Unit 8: Optional theme — Social philosophy
Topic 8.1: Social structures and institutions Questions
Practice 20 exam-style questions for IB Philosophy Topic 8.1. Review the question stems below, then unlock the full Question Bank to access markschemes, model answers, and AI grading.
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Aristotle's 'a beast or a god' line means that someone who needed no community at all would be:
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Individualism (e.g. Hobbes) answers the question by picturing:
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Fill the gap: formal structures hold together by written rule and enforcement, while informal ones hold by shared ______ and expectation.
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Which pair are both FORMAL social structures?
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Fill the gap: the sharpest challenge to a traditional institution is to show it isn't natural but ______ — because then it can be remade.
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True or false? Calling the family the 'primary' institution means it is the biggest and most powerful of all institutions.
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Fill the gap: Aristotle called humans '______ animals' — beings made to live in a community, the polis.
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A 'social structure' is best described as:
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Calling the family the 'primary' social institution means it is:
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The 'top-band move' when challenging a traditional institution is to argue that it:
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To ask whether we are 'social by nature' is to ask whether:
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The strongest problem for individualism is that:
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True or false? A social structure is basically the building where an institution meets.
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Friendship counts as an INFORMAL structure because it:
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Aristotle called humans 'political animals' because he thought that:
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Wollstonecraft's challenge to traditional marriage and education was that they:
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The puzzle about institutions being 'agents' is that:
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A social INSTITUTION (rather than just a structure) is:
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True or false? Aristotle thought a human could flourish completely alone, with no community at all.
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'Institutions shape us AND we shape them' means that:
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