The Just Society Test Bank Chapter 8 4th Edition

Test Bank

Philosophy Here and Now, Fourth Edition

Lewis Vaughn

Chapter 8: The Just Society

Please Note: All questions that appear with an asterisk are also featured on the Student Oxford Learning Link site.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Hobbes, whenever and wherever men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, there is

A) negotiation.

B) war.

C) democracy.

D) freedom.

1. According to Hobbes, in the state of nature, notions of right and wrong or justice and injustice

A) still apply to the actions of men.

B) refer to objective standards.

C) serve as guiding ideals.

D) have no place.

1. *According to Hobbes, in the condition of man in which there is a state of war of everyone against everyone, every man has a right to

A) some things.

B) everything.

C) due process.

D) lawful treatment.

1. *According to Hobbes, the definition of injustice is

A) disobedience to a sovereign.

B) disobedience to God's law.

C) failure to abide by a contract.

D) failure to respect inherent rights.

1. According to Locke, every man, by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government, puts himself under an obligation to everyone of that society to submit to the determination of

A) his own will.

B) the king.

C) the judges.

D) the majority.

1. *According to Locke, a man in the state of nature will relinquish his absolute freedom to the state because

A) he will also enjoy absolute freedom when subject to the state.

B) in the state of nature, the enjoyment of his freedom is very uncertain and vulnerable.

C) he wants to have absolute power over others.

D) he rejects the laws of the state of nature.

1. *According to Locke, the chief end of men's uniting into a commonwealth is

A) domination over other commonwealths.

B) the preservation of the state of nature.

C) the preservation of their property.

D) the preservation of their absolute power.

1. *According to Locke, the legislative power is limited by

A) different rules for rich and poor.

B) the impartial rule of established laws.

C) laws established for the good of the state.

D) a monarch.

1. According to Rawls, behind the veil of ignorance, the principles of justice are

A) the result of coercion.

B) the result of a fair agreement or bargain.

C) chosen arbitrarily.

D) impractical.

1. According to Rawls, the term “justice as fairness” conveys the idea that the principles of justice are agreed to in an initial position that is

A) rational.

B) fair.

C) constitutional.

D) artificial.

1. According to Rawls, each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with

A) social utility.

B) a similar liberty for others.

C) traditional morality.

D) economic stability.

1. *According to Rawls, all social values (opportunity, liberty, income, wealth, etc.) are to be distributed equally unless an unequal distribution is

A) to everyone's advantage.

B) beneficial to the majority.

C) consistent with utility.

D) deserved.

1. Behind the veil of ignorance, one does not know

A) one’s situation in society.

B) basic principles of human psychology.

C) whether people are self-interested.

D) basic principles of economics.

1. *The political doctrine that puts primary emphasis on the liberty and rights of individuals against encroachments by the state is known as

A) communism.

B) communitarianism.

C) liberalism.

D) anarchism.

1. *The political and economic doctrine that the means of production (property, factories, businesses) should be owned or controlled by the people is called

A) democracy.

B) liberalism.

C) welfare liberalism.

D) socialism.

1. _______ argues that humans have inherent, God-given rights whether or not a government is around to guarantee them.

A) Marx

B) Hobbes

C) Locke

D) Berkeley

1. Plato maintains that equals should be treated equally, but

A) sometimes the greater good requires not doing so.

B) individual rights can supersede equality.

C) not everyone is created equal.

D) it is impossible to determine whether people are equal.

1. _______ says once you cede power to the Leviathan, he is free to treat you as he will.

A) Locke

B) Rawls

C) Hobbes

D) Marx

1. *_______ is the political view that government should be small and limited to night-watchman functions.

A) Liberalism

B) Libertarianism

C) Socialism

D) Marxism

1. _______ is a form of liberalism, the aim of which is to preserve individual liberties while ensuring the general welfare of the citizenry.

A) Socialism

B) Welfare liberalism

C) Libertarianism

D) Communism

1. *_______ is a political economic system that lets the means of production accrue to people through the workings of a free market.

A) Socialism

B) Communism

C) Capitalism

D) Welfare liberalism

1. Under _______, people are rewarded according to their needs, not by how well or how hard they work.

A) socialism

B) capitalism

C) libertarianism

D) anarchism

1. *Feminist philosophers contend that women have been left out of traditional theories of

A) epistemology.

B) metaphysics.

C) harm.

D) justice.

1. *_______ says traditional theories assume that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory.

A) David Miller

B) Susan Moller Okin

C) John Rawls

D) Wendy McElroy

1. *In The Republic, Plato argues that the only kind of society that can ensure people get their due is a

A) plutocracy.

B) democracy.

C) theocracy.

D) meritocracy.

1. *An aristocracy is a society

A) that follows Aristotle’s political theory.

B) that is ruled by the best citizens.

C) that is ruled by divinely appointed figures.

D) that protects the rights of its citizens.

1. *A system of rule by those most qualified to govern is known as a(n)

A) plutocracy.

B) democracy.

C) meritocracy.

D) oligarchy.

1. Hume criticized social contract theories on the basis that

A) there are no natural rights outside of society.

B) the veil of ignorance is impossible to use in practice.

C) the state should always aim to bring about the most happiness for its citizens.

D) social contracts are historical fictions.

1. *One common criticism of socialism is that

A) it would require the state to coerce people.

B) it is necessarily undemocratic.

C) it cannot be distinguished from communism.

D) it requires a totalitarian society.

True or False Questions

1. *Hobbes asserts that among men there is an equality of ability.

A) True

B) False

1. Hobbes says that good and evil merely refer to our desires and aversions.

A) True

B) False

1. *For Hobbes, the most reasonable form of government is a democracy.

A) True

B) False

1. *In Hobbes's view, the commonwealth must not share power with those who are governed.

A) True

B) False

1. *Locke says that even if the legislators try to take away and destroy the property of the people, the people still have an obligation to obey.

A) True

B) False

1. *Locke argues that the people should not be the judge of when revolution is warranted.

A) True

B) False

1. Locke would favor a theocracy.

A) True

B) False

1. Locke thinks that the majority has the right to rescind the rights of the minority.

A) True

B) False

1. *Rawls thinks that the principle of utility is incompatible with the conception of social cooperation among equals for mutual advantage.

A) True

B) False

1. *Rawls thinks that institutions in society can be justified on the grounds that the hardships of some people would be offset by the greater good of society as a whole.

A) True

B) False

1. Political philosophy is a descriptive discipline dedicated to uncovering the empirical facts of political systems past or present.

A) True

B) False

1. Locke's ideas heavily influenced the framers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

A) True

B) False

1. Justice refers to people getting what is fair or what is their due.

A) True

B) False

1. *Distributive justice has to do with the fair meting out of punishment to citizens for wrongdoing.

A) True

B) False

1. *The principle of entitlement says that even if people don't deserve the goods they have, they nevertheless may be entitled to them.

A) True

B) False

1. *For his republic, Plato envisions an aristocracy—not an aristocracy of the rich, landed, or well born, but of the intellectual.

A) True

B) False

1. Social contract theory is the view that justice is secured, and the state is made legitimate, through an agreement among citizens of the state or between the citizens and the rulers of the state.

A) True

B) False

1. Locke is an optimist about human nature; he thinks people are basically generous and good.

A) True

B) False

1. For Hobbes, justice is a matter of the keeping of covenants (contracts), and the only way to ensure that covenants are kept is to let the Leviathan reign.

A) True

B) False

1. *For Locke, to be in the state of nature is to be in a “war of all against all.”

A) True

B) False

1. Locke asserts the right to rebel against a government that misuses its power.

A) True

B) False

1. Rawls thinks of social contracts as very useful fictions.

A) True

B) False

1. Rawls insists that social and economic inequalities in a well-ordered society will never arise.

A) True

B) False

1. *Marx proposes a form of liberalism, what has been called “welfare liberalism.”

A) True

B) False

1. In a socialist system, wealth is controlled by the state, which allocates it for the good of the people generally.

A) True

B) False

1. Rawls claims that individual liberties ought to take precedence over the general welfare of society.

A) True

B) False

1. *The difference between classical liberalism and welfare liberalism is that only classical liberalism is compatible with private property.

A) True

B) False

1. The proletariat own the means of production and the bourgeoise do not.

A) True

B) False

Essay Questions

1. *Do you agree with Hobbes's view of human nature? Is self-interest the only motivation that people have in their dealings with one another? Why or why not?
2. Are Hobbes's absolutist view of government and democracy in conflict? Explain.
3. How do Locke's view of human nature and Hobbes' view differ? Which do you think is more accurate?
4. *Does Mills's utilitarianism conflict with the common moral principle that people have inalienable rights? Explain. Suppose the theory does conflict in this way. What should be done about this— should we reject the theory, modify it, or combine it with some other theory?
5. Which of these political theories do you think is most plausible— libertarianism, welfare liberalism, or socialism? Explain.
6. *What are social contract theories? How do they differ from autocratic theories like the divine right of kings?
7. *Critique Rawls's theory of welfare liberalism.
8. *Hobbes says that there is no such thing as justice until the Leviathan is established. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
9. *Which theory of justice do you think is better— classical liberalism or welfare liberalism? Explain.
10. *Which theory do you think is likely to produce a more just system— classical liberalism or socialism? Explain.
11. *Briefly explain why Plato is in favor of a meritocracy. What do you make of his claims? What would be some possible advantages and disadvantages of a meritocracy?
12. What does Rawls mean when he says that social contracts are a useful fiction? Do you agree or disagree with Rawls about this? Why?