Philosophy
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Quiz 1.
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Ancient Genius
1. What does the word ‘philosopher’ literally mean?
A. Knower of Great Things
B. Speaker of Amazing Profundities
C. Doer of the Right
D. Lover of Wisdom
2. The philosopher Thales of Miletus believed that:
A. Magnets have souls and everything is made of water
B. Magnets are always seeking water and water has a
memory.
C. Everything is made of iron and water (and the rust that
comes when you mix the two).
D. The only things that exist are earth, air, fire and water.
3. The philosopher, Heraclitus, is reported to have died…?
A. When an eagle mistook his bald head for a rock and
dropped a tortoise on it.
B. After he buried himself in a dung pile and was eaten by
dogs.
C. When he punched a statue of a great adversary and it fell
on top of him.
D. After he had said, ‘Tell them I’ve had a wonderful life’, a
message he wished to be given to friends who would be
visiting the next day a time by which time he knew he
would be dead.
4. What did Pythagoras forbid?
A. Vegetarianism, thinking men needed to eat meat to keep
themselves ‘fighting fit’.
B. Any right-angled triangles in his vicinity, being annoyed
with people asking him to talk about his famous proof
pertaining to them.
C. The eating of beans.
D. People asking him philosophical questions before he’d had
his breakfast, which was without exception a large portion
of beans.
Prepared by Professor Jeremy Black, University of Exeter. Copyright academyconferences.com 2020/ H1.1
Philosophy
LE AR N IN G
Quiz 1.
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Ancient Genius
5. Which ancient philosopher was widely held to be the ugliest
person in Athens?
A. Socrates
B. Plato
C. Aristotle
D. Anaximander
6. In the dialogue ‘Euthyphro’ Socrates mainly quizzes Euthyphro
about what?
A. Whether it is ever moral to prosecute one’s own father
B. The nature of justice
C. Whether a good man can ever be harmed
D. What makes something pious
7. Socrates was found guilty by his fellow citizens of corrupting the
youth; atheism; and introducing false/new gods. When the
prosecution proposed the death penalty, he was – as was the
custom of the Athenian courts – allowed to propose an alternative
punishment. The jury would then vote a second time, this time to
choose between the two punishments. What did Socrates propose
as a suitable punishment for himself?
A. That he should be exiled from Athens for the rest of his
life
B. That he should be given meals for life at the expense of
the stat
C. That he should be made to publicly renounce his views
from the Areopagus (the highest point in Athens)
D. That he should be barred from teaching for the rest of his
life.
Prepared by Professor Jeremy Black, University of Exeter. Copyright academyconferences.com 2020/ H1.1
Philosophy
LE AR N IN G
Quiz 1.
www.academyconferences.com
Ancient Genius
8. Which philosopher is best known by his wrestling name?
A. Socrates (meaning ‘Squashed Nose’)
B. Plato (meaning ‘The Broad’)
C. Heraclitus (meaning ‘The Fat’)
D. Democritus (meaning ‘He who criticises democracy [whilst wrestling]’)
9. Epictetus taught that the key to happiness was knowing and living
by which of the following distinctions?
A. The distinction between our own selves and others’ selves
B. The distinction between what it comes naturally to do and
what we should do
C. The distinction between those things which are under our
control and those things which are not under our control
D. The distinction between that which we would ideally like
to have and that which we really need
10. Which of these was NOT a school of Philosophy founded by an
ancient Greek?
A. The Academy
B. The Lyceum
C. The Olympian
D. The Macedonian
11. According to Aristotle, any claim we make is:-
A. Open to counter-argument
B. Like a gift, offered up to the gods in hope.
C. True, but only as long as it is understood aright.
D. Composed of a subject and a predicate, which correspond
to the substance and its attributes respectively.
Prepared by Professor Jeremy Black, University of Exeter. Copyright academyconferences.com 2020/ H1.1
Philosophy
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Quiz 1.
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Ancient Genius
12. Aristotle’s most famous pupil was:
A. The son of a carpenter from Nazareth
B. The son of a philosopher from Athens
C. The son of a king of Macedon
D. The son of a playwright from Sparta.
13. Aristotle founded the science of Biology. But he didn’t get
everything right. Which view was destined to languish unloved for
centuries because he had declared its falsehood?
A. The brain is the organ of thought.
B. The heart pumps the blood.
C. Plants need sun and water.
D. Humans evolved from more primitive animals through a process of natural selection.
14. According to one account, Alexander the Great sought out the
philosopher, Diogenes, to glean some wisdom. After having stood
before him waiting for an insight, he is reported to have sought to
prompt Diogenes into speaking by asking, ‘Is there anything I can
do for you?’
Diogenes is reported to have responded in what fashion?
A. Diogenes said nothing and – after several hours -
Alexander departed disappointed.
B. Diogenes said, ‘Yes. Die.’
C. Diogenes said, ‘Get out of my light.’
D. Diogenes said, ‘Put the kettle on.’ Alexander got his slave
to do so and he and Diogenes then spent the afternoon
talking about philosophy over tea.
Prepared by Professor Jeremy Black, University of Exeter. Copyright academyconferences.com 2020/ H1.1
Philosophy
LE AR N IN G
Quiz 1.
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Ancient Genius
15. Which philosopher died after having laughed too much?
A. Heraclitus, at someone who claimed they had stepped into
the same river twice
B. Democritus, at Aristotle’s dismissal of his atomic theory
C. Aristotle, at Democritus’ atomic theory
D. Chrysippus, at a joke about a donkey
16. When Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, was told that all his
possessions had been irrecoverably lost in a ship wreck, he is
reported to have said:-
A. They were mere baubles; I am the richer without them.
B. But my greatest treasure – my mind – I keep safe within.
C. Fortune bids me to be a less encumbered philosopher.
D. Let the gods be cursed! (He is reported to have then died
instantly.)
17. Zeno of Elea is most famous for thinking up the paradox of
Achilles and the tortoise. How long was it before mathematicians
came up with the methods by which to resolve this paradox?
A. Approximately twenty years. His pupil, Xena, discovered
it having worked on nothing else since the paradox was
first put to him as a student; after having solved it, it is
reported that he died within a week.
B. Approximately five hundred years. It was discovered by a
Roman.
C. Approximately one thousand years. It was discovered by a
Welshman.
D. Approximately two thousand years. It was discovered by a
Scot.
Prepared by Professor Jeremy Black, University of Exeter. Copyright academyconferences.com 2020/ H1.1
Philosophy
LE AR N IN G
Quiz 1.
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Ancient Genius
18. Which roman emperor wrote a work of stoic philosophy, which is
still in print today, almost 2000 years later?
A. Commodus
B. Marcus Aurelius
C. Nero
D. Julius Caesar
19. When his former pupil, the emperor Nero, ordered Seneca to
commit suicide, what did Seneca do?
A. Flee naked. (He had been taking a bath when the order
was delivered to him.)
B. Kill himself in his bath.
C. Take a bath and dress in his best clothes prior to surrounding himself with his friends and
drinking hemlock, in emulation of his hero, Socrates
D. Disembowel himself (twice).
20. Hypatia was the most eminent female philosopher of antiquity;
how did she die?
A. Peacefully in her bed. She is rumoured to have reached
the age of 94.
B. After having contracted pneumonia performing one of the
earliest experiments on the preservation of food (packing
a dead chicken with snow).
C. Killed with oyster shells by a Christian mob.
D. Food poisoning (rumoured to have been caused by
poisoned oysters, supplied by disaffected local monks).
Prepared by Professor Jeremy Black, University of Exeter. Copyright academyconferences.com 2020/ H1.1
