Deck 6: Existential Issues

Question 1

What did the Gods condemn Sisyphus to?

A) Death
B) Ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain
C) Being constantly dissatisfied with life despite the fact that he clings to it
D) Being unhappy with his life

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Why was Sisyphus being punished by the Gods?

A) For being unhappy with the life they had granted him
B) For mistreating his wife
C) For stealing their secrets
D) For failing to grasp the significance of his life

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Why is Sisyphus the "absurd hero," for Camus?

A) He failed to appreciate the things he had, but he had many things worth appreciating
B) His hatred for death and passion for life won him the punishment of his life being for nothing
C) Because he was condemned to ceaseless punishment
D) None of the above

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Why is Sisyphus tragic, according to Camus?

A) Because he was condemned to such a horrific punishment
B) Because he lost his wife
C) Because he is conscious
D) Because despite having a loving wife, he failed to appreciate her love

Question 5

Why does Sisyphus's return to the bottom of the mountain interest Camus?

A) This is when Camus imagines Sisyphus's stoic return to his torment
B) This is the period of Sisyphus's life where he is conscious of his fate
C) This is when Sisyphus becomes superior to his fate
D) All of the above

Question 6

Why is it a mistake to say that happiness necessarily springs from the absurd discovery, for Camus?

A) Because the absurd also springs from happiness
B) Because although it can spring from the absurd discovery, it doesn't necessarily
C) Because the absurd is tragic
D) Because the absurd discovery is a source of sadness

Question 7

How must one imagine Sisyphus, according to Camus?

A) Ambivalent
B) Angry
C) Sad
D) Happy

Question 8

For Camus, Oedipus is _______ Sisyphus.

A) In a completely different sort of situations than
B) In the same sort of situation as
C) Tragic but happy, unlike
D) None of the above

Question 9

When Sisyphus ordered his wife to cast his unburied body into the middle of the public square, what happened?

A) She performed the task, and Sisyphus was satisfied
B) She performed the task, and Sisyphus scorned her for it
C) She didn't perform the task, and Sisyphus scorned her for it
D) She didn't perform the task, and Sisyphus was satisfied

Question 10

It is important, for Camus, that Sisyphus's fate . . .

A) Is not the product of his actions
B) Be endless
C) Is his fate
D) None of the above

Question 11

The Gods, according to Camus, thought that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.

Question 12

Sisyphus's wife refused to cast his unburied body into the middle of the public square.

Question 13

The fate of ordinary workers, for Camus, is importantly different from Sisyphus's fate.

Question 14

For Camus, Sisyphus's consciousness was both the source of his torment and his victory.

Question 15

Camus holds that it is impossible to overcome one's absurd situation in any way.

Question 16

For Nagel, why isn't the fact that nothing we do now will matter in one million years a source of absurdity?

A) Because brevity is not a source of absurdity
B) Because it isn't true
C) Because that fact won't matter in one million years
D) None of the above

Question 17

Why is the fact that we're going to die a possible source of absurdity?

A) Because it means all chains of justification must end arbitrarily
B) Because it means nothing we do now matters
C) Because there is no final end to the things we do
D) (a) and (c)

Question 18

Which of the following is a real source of absurdity, according to Nagel?

A) That nothing we do now will matter in one million years
B) That we are merely tiny specks in an infinite vastness of universe
C) That we will necessarily die
D) None of the above

Question 19

When do we see absurdity in ordinary life, according to Nagel?

A) When we reflect on situations
B) When a situation includes a conspicuous discrepancy between pretension/aspiration and reality
C) When we come into contact with our own mortality
D) When we think about how small we are relative to the universe

Question 20

Which of the following best describes why Nagel thinks life is absurd?

A) Because we are condemned to death
B) Because our hopes are often in disagreement with the world
C) Because we must take our lives seriously, but we can always regard everything as open to doubt
D) Because we must take an external view of ourselves

Question 21

For Nagel, being a person necessarily involves . . .

A) Unhappiness
B) Tragedy
C) Taking oneself seriously
D) All of the above

Question 22

Why would the world being different not solve the problem of absurdity, according to Nagel?

A) Because absurdity derives from a collision between ourselves and the world
B) Because regardless, we are infinitely smaller than the universe
C) Because we will always hope for more than we can possibly receive
D) Because absurdity derives from a collision within ourselves

Question 23

After acknowledging our absurd situation, what is life laced by, according to Nagel?

A) Defiance
B) Irony
C) Unhappiness
D) Tragedy

Question 24

Why can't a mouse's life be absurd, for Nagel?

A) Mice lack the capacity for self-consciousness required for absurdity
B) Mice don't do the kinds of things humans do
C) Mice don't take themselves seriously
D) None of the above

Question 25

How does Camus, according to Nagel, suggest we respond to absurdity?

A) Defiance
B) Suicide
C) Ironic embrace
D) Self-etiolation

Question 26

For Nagel, the brevity of life is a convincing source of absurdity.

Question 27

Nagel disagrees with how Camus recommends we respond to absurdity-noble defiance.

Question 28

According to Nagel, life is absurd simply because we can take an external view of ourselves.

Question 29

Nagel argues that we can't escape absurdity, even through higher projects, like those of religion.

Question 30

For Nagel, the sense that life as a whole is absurd arises when we perceive an inflated pretension or aspiration which is inescapable from the continuation of human life.

Question 31

Schopenhauer held that our lives are meaningless . . .

A) Because of the very nature of life
B) Because of the structure of government
C) Because of the pain they inherently involve
D) Because of economic issues

Question 32

According to Taylor, human life is . . .

A) Necessarily meaningful
B) Possibly meaningful
C) Always meaningless
D) Subjectively meaningful only

Question 33

What common feature makes the lives of Sisyphus and the Quebecoise nuns meaningless?

A) Both involve endless frustration
B) Both involve endless toil
C) Both involve endless pain
D) Both involve endless purposelessness

Question 34

Why is all animal life meaningless, according to Taylor?

A) It is full of frustrating toil
B) It is merely about survival
C) It is all for nothing, and goes on without end
D) None of the above

Question 35

Why does Taylor think most people have accepted the traditional theological and philosophical reasons for life's being meaningful?

A) They are demanding
B) They put one in touch with something higher
C) They are comforting
D) They are convincing

Question 36

According to Taylor, why is life for the human species just as meaningless as it is for the individual?

A) Both are purposeless
B) Both are cyclical
C) (a) and (b)
D) None of the above

Question 37

Which of the following is a case in which life is meaningful for Taylor's Quebecoise nuns?

A) They are enslaved and their vocation is in no way chosen by them
B) They choose their life but irrationally
C) They choose their life out of a deep and unshakable faith in God's existence
D) They choose their life out of a deep faith in God's existence, and their belief is true

Question 38

What is required for life to be meaningful, for Taylor?

A) It has a truly noble and good purpose
B) It has an achievable purpose
C) It is chosen by the person
D) All of the above

Question 39

For Taylor, a meaningful life is a _______ life.

A) content
B) creative
C) purposeful
D) autonomous

Question 40

Why, for Taylor, need not a meaningful life be devoted to one great object?

A) Creation is not just the creation of things
B) Because this is impossible
C) Because creation doesn't involve devotion
D) None of the above

Question 41

For Taylor, the life of someone in a coma is more meaningful than the life of an insect.

Question 42

Sisyphus's fate was to ceaselessly roll stones up a hill in order to create a great temple.

Question 43

A life with contentment is not necessarily a meaningful life, according to Taylor.

Question 44

Taylor thinks much of human life is simply about avoiding boredom.

Question 45

For Taylor, committing oneself to some purpose isn't enough for one's life to be meaningful.

Question 46

Most people believe that there can only be meaning in life if . . .

A) Lives can be meaningful
B) God exists
C) Not all value is subjective
D) None of the above

Question 47

Why is the question "What is the meaning of life?" unclear, for Wolf?

A) It is only intelligible if one is religious, and she is secular
B) What is meant by "meaning" isn't obvious
C) Because it isn't yet clear what meaningfulness is
D) None of the above

Question 48

Why does Wolf take her idle rich, pig farmer, and corporate executive cases to be examples of meaningless lives?

A) All of their lives are characterized by passivity
B) All of their lives are characterized by a failure to engage with something objectively valuable
C) All of them treat value as purely subjective
D) All of their lives are characterized by pointless activities

Question 49

Which of the following isn't an aspect of a meaningful life, for Wolf?

A) Purposeful projects
B) Engaging with moral value
C) Engaging with something of positive value
D) Activity

Question 50

Which of the following best describes what Wolf means when she talks about "actively engaging" a project?

A) Pursuing the various aspects of that project
B) Recognizing that the project is of some value
C) Proudly and happily embracing that project
D) None of the above

Question 51

Why does Wolf hold that the meaningfulness of one's life cannot merely be subjective?

A) Such subjectivity would allow the possibility that an immoral life is also meaningful
B) If it were subjective, it wouldn't be intelligible for someone to live a meaningful life
C) All value is objective, according to Wolf
D) It would blur the distinction between living a meaningful life and living a life that feels meaningful

Question 52

Why, for Wolf, ought one care that one's activities be objectively worthwhile?

A) Otherwise, one's life could be both meaningful and immoral
B) If one didn't care, one couldn't be sure their life was meaningful
C) Justifying one's devotion to some activity in purely subjective terms is practically solipsistic
D) Otherwise one is out of touch with reality

Question 53

For Wolf, a person who doesn't care about whether their life is meaningful . . .

A) Is being irrational
B) Cannot be moral
C) Cannot be accused of irrationality
D) Has no meaning in her life

Question 54

Which truth does a meaningful life provide a response to, according to Wolf?

A) We are, each of us, tiny specks in a vast and value-filled universe
B) We are, each of us, one person among others
C) God's existence
D) None of the above

Question 55

Which of the following best represents Wolf's response to pessimists, like Nagel, Camus, and Richard Taylor?

A) Wolf argues that God's existence shows that we ought not be pessimists
B) Wolf argues that we ought to live in a way that harmonizes with our insignificance
C) Wolf argues that we aren't cosmically insignificant
D) Wolf agrees with them about our significance and how we ought to respond to our insignificance

Question 56

For Wolf, to answer the question "What makes a life meaningful?" we don't need an answer to the question "What is the meaning of life?"

Question 57

Wolf argues that a meaningful life isn't necessarily a happy life.

Question 58

The reason that Wolf's "Blob" case is an example of a meaningless life is that he is completely passive.

Question 59

For Wolf, a meaningful life is necessarily moral.

Question 60

Nagel suggests that the reason we should care about the pain of others is grounded in a fact about the world.

Question 61

Which of the following best describes what Nagel means by the term "death"?

A) The process of dying
B) Non-existence
C) Unconsciousness
D) Permanent non-existence

Question 62

Why do some people hold that death isn't bad, according to Nagel?

A) They argue that in certain cases, death actually relieves one of suffering
B) They argue that death merely deprives one of life, which has no value in itself
C) They argue that death is simply an experiential blank, so it has no value at all
D) All of the above

Question 63

If death is an evil, for Nagel, this is because it is . . .

A) A state of non-existence
B) A loss of life
C) Often premature
D) Experienced as bad by its sufferers

Question 64

Why does Nagel reject the notion that people only fear death because they try and fail to imagine what it is like to be dead?

A) Nagel doesn't reject this notion
B) This suggests that death is a state, and death isn't a state
C) People also can't imagine what it is like to be unconscious but unconsciousness itself isn't scary
D) People can imagine what it is like to be dead

Question 65

Which of the following isn't a problem Nagel considers for his thesis?

A) The idea that something can only be bad for someone if he or she experience it
B) The notion that for many people we can live beyond our deaths
C) The idea that there is no subject for death to be bad for
D) The asymmetry between our attitudes toward prenatal and posthumous nonexistence

Question 66

For Nagel . . .

A) Something can only be bad for someone if he or she experience it
B) Something can only be bad for someone if it is unpleasant for them
C) Not all goods and ills that befall someone need be located in place and time
D) All goods and ills that befall someone are located in place and time

Question 67

What asymmetry did Lucretius think raised a problem for the notion that death is bad?

A) Our different attitudes toward prenatal and posthumous nonexistence
B) Our different attitudes toward experiencing something bad and not experiencing it
C) Our different attitudes toward someone who dies young and someone who dies at a normal age
D) Our different attitudes toward whether death is a harm or not

Question 68

What is Nagel's response to Lucretius's asymmetry argument?

A) Nagel accepts Lucretius's asymmetry argument
B) Nagel argues that it is a contingent fact that we don't live longer
C) He suggests we think it is plausible that someone is harmed by many things they don't experience
D) Nagel argues that the two kinds of nonexistence are different

Question 69

It seems we can naturally hope for certain things. What problem does this raise for Nagel's thesis?

A) We have different attitudes toward someone who dies young versus someone who dies older
B) It explains our different attitudes toward prenatal and posthumous nonexistence
C) It is unclear that death is actually a loss of life
D) None of the above

Question 70

Why aren't we comfortable with the seemingly natural limits of human life, according to Nagel?

A) We worry about how our deaths will affect our loved ones
B) Our sense of our own experience doesn't embody this idea of natural limits
C) Because oftentimes someone lives longer than we do
D) Nagel argues that we are comfortable with the natural limits of human life

Question 71

Death is bad, for Nagel, because of its positive features, like the pain it causes.

Question 72

According to Nagel, the value of life attaches to mere organic survival.

Question 73

Nagel rejects the idea that death is bad because it is a period of nonexistence.

Question 74

Nagel suggests that betrayal is only bad for someone if he or she experiences that betrayal.

Question 75

For Nagel, the impossibility of locating death's badness within life shouldn't trouble us.

Question 76

To experience existential shock is to

A) realize that you do not exist.
B) realize that there is no self.
C) realize that you will die one day.
D) realize that you exist when you might not have.

Question 77

The experience of existential shock is puzzling because

A) we all know, at some level, that we will die.
B) it only lasts a few moments.
C) we believe that we do have a self.
D) we believe that our existence is necessary.

Question 78

The experience of existential shock, according to Baillie, involves

A) recognizing one's mortality from the inside view.
B) recognizing one's mortality from the outside view.
C) recognizing one's mortality from a God's-eye point of view.
D) recognizing one's mortality from another's point of view.

Question 79

According to a substance-based metaphysics,

A) there is no enduring self.
B) you are a self-contained individual with a permanent essence.
C) you are a substance that interacts metaphysically with other substances.
D) the idea of the self is inherently contradictory.

Question 80

According to the no-self account,

A) the "self" merely refers to a causally linked network of mental states.
B) the "self" refers to nothing at all.
C) one ought to view the world without thinking of one's self.
D) it is morally wrong to act selfishly.