Deck 1: Antecedents to Contemporary Social Theory

Question 1

One of the major differences between classical sociological theory and contemporary sociological theory is that:

A) Classical theory was not interested in struggle and conflict, whereas contemporary theory is
B) Classical theory was a systematic effort to better understand the world in which we live by examining it through a particular lens, whereas contemporary theory is an attempt to better understand how and why we construct the social worlds in which we live
C) Classical theory was preoccupied with culture and the ways in which it integrated members of society, while contemporary theory focuses on structures that tie people together
D) Classical theory was an attempt to better understand how and why we construct the social worlds in which we live, whereas contemporary theory is was a systematic effort to better understand the world in which we live by examining it through a particular lens.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The European Enlightenment was an intellectual movement characterized by which of the following:

A) A focus on individual meaning and truths.
B) An emphasis on the importance of language in constructing the social world.
C) A belief that the universe of fundamentally rational and can be understood by empirical science
D) None of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The Enlightenment had a profound and direct influence on which sociological theorists?

A) Comte, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber
B) Hall, Foucault, Derrida, and Lacan
C) Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Diderot
D) Aristotle, Plato, Sophocles, Euripides

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Karl Marx was highly critical of

A) Virtually all of the ideas that came out of the enlightenment
B) The failure of the working class to organize themselves
C) The bourgeoisie and the nation-states they used to protect their interests
D) None of the above

Question 5

For Marx, the material culture that was created by capitalism also created

A) The tools through which the working class could overthrow the bourgeoisie
B) A source of great wealth and pleasure for all
C) The ideology that conditioned people to believe in its redemptive power
D) A division between mass and high culture

Question 6

Marx's structural theory implied that

A) The structure of the economic system shaped everything else, including families, political systems, and cultural values
B) The structure of the economic system shaped nearly everything else, with the exception of the political system which remained autonomous
C) The structure of the economic system achieved a state of equilibrium in which optimal outcomes were achieved for as many as possible
D) None of the above

Question 7

When Nietzsche said "God is dead!", he meant that

A) Religion had failed as an explanatory tool. In the modern era, it was useless
B) With the advance of science and reason after the enlightenment, God was no longer the arbiter of truth
C) God literally died. The search was on for a new deity.
D) The modern era would be characterized by a series of holy wars.

Question 8

One of the major ways that Nietzsche broke with Enlightenment thinkers was that he believed

A) Universal truth was an illusion. There could never be one Truth.
B) Science and reason would never catch on as ways of understanding.
C) None of the above
D) All of the above

Question 9

Freud's most important theoretical contribution was his understanding of

A) The unconscious
B) The subconscious
C) Consciousness
D) Both B and C

Question 10

The unconscious is

A) Psychic energy that allows some to see the future.
B) A reservoir of repressed, unacceptable, or unpleasant feelings, wishes, thoughts, urges, and memories residing outside our conscious awareness
C) The hidden meanings behind language and symbols that our brains perceive.
D) Only activated when we sleep. It manifests itself in dreams.

Question 11

Psychoanalytic theory had an important influence on

A) Marxism
B) Structuralism
C) Phenomenology
D) Functionalism

Question 12

The Frankfurt School:

A) Critically assessed the impact of corporate capitalism on political and social life
B) Focused on the ways in which capitalism crated new and better means of production
C) Promoted a new form of critical theory
D) Both A&C
E) None of the above

Question 13

The linguistic turn was

A) A turn away from language and towards symbols and signs as major sources of meaning in society
B) An acknowledgement of the centrality of language and discourse in the examination of societies
C) A movement to translate European theory into English
D) Not as relevant to social theory as it was to other disciplines

Question 14

Edmund Husserl is considered a

A) Psychoanalyst
B) Structural theorist
C) Founder of phenomenology
D) Founder of postmodernism

Question 15

Martin Heidegger

A) Focused on the ways that humans constructed their world
B) Argued that people entered into a world they had not made
C) Examined the ways in which life was meaningful for people
D) None of the above

Question 16

The social movements of the 1960s and 1970s ushered in a new era in social theory by

A) Highlighting the universal truths that had been important during the Enlightenment, but forgotten in the 20^th Century
B) Giving new voices to previously marginalized groups, including women, African-Americans, and gays and lesbians
C) Focusing on the importance of identity
D) Both A&B
E) Both B&C

Question 17

Contemporary social theory

A) Continues to operate within traditional academic boundaries
B) Actively crosses disciplinary boundaries to create transdisciplinarity
C) Has successfully broken down boundaries to the point of boundarylessness
D) None of the above

Question 18

The difference between interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity is

A) Under interdisciplinarity, old disciplines remain intact but recognize the contributions of other disciplines. Under transdisciplinarity, many boundaries are crossed to create a more holistic approach to subject matter.
B) Under interdisciplinarity, many boundaries are crossed to create a more holistic approach to subject matter. Under transdisciplinarity, old disciplines remain intact but recognize the contributions of other disciplines.
C) Interdiscplinarity occurs in social sciences, transdisciplinarity occurs in humanities

Question 19

The Enlightenment was a 19^th Century movement.

Question 20

Karl Marx's structuralism focused on the economic system

Question 21

Sigmund Freud's major work was titled The Interpretation of the Unconscious.

Question 22

Briefly describe two of Marx's critiques of capitalism.

Question 23

Why did Freud believe the unconscious was so important?

Question 24

Define "the linguistic turn."

Question 25

Describe the main features of the European Enlightenment, and how it influenced sociological theory. Why did Enlightenment principles lose their hold on social theory in the second half of the 20^th Century?

Question 26

Identify and explain two ways in which the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s changed social theory.