Deck 6: Social and Political Philosophy

Question 1

Who suggested that an "invisible hand" operates in a free market to promote the general welfare of society?

A) Karl Marx, in Das Kapital
B) Jeremy Bentham, in Principles of Morals and Legislation
C) Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations
D) James Mill, in a speech to the Philosophical Radicals
E) John Stuart Mill, in Utilitarianism

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The objection that utilitarianism is "a doctrine worthy only of swine" is, in effect, a charge that:

A) utilitarianism is a denial of ethical values.
B) if utilitarianism is true, then the way of life that is good for a pig will also be good for a human.
C) pleasure is immoral.
D) we ought to take pain into account as well as pleasure.
E) None of the above

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Laissez-faire is:

A) a system opposed to utilitarianism.
B) a late stage in the development of capitalism, where firms are large and publicly held.
C) free market exchange with little government control.
D) a theory created by Jeremy Bentham.
E) Both B and D

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to Mill, if two pleasures are quantitatively the same, what determines that one is more valuable than another is that:

A) it occurs in someone who deserves it.
B) it is pure pleasure, rather than a mixture of pleasure and pain.
C) more knowledgeable people prefer it.
D) it occurs in someone more capable of enjoying it.
E) None of the above

Question 5

According to Mill, "custom" is a n):

A) artificially imposed barrier to competition.
B) set of consumer habits which make markets operate more efficiently.
C) common force which distorts the effects of competition.
D) set of behaviors neutralized by competitive behavior in the marketplace.
E) None of the above

Question 6

According to the author, if all pleasures are not equal in quality then:

A) utilitarianism is a "doctrine worthy only of swine."
B) utilitarianism must be false.
C) Bentham was correct.
D) special weight will have to be given to the opinions of the educated minority.
E) All of the above

Question 7

The purpose of education, according to Bentham, is to:

A) dispel superstitious beliefs.
B) teach the facts of science.
C) teach how society works.
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 8

According to Mill, the proper judge of which of two quantitatively identical pleasures is better is:

A) any competent adult.
B) any competent person who has experienced both.
C) an experienced utilitarian philosopher.
D) the lawmakers.
E) None of the above

Question 9

Bentham believed that all people are basically:

A) rational.
B) self-interested.
C) prudent in their use of resources.
D) A and B
E) All of the above

Question 10

If Bentham's view is correct, then the fundamental moral question is:

A) do I have a right to perform this action?
B) is this experience pleasurable?
C) does my happiness interfere with the happiness of others?
D) would God approve of my action?
E) how can I attain a virtuous character?

Question 11

According to Mill, the behavior of men and women in the marketplace is:

A) always rational.
B) free of the influence of custom.
C) both predictable and calculable.
D) predictable, but not calculable.
E) calculable, but not predictable.

Question 12

Mill wrote that the claim that economics is a science rests upon the assumption that:

A) custom habit) plays an important role in economic behavior.
B) economic behavior is determined entirely by competition.
C) capitalism and utilitarianism are compatible.
D) happiness is identical with pleasure.
E) pleasures differ in quantity, but not quality.

Question 13

Mill modified Bentham's utilitarian theory in which of the following ways?

A) He abandoned the calculation of pleasures and pains.
B) He incorporated a Kantian account of duty and obligation.
C) He incorporated a Platonic account of virtue and character.
D) He denied that pleasure and pain were the only morally relevant categories.
E) He took into account a person's intentions, as well as his or her actions.

Question 14

In his political writings, Mill exhibited an aristocratic bias with regard to:

A) England's treatment of the "subject races" of her colonies.
B) his relationships to women.
C) his relationship to his family.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 15

In formulating his view, Mill seems not to have considered the writings of:

A) the conservative Alexis de Tocqueville.
B) the French socialists.
C) Jeremy Bentham.
D ) Karl Marx.
E) All of the above

Question 16

Bentham believed that the way to remove the obstacles to rational, self-interested action was:

A) religious faith.
B) philosophical reflection.
C) education
D) passing the right laws.
E) None of the above

Question 17

Which of the following subjects was omitted from the young John Stuart Mill's education?

A) Latin
B) logic
C) Greek
D) religion
E) political economy

Question 18

According to 19th century liberals, a laissez-faire economic system is:

A) the surest way to maximize social welfare.
B) an inefficient but still desirable economic system.
C) the best compromise between conflicting class interests.
D) a system that requires the individual to sacrifice his or her own interests for the greater good of society.
E) None of the above

Question 19

According to Bentham, one of the great obstacles to prudent, rational, self-interested action is:

A) religion.
B) class distinctions.
C) ignorance.
D) superstition.
E) All of the above

Question 20

Plato and other philosophers disagreed with Bentham in that they:

A) believed some pleasures are more intense than others.
B) believed some pleasures are morally better than others.
C) believed that it makes no sense to say one pleasure is "better" than another.
D) held that one pain cannot be quantitatively different from another.
E) thought the moral character of an action is determined by the results it produces.

Question 21

Which of the following is an example of capitalism's "inner contradictions"?

A) Alienation of labor
B) Famine after a plentiful harvest
C) The seizure of the means of production by force
D) The eventual revolution of the proletariat
E) None of the above

Question 22

When Marx says capitalism is "instrumentally irrational," he means that:

A) to maximize profits, a capitalist must minimize the wages paid to the people intended as consumers.
B) it fails at its central task, the production of goods.
C) capitalists erroneously assume that buyers behave rationally in the market.
D) it requires workers to act against their own interests.
E) it requires capitalists to compete with one another, instead of cooperating.

Question 23

The labor process is corrupted when:

A) workers receive compensation for their labor.
B) workers produce goods that are not needed by society.
C) the products of workers' labor are taken from them.
D) externalization occurs.
E) The labor process cannot be corrupted.

Question 24

A state is a n):

A) geographical area.
B) group of people who make and enforce laws.
C) assembly of equals.
D) group of individuals banded together for mutual protection.
E) None of the above

Question 25

Marx argued that a capitalist economic system:

A) is rational, but cruel.
B) preserves economic inequality.
C) couldn't be very good at production.
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 26

Feudalism is a:

A) primitive form of socialism.
B) system of production based on ownership of land.
C) system in which no production takes place.
D) system of production in which there are no class distinctions.
E) None of the above

Question 27

By "social relationships of production," Marx means the:

A) complex mutually supportive relations between workers.
B) proper arrangement of labor needed to avoid alienation.
C) system of relationships connecting those who control the means of production with those who do not.
D) inbred relations between the members of the ruling class.
E) None of the above

Question 28

A state may exist with the purpose of:

A) lining the pockets of the ruling class.
B) carrying out the tenets of a religion.
C) ensuring justice and tranquility.
D) Either B or C
E) Any of the above

Question 29

The distinction between the ruling class and the underclass:

A) exists only under an industrial system of production.
B) eventually disappears, even in a capitalist system.
C) is eliminated by laissez-faire capitalism.
D) did not exist under feudalism.
E) None of the above

Question 30

In Marx's account, the ruling class maintains its position by:

A) passing the means of production on to their offspring.
B) controlling the courts which produce the laws of the land.
C) controlling the religious institutions.
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 31

Marx described periodic economic depressions as:

A) natural disasters.
B) man-made disasters.
C) results of the inner irrationality of capitalism.
D) early stages of the socialist revolution.
E) Both B and C

Question 32

Which of the following would Marx not consider part of the material base of society?

A) Iron ore
B) Electric power
C) Religious institutions
D) Social relationships of production
E) Both C and D

Question 33

Which of the following is not one of the principle doctrines of Marxism?

A) The proletariat will inevitably overthrow capitalism.
B) Capitalism is internally unstable.
C) The profits of the capitalist derive from the exploitation of workers.
D) After the fall of capitalism, it will be replaced by a democratic socialist state.
E) All of the above are principle doctrines of Marxism.

Question 34

The bourgeoisie is the:

A) population of wage-earning workers.
B) ruling class.
C) middle-class merchants and craftsmen.
D) owners of the means of production.
E) None of the above

Question 35

Marx tells us that after the revolution against capitalism:

A) the proletariat would no longer need to work.
B) increased efficiency would, in turn, increase profits.
C) the workers and the capitalists would exchange places.
D) distribution of goods would be according to human need.
E) All of the above

Question 36

In order to be happy, according to Marx, a person requires:

A) a carefully structured working environment.
B) a wide variety of tasks.
C) autonomous, fulfilling labor.
D) freedom from the need to work.
E) None of the above

Question 37

When philosophers say that the state cannot be defined teleologically, they mean:

A) the word "state" has too many meanings to allow it to be defined.
B) we cannot explain what a state is in terms of the goals at which it aims.
C) different people use the word "state" different ways.
D) states have no goals.
E) None of the above

Question 38

According to the author, the fact that people often act irrationally:

A) entails that an economy cannot be free from government intervention.
B) suggests the need for modern welfare-state capitalism.
C) undermines laissez-faire capitalism.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 39

Alienation, according to Marx, is the condition of being at war with:

A) one's own nature.
B) one's fellow laborers.
C) the products of one's labor.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 40

Marx calls the process of fulfilling ourselves through productive labor:

A) alienation.
B) externalization.
C) capitalism.
D) exploitation of the worker.
E) replication.

Question 41

According to Locke, which of the following would not constitute tacit consent to the American social contract?

A) Staying in a motel in Vermont
B) Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge
C) Living as a hermit in a cabin in Montana
D) A German citizen inheriting land in California
E) All of these are forms of tacit consent.

Question 42

Every state:

A) uses force to obtain obedience to its commands.
B) forbids its citizens from breaking the social contract.
C) must keep a standing army.
D) requires some sort of explicit consent to the social contract.
E) All of the above

Question 43

By saying that social contract theory is a doctrine of popular sovereignty, we mean that the:

A) social contract remains in force only so long as a majority of citizens approve of it.
B) leader of the state must be popularly elected.
C) leader of the state must be unanimously elected.
D) the sovereign consists of the people as a whole.
E) None of the above

Question 44

The general will, according to Rousseau, is:

A) the decision of the citizens to put aside their own interests and collectively pursue the general good.
B) whatever the people vote in favor of.
C) anything unanimously agreed to by the people.
D) the will of the majority.
E) None of the above

Question 45

A social contract is a n):

A) agreement between two equal citizens.
B) agreement between the citizens and the ruling class.
C) agreement between each citizen and every other citizen in the state.
D) agreement between the citizen and the legislature.
E) denial of the state's authority.

Question 46

The major flaw in Locke's notion of participation in the social contract is that:

A) the law has never recognized such a thing as tacit consent.
B) he assumes people are free to leave when they are dissatisfied with the laws of a state.
C) he assumes a capitalist form of government.
D) he does not define "state."
E) None of the above

Question 47

To bind a group of people together into a state, a social contract doesn't have to:

A) be voluntary.
B) be unanimously agreed to.
C) be explicitly consented to.
D) include a surrender of individual rights to the state.
E) Neither C nor D

Question 48

According to the author, the fundamental question of political philosophy is:

A) How do we define "state?"
B) Does any group of persons ever have the right to command?
C) Is there such a thing as a social contract?
D) What is the proper role of labor in a just society?
E) Can one state be morally better than another?

Question 49

Which of the following can a state use to compel obedience?

A) Force of arms
B) Threats of force
C) Economic threats
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 50

Every state must:

A) claim to be legitimate.
B) provide for the well-being of its citizens.
C) have clearly defined borders.
D) be recognized by at least one other state.
E) None of the above

Question 51

The key philosophical question addressed by Rousseau was:

A) Can there ever be such a thing as a state with legitimate authority?
B) Is there a way in which I can submit to the commands of a legitimate state without giving up my freedom and autonomy?
C) Has a state ever come into existence by means of an explicit social contract?
D) What is the role of race in the social contract?
E) Can one be party to a social contract without explicitly consenting to it?

Question 52

Rousseau did not approve of:

A) submitting one's rights to the general will.
B) government by elected representatives.
C) professional soldiers.
D) Both A and B
E) Both B and C

Question 53

According to Charles Mills, the problem with the social contract is it:

A) was formed before the births of anyone now living.
B) is neither formally nor actually extended to non-whites.
C) it is formally, but not actually, extended to non-whites.
D) Both A and C
E) None of the above

Question 54

According to the pluralist theory of the state:

A) the state is a sort of group.
B) we should study the individuals who lead factions, rather than the factions themselves.
C) interest groups should be eliminated from the political process.
D) to understand politics, we must study the way in which groups are formed and how they interact with one another.
E) Both A and D

Question 55

According to the Principle of Consent of the Governed:

A) those who seek to rule must have the consent of those whom they claim to rule.
B) those who are ruled must be able to depose the rulers at any time they wish.
C) the governed must explicitly consent to all important actions of the government.
D) every state must have a mechanism, such as periodic elections, which allows the governed to express their desires.
E) None of the above

Question 56

Historically, an explicit social contract:

A) has never been used as the basis of a society.
B) lies at the heart of every state.
C) was the foundation of the United States, but no other country.
D) was the foundation of England, but no other state.
E) has been the foundation of most liberal democracies.

Question 57

According to Rousseau, the people of states who elect representatives:

A) are free as long as their representatives vote honestly.
B) are free only when they are electing their representatives.
C) are free only as long as they are permitted to lobby their representatives.
D) are free as long as they limit the terms of their representatives.
E) have surrendered their freedom entirely.

Question 58

The difference between a state collecting taxes and a robber demanding your wallet is the:

A) state is working on your behalf.
B) robber is using the threat of force.
C) state claims legitimate authority over you.
D) robber stands outside the social contract.
E) There is no difference.

Question 59

The legitimacy of all states is denied by:

A) hedonists.
B) skeptics.
C) anarchists.
D) nihilists.
E) Marxists.

Question 60

Locke held that which of the following constituted a person's consent to a social contract?

A) Tacit consent only
B) Explicit consent only
C) Coerced consent
D) Either tacit or explicit consent
E) Any of the above

Question 61

Bentham's utilitarianism provided a philosophical justification for a democratic social program.

Question 62

Bentham and Mill, working independently, simultaneously formulated their utilitarian theories.

Question 63

How many Americans have no healthcare?

A) 50 thousand
B) 1 million
C) 22 million
D) 35 million
E) 47 million

Question 64

According to Mill, the question of which of two quantitatively equal pleasures is the better can be decided by any rational adult.

Question 65

"Laissez-faire" literally means "allow to do."

Question 66

In laissez-faire capitalism, capitalists trying to make a profit and at the same time intend to make consumers happy.

Question 67

One problem with Bentham's view is he denied that a pleasurable act might have painful aftereffects.

Question 68

Bentham was more interested in public issues than in private morality.

Question 69

At the age of twenty, Mill rejected utilitarianism in favor of more conservative economic views.

Question 70

Adam Smith believed that every merchant should try to trade for the public good.

Question 71

"Entrepreneur" comes from a French term meaning "undertaker."

Question 72

The utilitarians worked in opposition to laissez-faire economic policy.

Question 73

The originators of laissez-faire economic theory were Adam Smith and David Ricardo.

Question 74

Donna Smith argues for Universal Healthcare on the grounds that it is:

A) a valuable commodity.
B) a basic human right.
C) not as expensive as most people think.
D) likely to prevent greater costs in the future.
E) an economic stimulus.

Question 75

Why does Universal Healthcare make costs go up and quality go down according to Ron Paul?

A) Because doctors spend more time on paperwork and less time helping patients.
B) Because more people use services that are provided for free.
C) Because there aren't enough doctors and nurses to care for everyone.
D) Because the system is administered by corrupt bureaucrats who know nothing about medicine.
E) Because Universal Healthcare requires Universal Suffrage, which is both expensive and complicated.

Question 76

Bentham believed that intellectual pleasures are superior to physical pleasures.

Question 77

According to the author, if any pleasure is as good as any other, then it must also be true that any person is as good as any other.

Question 78

In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith argued that individuals' attempts to maximize their well-being inevitably conflict with the welfare of society as a whole. .

Question 79

James Mill was in sharp disagreement with the Philosophical Radicals.

Question 80

Mill denied Bentham's claim that any particular pleasure is as good as any other.