Deck 17: The Contemporary Period

Question 1

Appiah's central idea developed out of a concern for __________.

A) differences between cultures
B) symmetry of cultures in a technology-driven world
C) the collision of cultures in a shrinking world
D) political differences

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Appiah's view is criticized as endorsing __________.

A) cultural relativism
B) dogmatism
C) fanaticism
D) consequentialism

Answer 2

A

Question 3

__________ defends cosmopolitanism.

A) Derrida
B) Appiah
C) Nussbaum
D) Chalmers

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Cosmopolitanism is the idea that we have significant moral duties to __________.

A) our friends and family only
B) members of our local community only
C) all persons everywhere
D) members of our national community only

Question 5

Nussbaum's argument for tolerance rests on the __________ principle.

A) tolerance
B) equity
C) equal-respect
D) obligation

Question 6

Nussbaum's proposed approach combines all but __________ as an ingredient.

A) "a systematic cultivation of the ʻinner eyes,' the imaginative capacity that makes it possible for us to see how the world looks from the point of view of a person different in religion or ethnicity"
B) "rigorous critical thinking that ferrets out and criticizes inconsistencies"
C) "political principles expressing equal respect for all citizens"
D) "a specific religious view that underpins one's approach to dialogue"

Question 7

Nussbaum advocates "an approach inspired by ethical philosophy in the spirit of" __________.

A) King
B) Socrates
C) Epictetus
D) Sartre

Question 8

The landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that desegregated public schools was __________.

A) Thompson v. the President of the United State
B) Brown v. Board of Education
C) Thompson v. Board of Education
D) Brown v. the President of the United States

Question 9

King thinks __________ is the middle road between militant violence and nonviolent action.

A) respectful disagreement
B) capitulation
C) nonviolent resistance
D) submission

Question 10

According to King, nonviolent resistance was made famous by __________.

A) Saint Augustine
B) Socrates
C) Saint Aquinas
D) Gandhi

Question 11

King agrees with __________ that an unjust law is no law at all.

A) Saint Augustine
B) Socrates
C) Saint Aquinas
D) Gandhi

Question 12

According to King, an unjust law is a manmade code that __________.

A) has not been democratically established
B) is out of harmony with moral law
C) violates a social contract
D) most people disapprove of

Question 13

According to Blum, __________ lie at the heart of racism.

A) discrimination and prejudice
B) inferiorization and antipathy
C) ignorance and bigotry
D) hatred and violence

Question 14

Words like racist and racism undergo __________ when they are overused and misapplied.

A) a loss of meaning
B) conceptual conflation
C) conceptual erosion
D) conceptual inflation

Question 15

According to Blum, __________ racism consists in racist acts, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior on the part of individuals.

A) personal
B) social
C) institutional
D) popular

Question 16

According to Blum, __________ racism comprises racist beliefs, attitudes, and stereotypes widely shared within a given population and expressed through religion, entertainment, advertisements, and other media.

A) personal
B) social
C) institutional
D) popular

Question 17

According to Blum, __________ racism refers to inferiorizing or antipathy perpetuated by things like schools, corporations, hospitals, or the criminal justice system.

A) personal
B) social
C) institutional
D) popular

Question 18

According to Chalmers, we can say that a being is conscious if __________.

A) it has cognitive states
B) it responds to environmental stimuli
C) there is something it is like to be that being
D) it can process information

Question 19

The "hard problem" of consciousness is the problem of __________.

A) providing an adequate definition of consciousness
B) explaining why we have conscious experience at all
C) explaining how the brain processes environmental stimuli
D) explaining how immaterial mental phenomena are possible

Question 20

According to Chalmers, the "easy" problems of consciousness include explaining __________.

A) why mental processes are accompanied by an experienced inner life
B) why we have conscious experience at all
C) how the brain processes environmental stimuli
D) how immaterial mental phenomena are possible

Question 21

Chalmers's argument against reductionist accounts of consciousness is based on the possibility of __________.

A) robots
B) zombies
C) automata
D) ghosts

Question 22

According to Chalmers, if zombies are metaphysically possible, then __________.

A) consciousness must be physical in nature
B) we are zombies
C) consciousness is an illusion
D) consciousness cannot be physical in nature

Question 23

According to Gardiner, the global environmental tragedy is most centrally a(n) __________ failure.

A) political
B) ethical
C) scientific
D) technical

Question 24

The three storms Gardiner describes are all obstacles to our ability to __________.

A) make responsible political decisions
B) make scientific progress
C) behave ethically
D) make technical advances

Question 25

The first two storms Gardiner describes both involve serious __________.

A) asymmetries of power
B) abuse of natural resources
C) scientific difficulties
D) cases of political corruption

Question 26

Unlike the first two storms Gardiner describes, the third storm is__________ in nature.

A) practical
B) political
C) technological
D) theoretical

Question 27

Derrida is credited with developing the philosophical method known as __________.

A) functionalism
B) language-games
C) deconstruction
D) phenomenology

Question 28

According to Derrida, __________ is the preoccupation with truth, logic, and rationality that characterizes the Western tradition.

A) religion
B) sociology
C) logocentrism
D) psychology

Question 29

According to Derrida, meaning is __________.

A) fixed
B) not fixed
C) subjective
D) objective

Question 30

A large part of Cixous's work is devoted to examining the philosophical and psychological implications of the act of __________.

A) speaking
B) thinking
C) writing
D) gesturing

Question 31

Appiah argues that some values are objective and universal.

Question 32

Appiah defends the ethical idea known as cosmopolitanism.

Question 33

Nussbaum bases her notion of tolerance on the view that human beings have equal dignity.

Question 34

According to Blum, terms like racist and racism are often overused and misapplied.

Question 35

Given the conceptual inflation of the words racist and racism, Blum concludes that the amount of racism and inequality in society is less than most people think.

Question 36

According to Blum, actions can be condemned as racist only insofar as they contribute to a system of unjust racial advantage.

Question 37

According to King, "A just law is a manmade code that squares with" existing legal practice.

Question 38

King argues that segregation is unjust because, among other things, "it distorts the soul and damages the personality."

Question 39

King does not think nonviolence is a last resort when violence does not work.

Question 40

King adapts Buddha's theory and method of nonviolent resistance.

Question 41

In the excerpt from his A Testament of Hope, King argues that nonviolent action is the only legitimate form of civil disobedience.

Question 42

King was an advocate of militant action in the struggle for civil rights in the United States.

Question 43

King argues that nonviolent resistance is morally superior to violence.

Question 44

According to Chalmers, materialism is false.

Question 45

Chalmers characterizes consciousness as the subjective quality of experience.

Question 46

According to Chalmers, zombies are logically possible but metaphysically impossible.

Question 47

According to Gardiner, the global environmental tragedy is most centrally a political failure.

Question 48

According to Gardiner, the relevant facts regarding climate change are not yet known.

Question 49

Gardiner claims that we lack robust theories in areas like intergenerational ethics and international justice to guide our response to climate change.

Question 50

Derrida developed the picture theory of meaning.