Philosophy · Unit 13

Early Modern Philosophy

Rationalists, empiricists and Kant

The early modern period is organised around one dispute: whether knowledge comes primarily from reason or from experience, and what follows if it is neither.

The unit covers Descartes, the rationalists, the empiricists, Hume's scepticism, and Kant's attempt to settle the argument by changing its terms.

This unit breaks down into 24 short steps and 128 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 24
Questions: 128
Difficulty: 1-5

What this unit covers

Descartes
Rationalism
Empiricism
Hume
Kant

Where this fits

Follows Medieval Philosophy. Needs Knowledge.

Where people slip

Descartes' doubt is a method, not a conclusion. He doubts everything in order to find what cannot be doubted, and reading it as scepticism inverts the point.

How the unit is structured

Early Modern Philosophy runs as 24 short steps that unlock in order. 18 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 5 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 24 · 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 128 in the unit altogether.

Descartes

Multiple choiceLevel 1
1. Which short phrase is the philosopher Rene Descartes most famous for?
- I think, therefore I am
- Know thyself
- God is dead
- Man is the measure of all things
Descartes is remembered for 'I think, therefore I am,' his one certain starting point.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
2. Which of these are true of Descartes' method? Select all that apply.
- He doubted beliefs that could possibly be falsecorrect
- He looked for a foundation that could not be doubtedcorrect
- He found certainty in the fact that he was thinkingcorrect
- He accepted every idea without question
- He rejected the use of reason entirely
Descartes doubted uncertain beliefs, sought an undoubtable foundation, and found it in his own thinking.
Fill the blankLevel 2
3. Descartes' major work of doubting and rebuilding knowledge is called the ____ on First Philosophy.
- Meditationscorrect
- Jokes
- Songs
- Letters
In the Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes doubts everything and rebuilds from the cogito.
Guess the numberLevel 2
4. In which century did Descartes mainly live and work?
Answer: 17 century
Descartes lived from 1596 to 1650, mostly in the 17th century.
Odd one outLevel 2
5. Three of these statements fit Descartes well. Which one is the odd one out?
- He taught that knowledge comes only from the sensescorrect
- He is called the father of modern philosophy
- He said 'I think, therefore I am'
- He used a method of doubt
Descartes was a rationalist, so the claim that knowledge comes only from the senses does not fit him.
Match the pairsLevel 4
6. Match each Cartesian term with its meaning.
Answer: Res cogitans = Thinking thing; Res extensa = Extended thing; Pineal gland = Proposed seat of mind-body interaction; Cartesian circle = Objection about proving God
Descartes split reality into a thinking thing and an extended thing, and proposed the pineal gland for their meeting.

Empiricism

Multiple choiceLevel 1
7. Empiricists believed most of our knowledge comes from which source?
- The senses and experiencecorrect
- Pure reason by itself
- Dreams at night
- Lucky guesses
For empiricists, knowledge grows out of what we sense and experience.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
8. Which of these thinkers are usually counted as empiricists? Select all that apply.
- Lockecorrect
- Berkeleycorrect
- Humecorrect
- Descartes
- Leibniz
Locke, Berkeley, and Hume are the classic British empiricists.
Match the pairsLevel 2
9. Match each empiricist thinker with an idea they are known for.
Answer: Locke = Blank slate; Berkeley = To be is to be perceived; Hume = Problem of induction
Locke pictured the mind as a blank slate, Berkeley said to be is to be perceived, and Hume raised the problem of induction.
Sort into groupsLevel 2
10. Sort each thinker as a Rationalist or an Empiricist.
Answer: Descartes = Rationalist; Spinoza = Rationalist; Locke = Empiricist; Berkeley = Empiricist
Descartes and Spinoza trusted reason, while Locke and Berkeley trusted experience.
Fill the blankLevel 3
11. Locke's great book about the mind is called An Essay Concerning Human ____.
- Understandingcorrect
- Happiness
- History
- Hunger
In An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke argues the mind starts blank.
Odd one outLevel 4
12. Three of these are empiricist ideas. Which is the odd one out?
- The world is made of windowless monadscorrect
- The mind begins as a blank slate
- All ideas trace back to experience
- To be is to be perceived
Windowless monads come from Leibniz, a rationalist, not from the empiricists.

Hume

Multiple choiceLevel 1
13. What nationality was the philosopher David Hume?
- Scottishcorrect
- Italian
- German
- Spanish
Hume was Scottish, born in Edinburgh in 1711.
True or falseLevel 1
14. David Hume was an empiricist.
Answer: True
Yes, Hume built his philosophy on experience and observation.
Fill the blankLevel 2
15. Hume is famous for the problem of ____, which asks whether the future must resemble the past.
- inductioncorrect
- addition
- spelling
- gravity
The problem of induction questions how past patterns can guarantee future ones.
Guess the numberLevel 2
16. In which century did David Hume mainly live and work?
Answer: 18 century
Hume lived from 1711 to 1776, right in the 18th century.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
17. Which of these ideas are connected with David Hume? Select all that apply.
- The problem of inductioncorrect
- The bundle view of the selfcorrect
- The is-ought gapcorrect
- The categorical imperative
- The term tabula rasa
The problem of induction, the bundle self, and the is-ought gap all come from Hume.
Odd one outLevel 3
18. Three of these ideas are linked to Hume. Which is the odd one out?
- The categorical imperativecorrect
- The problem of induction
- The bundle view of the self
- The is-ought gap
The categorical imperative belongs to Kant, not Hume.

Kant

Fill the blankLevel 1
19. Kant's most famous book is the Critique of Pure ____.
- Reasoncorrect
- Music
- Money
- Weather
The Critique of Pure Reason is Kant's landmark work.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
20. What nationality was the philosopher Immanuel Kant?
- Germancorrect
- French
- English
- Scottish
Kant was German, living his whole life in the city of Konigsberg.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
21. Which of these statements about Kant are correct? Select all that apply.
- He was Germancorrect
- He wrote the Critique of Pure Reasoncorrect
- He is known for the categorical imperativecorrect
- He was Scottish
- He wrote no books at all
Kant was German, wrote the Critique of Pure Reason, and gave us the categorical imperative.
Put in orderLevel 2
22. Put these four early modern philosophers in order from earliest born to latest born.
Answer: Descartes -> Locke -> Hume -> Kant
Descartes came first in 1596, then Locke, then Hume, and Kant last in 1724.
True or falseLevel 2
23. Kant tried to bring together ideas from both the rationalists and the empiricists.
Answer: True
Yes, Kant's great project was combining reason and experience.
Match the pairsLevel 5
24. Match each Kantian term with its meaning.
Answer: Phenomena = Things as they appear to us; Noumena = Things as they are in themselves; Categorical imperative = Unconditional moral command; Good will = Good without qualification
Kant split things as they appear from things in themselves, and rooted morality in a good will and an unconditional command.

Rationalism

Multiple choiceLevel 1
25. Rationalists believed the most reliable source of knowledge is which of these?
- Reasoncorrect
- The five senses
- Random luck
- Popular opinion
Rationalists trusted reason above all as the road to real knowledge.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
26. Which of these thinkers are usually counted as rationalists? Select all that apply.
- Descartescorrect
- Spinozacorrect
- Leibnizcorrect
- Locke
- Hume
Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz are the classic trio of rationalists.
Fill the blankLevel 2
27. The rationalists believed we reach important truths mainly by using ____.
- reasoncorrect
- taste
- touch
- hearing
Reason, not the senses, was the rationalists' main tool for knowledge.
Match the pairsLevel 2
28. Match each rationalist thinker with an idea they are known for.
Answer: Descartes = Method of doubt; Spinoza = God or Nature; Leibniz = Monads
Descartes doubted, Spinoza saw God and Nature as one, and Leibniz described tiny units called monads.
Odd one outLevel 2
29. Which name is the odd one out among these rationalist thinkers?
- Lockecorrect
- Descartes
- Spinoza
- Leibniz
Locke was an empiricist, while Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz were rationalists.
Put in orderLevel 3
30. Put these three great rationalists in order from earliest born to latest born.
Answer: Descartes -> Spinoza -> Leibniz
Descartes was born in 1596, Spinoza in 1632, and Leibniz in 1646.

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 Early Modern Philosophy

128 questions across 24 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Early Modern Philosophy

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

Categorical Imperative: Kant's Basic Moral Idea ExplainedThe categorical imperative is Kant's test for moral rules. Learn how universal laws, respect for persons, and consistent reasoning shape his approach to ethics.August 13, 2026 · 5 min read

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