Introduction to Philosophy: Pre-Socratic Philosophers - Multiple-Choice Test, Lecture notes of Introduction to Philosophy

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The things from which existing things come into being are also the things into which they are destroyed, in accordance with what must be. For they give justice and repara- tion to one another for their injustice in accordance with the arrangement of time.

There are flood and drouth Over the eyes and in the mouth, Dead water and dead sand Contending for the upper hand. The parched eviscerate soil Gapes at the vanity of toil, Laughs without mirth This is the death of earth.

(a) If there are many things, no one has size because it is one and the same as itself. (b) If each of the many did not have size, it would not exist, for if it were added to or subtracted from something, it would make no difference to that thing. (c) If there are many things, each must have size and solidity, and hence each must have parts with size and solidity, and similarly each of these parts must have parts. (d) Hence, if there are many things, they must be both small and large; so small as to have no size, and so large as to be unlimited (infinite). (267)

11. What did Pythagoras believe was the essence of reality? a) Numbers b) Water c) Fire d) The apeiron
12. Which Pre-Socratic philosopher was known for his religious and mystical teachings? a) Xenophanes b) Pythagoras c) Zeno d) Thales
13. Empedocles believed that two forces drive the universe. What are they? a) Love and Strife b) Fire and Water c) Being and Non-being d) Light and Darkness
14. Xenophanes criticized the anthropomorphic depiction of gods in Greek mythology. What does “anthropomorphic” mean? a) Human-like b) Divine c) Naturalistic d) Eternal
15. Which philosopher is famous for his paradoxes, such as Achilles and the Tortoise? a) Parmenides b) Zeno c) Anaximenes d) Heraclitus
16. What did Anaximander believe about the origin of life? a) It began in water and evolved. b) It was eternal and unchanging. c) It was a result of fire. d) It was created by the gods.
17. Which philosopher believed in a cosmic cycle driven by Love and Strife? a) Empedocles b) Heraclitus c) Anaximenes d) Pythagoras
18. What term refers to the philosophical study of the origin and nature of the universe? a) Ontology b) Epistemology c) Metaphysics d) Cosmology
19. What is a key theme in the philosophy of Heraclitus? a) Stability of being b) Constant flux c) Infinite regression d) Mathematical harmony
20. Which philosopher argued that the Earth floats on water? a) Heraclitus b) Thales c) Anaximander d) Pythagoras
21. Parmenides believed that reality is: a) Constantly changing. b) Unchanging and eternal. c) Derived from the four elements. d) Defined by numbers.
22. Who is associated with the famous quote, “Man is the measure of all things”? a) Heraclitus b) Xenophanes c) Protagoras d) Pythagoras
23. What was Xenophanes’ main criticism of traditional religion?

a) Its emphasis on change. b) Its anthropomorphic gods. c) Its denial of numbers. d) Its reliance on air.

24. Anaximander’s idea of the apeiron can best be described as: a) Water as the source of all things. b) Infinite and boundless origin. c) Fire as the driving force. d) A divine principle.
25. The term "Pre-Socratic" refers to philosophers who lived before: a) Plato b) Socrates c) Aristotle d) Zeno
26. Which Pre-Socratic thinker believed in the immortality of the soul? a) Pythagoras b) Thales c) Heraclitus d) Empedocles
27. What did Pythagoras and his followers consider sacred? a) Fire b) Numbers c) The ocean d) The apeiron
28. According to Parmenides, change is: a) An illusion. b) Necessary for existence. c) Driven by strife. d) A natural process.
29. Who first introduced the term "cosmos" to describe the ordered universe? a) Empedocles b) Heraclitus c) Pythagoras d) Thales
30. What was Zeno trying to demonstrate with his paradoxes? a) That the universe is infinite. b) That motion and change are illusions. c) That fire is the fundamental substance. d) That numbers are the essence of reality.

Answer Key

1. b
2. b
3. a
4. b
5. b
6. b
7. c
8. b
9. c
10. b
11. a
12. b
13. a
14. a
15. b
16. a
17. a
18. d
19. b
20. b
21. b

Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophers Before Socrates

Multiple-Choice Test

1. Who is traditionally considered the first philosopher in Western philosophy? A) Heraclitus

B) Pythagoras

C) Thales

D) Anaximander

2. What was Thales of Miletus' primary element believed to be the source of all things?

A) Air

B) Fire

C) Water

D) Earth

3. Anaximander proposed that the fundamental principle of the universe was:

A) Water

B) Air

C) The Boundless (Apeiron)

D) Fire

4. Which Pre-Socratic philosopher believed air was the primary substance of the cosmos?

A) Empedocles

B) Anaximenes

C) Parmenides

D) Heraclitus

5. Heraclitus is best known for which concept?

A) Everything is made of air

B) Reality is an unchanging unity

C) The unity of opposites and perpetual change

D) The theory of the Four Elements

6. "You cannot step into the same river twice" is a famous idea attributed to:

A) Parmenides

B) Heraclitus

C) Zeno

D) Anaximander

7. Parmenides argued that:

A) Change is an illusion

B) Fire is the basic element of the cosmos

C) The universe is composed of indivisible atoms

D) Water is the source of all things

8. Zeno of Elea is famous for his:

A) Doctrine of the Four Elements

B) Paradoxes demonstrating the illusion of motion

C) Belief in fire as the universal element

D) Support for materialism

9. Empedocles is credited with introducing:

A) The four roots of earth, air, fire, and water

B) The Boundless

C) Atomism

D) Eternal flux

10. According to Empedocles, the two fundamental cosmic forces are:

A) Love and Strife

B) Fire and Water

C) Earth and Air

D) Change and Permanence

11. What did Anaxagoras claim was the ordering force of the cosmos?

A) Nous (Mind)

B) Air

C) Fire

D) Strife

12. The Atomists, Leucippus and Democritus, believed that the universe was composed of:

A) Fire and water

B) Atoms and void

C) Earth and air

D) The four roots

13. Which Pre-Socratic philosopher is most associated with mathematics and harmony?

A) Thales

B) Heraclitus

C) Pythagoras

D) Empedocles

14. The Pythagoreans believed that reality at its deepest level was:

A) Physical

B) Mathematical

C) Air-like

D) Ever-changing

15. Xenophanes criticized traditional Greek religion by arguing that:

A) Humans created gods in their own image

B) The gods were mathematical principles

C) Fire was the ultimate element

D) The universe was made of atoms

16. Which Pre-Socratic philosopher suggested that there was one God who was unlike

humans?

A) Heraclitus

B) Anaximander

C) Xenophanes

D) Parmenides

B) The sound of atoms moving in the void

C) The eternal unity of elements

D) The silence of the cosmos

26. The principle that "being is and non-being is not" is central to the philosophy of:

A) Xenophanes

B) Heraclitus

C) Parmenides

D) Anaxagoras

27. Which Pre-Socratic philosopher argued that the sun was a red-hot stone?

A) Anaximander

B) Heraclitus

C) Xenophanes

D) Anaxagoras

28. Democritus believed that differences in material objects arise due to:

A) The elements of fire and water

B) The shape, size, and motion of atoms

C) The interplay of love and strife

D) Mathematical harmony

29. The term "Pre-Socratic" refers to philosophers who lived:

A) Before Plato

B) Before the scientific revolution

C) Before Socrates

D) During the Roman era

30. The primary focus of Pre-Socratic philosophy was:

A) Understanding ethical dilemmas

B) The natural world and its underlying principles

C) The critique of Greek mythology

D) Political theory

Answer Key:

1. C

2. C

3. C

4. B

5. C

6. B

7. A

8. B

9. A

10. A

11. A

12. B

13. C

14. B

15. A

16. C

17. A

18. C

19. A

20. A

21. A

22. A

23. A

24. B

25. A

26. C

27. D

28. B

29. C

30. B