Deck 13: What Really Matters?

Question 1

Hedonism, roughly speaking, is the ethical position wherein

A) the greatest utility for the greatest number of people is the only good.
B) satisfying one's desires is the only good, and having them left unsatisfied, the only bad.
C) pleasure is the only good and pain is the only bad.
D) thrill-seeking, sexual promiscuity, the consumption of drugs, and so on are the only true goods.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

According to the text, which of the following is a direct good?

A) Concert ticket
B) A twenty-dollar bill
C) Printer ink
D) Pleasure

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to the text, which of the following is a direct bad?

A) The presence of pantry moths
B) An overdue bill
C) The heartache of a person whose love is unrequited
D) Failing an exam in philosophy

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The following are all synonyms for "directly valuable" except

A) intrinsically valuable.
B) instrumentally valuable.
C) inherently valuable.
D) valuable for its own sake.

Question 5

__________ was the most famous of all hedonists who chose to lead a simple, almost ascetic life with his/her friends in a commune.

A) Richard Layard
B) Epicurus
C) Jean-Paul Sartre
D) Susan Wolf

Question 6

__________ claims/claimed that researchers can measure levels of happiness (pleasure) using surveys and that policymakers should make it their goal to increase the average level of happiness.

A) Richard Layard
B) Epicurus
C) Jean-Paul Sartre
D) Susan Wolf

Question 7

Which of the following criticisms has/have been made against hedonism?

A) While pleasure is directly good, it is not the only direct good.
B) Not all pleasures are good.
C) Hedonism, as a theory, neglects meaningfulness.
D) All of the above

Question 8

"Existentialism Is a Humanism" was written by

A) Richard Layard.
B) Epicurus.
C) Jean-Paul Sartre.
D) Susan Wolf.

Question 9

Essence, according to Sartre, more or less means the __________ of a thing

A) purpose
B) various qualities
C) fundamental quality
D) Being

Question 10

When Sartre says that, for human beings, "existence precedes essence," he means

A) the universe existed before any qualities.
B) the universe existed before any purposes.
C) we first exist and only later do we acquire any qualities.
D) we first exist and only later do we acquire a purpose.

Question 11

For Sartre, one's essence arises owing to __________ creation of it.

A) God's
B) Nature's
C) one's own
D) our society's

Question 12

For Sartre, creating one's own purpose is

A) a free activity.
B) an unavoidable necessity.
C) sometimes frightening.
D) All of the above

Question 13

Sartre defined anguish as the pain we experience

A) as essential to human life as such.
B) when forced to make difficult deci?sions about what to value.
C) after having made horrible decisions about what to value.
D) when seemingly good decisions turn out to be horrifying.

Question 14

Sartre defines bad faith as a

A) way of living in which one deludes himself into thinking that he is not free to make his own decisions.
B) way of living in which one deludes himself into thinking he is making good choices, when he is making bad choices.
C) failure to realize that one's knowledge of good and bad requires a leap of faith.
D) failure to accept the need for faith in moral life.

Question 15

For Sartre, a particularly frequent form of bad faith is

A) seeing oneself as not bound by moral laws.
B) seeing oneself as determining the moral laws for other human beings.
C) identifying oneself with one's social role or function (e.g., a waiter or grocer).
D) identifying oneself with the roles of society that are looked highly upon.

Question 16

According to the text, the basis of Sartre's disapproval of someone living in bad faith is that

A) he is not fully affirming his freedom.
B) he is not living up to his highest moral purpose as a human being.
C) he is both affirming and denying his freedom.
D) All of the above

Question 17

Sartre's position has been criticized insofar as

A) we do not seem to create value, but rather discover it (particularly with pleasure and pain).
B) modern materialistic science has shown we are not free in the way Sartre proposes.
C) it entirely denies the existence of nature in the "nature vs. nurture" debate.
D) human beings can rarely escape living in bad faith.

Question 18

__________ held that "meaningful lives are lives of active engagement in projects of worth."

A) Richard Layard
B) Epicurus
C) Jean-Paul Sartre
D) Susan Wolf

Question 19

Which of the following does not involve active engagement?

A) Writing checks to your favorite charity
B) Climbing a mountain
C) Preparing to run a marathon
D) Running a marathon

Question 20

For Wolf, subjective attraction meets objective attractiveness when

A) one's personal desires correspond with the moral law.
B) one's personal desires create a morally worthy life.
C) one is engaged in political activism.
D) one is actively engaged in a worthwhile project.

Question 21

In addition to meaningfulness, Wolf also believed __________ was an important aspect of a good life

A) pleasure
B) happiness
C) free choice
D) moral goodness

Question 22

According to Wolf, if there is a dispute over what constitutes a worthy activity

A) we should rely on our moral judgments and commitments, without allowing the opinions of others to affect our decision on the matter.
B) we should rely on our pretheoretical judgments, which always serve as a sure and sound guide to questions of value.
C) we should start with our pretheoretical judgments about what is of worth, and then attempt to improve our judgments with an open-minded, concen?trated, and communal effort to examine and articulate the basis for them.
D) Any of the above

Question 23

Wolf herself raised criticisms against her theory related to the fact that evaluations of worth seem

A) overly elitist.
B) purely subjective.
C) culture-bound and variable with time.
D) insufficiently grounded in nature.

Question 24

Explain the distinction between "direct" and "indirect" value. Use examples.

Question 25

One dictionary defines "hedonism" as sensual self-indulgence. Explain the difference between hedonism in this sense and the philosophical theory known as hedonism.

Question 26

Explain Sartre's conception "Existence precedes essence" as well as Wolf's objection to Sartre.

Question 27

Explain how "active engagement" and "projects of worth" relate to Susan Wolf's account of meaningfulness.

Question 28

Discuss the similarities and differences between hedonism and Wolf's account of meaningfulness.