Deck 3: Utopias: Model States

Question 1

Utopias new and old help us understand the possibilities and limits of politics.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Utopian thinkers have tried to reengineer the human race through programs such as eugenics.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

For the utopian vision outlined in The Republic to work, what must each of the three social classes do?

A) Commit to the greater cause of justice
B) Excel in one of the three virtues essential to the ideal city-state
C) Agree to provide men for military defense.
D) Work toward ending a class-based society
E) Vow to support education

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Skinner's "Frazier" offers a philosophical account of the "Good Life."

Question 5

In The Republic, what common theme is explored throughout Socrates' text?

A) Power
B) Social class
C) Intellectual merit
D) Justice
E) Liberty

Question 6

The key to Skinner's utopia is behavioral engineering.

Question 7

Behind utopian visions are a set of shared assumptions about human beings and what is best for them.

Question 8

George Orwell wrote of the dangers of unchecked political power in his book, 1984.

Question 9

The word utopia comes from a book by Robert Owen.

Question 10

Almost every model of a utopian society is based on centralization of political power.

Question 11

Plato's Republic establishes a classless society.

Question 12

Although it was obviously a Christian society, Bacon's Bensalem emphasized religious freedom.

Question 13

The Republic was a highly actionable blueprint from Plato for creating a new political regime.

Question 14

Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about how government can balance the needs of society versus the wants of society.

Question 15

Marx's utopian society was based on social revolution.

Question 16

What does the word "utopia" mean?

A) "A place where all is well"
B) The place that we all "want" to be
C) A real place where people have optimum health and well-being
D) "Man's ideal"
E) The genesis of revolution

Question 17

In the Western tradition, what does the broad meaning of "justice" involve?

A) Questions of proper punishment for violations of the law
B) Questions of who should be elected
C) Questions of distribution
D) Questions of power
E) Questions of protection

Question 18

A visionary system embodying perfect political and social order is called a dystopia.

Question 19

Karl Marx believed that once his utopia was achieved, crime would vanish and people would live longer.

Question 20

What is the purpose of The Republic's "Noble Lie?"

A) Undermine the institution of the family
B) Reinforce social equality
C) Ensure popular acceptance of the class system
D) Convince lower classes of the existence of social mobility
E) Pressure the Guardian class to be more moderate

Question 21

What term does Walden Two use to describe good health, a minimum of unpleasant labor, and a chance to exercise your talents and true leisure?

A) Political equality
B) The good life
C) Behavioral freedom
D) Scientific society
E) Personal nirvana

Question 22

What is the major flaw of Frazier's utopia?

A) Elitism
B) No check on power
C) Anemic institutions
D) Undue reliance on imagination
E) Freedom from economic security

Question 23

Which writer's utopianism was based on the notion: "From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs"?

A) Plato
B) Francis Bacon
C) Karl Marx
D) B.F. Skinner
E) George Orwell

Question 24

Which writer's vision of utopia could not happen without revolution?

A) Skinner
B) Socrates
C) Marx
D) Plato
E) Bacon

Question 25

Why do some historians regard Bacon's New Atlantis as the first modern utopia?

A) It was one of the more recent visions for a perfect society.
B) Its politics are progressive.
C) It was based on science.
D) It is less radical than Plato's Republic.
E) Its author expected it to serve as a precise blueprint for the future.

Question 26

Whose work is considered to offer a dystopian vision of society?

A) Plato
B) Francis Bacon
C) Karl Marx
D) B. F. Skinner
E) George Orwell

Question 27

Which utopia was based on more psychological principles?

A) The New Atlantis
B) The Republic
C) Walden Two
D) Communist Manifesto
E) The Rise of the Meritocracy

Question 28

According to Bacon, science is the key to

A) selection and training of "good citizens."
B) improving the human condition.
C) religious tolerance.
D) protection of the people from outside evils.
E) economic security.

Question 29

With its emphasis on science, education and toleration, what word would best describe Bacon's society?

A) Moderate
B) Libertarian
C) Restrictive.
D) Serendipitous
E) Progressive

Question 30

Even if we could create a utopian society, why would it not survive?

A) It would be impossible to continue a perfect society.
B) Outside influences would destroy it from within.
C) Citizens could not resist the urge to make it more perfect.
D) A perfect society would be static, but the world is always changing.
E) Perfection cannot remain balanced indefinitely, and most likely could not correct itself.

Question 31

What did Marx believe would happen once private property was eliminated?

A) Proletariat upheaval
B) The beginning of revolution in the form of armed conflict
C) The emergence of a technologically-driven society
D) The end of social inequality
E) New models for human behavior

Question 32

Which author focused on how to "arrange" society in a methodological way?

A) Karl Marx
B) Francis Bacon
C) Plato
D) B. F. Skinner
E) John Locke

Question 33

Terrorism, like that carried out by Islamic extremists, includes which aspects of utopian thinking, according to one scholar?

A) Economic equality and classlessness
B) Shared political power
C) Belief in the ability of technology to create an ideal society
D) Desire to control or modify human nature
E) Quest for for social justice and a purified society

Question 34

"Newspeak" is introduced by the government in which dystopian work?

A) A Clockwork Orange
B) Brave New World
C) 1984
D) The Giver
E) Children of Men