Hardest Non Novum Sub Sole! Trivia Quiz | Humanities

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Called the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', he wanted to approach philosophy differently than others of his time. While they were at the same level as Plato and Aristotle, he said, "I think therefore I am."

Answer: Rene Descartes

Descartes (1596-1650) created the Cartesian coordinates, starting the branch of math called Analytical Geometry. He believed that, just as in math, there must be some fundamental principles in philosophy. He started with the only thing he could be sure of: that he exists!

2. Some of the earliest philosophers, even before Socrates, such as Democritus, were materialists. Which modern philosopher was also a materialist?

Answer: Thomas Hobbes

Materialism is the belief that only matter exists and everything has a physical cause. The opposite view point is Idealism where only the mind exists but not the body. Berkeley (1685-1753) was an Objective Idealist, where everything keeps existing whether you are seeing and experiencing it or not. Descartes believed in the body and mind/soul, in other words, Dualism. Leibniz (1646-1716) believed in Parallelism, where body and mind both exist but never meet.

He came up with Pre-established harmony, where objects do things because they were made to do them.

3. What Aristotle called the common sensibles and the proper sensibles, modern philosophers called the primary sensibles and the secondary sensibles, respectively.

Answer: True

Aristotle wrote about three Objects of Sensation. The Proper Sensibles are what you can sense with only one of your senses, such as colors, sounds and smells. The Common Sensibles are what you can sense with more than one of your senses, such as motion, shape and size.

There is also a third type called the Accidental Sensibles where you obtain knowledge of what something is through the Common and Proper Sensibles. The reason that modern philosophers had different names for these things is because they looked at the issue from a different perspective.

They viewed a quality, such as color, as something that only exists in your mind and is not essential to the object. Therefore proper becomes secondary.

4. In Plato's "Republic" a character named Thrasymachus believes that what is just depends on what the law says. What 19th century philosopher shares a similar relativist view in his book "Beyond Good and Evil"?

Answer: Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche(1844-1900) was a Existentialist and a Nihilist. He believed that good and evil are just conventions and that there are two standards of morality: the slave and the master. Michel Ancel also created a work called "Beyond Good and Evil" but it isn't a book, it's a video game!

5. What 20th century philosopher, also similar in his beliefs to Thrasymachus, said that the existentialist is embarrassed because God doesn't exist, and was also full of angst?

Answer: Jean-Paul Sartre

Sartre (1905-1980) was an Atheistic Existentialist. He was embarrassed that God didn't exist because he believed that meant that there is no plan to the universe and no point in doing anything. He believed, just as Nietzsche did, that there is no objective good and evil.

But in that case why would you do anything if nothing is good to do. If you do do something you take on a great responsibility telling the universe that that action is good. In this way he tried to be more consistent then Nietzsche and this was the reason for his angst.

6. What Rational Empiricist of the 18th century was a kind of Epicurean, a philosophy created by Epicurus(341-270 B.C.), and addressed the Is/Ought issue regarding Ethics?

Answer: David Hume

Epicurus believed that tranquility is the aim of everything you do, that is, seeking pleasure but also avoiding pain. He was also an atomist/materialist and did not believe in an after life. Hume(1711-1776), in addressing the Is/Ought issue, said that nothing ought to be but simply is. He believed that what is ethical is what most people feel is ethical. He was also a materialist.

7. Who came up with Utilitarianism and Hedonistic Calculus, also developments of Epicureanism?

Answer: Jeremy Bentham

Dictionary.com defines Utilitarianism as, "the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons." It is also sometimes called consequencialism. Bentham's (1748-1832) Hedonistic Calculus was all about quantifying pleasure and pain and egoism, thinking about others only insofar as it will benefit you. You can still see Bentham today because his body was stuffed after he died. Ibsen(1828-1906) was a Norwegian playwright.

His play "An Enemy of the People" has elements of Utilitarianism in it.

8. Who further developed Utilitarianism, tried to make it more social, and included Socrates into the mix?

Answer: John Stuart Mill

Mill(1806-1873) was Bentham's godson. He factored in quality of pleasure above quantity. He believe Socrates was the ultimate man of pleasure and, therefore, intellectual pleasures are preferable to physical pleasures. He married Harriet Taylor in 1851. She inspired his work, especially with woman's rights.

9. What 18th century philosopher had similar beliefs to those of Stoicism, emphasizing Reason, Good Will, Synthetic a priori and Categorical Imperatives?

Answer: Immanuel Kant

Epictetus (c.55-135 A.D) was a Stoic and wrote about the beliefs of Stoicism in his "Enchiridion". He explained that Stoics strive for apathy and detachment from everything. They emphasize reason and if they believe in a god it is more of a force or reason itself permeating the universe.

They also don't do anything that would worry or stress them or make a scene. Marcus Aurelius (121-180 A.D), was a Roman Emperor and a Stoic. Kant (1724-1804) was a rationalist and said that the will is good without exception. Hypothetical Imperatives are if you want 'A', you must do 'B'. Categorical imperatives are what is rationally and consistently a universal law. Locke (1632-1704) wrote the "Social Contract." Rousseau (1712-1778) criticized the "Social Contract." These later two were not Stoics.

10. Philosophy, literally the 'love of wisdom' has been around and has interested people for a long time and will probably continue to do so!

Answer: True

"Philosophy is the discipline concerned with the questions of how one should live (ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge (epistemology); what existence is and what it means to be (ontology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning (logic)," Wikipedia.com tells us.

It certainly isn't new and it's not going away anytime soon!

Source: Author Emerald88

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Non Novum Sub Sole! Trivia Quiz

There is nothing new under the sun! Many Modern Philosophies are based on ancient ideas. But do you know which ones?

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