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| An Objectivist Quiz Choose the best answer ... 1. It's best to envision man as a) compassionate b) flawed c) frail d) a hero e) a victim 2. The universe is a) dangerous b) an enemy c) a helpful friend d) knowable e) a mystery 3. The "good" is something that a) exists independently of man b) is different for everyone c) minimizes pain and suffering d) comes from God e) exists in relation to man 4. The moral purpose of your life should be a) service to a greater good b) to minimize pain and suffering c) to please God d) your happiness e) your immediate, short-term interests 5. The noblest activity would be a) opportunism b) practicing humility c) prayer d) productive achievement e) sacrifice 6. Reason is something that is a) absolute b) the antithesis of emotion c) helpful only part of the times d) relative e) used by all life forms 7. Man knows things by a) feeling b) intuition c) reason d) remembering (innate ideas) e) revelation 8. Perception is a) reality (naive realism) b) reality (subjectivism) c) a direct pickup of environmental variance d) distorting (because it's "processed" knowledge) e) indirect (sense data theory) 9. The ideal social system is a) anarcho-libertarianism (rule by the market) b) benevolent despotism (rule by the wise and compassionate) c) laissez-faire capitalism (constitutional republic) d) a mixed economy (rule by bureaucracy) e) full democracy (rule of the mob) 10. Philosophy meets our need of a) competition (as in debates) b) contemplation c) entertainment/distraction d) a framework for action e) self-expression 11. Philosophic axioms are a) an antidote to the arbitrary b) intrinsic knowledge c) true but insufficiently useful d) true but irrelevant e) true but overrated 12. Existence is a) meaningful apart from identity b) expressed only through identity c) relative d) intrinsic e) subjective (because only particulars exist) 13. Causality is a) overrated b) a useful fiction c) an unknowable intrinsic d) identity in action e) relative 14. Consciousness is a) subjective (it creates existence) b) subjective (it interprets existence) c) more powerful when shared by a group d) more powerful when coming from God e) objective identification 15. The mind is a) part of the body b) an entity unto itself c) an aspect of man d) an aspect of God in man e) a useful fiction 16. Concepts are a) intrinsic knowledge b) subjective (because of always being formed by individuals, each with their own unique, perceptual histories with the world) c) what allow for human objectivity d) relative e) objects inside our minds, rather than a method of awareness used by our minds 17. Definitions are a) objective, factual, and necessary b) relative c) limiting d) subjective e) intrinsic (unrelated to our level of knowledge) 18. Rationality is a) the volitional use of logic b) computation (including the non-volitional computation of a computer) c) present whenever any living thing's behavior is modified by environmental cues d) a pipe dream (because we're emotional) e) the short-sighted, narrow-minded behavior predicted by philsophically-bankrupt economists and game theorists 19. Justice is best served by a) deterrance (it reforms society by setting harsh examples out of the first criminals caught) b) mercy (because mercy for predators is not injustice to victims) c) reform (by making the punishment fit the man) d) restitution (because it makes the victim feel better) e) retribution (where a wrong is righted because the punishment fits the crime) 20. Pride is a) building the kind of character, through habitual action, that makes your life worth sustaining and underlies all other achievement (a recognition of your psychological continuity) b) morally optional c) something that goes before a fall d) haughty and arrogant e) sinful 21. Altruism is a) kindness, goodwill, and respect for the rights of others b) about helping others c) about sacrificing yourself d) what God wants from us e) needed for authentic benevolence or good will among men 22. Individual rights are a) useful fictions b) relative (dictators don't violate anyone's rights because they're acting in a social system that doesn't conceptually acknowledge them in the first place; and conceptual acknowledgement is required for individual rights to exist) c) metaphysical requirements for human success and happiness d) not required (we can be successful and happy without them) e) rights to the product of the efforts of others (rights to enslave) 23. Morality is a) required for success in the world b) God-given c) whatever you want it to be d) a useful fiction e) only important when dealing with others 24. The use of force or fraud when dealing with others is a) often necessary b) evil, but practical c) destructive to the condition of freedom needed by man to think and succeed d) okay when it's done by the government e) inevitable because of intrinsic human defects or conflicts of interest 25. Being a hero requires a) moving mountains b) others' viewing you as a hero (in their eyes) c) outcompeting others d) progressively living truer to your own highest values e) moral perfection | ||||
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