Philosophy
AKP
Quiz3.docxFrom Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan: “From equality of ability, ariseth equality of hope in the attaining of our ends. And therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies […..] Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in the condition which is called WAR; and such a war, as is of every man against every man [……] In such a condition there is continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
1) The following statement is NOT presupposed in the passage above:
a) All people are essentially equal.
b) Human nature drives people to be enemies with one another.
c) The state of nature is a constant state of war.
d) Nobody can harm anyone else as long as there is equality of hope.
2) The passage implies the solution to the problem it describes for individuals living in the state of nature. That solution is:
a) Equality of ability.
b) A common power to keep them all in awe.
c) Continual fear and danger of violent death.
d) A war, as if of every man against every man.
From Jean Jacques Rousseau’s “Discourse on the Origins of Inequality among Men”: “if we consider man just as he must have come from the hands of nature, we behold in him an animal weaker than some, and less agile than others; but, taking him all round, the most advantageously organized of any. I see him satisfying his hunger at the first oak, and slaking his thirst at the first brook; finding his bed at the foot of the tree which afforded him a repast; and, with that, all his wants supplied.”
3) It follows from this passage that Rousseau believes the following:
a) Hobbes is wrong, because it’s impossible to imagine what man might be like in the state of nature. Since society exists, we can only speak about social man, not natural man.
b) Hobbes is wrong, because in the state of nature there doesn’t have to be competition and war between men. In the state of nature, man has simple needs, and they are easily satisfied.
c) Hobbes is wrong, because men are not equal or free. Some men are born to be masters and others are born to be slaves. Some men are naturally superior to all the rest.
d) Hobbes is wrong, because oak trees do not produce any edible fruit. It is therefore impossible for men to survive by eating oak.
From John Locke’s “Second Treatise on Government”: “To understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man.”
4) The following statement is NOT presupposed in the passage above:
a) Men always depend on the will of others.
b) The state of nature is a state of perfect freedom.
c) Understanding the state of nature is important in order to understand political rights.
d) Freedom includes the ability to own possessions.
From Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan: “Where there is no common power, there is no law; where no law, no injustice.”
From John Locke’s “Second Treatise on Government”: “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”
5) Which of the following best expresses the relationship between Hobbes’ and Locke’s positions?:
a) Hobbes thinks law is always a social convention, and Locke agrees.
b) Hobbes thinks law is based on the laws of nature, and Locke agrees.
c) Hobbes thinks law is always a social convention, but Locke disagrees.
d) Hobbes thinks law is based on the laws of nature, but Locke disagrees.
From Jean Jacques Rousseau’s “Discourse on the Origins of Inequality among Men”: “Above all, let us not conclude, with Hobbes, that because man has no idea of goodness, he must be naturally wicked; that he is vicious because he does not know virtue; that by virtue of the right he truly claims to everything he needs, he foolishly imagines himself the sole proprietor of the whole universe. […] There is another principle which has escaped Hobbes; which, having been bestowed on mankind, to moderate, on certain occasions, the impetuosity of egoism, or, before its birth, the desire of self-preservation, tempers the ardor with which he pursues his own welfare. I am speaking of compassion.”
6) Which of the following statements is NOT true, according to this passage:
a) Rousseau disagrees with Hobbes: Hobbes believes that man is naturally wicked, but Rousseau believes that man is naturally compassionate.
b) Rousseau disagrees with both Hobbes and Locke: Hobbes and Locke believe goodness comes from natural man’s ability to recognize the law of nature through reason, but Rousseau believes that goodness comes from the instinct of compassion.
c) Rousseau disagrees with Hobbes: Hobbes believes that man has a natural desire for self-preservation, but Rousseau believes no man truly desires to preserve himself.
d) None of the above.
