Study Materials

Quiz: A Priori, Necessary, Analytic

This quiz is to test your knowledge of, and examine your intuitions about, three distinctions that are important to Kant's philosophy, and indeed to philosophy more widely (see Lecture 1). For each sentence, write T beside it if it is true, F if false. Then, for the true ones, circle one from each of the pairs beneath the sentence.

  1. Susan Hockfield is the President of MIT
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  2. All Triangles have Three Sides
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  3. All Dolphins are Mammals
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  4. God is a Supremely Perfect Being
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  5. Water is H2O
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  6. 5+7=12
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  7. Every effect has a cause
    • priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  8. I Exist
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  9. Every Event has a Cause
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic
  10. The Angles of Every Triangle Add up to 180 Degrees
    • A priori/A posteriori
    • Necessary/contingent
    • Analytic/synthetic