Trivia

Philosophy

Crash Course

1.'The unexamined life is not worth living'. Who said it?
*Cato
*Julius Caesar
*&Aristotle
*Socrates
2.'The Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged' are examples of what philosophy?
*Objectivism
*Paganism
*Nihilism
*Epicureanism
3.The philosophy that praises something which provides 'the greatest good for the greatest number of people' is known by what name?
*Transcendentalism
*Stoicism
*Dialectical Materialism
*Utilitarianism
4.The concept of 'divide and rule' was popularised by ...?
*Napoleon
*Cesare Borgia
*Alexander
*Machiavelli
5.The 'categorical imperative' is most closely associated with which philosopher?
*Nietzsche
*Santayana
*Hume
*Kant
6.The only 'true law' requires an individual to use 'right reason' so that he is in harmony with nature. To whom does this relate?
*Seneca
*Aeschylus
*Sophocles
*Cicero
7.The branch of philosophy which deals with questions and issues of knowledge is known by what name?
*Eschatology
*Metaphysics
*Aesthetics
*Epistemology
8.Speaking of knowledge, who said: 'I think, therefore I exist'?
*Hegel
*Descartes
*Hobbes
*Spinoza
9.The idea that 'Hell is other people' is an existentialist thought that was dramatized in a play by what philosopher?
*Sartre
*Heidegger
*Camus
*Kierkegaard
10.The phrase 'deus ex machina' refers to:
*Unrelenting and inexorable Fate
*Divine rescue in the nick of time
*Man's unending burdens in Life
*The consequences of Original Sin
11.After having written (supposedly) the final book on philosophy, which philosopher quit his profession to become a village school teacher?
*Friedrich Nietzsche
*Ludwig Wittgenstein
*Immanuel Kant
*David Hume
12.'Peter is a real liar.' 'How do you know ?' 'Well, I don't trust the way he looks.' - This line of reasoning is called
*argument ad hominem
*argument ad nauseam
*reductio ad absurdum
*circular argument
13.Which two philosophers never met?
*David Hume and Immanuel Kant
*Karl Popper and Michel Foucault
*Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein
*Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More
14.The publication of the article 'Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity' by American physicist Alan Sokal in 1996 dealt a heavy blow to which 'school' in modern philosophy?
*existentialism
*postmodernism
*scepticism
*scientism
15.Which of these Asian systems of thought is associated with the term 'nirvana'?
*Taoism
*Confucianism
*Shintoism
*Buddhism
16.According to which philosopher did God create this world of ours as 'the best of all possible worlds'?
*Benedict (Baruch) de Spinoza
*Friedrich Nietszche
*Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
*Thomas Aquinas
17.Which expression is NOT appropriate when referring to the philosophy of Immanuel Kant?
*categorical imperative
*synthetic judgement a priori
*pure reason
*existentialism
18.What is the translation of the expression from Greek philosophy 'panta rhei'?
*Ignorance is strength
*God is dead
*Everything flows
*Know yourself
19.Which 20th century philosopher was killed by one of his (deranged) students?
*Leon Trotzky
*Kurt Godel
*Moritz Schlick
*Louis Althusser
20.Which pair of words is appropriate when comparing Plato's philosophy with Aristotle's?
*idea versus essence
*subject versus object
*autonomy versus heteronomy
*reason versus intuition

Answers

1. Socrates 2. Objectivism 3. Utilitarianism 4. Machiavelli 5. Kant 6. Cicero 7. Epistemology 8. Descartes 9. Sartre 10. Divine rescue in the nick of time 11. Ludwig Wittgenstein -- After a couple of years, Wittgenstein changed his mind and returned to his original profession. 12. Argument and hominem 13. David Hume and Immanuel Kant 14. Postmodernism 15. Buddhism 16. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 17. Existentialism 18. Everything flows 19. Moritz Schlick 20. Ida versus essence

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