Final exam review

Question 1

Define Immanuel Kant’s “The Categorical Imperative”

Answer 1

When you take action, the rule or principle that guides that action should be the rule/principle that you would want everybody to act by

Question 2

Two fundamental principles of classical liberalism

Answer 2

limited government involvement in commercial affairs; and limited government and church involvement in personal affairs

Question 3

significance of the Treaty of Westphalia

Answer 3

it signified the adoption of the concept of non intervention in the internal affairs of states bu other states. Acknowledgement of this right of state sovereignty helped establish a long period of stability in war torn Europe.

Question 4

Key 3 watchwords for enlightenment thinkers?

Answer 4

Reason
Progress
Nature

Question 5

According to Jefferson, what is the consequence of the Law if it allows “… my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no gods”

Answer 5

“It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

Question 6

Enlightenment conception of historical time

Answer 6

Time was progressive, in a sense that things were always getting better and knowledge and enlightenment were always increasing

Question 7

What metaphysical position does a deist hold

Answer 7

That the Creator of the universe is rational, and created a thoroughly rational universe, and therefore never again had to intervene in the universe after its creation.

Question 8

What was Thomas Hobbes view of nature?

Answer 8

rational but fundamentally concerned with self preservation

Question 9

What was Jefferson’s distinction between natural rights and civil rights

Answer 9

Natural rights were rights given by virtue of being human beings. Civil rights were laws that we legislate to try and codify those natural laws so our government can identify them and protect them.

Question 10

What is the actual instrument for realizing or defining the limits “limits” involved in Classical Liberalism?

Answer 10

A constitution

Question 11

In his letter to Nehemiah Dodge of the Danbury Baptist Association Thomas Jefferson quotes part of the First Amendment, which says “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Jefferson said that this showed that the constitution…

Answer 11

built a wall of separation between church and state

Question 12

What are the two fundamental principles of a democracy

Answer 12

The majority rules; minority rights must be protected

Question 13

What was the origin of the use of the terms “left” and “right” to designate political posittions

Answer 13

during the first days of the french revolution, deputies of the French Assembly who wanted drastic change sat on the left side of the hall and those who wanted only moderate reform sat on the right side.

Question 14

Charles Darwin is correctly credited with originating what theory

Answer 14

The theory of natural selection

Question 15

What is the root of socialism? And why was the word used to designate the left wing and anti capitalist movement of the 1800’s

Answer 15

This signified the original idea that society as a whole needed to take over ownership and control of all wealth and all things that produce wealth

Question 16

Example of a public good

Answer 16

A flood control system

Question 17

According to Marx, the history of all society up to his time is the history of

Answer 17

struggles between social classes

Question 18

What are the main principles behind Ultilitarianism

Answer 18

Maximize happiness for the greatest number of people; minimize pain for the greatest number of people

Question 19

According to Goldman, what 3 elements of the contemporary world represent the stronghold of man’s enslavement

Answer 19

Religion
property
government

Question 20

According to Marx the social class which controlled society was that class which also controlled what?

Answer 20

the means of production

Question 21

In her essay minorities vs majorities what is the main point that Goldman tries to make

Answer 21

That although it is true that the masses are oppressed, the masses also oppress the free in spirit and this needs to be fought and challenged

Question 22

What was the issue in the Scopes Trial?

Answer 22

Whether John Scopes violated the Tennessee law by teaching Darwinian theories of evolution

Question 23

Which group was social Darwinism most popular?

Answer 23

Industrialist, entrepreneurs and their champions popularized social Darwinism in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Question 24

Who is accredited with originating the phrase Survival of the fittest?

Answer 24

Herbert Spencer (social Darwinist)

Question 25

What does Emma Goldman’s initial essay “Anarchism” start off with

Answer 25

a poem

Question 26

reductio ad absurdum argument?

Answer 26

appeal to extremes. An argument that attempts to establish by showing the opposite scenario would lead to absurdity or contradiction

Question 27

What does Totalitarianism mean?

Answer 27

Its a particular category of dictatorship wherein every aspect of life is permeated by the ideological control of the regime in power

Question 28

Describe the Lenin Theory of the Vanguard Party

Answer 28

Since many workers do not realize their revolutionary potential it is up to those workers who do understand the need for revolution along with intellectuals and others to form a party that will lead the workers to revolution.

Question 29

How did the great depression change american attitudes toward government

Answer 29

suddenly one out of four workers were out of work, and another quarter were underemployed. this had to be the result of events beyond their control, that only a starter national government could help put right.

Question 30

What did the symbol of the communist party symbolize?

Answer 30

it symbolized the industrial workers and peasants united in the revolution

Question 31

what does Russell Kirk feel about ideology

Answer 31

he feels that all ideologies as such substitute passion for reason and foster intolerance, even though some might be less dangerous than others

Question 32

In the discussion of “The Ten Conservative Principles” Kirk lists the principle of variety. what did variety encapsulate?

Answer 32

for preservation of a healthy diversity in any civilization there must be orders and classes , differences in material condition and many sorts of inequality.

Question 33

Who was a major revolutionary who opposed Lenin’s additions to revolutionary Marxist theory?

Answer 33

Rosa Luxenbourg

Question 34

Russell Kirk says one of the most urgent tasks for conservatives who are concerned with moral order, and the survival of high culture is to…?

Answer 34

repair the religious perception of what we humans of what we truly are by the restoration of true learning both scientific and religiously humane.

Question 35

Why did the Italian fascist symbol choose their symbol?

Answer 35

The axe represents the nation; the rods are the people who, when bound together cannot be easily broken the way that individual rods can be.

Question 36

What argument is Kirk making in his “Behemoth State: Centralization,” essay?

Answer 36

that the national government in the U.S. is now overreaching and making laws and policies even on little things that ought to be left to state and local government.

Question 37

Mussolini organized his Fascist State on the assumption that the Nation mist not be divided by different factions, interests, and sectors which are often in conflict with each other. To solve this problem, he organized each sector of society into State controlled associations. Any differences and the state mediated the claims and disputes, and decided on the solution. what was the name for this aspect of the system?

Answer 37

Corporatism

Question 38

10 conservative principles (kirk)

Answer 38

1) conservatives believe that there is an enduring moral order. Human nature is constant and moral truths are permanent
2) conservatism adheres to custom, convention and continuity
3) principle of prescription
4) conservatives are guided by the principles of prudence
5) conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety
6) chastened by their principle of imperfectability
7) freedom and property are closely linked
8) uphold voluntary community while opposing involuntary collectivism
9) perceives the need for prudent restraint upon power and human passions
10) permanent and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society