On Liberty Quizzes

On Liberty Quiz 1

By Amanda Austin · Last reviewed June 23, 2000

1 Mill believes that the worst type of tyranny is:

tyranny of the government

tyranny of the majority

tyranny of the minority

tyranny of the rich
2 How does Mill view a democracy?

what more countries need

a puppet regime for fascists

as the power of the people over themselves

ineffective because minorities are still omitted
3 Who was Mill's self-proclaimed biggest supporter?

His wife, Harriet Taylor

Jeremy Bentham

The King of England

his father, the utilitarian James Mill
4 Where was Mill from?

England

France

United States of America

Germany
5 Society can impose its influence on individuals if:

an individual is a risk to others

never, no matter what

they deem it necessary

an individual is putting himself in danger
6 Who should not be independent of society's rule?

minorities

children and undeveloped minds

women

everyone
7 If a person is able to, and does not stop harm from coming to another, is he/she responsible?

yes

no

n/a

n/a
8 Society, as Mill sees it, encourages:

violence

conformity

poverty

uniqueness
9 An opinion should be heard if it is:

wrong

right

intelligent

all of the above, any opinion should be heard
10 The majority opinion is not necessarily right because:

the majority is always wrong

they have no absolute certainty; they need to listen to others

they are of a lower, less intelligent class

the majority is trying to hurt the minority
11 Looking at past events indicates:

hindsight can show public opinion to be faulty

the minority deserves to be silenced

the government should be the sole decision-making body

public opinion is always right
12 Mill believes that an individual's belief in God:

should indicate insincerity

means that he/she is trustworthy

indicates a moral superiority to others

means nothing about his/her opinion
13 To Mill, Marcus Aurelius is an example of:

a great man, although a persecutor of Christianity

a religious zealot who embodied important principles

an atheist who was morally lacking

an agnostic priest
14 The Calvinistic theory, with which Mill disagrees, is:

all people are created equal

government is to be trusted

each individual should be autonomous

whatever is not a duty, is a sin
15 To Mill, eccentricity breeds:

chaos

idleness

genius

problems
16 If people are allowed to pursue their strong desires, Mill thinks society as a whole will become:

greedier

happier

fatigued

more sinister
17 To Mill, society and individuals in status quo is:

horrible, the stagnant conditions make the economy decline.

better, they don't have to worry about change

fine, it doesn't matter because the state will function the same no matter what

dangerous, no new ideas or new truths are discovered
18 Does Mill agree with Locke that entering society is like entering a contract with your fellow citizens?

n/a

no

n/a

yes
19 According to Mill, should a person be coerced into changing his/her self-regarding actions?

yes, a person has to be protected from his/herself

no, coercion cannot be employed when dealing with self-regarding actions, only suggestion

no, he/she can't be coerced, they should be forced

yes, no action is completely self-regarding
20 In Millian thought, a drunk man should be punished by society if:

he doesn't have a family

he's in public

he's too drunk to be intelligible

he's shirking a essential duty that would help society
21 If children grow up to be irrational adults, who is chiefly to blame, according to Mill?

that irrational person

parents

religious leaders

society
22 A sin tax, to Mill is a

good idea, it's the lesser of two evils

bad idea, it's an intolerable infringement on liberty

good idea, it's taxing what no one uses anyway

bad idea, it's an instrument of greedy vendors
23 The day of Sabbath should be:

observed if one wishes, for nonreligious people, any day may be taken to rest

observed by all, it's a sacred day for the majority

never observed, it's part of the majority's tyranny

not taken by those who aren't Christian
24 In Mill's opinion, individual autonomy:

should be complete and total regardless of what an individual chooses to do

is worthless, that's what the government is for

is against the instincts of individuals

is against the instincts of society
25 Warning others of a person's propensity to harm others is:

needless, they'll find out

a awful thing to do

only applicable if the harm is murder

a duty

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