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Quiz
Grand Philosophy Quiz
Questions by J.L.H. Thomas.
Here is your opportunity to display your encyclopaedic knowledge of the private lives and works of the great philosophers. This is the first ever Philosophy Now quiz. It is derived from quizzes originally compiled by J.L.H.Thomas for the late-lamented Department of Philosophy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The answers will be published in the next issue. Store them away somewhere – they could prove very useful if you ever end up playing a philosophy version of Trivial Pursuits!
The reader with the largest number of correct answers will win a trendy Philosophy Now T-shirt (see page 12 for details). Entrants who admit to being philosophy lecturers will have their scores reduced by 10% to give the rest of the population a chance.
Send in your answers by 31st March to: The Philosophy Quiz, Philosophy Now, 226 Bramford Road, Ipswich IP1 4AS.
1 . Which philosopher worked as:
(i) a lens grinder?
(ii) a mercenary?
(iii) a hospital orderly?
(iv) a cashier in a bank?
(v) a newspaper editor?
(vi) a judge?
(vii) a police commissioner?
(viii) a librarian?
(ix) a headmaster?
(x) a bishop?
2 . Which philosopher lent his name to:
(i) a form of love?
(ii) a branch of geometry?
(iii) a stupid scholar?
(iv) a tourist guide?
(v) a gourmet?
(vi) an American university?
(vii) a depilatory instrument?
(viii) an ungulate quadruped?
(ix) a lantern?
(x) a cord denoting chastity?
3 . Which philosopher wrote:
(i) The Principles of Human Knowledge ?
(ii) On Human Knowledge, its Scope and Limits ?
(iii) An Essay on the Origin of Human Knowledge ?
(iv) An Essay Concerning Human Understanding ?
(v) An Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding ?
(vi) Some Philosophical Inquiries into the Nature of Human Freedom ?
(vii) A Treatise of Human Nature ?
(viii) On Human Nature and Conduct ?
(ix) On Human Nature, or the Fundamental Elements of Polity ?
(x) Human, All-Too-Human ?
4 . Which philosopher wrote a polemic against:
(i) Academics?
(ii) Mathematicians?
(iii) Aristotelians?
(iv) Christ?
(v) Christendom?
(vi) Murmurers?
(vii) Seneca?
(viii) Flaccus?
(ix) Dühring?
(x) Modernity?
5 . Which philosopher was imprisoned:
(i) for ten years in Pavia, and consoled himself with philosophy?
(ii) for one month in Athens, and studied music instead of philosophy?
(iii) for ten years in Paris, where he wrote a major work of philosophy?
(iv) for six months in Brixton, where he wrote a work of mathematical philosophy?
(v) for eleven months in the Bastille, where he wrote a national epic?
(vi) for three days in Paris during the 1830s for refusing to join the National Guard?
(vii) for nine months in Italy for having fought in the army?
(viii) for two days in the Tower of London for taking bribes?
(ix) for nine months in Germany in 1940-1 as a prisoner of war?
(x) or exiled, for three years to Volgograd for political activities?
6 . Which philosopher died:
(i) at the stake in Rome as a heretic?
(ii) after being shot by a pupil in Vienna?
(iii) through being allegedly stabbed by his pupils with their pens at Malmesbury?
(iv) through being stoned by the Christians in Alexandria?
(v) in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew?
(vi) at the hands of Communist partisans?
(vii) on board ship at the hands of Arab pirates?
(viii) by drowning at sea while escaping punishment for impiety?
(ix) by poisoning himself in order not to appear before a Revolutionary Tribunal?
(x) by allegedly throwing himself into the crater of Mount Etna?
7 . Which philosopher’s famous last words were:
(i) “We owe Aesculapius a cock: please see to it, and don’t forget.”?
(ii) “How are we going to manage the funeral expenses?”
(iii) “Just when men are beginning to live they die.”?
(iv) “I now feel that I am dying; our care must be to minimize pain.”?
(v) “Tell them I have had a wonderful life.”?
(vi) “Elizabeth!” ?
(vii) “I am off to see the sun for the last time.”?
(viii) “Give the boys a holiday.”?
(ix) “The great mountain must crumble, the strong beam must break, and the wise man must wither away like a plant. There is no prince who will make me his master: my time has come to die.”?
(x) “My work is done.” ?
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