Philosophy Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
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- In Plato's allegory of the cave, what do the chained prisoners see on the wall in front of them?
- A. Statues of the gods
- B. The sun's reflection in water
- C. Projected shadows
- D. Cave paintings
- Which Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher wrote the 'Meditations' in his tent during military campaigns?
- A. Nero
- B. Hadrian
- C. Marcus Aurelius
- D. Caligula
- Contrary to his party-loving reputation, what did the Greek philosopher Epicurus actually advocate?
- A. Simple pleasures and freedom from disturbance
- B. Banquets and drunkenness
- C. Total renunciation of pleasure
- D. Wealth as life's goal
- Which Genevan philosopher published 'The Social Contract' in 1762, opening with 'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains'?
- A. Voltaire
- B. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- C. Montesquieu
- D. Denis Diderot
- What does Immanuel Kant call the unconditional moral command: 'Act only according to the maxim you could will to become a universal law'?
- A. The categorical imperative
- B. The social contract
- C. The will to power
- D. The wager
- According to Blaise Pascal's famous 'wager', why is it reasonable to bet that God exists?
- A. Science has proven it
- B. Most people believe it
- C. There is little to lose and infinite happiness to gain
- D. Doubt is forbidden
- In his 'Meditations', what does Descartes call the powerful, cunning being that could deceive him about absolutely everything?
- A. Laplace's demon
- B. Maxwell's demon
- C. The evil demon
- D. The lame devil
- Which French philosopher turned down the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964?
- A. Albert Camus
- B. Henri Bergson
- C. Bertrand Russell
- D. Jean-Paul Sartre
- According to Schopenhauer, life swings like a pendulum between suffering and… what?
- A. Joy
- B. Anger
- C. Boredom
- D. Glory
- Which moral doctrine, defended by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, aims for 'the greatest happiness of the greatest number'?
- A. Stoicism
- B. Existentialism
- C. Utilitarianism
- D. Cynicism
- Which Scottish philosopher showed that no logic proves the sun will rise tomorrow (the 'problem of induction')?
- A. Adam Smith
- B. John Locke
- C. David Hume
- D. George Berkeley
- Which school did Aristotle found in Athens, whose name is now used for secondary schools in several languages?
- A. The College
- B. The Gymnasium
- C. The Lyceum
- D. The Academy
- According to an anecdote told by Plato, who mocked Thales after he fell into a well while gazing at the stars?
- A. A shepherd
- B. A Thracian servant girl
- C. Socrates
- D. His own wife
- According to Aristotle, where does virtue generally lie?
- A. In the golden mean between two extremes
- B. In giving up all pleasure
- C. In obeying the gods
- D. In piling up wealth
- Which English philosopher compared a newborn's mind to a "blank slate" with no innate ideas?
- A. Thomas Hobbes
- B. David Hume
- C. John Locke
- D. George Berkeley
- Which German thinker wrote "The Communist Manifesto" (1848) with Friedrich Engels?
- A. Hegel
- B. Max Weber
- C. Karl Marx
- D. Feuerbach
- Which Enlightenment philosopher set out the separation of powers in "The Spirit of the Laws" (1748)?
- A. Voltaire
- B. Montesquieu
- C. Rousseau
- D. Diderot
- Which friend of Montaigne wrote the "Discourse on Voluntary Servitude" around 1550, asking why peoples obey tyrants?
- A. Rabelais
- B. Étienne de La Boétie
- C. Calvin
- D. Erasmus
- According to tradition, where did the philosopher Diogenes of Sinope live?
- A. In a cave
- B. In a barrel
- C. In a hollow tree
- D. On a small boat
- According to Albert Camus, how should we imagine Sisyphus, eternally pushing his boulder?
- A. Happy
- B. Desperate
- C. Defeated
- D. Furious
Answer key — Philosophy Quiz
- C. Projected shadowsChained since childhood, they take shadows for reality. For Plato, the philosopher is the one who breaks free and climbs towards the light…
- C. Marcus AureliusWritten in Greek and never meant for publication, his notes urge us to distinguish what depends on us from what does not.
- A. Simple pleasures and freedom from disturbanceFor Epicurus, happiness is ataraxia: freedom from mental disturbance and bodily pain.
- B. Jean-Jacques RousseauRousseau grounds the legitimacy of power in the people's 'general will'.
- A. The categorical imperativeFor Kant, an action is moral if we can will everyone to act the same way.
- C. There is little to lose and infinite happiness to gainPascal applies gambler's reasoning: if God exists, you win everything; if not, you have lost almost nothing.
- C. The evil demonThis extreme hypothesis is used to doubt everything… until one certainty emerges: even if deceived, I think, therefore I am.
- D. Jean-Paul SartreSartre did not want a writer to let himself be 'turned into an institution'.
- C. BoredomWhen our desires are unmet, we suffer; when they are met, we get bored.
- C. UtilitarianismFor utilitarians, an action is good if it increases total well-being.
- C. David HumeWe believe the sun will rise because it always has: that is habit, not proof.
- C. The LyceumAristotle taught while walking along the Lyceum's paths, hence the name 'Peripatetics' given to his followers.
- B. A Thracian servant girlShe teased him for wanting to know the sky without seeing what was at his feet.
- A. In the golden mean between two extremesIn the "Nicomachean Ethics", courage, for example, is the mean between cowardice and recklessness.
- C. John LockeFor John Locke ("An Essay Concerning Human Understanding", 1690), all our ideas come from experience.
- C. Karl MarxThe Manifesto opens with "A spectre is haunting Europe" and ends with "Workers of the world, unite!".
- B. MontesquieuMontesquieu distinguishes legislative, executive and judicial power: "power must check power".
- B. Étienne de La BoétieFor La Boétie, a tyrant only has the power people give him: "Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed."
- B. In a barrelIt was actually a large clay jar (a pithos). Diogenes lived there to show that one can do without almost everything.
- A. HappyIt is the last line of The Myth of Sisyphus (1942): 'One must imagine Sisyphus happy.' For Camus, the struggle itself is enough to fill a human heart, even in the face of the absurd.