Deck 11: Political Philosophy

Question 1

What is the form of the ideal state for Aristotle?

A) It is an absolute monarchy run by the most powerful for his or her own sake.
B) It is a direct, participatory democracy in which every citizen has an equal share in ruling.
C) It is an aristocracy ruled by an elite group of intellectually superior individuals.
D) Aristotle didn't think there is any single form that the ideal state must take.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

According to both St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, only Christians can attain knowledge of the natural law.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

In which of the following was the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional established?

A) The Declaration of Independence
B) The original Constitution
C) The Bill of Rights
D) Marbury v. Madison

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Aristotle held that a state could be good or bad regardless of the form of its government.

Question 5

John Locke held that the state is created and acquires its legitimacy by an agreement or social compact on the part of its citizens and subjects.

Question 6

According to Rousseau, which of the following determines what is right and wrong and should and should not be done?

A) the will of all
B) the general will
C) God's will
D) natural law

Question 7

Plato and Aristotle were both fans of democracy and basic human equality.

Question 8

John Locke held that the right to property did not exist prior to the existence of the state.

Question 9

What is the form of the ideal state according to Plato?

A) It is an absolute monarchy run by the most powerful for his or her own sake.
B) It is a direct, participatory democracy in which every citizen has an equal share in ruling.
C) It is an aristocracy ruled by an elite group of intellectually superior individuals.
D) Plato did not think that there is any single form that the ideal state must take.

Question 10

Classic liberals believe in toleration of nonconformity and as much personal liberty as possible.

Question 11

Which of the following did Harriet Taylor support?

A) The toleration of nonconformist thought and lifestyles
B) The belief that virtually all differences between men and women are natural
C) The view that social and political reform concerning women should be limited to giving them the vote
D) The view that consequences don't matter when it comes to determining the rightness or wrongness of our acts, rules, or institutions

Question 12

Even in his early writings, Jean-Jacques Rousseau maintained that true freedom requires the existence of the state.

Question 13

Karl Marx thought that the ideal society was a classless one without any exploitation or alienation.

Question 14

For Plato, the state is a living organism whose well-being must be sought by its subjects.

Question 15

John Stuart Mill believed that:

A) one has God-given natural rights.
B) one should seek personal happiness.
C) one should seek general happiness.
D) one should seek happiness for others.

Question 16

Thomas Hobbes defined justice as the keeping of covenants, and he believed that it can only exist if there is a state powerful enough to force people to do it.

Question 17

According to St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, which of the following is true of natural law?

A) When there is a conflict between natural law and human law, human law takes precedence.
B) It is the eternal law of God as it applies to man on earth.
C) It is a mutual agreement between people, not between people on one hand and the state on the other.
D) It is the laws and statutes of society that are derived from man's understanding of human law.

Question 18

Which of the following best describes Locke's governmental contract?

A) The people collectively give up their natural rights to a single sovereign power who is not a party to the agreement.
B) The people delegate or entrust their natural rights to a divided government, retaining the right to revolt if the government violates its trust.
C) The people collectively agree to let the most intelligent among them, the philosophers, rule them.
D) Locke wasn't a contractarian theorist.

Question 19

Karl Marx viewed human history as the struggle between two classes. What are they?

A) a dominant class consisting of men and a subordinate class consisting of women and children
B) a dominant class that owns and controls the means of production and a subordinate class that doesn't
C) a dominate class of white Europeans and a subordinate class of nonwhite non-Europeans
D) a dominant class of the priesthood and a subordinate class of the laity

Question 20

_____ is the idea that the legitimacy of the state and the principles of sound justice derive their legitimacy from a societal agreement.

A) Eternal law
B) Communism
C) Contractualism
D) General will