Philosophy 101 Quiz Quiz Questions

1. Which philosopher is best known for his statement cogito ergo sum?

A Jean-Paul Sartre B Plato C Socrates D René Descartes

2. According to Plato, what is knowledge?

A A justified true belief B There is no such thing as true knowledge C Opinion D That which can be proven

3. Thomas Aquinas’s cosmological arguments argue for…

A The existence of God B The existence of other intelligent life C The existence of knowledge D Nihilism

4. Philosophy comes from the Greek philosophia, meaning what?

A Lover of philosophy B Lover of questions C Lover of soapboxes D Love of wisdom

5. Which branch of philosophy is primarily concerned with the question of being?

A Existentialism B Platonism C Humanism D Marxism

6. Who is widely known as the first existentialist, despite never having used the word existentialism?

A Hannah Arendt B Jean-Paul Sartre C Alan Watts D Søren Kierkegaard

7. Transcendental idealism argues that…

A Our experience is based on our perceptions B There is an afterlife C Knowledge has foundations D God is the ideal human

8. What does tabula rasa mean?

A Rise tomorrow B Red tablet C Clean slate D New knowledge

9. Who wrote The Last Messiah?

A Socrates B Alan Watts C Peter Wessel Zapffe D Frederich Nietzsche

10. Descartes’s meditation that led him to conclude that perhaps even mathematical laws are not true is referred to as…

A The law denial argument B The evil demon argument C The Cartesian argument D The foundationalism argument

11. Existential nihilism insists what?

A Death is not the end. B The human condition has no meaning. C Knowledge is limited. D Humans are naturally codependent.

12. The allegory of the cave argues what?

A There is value in ignorance. B Our perceptions may not be accurate. C Perceptions are sources of absolute knowledge. D We are born with infinite knowledge.

13. Metaphysics is the study of…

A Politics B Existence C Ethics D Knowledge

14. Epistemology is the theory of…

A Knowledge B Cosmology C Metaphysics D Poetics

15. Plato was a student to which philosopher?

A Xenophon B Thomas Aquinas C Socrates D Aristotle

16. Jean-Jacques Rousseau is known for what?

A Rejection of philosophy as a discipline B Contributions to existentialism C His publication The Social Contract D His publication Leviathan

17. What is the philosophical study of value called?

A Valuation B Axiology C Ethics D Ontology

18. Which branch of philosophy deals with the question of beauty?

A Dramatics B Poetics C Aesthetics D Decorum