CSS Philosophy MCQs with answers
Practise CSS Philosophy (Optional) with 247 exam-style MCQs, each with the answer and a short explanation. Every test is marked the moment you finish and shows your score chapter by chapter, so you know what to revise next. It is free and needs no sign-up.
247 questions · 4 chapters
What each chapter covers 4 chapters
The questions follow the syllabus chapter by chapter. You can test the whole subject or one chapter at a time.
- Introduction and ancient philosophy 51 questionsNature and branches of philosophy, Pre-Socratic and Socratic philosophy, Plato and Aristotle
- Medieval and Muslim philosophy 32 questionsMedieval Christian philosophy, Muslim philosophers
- Modern philosophy 61 questionsRationalism, Empiricism, Kant and German idealism, Pragmatism, existentialism and analytic philosophy
- Logic, ethics and special topics 103 questionsLogic: terms, propositions and syllogism, Fallacies and scientific method, Ethics, Epistemology and metaphysics, Philosophy of religion and Iqbal, Philosophy of science
Sample CSS Philosophy MCQs with answers 12 questions
12 questions from the test, one or two from each chapter. Try each one, then open the answer.
1. How did Socrates differ from the Sophists?
- A
He taught that truth is relative to each individual person and to each city
- B
He charged high fees for teaching the art of rhetoric to young citizens
- C
He regarded the natural world as the only subject worth study and debate
- D
He sought universal definitions and objective truth, and took no fees
Show answer
Answer: D. Socrates asked 'What is justice?' expecting one answer that holds for all cases, and he rejected payment. The other options describe Sophists or pre-Socratic natural philosophers.
2. Ibn Khaldun's 'Muqaddimah' is
- A
a collection of poems written in praise of his patrons, the rulers of the Maghrib
- B
the introduction to his universal history, setting out a theory of society
- C
a commentary on the Ethics of Aristotle in the Arabic language
- D
an account of his travels in Asia and the Far East, written for a sultan
Show answer
Answer: B. The Muqaddimah (Prolegomena) prefaces his Kitab al-Ibar. It analyses the causes of the rise and fall of states and societies.
3. In Kant's philosophy, the 'noumenon' is
- A
the thing as it is in itself, which we cannot know
- B
the thing as it appears to us in space and in time
- C
an idea that the mind has formed by long habit
- D
one of the twelve categories of the understanding
Show answer
Answer: A. We know things only as phenomena, shaped by our forms of sensibility and categories; things in themselves lie beyond possible knowledge.
4. Which proposition distributes both its subject and its predicate?
- A
All S are P
- B
Some S are P
- C
No S is P
- D
Some S are not P
Show answer
Answer: C. The E proposition excludes the whole of S from the whole of P, so both terms are distributed. A distributes only S, I neither, and O only P.
5. A thinker argues: 'The senses show us a world of constant change, but reason shows that what truly exists cannot change; so we must trust reason and not the senses.' Which pre-Socratic position does this follow?
- A
Heraclitus
- B
Parmenides
- C
Protagoras
- D
Democritus
Show answer
Answer: B. This is the Parmenidean argument that reason, not sense perception, discloses real Being, which is one and unchanging. Heraclitus took the opposite side on change.
6. Augustine held that time
- A
has always existed beside God as a second eternal thing
- B
is an illusion that does not exist in any real sense
- C
was created together with the world, and God is outside time
- D
is purely a quantity that is measured by the clocks of men
Show answer
Answer: C. In the Confessions, Augustine says God made time along with creation and is eternal, not within time. He also analysed time as experienced in the mind.
7. 'What is rational is real, and what is real is rational' is a saying of
- A
Kant
- B
Schopenhauer
- C
Hume
- D
Hegel
Show answer
Answer: D. It appears in the preface to Hegel's Philosophy of Right and expresses his idealism that reason is the structure of reality.
8. In an experiment, two identical plots are treated in the same way, except that one receives fertiliser. The fertilised plot gives a larger crop. The reasoning is that of
- A
the method of difference
- B
the method of agreement
- C
the method of residues
- D
the method of concomitant variations
Show answer
Answer: A. When two cases are alike in every respect except one factor, and the effect appears only with that factor, the factor is the cause. This is the method of difference.
9. Thales of Miletus held that the basic principle (arche) of all things is
- A
fire
- B
air
- C
the indefinite (apeiron)
- D
water
Show answer
Answer: D. Thales, traditionally the first Greek philosopher, said everything comes from water. Fire is linked with Heraclitus and the apeiron with Anaximander.
10. The central aim of scholasticism was to
- A
replace theology by science
- B
prove that reason is useless
- C
reconcile faith with reason
- D
study the natural world by experiment
Show answer
Answer: C. Scholastic thinkers used philosophical reasoning to understand and defend Christian doctrine. Anselm's phrase 'faith seeking understanding' sums up the aim.
11. Spinoza's major work, the 'Ethics', is notable for
- A
being a collection of letters written to friends and disciples on theology
- B
being in dialogue form between teacher and pupil, in the manner of Plato
- C
being a record of his own personal religious experiences
- D
being written in geometrical form, with definitions, axioms and proofs
Show answer
Answer: D. Spinoza set out his system more geometrico, as proofs from axioms in the manner of Euclid.
12. Which proposition is the contradictory of 'All the candidates passed'?
- A
Some candidates did not pass
- B
No candidate passed
- C
Some candidates passed
- D
All the candidates failed
Show answer
Answer: A. Contradictories (A and O) always have opposite truth values. 'No candidate passed' is the contrary, and it can be false along with the original.
Try 235 more questions
Ways to practise 5 ways
- Quick check. 10 questions drawn fresh each time, about 10 minutes.
- By chapter. 10 questions from one chapter, for the topic you are revising now.
- Full paper. A full-length timed paper across the whole syllabus.
- Practice mode. See the right answer and an explanation after every question, with no clock.
- Exam mode. Timed like the real paper, with no going back.
When you get a question wrong, a short note called "The idea behind this" explains the topic it belongs to, with the rules to remember and a worked example.
Common questions
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Are these past paper questions?
The 247 MCQs are our own, written to the syllabus in the style of the exam.
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Instantly. You get your score, the right answer and an explanation for every question, and a list of the topics to work on.
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