1. What term of political praise was counted as an insult through most of human history?
2. What is Liberalism's principal claim?
3. What did Jefferson consider the new constitutions' foundation?
4. The most influential and misunderstood theorist of natural equality was who?
5. What made the Enlightenment such a revolutionary force in human history?
6. What did John Adams scornfully call Thomas Young and his "gang"?
7. For what did Thomas Paine express his contempt when confronted by Adams?
8. How do deists' laws of nature differ from theologians'?
9. What kind of state is Spinoza's state of nature?
10. What kind of state may be called an Empire of Reason?
11. In what will "all good and wise men" exert themselves, according to Ethan Allen?
- Objective truths are established by evidence. Personal truths by faith. Political truths by incessant repetition.
- Has the American experiment been a success, or has history's prior judgment of democracy been vindicated?
- Are you a classic liberal? What does that mean to you?
- Do you espouse equality as a cornerstone of political justice? How do you define it?
- Was Hobbes entirely wrong to say that the source of inequality is civil law? 324
- If justice were rooted in the decrees of a supernatural deity, would it then be arbitrary and without reasons?
- "The cause of America is the cause of all mankind." Agree?
- Was Jeremy Bentham right about "nonsense on stilts"? 341
- Do we have, in principle, a "Darwinian" right to self-preservation? 342
- Is America an Empire of Reason? 347
Quiz Apr 19 - NG 8
1. According to a widely accepted view, the Enlightenment overestimates what?
2. What kind of approach to religion has probably never been attempted?
3. What, for Bruno and Spinoza, was the value of parables and prophecies?
4. Scripture is instruction for whom, for Locke?
5. What's conspicuously absent from Spinoza's popular religion?
6. To what can the relationship between popular and philosophical deism be conpared?
7. What did John Toland say about talking and thinking?
8. John Adams wavered between thinking the world either the best, or a hell, without what?
9. What, for Spinoza, made Jesus great?
10. Who did better than Jesus in moral philosophy, according to Bolingbroke?
11. When did Jefferson first begin to create his Bible?
12. What's "the safest way to protect a state," for Spinoza?
13. Popular deism's distinctive commitment was to what?
14. The main thing we can learn now, from the persistence of supernatural religion and reactionary nationalism, is what?
- In terms of utility or pragmatic benefit, would it be better to overrate human rationality or to underrate it?
- Could it ever be proved that either religion or irreligion was generally better for humans?
- When you try to "imagine no religion" (as John Lennon suggested) do you contemplate a better or worse state of human affairs?
- "Scripture teaches nothing that is opposed to the natural light." Agree?
- Is it objectionably condescending to propose one interpretation of religion for the educated, and another for the "masses"?
- Are Spinoza's "three simple teachings" an accurate representation of popular religion?
- Is it reasonable and honest to call nature "the Being that makes all things"?
- Can you imagine a popular religion in America that did not promise salvation for "right" belief?
- What are the "wrong reasons" to attend church? 403
Quiz 17 Alt Questions
ReplyDelete1. What are the most durable expressions of the utility of the social compact?
2. Who is one of the first theorists to offer a version of unalienable rights?
3. Who demanded "lands to exercise the arts of peace upon, at such rates as we can promise ourselves some recompence to our labours thereon"?
4. According to the authors of Cato's Letters, without _____, there can be no such thing as "publick Liberty".
5. What corresponds to a civil right of religious freedom?
6. In America's founding documents, what sits side by side with the philosophical language associated with the freedom of thought and religious right?
7. what did John Adams describe as the true declaration of independence?
8. The sovereignty of the people is what?
Alt. Questions Chapter 7
ReplyDelete1."From this Natural Right to the freedom of thought, Spinoza derives _______." (360)
2.What "sort" of people were involved in the Provincial Conference? (365)
3.What is the "most obvious general principle of democracy"? (371)
4.What does democracy turn to its advantage? (372)
5.What is the "most important general principle of democracy"? (372)
6.The radical philosophers said that ____, not _____, "is the source of all morality"? (374)
7."Tyranny happens when..."? (376)
8.What had to be discarded in order for human beings to acheive self-government? (389)
1. When you try to "imagine no religion" (as John Lennon suggested) do you contemplate a better or worse state of human affairs
ReplyDeleteMy first thought often goes to the idea of a better world. Fewer wars, less internal strife, less annoyance from proselytizers. It sounds great in theory, but then I remember all the good that religions does as well. Religious organizations are usually one of the first groups to be on the scene of a natural disaster offering aid. They also hold food drives, clothing drives, and other charity events. Religion causes a lot of problems, but it also brings about a lot of benefits.
2. In terms of utility or pragmatic benefit, would it be better to overrate human rationality or to underrate it?
I would say that it is better to underrate human rationality. Humans are incredibly emotional and susceptible to mob mentality. Fear, happiness, or love can completely destroy a person's ability to make rationale decisions, and so I believe the safer bet is to underrate it.
3. Has the American experiment been a success, or has history's prior judgment of democracy been vindicated?
The American experiment has been a failure. The United States is too large and politically entrenched to truly represent the people. At the point when the country ceases to be of the people, by the people, and for the people, the American experiment has certainly failed.
4. "Scripture teaches nothing that is opposed to the natural light." Agree?
Disagree. The Bible justifies slavery, rape, and other violations what we consider to be human rights.