Philosophy · Unit 15

20th Century and Contemporary

Existentialism, analytic philosophy and phenomenology

Twentieth-century philosophy split into traditions that largely stopped talking to each other, and the division still shapes how the subject is taught.

The unit covers existentialism, analytic philosophy, Wittgenstein, phenomenology, and pragmatism.

This unit breaks down into 23 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 4. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 23
Questions: 120
Difficulty: 1-4

What this unit covers

Existentialism
Analytic Philosophy
Wittgenstein
Phenomenology
Pragmatism

Where this fits

Follows 19th Century Philosophy.

Where people slip

Wittgenstein produced two incompatible philosophies and rejected the first himself. Which Wittgenstein is meant matters, and questions usually specify.

How the unit is structured

20th Century and Contemporary runs as 23 short steps that unlock in order. 17 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 4 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 23 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.

Analytic Philosophy

Fill the blankLevel 1
1. Analytic philosophers try to make ideas clear by analysing logic and ____.
- languagecorrect
- music
- colour
- money
Studying language carefully is a hallmark of the analytic tradition.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
2. Analytic philosophy is best known for using careful logic to analyse what?
- Languagecorrect
- Dreams
- Paintings
- Weather
Analytic philosophers try to solve problems by clarifying the logic and language we use.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
3. Which qualities does analytic philosophy especially value? Select all that apply.
- Claritycorrect
- Careful logiccorrect
- Precise use of languagecorrect
- Vague mystery
- Ignoring the arguments
Analytic philosophy prizes clarity, careful logic, and precise language.
Odd one outLevel 2
4. Three of these are famous analytic philosophers. Which name is the odd one out?
- Albert Camuscorrect
- Bertrand Russell
- Gottlob Frege
- G. E. Moore
Albert Camus was an existentialist writer, not an analytic philosopher.
Put in orderLevel 2
5. Put these analytic philosophers in order from earliest born to latest born.
Answer: Gottlob Frege -> Bertrand Russell -> Ludwig Wittgenstein -> Willard Van Orman Quine
Frege was born in 1848, Russell in 1872, Wittgenstein in 1889, and Quine in 1908.
True or falseLevel 2
6. Bertrand Russell helped write 'Principia Mathematica' about the logical foundations of mathematics.
Answer: True
Russell wrote 'Principia Mathematica' together with Alfred North Whitehead.

Existentialism

Fill the blankLevel 1
7. Camus wrote a famous essay called 'The Myth of ____' about facing life without built-in meaning.
- Sisyphuscorrect
- Atlas
- Zeus
- Icarus
In 'The Myth of Sisyphus,' Camus asks us to imagine Sisyphus happy despite his endless task.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
8. Existentialism is most concerned with individual freedom and choice. Which philosopher is famous for the phrase 'existence precedes essence'?
- Jean-Paul Sartrecorrect
- Gottlob Frege
- Edmund Husserl
- Charles Peirce
Jean-Paul Sartre argued that we exist first and then define ourselves through our own choices.
True or falseLevel 1
9. Existentialism teaches that humans first exist and then create their own meaning through their choices.
Answer: True
Yes, that is the core existentialist idea captured by the phrase 'existence precedes essence.'
Choose all that applyLevel 2
10. Which of these ideas are linked with existentialism? Select all that apply.
- Radical human freedomcorrect
- Creating your own meaningcorrect
- Personal responsibility for choicescorrect
- The verification principle of logic
- The picture theory of meaning
Existentialism stresses freedom, self-made meaning, and responsibility; the other two belong to analytic philosophy.
Match the pairsLevel 2
11. Match each existentialist thinker with a work they are known for.
Answer: Jean-Paul Sartre = Being and Nothingness; Albert Camus = The Myth of Sisyphus; Simone de Beauvoir = The Second Sex
Each of these thinkers is famous for that landmark book.
Odd one outLevel 3
12. Three of these are Sartrean concepts. Which is the odd one out?
- The pragmatic maximcorrect
- Bad faith
- Radical freedom
- The for-itself
The pragmatic maxim belongs to Peirce; the rest are Sartre's ideas.

Phenomenology

Fill the blankLevel 1
13. The motto of phenomenology is 'to the ____ themselves,' meaning we should look closely at experience.
- thingscorrect
- stars
- numbers
- gods
Husserl urged philosophers to return 'to the things themselves.'
Multiple choiceLevel 1
14. Which philosopher founded the movement called phenomenology?
- Edmund Husserlcorrect
- Albert Camus
- Bertrand Russell
- John Dewey
Edmund Husserl launched phenomenology in the early 1900s.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
15. Which of these thinkers are connected with phenomenology? Select all that apply.
- Edmund Husserlcorrect
- Martin Heideggercorrect
- Maurice Merleau-Pontycorrect
- Charles Peirce
- Gottlob Frege
Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty are all key phenomenologists.
Match the pairsLevel 2
16. Match each phenomenologist with what they are known for.
Answer: Edmund Husserl = founder of phenomenology; Martin Heidegger = wrote Being and Time; Maurice Merleau-Ponty = philosophy of the body and perception
Each thinker is remembered for that contribution to phenomenology.
Odd one outLevel 2
17. Three of these are phenomenologists. Which name is the odd one out?
- William Jamescorrect
- Edmund Husserl
- Martin Heidegger
- Maurice Merleau-Ponty
William James was an American pragmatist, not a phenomenologist.
Sort into groupsLevel 3
18. Sort each idea by the phenomenologist it belongs to.
Answer: Dasein = Heidegger; Being-in-the-world = Heidegger; Bracketing = Husserl; Intentionality = Husserl
Dasein and being-in-the-world are Heidegger's; bracketing and intentionality are central to Husserl.

Pragmatism

Multiple choiceLevel 1
19. Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that began mainly in which country?
- The United Statescorrect
- Germany
- France
- Greece
Pragmatism grew up in the United States in the late 1800s.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
20. Which of these thinkers are classic American pragmatists? Select all that apply.
- Charles Sanders Peircecorrect
- William Jamescorrect
- John Deweycorrect
- Martin Heidegger
- Gottlob Frege
Peirce, James, and Dewey are the three founders of American pragmatism.
Odd one outLevel 2
21. Three of these are pragmatist philosophers. Which name is the odd one out?
- Edmund Husserlcorrect
- Charles Peirce
- William James
- John Dewey
Edmund Husserl was a phenomenologist, not a pragmatist.
Sort into groupsLevel 2
22. Sort each philosopher into the movement they belong to.
Answer: William James = Pragmatism; John Dewey = Pragmatism; Jean-Paul Sartre = Existentialism; Albert Camus = Existentialism
James and Dewey were pragmatists; Sartre and Camus were existentialists.
Fill the blankLevel 3
23. Peirce first laid out pragmatist ideas in his 1877 essay 'The Fixation of ____.'
- Beliefcorrect
- Money
- Stars
- Language
'The Fixation of Belief' explains how we settle our opinions through inquiry.
Match the pairsLevel 4
24. Match each pragmatist with a key work or idea.
Answer: Peirce = the pragmatic maxim; James = The Will to Believe; Dewey = inquiry and instrumentalism
Each pairing names that pragmatist's signature contribution.

Wittgenstein

Multiple choiceLevel 1
25. Which philosopher wrote the short but famous book 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'?
- Ludwig Wittgensteincorrect
- John Dewey
- William James
- Edmund Husserl
Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote the 'Tractatus' early in his career.
True or falseLevel 1
26. Wittgenstein kept exactly the same views his whole life and never changed his mind.
Answer: False
He had an early philosophy in the 'Tractatus' and a very different later philosophy.
Fill the blankLevel 2
27. In his later philosophy, Wittgenstein said the meaning of a word is its ____ in the language.
- usecorrect
- price
- colour
- weight
The slogan 'meaning is use' sums up his later view that words mean what we do with them.
Type the answerLevel 2
28. In which country was Ludwig Wittgenstein born?
Answer: Austria
Wittgenstein was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1889.
Guess the numberLevel 3
29. Roughly in which year was Wittgenstein's 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus' first published?
Answer: 1921
The 'Tractatus' was first published in 1921 (in German), with an English edition in 1922.
Choose all that applyLevel 4
30. Which of these ideas belong to the LATER Wittgenstein? Select all that apply.
- Language gamescorrect
- Meaning as usecorrect
- Family resemblancecorrect
- The picture theory of meaning
- The general form of the proposition
Language games, meaning as use, and family resemblance are later; the picture theory is from the 'Tractatus.'

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 10 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Choose all that apply
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Put in order
Sort into groups
True or false
Type the answer

Practise 20th Century and Contemporary

120 questions across 23 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about 20th Century and Contemporary

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

Existentialism and the Search for MeaningExistentialist philosophers explore freedom, responsibility and the challenge of living without a ready-made purpose. Meaning, on this view, is shaped through choices and commitments.August 4, 2026 · 5 min read

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