Essential Philosophy Quiz: Key Thinkers and Concepts

Quiz 2: Metaphysics and Theology

1. Which thinker argued that our decision to believe in God is a matter of rational wager? Blaise Pascal
2. Which theologian attempted to reconcile Realism and Nominalism through Conceptualism? Pierre Abelard
3. Which philosopher developed the allegory of the cave? Plato
4. Who developed the argument from degrees of qualities? St. Thomas Aquinas
5. The arguments for the existence of God belong to which part of philosophy? Metaphysics
6. The Cosmological Argument was inspired by which ancient Greek philosopher? Aristotle
7. Which argument relies on a priori reasoning? Ontological Argument
8. Which opposition affects the status of universal concepts? Realism vs. Nominalism
9. Who is the author of the Cosmological Argument? St. Thomas Aquinas
10. Who developed the Ontological Argument? St. Anselm
11. Which philosopher argued that the human soul is mortal? Lucretius
12. Which philosopher argued that God created the best of all possible worlds? Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Quiz 3: Epistemology and Modern Philosophy

1. Which philosopher rejected scholastic standards in Novum Organum? Francis Bacon
2. Who is the author of Outlines of Pyrrhonism? Sextus Empiricus
3. David Hume was most directly influenced by which thinker? Isaac Newton
4. What is a basic tenet of British Empiricism? Neither human nature nor God is innate.
5. Which claim expresses Berkeley's view on human perception? We perceive only ideas and combinations of ideas.
6. "Do not multiply entities needlessly" is known as: Ockham's Razor
7. Which philosopher does not belong in the same group? René Descartes
8. The phrase "Cogito, ergo sum" is best translated as: I think, therefore I am.
9. Which term describes Descartes' view on the mind-body relationship? Dualism
10. According to John Locke, which is not a primary quality of objects? Colour
11. What is the term for the view that only one's own mind exists? Solipsism
12. Which philosopher is classified as an idealist? George Berkeley
13. Which position inspired Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy? Pyrrhonism
14. According to David Hume, what is the role of reason in the formation of causal beliefs? Reason does not form causal beliefs; they are based on custom and habit.