Chapter 8 Quiz

15 questions. Mix of multiple choice, short answer, and applied analysis.

Part A: Multiple Choice (1 point each)

1. According to Locke's natural rights theory, which of the following best describes the relationship between rights and government?

a) Government creates rights by establishing civil law
b) Rights are whatever a democratic majority agrees upon
c) Rights pre-exist government and government exists to protect them
d) Rights are purely legal constructs with no pre-political existence

2. H.L.A. Hart's legal positivism holds that:

a) Law must conform to natural moral standards to be valid
b) Rights are whatever the legal system recognizes, regardless of moral content
c) Civil disobedience is always morally impermissible
d) The social contract creates binding obligations on all citizens

3. Kant's grounding of rights is best described as:

a) Rights derive from human nature as discovered through empirical observation
b) Rights flow from the capacity for rational self-legislation; to violate them is to treat persons as mere means
c) Rights are the product of hypothetical agreement behind a veil of ignorance
d) Rights exist only within legal systems that formally recognize them

4. In MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail," which of the following is NOT listed as a criterion for legitimate civil disobedience?

a) The law being broken must be clearly unjust
b) Legal remedies must have been exhausted
c) The majority must be persuaded of the injustice before acting
d) The actor must accept the legal consequences

5. Thoreau's position in "Civil Disobedience" is best characterized as:

a) The law is always binding on citizens until changed through democratic process
b) Individual conscience is the ultimate moral authority and can override unjust law
c) Civil disobedience is justified only when nonviolent and open
d) Rights are derived from social contracts and governments can revoke them

6. Gandhi's concept of satyagraha differs from purely strategic nonviolence in that:

a) It permits violence in extreme circumstances
b) It is a form of moral witness, requiring that the practitioner act from love rather than hatred
c) It requires governmental permission before disobedience is undertaken
d) It is primarily concerned with electoral political change

7. The "diffusion of responsibility" mechanism in bystander effect research refers to:

a) The tendency for individuals to become more aggressive in groups
b) The psychological process by which each bystander assumes someone else will intervene
c) The legal principle that distributes liability across multiple parties
d) Habermas's theory of communicative rationality in public discourse

8. According to DeGeorge's framework, whistleblowing becomes morally required (rather than merely permitted) when:

a) Any law has been technically violated, regardless of severity
b) You have strong reason to believe public disclosure will actually prevent serious harm
c) Your employer has asked you to keep information confidential
d) You are personally harmed by the activity you are reporting

9. Rawls's "veil of ignorance" thought experiment is designed to:

a) Demonstrate that moral knowledge is impossible
b) Identify principles of justice that rational persons would choose without knowing their own position in society
c) Show that rights are always reducible to legal facts
d) Argue that civil disobedience is never fully justified

10. The natural law tradition's key practical advantage over legal positivism is:

a) It produces clearer, more consistent legal outcomes
b) It provides grounds for morally criticizing and refusing to comply with unjust laws
c) It eliminates disagreement about the content of rights
d) It requires no reference to religion or metaphysics

Part B: Short Answer (5 points each)

11. Explain the difference between Hobbes and Locke within the social contract tradition. How does each thinker's account of the state of nature affect what rights they believe individuals retain under government?

Suggested length: 100–150 words

12. The free speech debate often frames itself as "rights vs. harm." Explain why a philosophically careful analysis reveals that rights are actually on both sides of this debate.

Suggested length: 100–150 words

13. Why is "accepting legal consequences" philosophically central to MLK's theory of civil disobedience — not just a practical concession? What does it demonstrate about the disobedient's relationship to law?

Suggested length: 100–150 words

Part C: Applied Analysis (10 points each)

14. A group of climate activists has chained themselves to the entrance of a government building to protest what they believe is inadequate action on climate change. They were arrested. Using MLK's four criteria, assess whether this action constitutes legitimate civil disobedience. You do not need to agree that it does or doesn't — you need to apply the framework rigorously.

Suggested length: 200–300 words

15. You are a nurse at a hospital. You have discovered that a supervising physician is systematically over-prescribing opioids in ways that you believe are harming patients. You have raised it with your direct supervisor and were told to "let the doctors handle their own practice." No action has been taken. Identify: (a) which rights are in tension, (b) whether DeGeorge's criteria for whistleblowing are met, and (c) what you believe you are morally obligated to do.

Suggested length: 200–300 words

Answer Key (Instructor Use)

1. c
2. b
3. b
4. c
5. b
6. b
7. b
8. b
9. b
10. b

Short answer and applied analysis questions should be evaluated based on: - Accurate use of terminology from the chapter - Identification of the key tensions rather than one-sided treatment - Quality of reasoning and evidence from the text - For Q14–15: rigor of framework application, not conclusion reached