.

A) A thinking system to explain away contradictions.
B) A scapegoating of individuals as responsible for contradictions.
C) Projecting of contradictions as endemic to human nature, not capitalism.
D) A reconciling of contradictions between capitalist and proletariat.

Question 37

Karl Marx was primarily concerned with explaining society; he was not concerned with social change.

Question 38

Dialectical philosophers challenge social psychologists' emphasis of actors and micro-level sociology.

Question 39

Marx thought "human nature" was stable and thus shows little historical variation.

Question 40

Marx thought contradictions were better resolved in society, not in the abstract thoughts of philosophers.

Question 41

Marx himself wrote that our experiences are dependent on our historical context. Thus today, given that Marx wrote during the industrial revolution, are Marx's ideas still applicable to our postindustrial society?

Question 42

Because the concept was so central to his theory, Marx developed an extremely specific and refined definition of social class.

Question 43

Marx's concept of capital refers to money that is invested to make more money through the circulation of commodities.

Question 44

A class-in-itself is comprised of people who share a similar economic position, but those people are largely unaware they are exploited through that shared economic position.

Question 45

Karl Marx thought use value is a qualitative property that relates to the physical attributes of a commodity.

Question 46

Think for a moment about the best or worst job you ever had. Was this job alienating? That is, did you own what you produced? Could you produce how you pleased or was that controlled? Did your work separate you from others? Was the work dehumanizing?

Question 47

Grab a newspaper (or more likely visit one online), scan the headlines and look for a current event that interests you. Then, conduct a Marxian analysis to read between the lines, or explain what is unfolding.

Question 48

Karl Marx thought exchange value is a quantitative property that relates to the numerical amount a commodity can be traded for another.

Question 49

Marx devoted the bulk of his work to explaining how capitalism would transition into communism.

Question 50

Marx saw capitalism as a good thing, at least in relation to the oppressive social systems that preceded it.