Deck 16: Freedom

Question 1

William Wordsworth's sonnet "Nuns Fret Not" suggests mainly that

A) all forms of restriction impede happiness.
B) the holy orders of nuns are too confining.
C) working within the constraints the sonnet form is preferable to writing freely.
D) the rules of the sonnet form are too restrictive.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The thinker who believed that the will is actually the opposite of freedom was

A) Arthur Schopenhauer.
B) B. F. Skinner.
C) Sigmund Freud.
D) William James.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Sociobiologists believe that all decisions

A) are dictated by the environment.
B) are determined by the actor's choices.
C) alter genetics in the future.
D) have a genetic origin.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The belief that the social class into which we are born strongly influences our hopes, our aspirations, and career choices is known as

A) economic determinism.
B) existentialism.
C) indeterminism.
D) socialism.

Question 5

Martin Buber's I/Thou relationship means that God

A) is an authoritative deity who limits human freedom.
B) dwells in every person.
C) is wholly different from humans.
D) must be approached through "fear and trembling."

Question 6

If one feels that strong government control is necessary to protect people from others, that person is advocating

A) communism.
B) institutional determinism.
C) economic determinism.
D) socialism.

Question 7

The belief that self-interest and greed not only drive behavior but are economically healthy was promoted by

A) Adam Smith.
B) Albert Camus.
C) Karl Marx.
D) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

Question 8

Secular existentialism is founded on the idea that

A) divinity endows humans with free will.
B) divinity has predetermined one's existence before birth.
C) existence comes before our essence.
D) inborn traits determine human actions.

Question 9

Which philosopher used the fate of Sisyphus as an analogy for the absurd human condition?

A) Jean-Paul Sartre
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Simone de Beauvoir
D) Albert Camus

Question 10

The idea that the conscious choice to believe in God is born out of the despair of not knowing is

A) Kierkegaard's leap of faith.
B) Augustine's free will
C) Martin Buber's I/Thou philosophy.
D) Sartre's secular existentialism.

Question 11

The idea that we are compelled by forces of which we are unaware is a principle belief of

A) Adam Smith's market theory.
B) Freudian psychoanalysis.
C) Marxism's bourgeoisie.
D) Skinner's behaviorism.

Question 12

William James's idea that the world is a collection of chance happenings is called

A) behaviorism.
B) existentialism.
C) indeterminism.
D) the myth of freedom.

Question 13

In the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans, individual freedom was

A) available to many but only because much of the world was barbaric.
B) granted only to the minority made up of male citizens.
C) open to all men and women in both societies.
D) rejected as dangerous to the state.

Question 14

Stephen Crane's "I Saw a Man Pursuing the Horizon" illustrates the

A) belief that there is no success without risk.
B) danger of taking hasty risks.
C) futility of freedom without limits.
D) impossibility of true freedom.

Question 15

Freud's term for the inner voice and values imposed on us by family, religion, education, and the law is

A) the ego.
B) the id.
C) indeterminism.
D) the superego.

Question 16

The revolutionary thinker who believed freedom to be a natural right is

A) Adam Smith.
B) Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
C) Karl Marx.
D) Napoleon Bonaparte.

Question 17

Simone de Beauvoir believed that

A) the human condition is absurd.
B) the human condition is doomed by freedom.
C) the human will directly opposes freedom.
D) women have been undervalued by the codes written by men.

Question 18

A Buddhist might observe that the American dream of freedom to acquire unlimited wealth

A) is based on a system of rewards and punishments.
B) creates suffering more than pleasure.
C) denies the reality of human suffering.
D) emerges from deep psychological forces.

Question 19

Behaviorism is the idea that all actions

A) alter genetics for the future.
B) are conditioned by rewards and punishments.
C) are determined by the actor's choices.
D) have a genetic origin.

Question 20

Augustine dealt with the problem of how

A) an all-knowing God can exist and there still be free will.
B) humans can find meaning in the face of an indifferent universe.
C) suffering limits human freedom.
D) uncertainly requires a leap of faith.

Question 21

The chapter presents a number of different arguments in favor of free choice over determinism (Simone de Beauvoir, existentialism, William James). Explain which argument for free will is the most persuasive to you.
I. Choose an argument in favor of free will.
II. Explain why it is the most compelling argument.

Question 22

What does the case of Azar Nafisi and her book Reading Lolita in Tehran show?
Azar Nafisi's book shows the power of political determination or how society and governmental forces limit the options available for certain groups of people.

Question 23

Describe a situation in modern society in which you believe humans need more individual freedom. Describe another situation in which you believe people need less freedom. Explain why for both situations.
I. Choose and explain a situation requiring more freedom.
II. Choose and explain a situation requiring less freedom.

Question 24

What does Rousseau believe about humans in the state of nature?
Humans in nature are kind and tame; they become violent or hostile only when threatened by authority.

Question 25

What is genetic investment?
Genetic investment is the idea from sociobiology that everything we do is driven by our genetic strain. Love between two people is a matter of genes: The decision to settle down with a partner and procreate is based on the desire to make a genetic investment in continuing our line.
Traditional definitions of love are thus displaced; people who share the same genetic attitudes are likely to attract each other. Even family ties result from sharing a similar gene pool.

Question 26

How does the concept of nature versus nurture relate to freedom?
The nature versus nurture debate revolves around whether genetics and DNA or society and environment determine human behavior.

Question 27

The chapter presents a number of different theories that suggest that human action is determined by forces other than free choice. Choose the one of these you think is the strongest and explain why it is more compelling than two others.
I. Choose a theory of determinism (genetic investment, economic determinism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, political determinism).
II. Explain the strength of the chosen theory.
III. Contrast it with two theories that are not as strong.
IV. Explain why it is more compelling than the others.

Question 28

The end of the chapter suggests that limitations are as important to artistic expression as absolute freedom. Choose a work of art (film, poem, novel, painting, etc.) and discuss features of it that demonstrate how limitations and freedom work together.
I. Choose a work of art.
II. Identify its features that show limitations.
III. Identify its features that show freedom of creative choice.

Question 29

Explain why Albert Camus says that the only serious philosophical problem is suicide.
Camus suggests that if life really has no meaning, then the question we all must deal with is "Why go on living?" Camus opts for finding the joy in the experience of each moment of existence.

Question 30

Kierkegaard applies his leap of faith to belief in God. To what extent does this concept apply to non-religious situations such science, economics, or another aspect of life?
I. Explain Kierkegaard's leap of faith.
II. Choose a non-religious situation as a test case.
III. Defend or criticize its applicability outside of religious faith.