Exam Questions The Social Contract Ch.19 - Exploring Ethics 6e | Test Bank Cahn by Steven M. Cahn. DOCX document preview.
to accompany
Exploring Ethics, Sixth Edition
Cahn
Chapter 19
The Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes
[NOTE: Questions marked with “*” also appear in the student self quizzes on Learning Link.]
Multiple Choice
1. According to Hobbes, we are at war when*
a. armies clash.
b. the will to go to battle is sufficiently known.
c. we engage in battle.
d. None of the above
2. Hobbes notes that human beings are roughly equal in
a. strength of body.
b. faculties of mind.
c. hope of attaining their ends.
d. All of the above
3. Which of the following does Hobbes cite as a principal cause of enmity between people?*
a. Competition
b. Glory
c. Diffidence
d. All of the above
4. Hobbes takes the natural state of human relations to be
a. war.
b. friendship.
c. justice.
d. peace.
5. Hobbes claims that the two cardinal virtues during war are*
a. force and fraud.
b. courage and honor.
c. justice and honesty.
d. selfishness and vengefulness.
6. Which of the following passions inclines people toward peace, according to Hobbes?
a. Love
b. Fear
c. Pride
d. Guilt
7. The first two laws of nature expounded by Hobbes do not include*
a. Take up arms against unjust authority.
b. Defend oneself by any means necessary.
c. Be willing, when others are too, to surrender one’s right to all things.
d. Seek peace.
8. Hobbes takes justice to consist in
a. respecting the natural rights of others.
b. acting according to reason.
c. obeying divine commandments.
d. keeping valid covenants.
9. Hobbes argues that, in a condition of war, everyone has a right to*
a. only what morality permits.
b. everything, including the lives and possessions of all others.
c. whatever they can bargain for in voluntary negotiations.
d. None of the above
10. According to Hobbes, the right of nature is
a. an entitlement to the fruits of one’s labors.
b. a claim not to be harmed by others.
c. the right of the king to rule his subjects.
d. the liberty to use one’s powers to preserve one’s life.
True or False
11. Hobbes claims that humans are naturally equal in body but not in mind.*
a. True
b. False
12. Hobbes believes that all acts of conquest are motivated by the desire for security.
a. True
b. False
13. Hobbes considers the natural passions of human beings to be sinful.
a. True
b. False
14. Hobbes believes that the laws of morality apply during both war and peacetime.*
a. True
b. False
15. Human beings, on Hobbes’s account, have a natural right to do whatever they think prudent to preserve their own lives.*
a. True
b. False
16. Hobbes takes “right” and “law” to be synonymous.
a. True
b. False
17. Hobbes thinks we should be willing to content ourselves with only so much liberty against others as we would allow them to have against us.*
a. True
b. False
18. In the absence of government to enforce laws, nothing can be considered unjust.
a. True
b. False
19. According to Hobbes, peace is the expected consequence of the “equality of ability” prevailing upon human beings in their natural state.
a. True
b. False
Essay
20. What does Hobbes mean by the “war of every man against every man”? Is it possible to escape this condition? If so, how?
21. What is Hobbes’s conception of human nature? Given this account of human nature, what does he think life would be like in the absence of government? Do you agree with him about this? Why or why not?
22. Do you think everyone has a natural right to all things? Why or why not? What does Hobbes say about this?