Which famous philosopher are you?

Quiz Questions

• 1.
  What did you do before becoming a philosopher?

  • A.
    You were always a philosopher, or at least you spent all your time reading and studying everything you could get your hands on.
  • B.
    You were a math teacher.
  • C.
    You were Assistant Manager at a shop.
  • D.
    You were a student and made money as a private tutor.
  • E.
    You had a comfortable government job.
  • F.
    You were a journalist for a radical newspaper.
  • G.
    You were a writer.
  • H.
    You went to an Ivy League university.
  • I.
    You were in the army.
  • J.
    You had an office job you hated.
• 2.
  What is your favourite subject to discuss?

  • A.
    Physical science.
  • B.
    Ethics and critical thinking.
  • C.
    The passions that influence human behavior.
  • D.
    Morality.
  • E.
    Politics.
  • F.
    How society is shaped by economics and politics.
  • G.
    Art, religion, and tragedy.
  • H.
    Sexuality and gender.
  • I.
    Discussion and dialogue itself.
  • J.
    The absurdity of human existence.
• 3.
  Where would you most like to live?

  • A.
    Northern Greece.
  • B.
    Paris.
  • C.
    Edinburgh.
  • D.
    Florence.
  • E.
    Germany.
  • F.
    Athens.
• 4.
  What is your view of the human condition?

  • A.
    Everything happens for a reason, but you have the ability — and luxury — to choose your path in life.
  • B.
    It is up to you to make your own happiness or misery. You can't rely on other people to provide you with a purpose.
  • C.
    Reason is a slave to the passions, and you need to be cautious of people's motivations. 
  • D.
    There are moral rules that are absolute, and we all have a duty to follow them without compromise, regardless of the consequences.
  • E.
    Ignore morality and act out of self-interest — everyone who gets ahead is doing the same.
  • F.
    We all have a responsibility to change things, through violent revolution if need be. 
  • G.
    Suffering is an inevitable part of being human, but finding meaning in your pain will make you stronger.
  • H.
    We are all capable of being good if we can bring ourselves to an understanding of virtue.
  • I.
    The human condition is life's great mystery and endless debate and dialogue are necessary for even attempting to understand it.
  • J.
    The human condition is a tragedy: you're always wishing for something and either not getting it or being disappointed with it and wanting something else. 
• 5.
  What sounds the most like you?

  • A.
    "Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts."
  • B.
    "By a lie a man throws away and, as it were, annihilates his dignity as a man."
  • C.
    "It is not necessary for a perfectly beautiful person to be a great sculptor, or for a great sculptor to be himself a beautiful person."
  • D.
    "It is a just political maxim, that every man must be supposed a knave."
  • E.
    "Men never do good unless necessity drives them."
  • F.
    "There is only one way in which the murderous death agonies of the old society and the bloody birth throes of the new society can be shortened, simplified, and concentrated, and that way is revolutionary terror."
  • G.
    "One is not born a woman, but becomes one."
  • H.
    "What does not destroy me, makes me stronger."
  • I.
    "Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of the world have the spirit and power of philosophy... cities will never have rest from their evils."
  • J.
    "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Quiz Outcomes

• 1.
  You are: Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)

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  You are methodical and systematic, often to the point of being obsessive, and you like everything to happen in an orderly fashion. You enjoy traveling and studying the natural world and believe strongly that there is a hierarchy in nature.
• 2.
  You are: Simone de Beauvoir (1908 - 1986)

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  You are highly intellectual and political but do not consider yourself a philosopher. You are a straightforward, no-nonsense feminist and a down-to-earth existentialist. You are highly progressive and believe that "the personal is political".
• 3.
  You are: David Hume (1711 - 1776)

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  You are famously skeptical about most things, especially politicians. You are often torn between common sense and rational thinking and a strong advocate for examining the evidence carefully when making decisions.
• 4.
  You are: Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)

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  Your seriousness is legendary, and your stance on ethical matters uncompromising. If you believe something is wrong, then it is always wrong with no exceptions. You believe we all have the responsibility to act morally and that there is no justification for not telling the truth.
• 5.
  You are: Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 - 1527)

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  You are shrewd thinker with no illusions about the devious nature of people, especially politicians. You have no ambition to be "one of the good guys", believing that the ends justify the means when it comes to getting ahead. You look at the big picture and believe that rules can be bent or broken to achieve a greater good.
• 6.
  You are: Karl Marx (1818 - 1883)

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  You are a passionate revolutionary who has devoted a great deal of time to studying the economy. You believe that the current capitalist system is broken and that religion is a symptom of a sick society and we should all become more politically involved.
• 7.
  You are: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

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  You believe that God is dead and we would be silly to go on basing our ideas of morality on religion. You value strength, power, ability, and achievement highly and encourage others to reach their full potential through hard work and determination. You advocate breaking with convention.
• 8.
  You are: Plato (approx. 425 - 347 BC)

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  You love spending time in nature and take the natural world as proof that a higher power exists. You often dwell on questions of morality and are especially concerned with death and the afterlife. You aren't keen on art and think society would be fine without it.
• 9.
  You are: Socrates (470 - 399 BC)

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  Congratulations! You are the wisest person in Athens (or whatever city you live in). You love a good debate, and you question everything — even when it gets you in trouble with the government. You would rather poison yourself with hemlock than give up your mission to discover meaning in the world.
• 10.
  You are: Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)

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  You are quite possibly the gloomiest, most pessimistic philosopher of all time. You believe that life is just one long, pointless series of sufferings. You have high morals but often fail to live up to them. "Do as I say, not as I do" could be your motto.