Multiple choice exam Flashcards
(202 cards)
1
Q
What year (approximately) was Plato’s ‘The Republic’ published?
A
360 BCE
2
Q
When was the Greek Enlightenment?
A
5th / 6th century BCE
3
Q
What was born out of the Greek Enlightenment?
A
The idea of rationalism
4
Q
How many citizens did Athens have approximately?
A
40k
5
Q
When was Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’ written?
A
1513
6
Q
When was Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’ published?
A
1532
7
Q
When was Thomas More’s ‘Utopia’ published?
A
1516
8
Q
When was Machiavelli’s ‘Discourses on Livy’ published?
A
1531
9
Q
When was Machiavelli’s ‘Discourses on Livy’ written (approx.)?
A
1517
10
Q
When was the Renaissance?
A
14th - 17th century
11
Q
What was Florence thriving as?
A
A trade center
12
Q
What did the Renaissance emphasise?
A
Education, the arts, study of the classical civilisations.
13
Q
When was the Enlightenment?
A
17th century
14
Q
What was the Enlightenment?
A
New religious skepticism about religion as a base for morality, and the rise of individualism as a way of thinking
15
Q
What came out of the 17th century?
A
Concern with liberty of the individual
16
Q
When was the constitutional crisis about tax collection?
A
1630s/40s
17
Q
When was the English Civil War?
A
1642-49
18
Q
When did Locke publish the Leviathan?
A
1651
19
Q
What did Locke publish in 1651?
A
The Leviathan
20
Q
When was the Glorious Revolution?
A
1688-89
21
Q
When did Locke publish his ‘Treatises of Government’?
A
1689
22
Q
What did Locke publish in 1689?
A
‘Treatises of Government’
23
Q
When did Rousseau publish ‘The Confessions’?
A
1782
24
Q
When did Rousseau publish ‘Emile, or On Education’?
A
1762
25
When did Rousseau publish 'The Social Contract'?
1762
26
What did Rousseau publish in 1782?
'The Confessions'
27
When was 'The Manifesto of the Communist Party' published?
1848
28
When was 'On Liberty' published?
1859
29
Who wrote 'On Liberty'?
John Stuart Mill
30
When was 'A Vindication on the Rights of Woman' published?
1792
31
When was Karl Marx alive?
1818-1881
32
When was Friedrich Engels alive?
1820-1895
33
When was John Stuart Mill alive?
1806-1873
34
When was Mary Wollstonecraft alive?
1759-1797
35
When was Jean-Jacques Rousseau alive?
1712-1778
36
Who wrote 'The Social Contract'?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
37
Who wrote 'The Confessions'?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
38
When was John Locke alive?
1632-1704
39
Who wrote 'The Second Treatise of Government'?
John Locke
40
When was Thomas Hobbes alive?
1588-1679
41
Who wrote Leviathan?
Thomas Hobbes
42
When was Niccolo Machiavelli alive?
1469-1527
43
When was Plato alive?
427-347 BCE
44
What is the epistemology of 'philosophy'?
The theory of knowledge
45
What was Plato's reasoning for rejecting the philosophy of 'common sense'?
Metaphysically, material objects can also be fleeting so materialism is a false account of reality. Epistemologically, the senses can also be deceiving so we must distinguish between appearance and reality.
46
What does Plato says reason can do?
Allow us to see behind 'the veil of perception', behind the surface appearance of things
47
What kind of philosophical idealist was Plato?
An objective idealist - there can be thoughts/ideas without a thinker currently thinking of them.
48
What were Machiavelli's views on human nature?
People are entirely selfish and egotistical, and because this is our nature, the actions performed in consequence can't be evil. Human nature is beyond good and evil.
49
Who did Machiavelli agree with r.e. human nature?
Hobbes
50
What is semi-unique about Machiavelli?
He was a political amoralist - politics is also beyond good and evil.
51
What does Machiavelli's 'virtu' mean?
Prowess, the ability to control others, separate from moral virtues.
52
What does Machiavelli's 'fortuna' mean?
Refers to all the circumstances humans can't control, and was gendered female.
53
What was Machiavelli's method of enquiry? What did that make him?
A historical and empirical method of political enquiry, with no ethical ideas or moral values and therefore not a normative political theorist.
54
What were Hobbes' two basic aims?
To justify the legitimacy of the sovereign's right to rule, and to address what human life would be like without politics (the state of nature).
55
What was Hobbes' basic argument?
The state of nature would be a state of war, that could only be fixed by a (near) absolute sovereign with unlimited political authority. Individuals would accept them due to the laws of nature. Hence, an absolute sovereign is justified.
56
Who did Hobbes side with during the 17th century tensions between crown and Parliament?
Charles I
57
Where did Hobbes say the right to rule came from?
The consent of the people - after that, they'd have virtually unlimited power
58
What is the Hobbesian State of Nature?
No political authority, where individuals are governed by the 'right of nature' i.e. their own judgement to preserve their own nature.
59
How do we act in the Hobbesian State of Nature?
We use rationality to make decisions to satisfy our desires which is, most basically, self-preservation, worldly hoods and religious ideals.
60
What were Hobbes' ideas of human nature in the SoN?
Psychological egosim, people are motivated by pity or compassion.
61
How does Hobbes define power?
The 'present means to obtain some future and apparent good.
62
Why do we desire power according to Hobbes?
Materials are in short supply and the more powerful will get them. We will also desire power purely for glory.
63
What are the three sources of conflict that make the Hobbesian State of Nature into a State of War?
Competition: violence for gain.
Diffidence: violence for safety due to general distrust over competition.
Glory: violence for reputation, to show power and ability.
64
How does Hobbes describe the SoN?
'the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short [...] [a] war of every man against every man.'
65
What is the first Hobbesian Law of Nature?
Every man should seek peace when possible; when not possible, they will use war.
66
What is the second Hobbesian Law of Nature?
If there is a consensus for it, men will relinquish the first LoN in order to achieve liberty with other men.
67
What is the third Hobbesian Law of Nature?
Men will fulfil the agreements they make as they need to be accepted by society for self-preservation.
68
What is Hobbes' overall LoN?
'Do not that to another, which thou wouldest not have done to thy self.'
69
Why do we need a popular sovereign according to Hobbes?
It will ensure individuals keep their agreements (third LoN) as otherwise we will break them due to 'partiality, pride, revenge, and the like.'
70
What concepts could Plato be defined as?
A rationalist and an objective idealist
71
What is solipsism? (Plato)
If your senses can't be trusted, how we know everything we experience isn't a dream and we are actually alone in the world, the only thinking and knowing subject.
72
What was Plato's cave allegory?
A philosophy education can enlighten those who are capable of it but in a cave. However, it is only for the intellectual elite (his 'Guardians'). For them, it would be an act of liberation releasing them from mental servitude.
73
What does it mean to be a 'Slave to the Passions'?
To act on their desires with purely selfish motives and no regard for the greater good. They are no longer in control of themselves and can't act autonomously or independently. Associated with the idea of stoicism.
74
Does Plato believe in happy slavery? Why / why not?
Prisoners enslaved by their desires may be happy slaves.
75
What are Plato's thoughts on 'objective truth'?
It exists if something can apply and be valid for everyone in all societies in all places at all times, timeless and universal.
76
What were Plato's thoughts on democracy?
He opposed it, and thought Athens should return to a hierarchical and aristocratic form of government. He blamed it for the death of his friend Socrates.
77
What was Plato's division of labour?
He believed in natural inequality of skills and talent, so well-ordered societies will divide labour according to this: 'my station and its duties'.
78
What was Plato's thoughts on nature vs. nurture?
Both - humans are hard-wired from birth, and he endorsed a social structure, but he also believed in the importance of training and education.
79
What are the three traits that need to be balanced for justice in the individual (Plato)?
Reason, spirit and passion
80
What were the three classes of Plato's republic?
Guardians: rulers, make the laws in society. It is their duty and they would rather study philosophy but they need to.
Auxiliaries: the soldiers, they defend the ideal society from external threats.
Business: all those who do the work required to satisfy the economic needs of all the members of society.
81
Who was Plato's major speaker?
Socrates
82
When was Locke alive?
1632 - 1704
83
What doctrine is Locke associated with?
The doctrine of Empiricism - the view that all our knowledge comes to use through the five senses.
84
What view did Locke take during the English Revolution(s)?
Defended constitutional monarchy.
85
What principle did Locke defend?
Constitutionalism / constitutional government
86
What were Locke's views on human nature?
We are naturally self-interested, but not Hobbesianly egotistical. The SoN would not be a SoW. Humans are naturally sociable.
87
What are Locke's views on natural laws?
There is a standard of justice, of right and wrong, that is timeless and universal. This can be accessed through reason. They are a higher law, above civil law. This is an individualistic version.
88
What are Locke's 'natural rights'?
The right to life, liberty and property.
89
Why would individuals leave Locke's SoN?
SoN contains 'inconveniences' that can only be escaped by entering civil society under the authority of a limited sovereign.
90
What are Hobbes and Locke's Social contract disagreements?
Hobbes - civil sovereign is the only individual not apart of the agreement to give him unlimited power.
Locke - the sovereign is a part of the agreement so could be accused of breaking such an agreement, and is also under natural law.
91
What is Locke's 'right of resistance'?
The right of revolution if the sovereign breaks the laws of nature or infringes their subject's natural rights.
92
What is the source of sovereign's legitimacy (Locke)?
(Tacit) consent of the governed - the 'sovereignty of the people'.
93
What were Rousseau's criticisms of Locke r.e. consent?
The distinction between active and tacit consent. Rousseau endorsed active consent, and expanded the group of people who would need to consent.
94
What kind of democracy did Rousseau endorse?
Direct
95
What were Rousseau's issues with Locke's natural rights?
Property is not a natural right.
96
What conception of liberty did Locke have?
Positive - law creates and sustains liberty, preserving and enlarging it, not limiting it.
97
Was Locke a Whig or Tory?
Whig
98
What kind of liberal was Locke?
Classical Liberal
99
What were Locke's ideas of the private sphere?
Natural law defines a protected private sphere where individuals should be left at liberty to do what they want with their person and property.
100
What were Locke's views on voluntary servitude?
People could enter into an agreement of servitude with genuine consent. But voluntary servitude was an oxymoron. Our self-preservation would mean we would not voluntarily relinquish our power.
101
What does Locke associate absolutism with?
Tyranny
102
What were Locke's views on slavery?
Objected to political slavery, but not cattle slavery. He was a slave owner himself.
103
Did Hobbes think the principle of political rule in the family and in the state should be the same or different?
The same - disagreed with Locke, agreed with Plato.
104
What were Locke's views on household rule?
A male head is natural in a patriarchal family
105
When was Rousseau alive?
1712-78
106
What did Rousseau address in the 'Social Contract'?
Political morality - under what conditions are political institutions legitimate etc.
Theory of institutions - what political and social institutions are required by the principles of political morality.
107
What was Rousseau's political morality?
Political society is legitimate if it serves the common interests of citizens and preserves their freedom, and the institutions required of this sort of political society are directly democratic and egalitarian.
108
What were Rousseau's interpretations of freedom?
Individual self-determination - independence from the will of others and from one's own irrationalities. Reconciling freedom and authority. Freedom is being in control of your life, not just not having obstacles.
109
How did Rousseau think we could remain free if restrained by law?
If the law protects us from being dependent upon others, and we can regard the laws as ones we set ourselves.
110
Does Rousseau think we are naturally free?
Yes, but we are unfree because we are dependent on others and the laws aren't ones we set ourselves.
111
What was Rousseau's SoN / the natural condition of humankind?
Individuals are nomadic, resourceful, self-concerned, compassionate, free from the will of others and free from their own unruly passions.
112
What gave rise to inequality (Rousseau)?
Division of labour and trade - the strong and productive could gain more. Unequal social arrangements compel us to compete for recognition.
113
Simply put, what did Rousseau argue caused inequality?
Social development
114
What are Rousseau's necessary conditions for political legitimacy?
If every individual in society has consented; everyone must be better off in terms of personal security and needs satisfaction; everyone must remain as free as they were in the SoN.
115
4 Take Home Rousseau Points:
Project: to reconcile freedom and authority.
Critique: modern society was unfree and had alienation.
Human nature: our motivations are shaped by the social circumstances in which we live.
Ideal: social and political arrangements which advance our interests in being free and leading an authentic life.
116
What was Rousseau's social contract?
We give up all our natural rights to the community and therefore become a subject of the community's decisions. We become citizens, as each part of us becomes the sovereign. Popular sovereignty.
117
What was Rousseau's general will?
The will of the whole body of the people. The law should satisfy the needs citizens have in common. There must be formal equality, with no one above the law. Each person's interests count equally in the determination of legislation. Restrictions of material inequality.
118
What's the difference between the will of all and the general will?
Will of all takes private interest into account, whereas general will is only the common interest.
119
What does Rousseau mean by 'forced to be free'?
The community should force the individual to conform with the general will.
120
What political institutions are required by Rousseau's ideal society?
The legislature to make the law, the government to implement it, and other features of the political system and society.
121
What were Rousseau's arguments for direct democracy?
Procedural - everyone should equally participate to make the laws. Epistemic - it better achieves the realisation of the general will.
122
What is important about Rousseau's model of democracy?
People vote not on their self-interest, but instead what is in the general interest - moral motivations. There should be no factions etc. which could promote self-interested voting. Smaller societies will produce better laws.
123
What kind of government did Rousseau want?
Aristorcray p most effluence and not prone to corruption.
124
What are the three mechanisms within Rousseau's political society to change human motivation towards the common good?
The legislator - establishes society out of SoN and turns everyone into cooperating community citizens.
The censorial tribunal - preserves public morality through official ridicule and praise; condemns practices contrary to the general will.
Civil religion - the values instilled are useful for politics, rather than the theology.
125
When was Wollstonecraft alive?
1759-1797
126
What group was Wollstonecraft a part of?
The English Jacobins - radical circle in London in the 1790s that discussed the French Revolution's wrongs.
127
Who did Wollstonecraft agree with on human nature?
The Greeks
128
What were Wollstonecraft's views on human nature?
All humans everywhere are, by nature, rational and moral. We are destined by nature to live an ethical life together with others as citizens in a political society or community.
129
What did Wollstonecraft mean by 'virtue', in the context of man being a moral being destined to live a life of virtue?
Republican virtue - the virtues of citizenship. Duty and self-sacrifice for the good of others / the community.
130
Who does Wollstonecraft agree with on achieving 'happiness' (in the Greek sense of the term)?
J. S. Mill - if individuals live a life of virtue and fulfil the requirements of their human nature, only then will they be happy.
131
Who does Wollstonecraft agree with regarding republican virtue?
Rousseau
132
What things did Wollstonecraft and Rousseau both attach considerable importance to?
Political virtue, social equality, economic independence, and moral autonomy
133
Why does Wollstonecraft attach considerable importance to independence?
In society, women are infantilised and treated by men as if they are children, inferior dependent beings not on the same level as men.
134
What economic law did Wollstonecraft criticise?
The law of inheritance that prevented women from inheriting property.
135
What is the link that Wollstonecraft makes between liberty and virtue?
Virtue is when individuals do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do, rather than out of punishment or for a reward. A virtuous act must be freely taken. Therefore, liberty is an essential precondition for all virtuous actions.
136
What is Wollstonecraft's overarching political equality argument?
Women should be treated equally by men and the state. Their legal exclusion from social and political life, despite having the same faculty for reason, is an injustice.
137
What term could be used to describe Wollstonecraft and Rousseau?
Democratic Republicans
138
How did Wollstonecraft want to achieve her ideas?
Through parliamentary reform rather than revolutionary violence.
139
What primary parliamentary reforms did Wollstonecraft want to make?
Extending the rights of citizenship to women; extending the franchise towards universal adult suffrage.
140
How many male-adults didn't have the vote when Wollstonecraft was writing?
85-90%
141
What is the tension when labelling Wollstonecraft as a liberal?
She wanted to instate greater social equality and act on poverty and economic deprivation. She therefore could be closer to socialism.
142
What did the English Jacobins (incl. Wollstonecraft) think about slavery?
In the past it had not been possible to abolish slavery, but that does not mean it should be preserved. The Enlightenment has provided the opportunity to finally be rid of it.
143
What is the connection between how women are treated, and slavery (Wollstonecraft)?
They are treated simultaneously as objects of bodily desire to satisfy men's sexualities, but also are treated as animals devoid of reason. This was the justification used for slavery in the past.
144
What is the republican distinction between 'domination' and 'interference' that both Mill and Wollstonecraft argue?
Even if powerful individuals are 'good natured' and therefore don't abuse their power, they could still interfere with their subordinates if they chose to, therefore the subordinates are not actually free, autonomous, independent individuals.
145
What is 'enlightened/benevolent despotism', that Rousseau, Mill and Wollstonecraft address?
Freedom can only be properly understood when powerful individuals can't interfere in the freedom of others even if they wanted to.
146
What are Wollstonecraft's views on happy slavery?
Women who have unjustly enslaved by men (within society generally or in a marriage) may be content with their lot and therefore accept their own subordinate position. Wollstonecraft thinks these women lack virtue and/or courage, they are idle pleasure seekers and they betray the cause for all of humanity.
147
Wollstonecraft agrees that relationships between men and women, husbands and wives, are based on consent, but what limitation to this does she provide?
It is a false consent as a result of false consciousness and ideological manipulation, likely caused by women's education.
148
What do both Locke and Rousseau reject?
'Voluntary slavery' - an oxymoron
149
What does Wollstonecraft say on hedonism / being 'a slave to the passions'?
It happens when the egoistic pursuit of pleasure, sensual gratification and desire, distracts us from the path of virtue. Virtuous conduct always involves dutiful self-restrain and suppression of the ego for the sake of the political community.
150
What link does Wollstonecraft make between hedonism and slavery, that Rousseau agrees with?
The egoistic effort to base life solely on the gratification of bodily desires involves a form of slavery as their actions aren't free due to being driven / determined by their desires.
151
What does Wollstonecraft say of education and virtue?
Education should be for virtue
152
What does Wollstonecraft say on the relationship between rule in the family and rule in the state? Who does she agree with?
The principle of rule in the household and in the state ought to be one and the same. She agrees with Plato and Hobbes on this.
153
What kind of rule does Wollstonecraft argue?
Constitutional rule - participatory decision making based on the principle of consent and mutual respect among equals. As Locke and Rousseau do, she opposed arbitrary government and tyranny.
154
Who argues that the principle of rule in household and state is / ought to be different?
Locke and Rousseau
155
What kind of feminism is Wollstonecraft generally associated with?
Liberal feminism
156
What ideology does Wollstonecraft also associate with?
Anarchism - she equates any form of authority with authoritarianism. She also opposed coercive punishment.
157
Why would radical feminists criticise Wollstonecraft?
She is an essentialist humanist, focusing on men and women's similarities, valuing women because they are human rather than just because they were women.
158
When was Mill alive?
1806 - 1873
159
What does Mill claim to be?
A utilitarian thinker
160
What are Mill's views on human nature?
Influenced by the Greeks, he emphasises human's faculty for reason, intelligence, morality, culture, art, etc.
161
What is Mill's distinction between higher pleasures and lower pleasures?
It is better to pursue the 'higher' pleasures e.g. poetry and be dissatisfied, than be content pursuing 'lower' pleasures like pin ball. This is because it involves virtuous self-restraint.
162
How does Mill reinterpret utilitarianism from Bentham's?
Paternalistic tone - claims people have certain objective interests they may not be subjectively aware of.
163
What does Mill assume is the same thing as happiness?
Well-being
164
What is Mill's harm principle?
The state only has a right to legally restrain individuals when they harm others - all other actions are private matters and ought not to be regulated by the state.
165
What is the criticism of Mill's harm principle?
How it is to be established whether someine was legitimately 'harmed' by another - they could claim to have been hurt, yet who decides whether they actually were?
166
What were Mill's Three Basic Freedoms?
Freedom of thought: conscience and expression.
Freedom of action: 'liberty of tastes and pursuits'.
Freedom of association
167
What was Mill's freedom of thought: conscience and expression?
A free society should let people think and say as they please as long as they don't harm others e.g. opposed to censorship, endorsed freedom of religion.
168
What was Mill's freedom of action: 'liberty of tastes and pursuits'?
In a free society, individuals should be left to live as they please if they respect the harm principle, e.g. being homosexual.
169
What was Mill's 'freedom of association'?
In a free society, individuals should and would be left free by the state to form groups and associations for the collective pursuit of common interests.
170
What kind of thinker was Mill?
A consequentialist
171
What is Mill criticised for assuming?
Freedom is what makes people truly happy.
172
What does Mill claim is the most important thing?
Happiness - freedom is just the means to this end.
173
What are Mill's views on 'happy slavery'?
'Happy slavery' is an oxymoron. Liberty is an essential precondition for happiness.
174
What does Mill argue would maximise freedom?
Minimising law - a minimal state
175
What would Mill's ideal states' only three functions be?
Protecting people, protecting property, enforcing contracts.
176
What are the three tenets of Mill's liberalism?
Small state, maximum liberty, large private sphere.
177
What were Mill's economic hallmarks of a free society?
Laissez faire economics and free trades. The law shouldn't regulate the economy.
178
What form of liberty did Mill agree with?
Negative liberty - doing what one wants
179
What did Mill think were the dangers of democracy?
Might lead to class legislation by the majority of voters who don't own property and therefore mandate it should be redistributed. This would be a tyranny of the majority.
180
What kind of representation did Mill endorse?
Proportional representation, where the educated elite have more input into the electoral process. This is therefore paternalistic.
181
What were Mill's views on slavery?
He opposed slavery on moral grounds, but didn't criticise colonialism and intend supported the British Empire.
182
What was central to Mill's critique of slavery?
The idea of historical and moral progress meaning it can be abolished now.
183
When was Marx alive?
1818-83
184
What did Marx call the first phase of the industrial revolution (1760-1830) that transformed Britain from an agrarian capitalist to an industrial capitalist economy?
The age of 'manufacturing capital'.
185
What did Marx call the second phase of Industrial Revolution, where production was oriented towards coal, iron and steal and based on steam power?
'Industrial capitalism'
186
What are Marx's three types of mode of production?
Ancient, feudal and capitalist
187
What could Marx be described as?
A technological determinist
188
What did Marx believe caused superstructural events?
Underlying economic causes, specifically developments in productive technology.
189
Why does Marx argue the contract of employment is a forced one?
Individuals can't choose not to work - there is a power imbalance that influence the agreement terms.
190
How does Marx define capitalism?
An economic system associated with production of commodities by wage labour, for sale in a market, resulting in profit being made for the employers of labour.
191
What was Marx's General Formula for Capitalist production and Reproduction?
Capital + Surplus Value (Profit) = Expanded Capital
C + S = C + C∆
192
What do marx and Adam Smith agree on?
The labour theory of value
193
What is Marx's labour theory of value?
The value of a commodity is determined by the amount of 'socially necessary labour time' (SNLT) going into its production. Human labour is the source of all value and it's 'added' to the raw materials.
194
hat is Marx's distinction between earned and unearned income?
earned = wages, salaries
Unearned = profits, rents, dividends, interest payments. It all derives from the surplus-value. Makes them parasites.
195
What is Marx's definition of 'exploitation'?
It is an economic category, addressing the issue of 'living off the labour of others' and therefore must be used in a purely economic context.
196
What is Marx's definition of 'oppression'?
Associated with coercion.
197
What does Marx describe his approach as?
Scientific
198
What is the connection between capitalism and economic crises?
Happens every 7-10 years, a cycle of underconsumption, overproduction and capital accumulation.
199
How will Marx's class conciousness come about?
Spontaneously as a consequence of the historical development of capitalism and the increased socialisation of production associated with it. Other times, Marx and Engels argues it requires education by the Communist party.
200
How does Marx describe the state?
An executive committee for managing the common affairs of the entire bourgeoise, and an instrument of class oppression.
201
Why does Marx say there can be no parliamentary road to socialism?
A democratically elected government would be unable to abolish capitalism bevause of vested interests. Therefore, violent revolution is necessary.
202
What were Marx and Engels' criticisms of utopianism?
It is hopelessly impractical, romantic or sentimental. No genuine understanding of capitalism.
