Toughest Philosophical Questions

@pieceoftheworld,

pieceoftheworld wrote:

If i'm right, you are trying to say that say we are manufactured, that the greatest quetion would be: Why are we manufactured and for what purpose?

That was also a question I had in mind.

no im saying if we where manufactured what purpose do we serve...i dont know if we where manufactured or came about by chance of nature...

1 Reply

@xris,

xris;35978 wrote:

if we where manufactured what purpose do we serve...i dont know if we where manufactured or came about by chance of nature...

Does it matter? We're here. However we came about we still have to ask about our purpose, which in the end is self-defined.

1 Reply

@Aedes,

Aedes wrote:

Does it matter? We're here. However we came about we still have to ask about our purpose, which in the end is self-defined.

The only obvious reason i can see is to live as best we can and die...if i have been missing something for the last 60 odd years ide be interested to know.,.

1 Reply

@xris,

OK. Next question:

For what purpose do we have emotions?

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@pieceoftheworld,

pieceoftheworld wrote:

OK. Next question:

For what purpose do we have emotions?

Why is water wet? sorry but asking why we are human is like asking any other obvious question..we have emotions because we are emotional humans...ask spock..you know the vulcan..

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@Deftil,

Would we have discovered the dark if we had not had eyes to see that there was no light?

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@Justin,

Justin wrote:

....What is man?

What is man not?

1 Reply

@Deftil,

If everything is a figmnt of my imagination, why are there things i do not know. Like, why does my subconsious make teachers that ask questions like do we exist. And why do i create problems i cant solve. this may be just my ind striving for more knowledge, so it chalenges its-self, but i hate having to think to hard. woldnt it have learned to just keep the world as it is when i like it? i have an answer, but i would like to hear others first...
Jodlum, the ninja of many things (but not all)
Remember, some people are only alive because its illegal to kill them.
but then philosophy comes along and ruins that by saying, do they actually exist?!

1 Reply

@Deftil,

Deftil wrote:

What do you think are the toughest philosophical questions to answer? I'm not looking for your answers (that would be too much for one thread), but I'm looking for your specific questions. What philosophical questions do you find yourself unable to answer? Which ones, if any, do you think are impossible to answer?

A sentence or 2 about the question or your answer is ok, but remember, I'm just trying to poll for the toughest questions themselves.

Thanks.

How can something, come from nothing?

1 Reply

@Deftil,

Suppose someone decided that everyday they would kill another person until God proved his existence to said person. What would be the more humane action to take? To show himself to the man and therefore prove his existence to not only the man, but the world or to not show himself to the man and allow countless innocent people to die? and also what would be the consequences of each action.

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@GUILLOTINEinc,

GUILLOTINEinc;69844 wrote:

....what would be the consequences of each action.

IMO, you are living in those consequences. Are you familiar with the phrase "out of sight, out of mind". We are killing thousands every day by our ommission of their existence. It's called "hell". The fires are only beginning to heat up.

William

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@Deftil,

Most of the ethical problems can't be solved unless someone dies. I don't want to list them all however. How about if you remove your brain and put in someone else's do you still exist?

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@Deftil,

What is the purpose of purpose?

1 Reply

@Elmud,

Elmud;54421 wrote:

How can something, come from nothing?

How can you have nothing ?

---------- Post added at 10:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:45 AM ----------

meditationyoga;70540 wrote:

Most of the ethical problems can't be solved unless someone dies. I don't want to list them all however. How about if you remove your brain and put in someone else's do you still exist?

Not without the heart too. It's the organ that goes for KFC. and your woman.

Quote:

Yesterday, the Mail told the extraordinary story of how a heart transplant recipient in America committed suicide -- just like the man whose heart he had received 12 years previously. In another extraordinary twist, it emerged that the recipient had also married the donor's former wife.

So can elements of a person's character -- or even their soul -- be transplanted along with a heart?

One woman who believes this to be the case is Claire Sylvia, a divorced mother of one.

dying from a disease called primary pulmonary hypertension... pioneering heartlung transplant

given the organs of an 18-year-old boy...

... extract from ... A Change Of Heart

first person in the state... two reporters came...
"Now that you've had this miracle, what do you want more than anything else?" "Actually," I replied, "I'm dying for a beer right now."...

I didn't even like beer.

...

Now that I could eat , I found, bizarrely...sudden fondness for Snickers bars, green peppers, Kentucky Fried Chicken takeaway.

.. after the operation..Even my walk became more manly.

"You're lumbering -- like a musclebound football player."

.. friendly with a blonde woman... her surprise at my lack of interest ... kind of signals I had been sending out...

... most unforgettable dream...

tall, thin young man with sandy-coloured hair.

His name was Tim -- possibly Tim Leighton... we kissed... to inhale him into me
I felt like Tim and I

... woke up knowing that Tim L was my donor

.
MEETING THE LAMIRANDE'S

When I told them how I had wanted a beer soon after the operation, there were smiles all around...

I asked if Tim had ever had colds and whether he recovered quickly.

They told me that he was hardly ever ill, and I wondered if this explained my new-found resilience?

I also asked if he liked green peppers.

His sister told me that, yes, Tim had loved green peppers -- "but what he really loved were chicken nuggets".

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@Deftil,

is it right to kill when it saves many others of equal value?

1 Reply

@Deftil,

Here is are a few of mine

While the whole of philosophy is extensive and complicated, can it be reduced to the questions below

1) what is the nature of the universe? Where does it come from? Of what is it made? How did it come to exist? What is its purpose? By what process does it change? Is it evolving or devolving? Does it function by itself or would it degenerate to chaos without some kind of intelligent control?

2) Is there a Supreme Being? If so, what is His nature?

3) What is the place of man in the universe? Is man the highest fruit of the universe or is he just an insignificant speck in infinite space-or something in between?

4) Does the spirit of man descend into matter from higher spiritual realms, or has it evolved from matter?

5) Is the universe conscious or unconscious of man? If it is aware, is it warm and friendly to him, or cold and indifferent, or even hostile?

6)) what is reality?

7) What is mind?
(a) What is thought? Is thought real?

(b) Where do ideas come from?

8) Are there laws that control thought?

9) Which is superior: mind or matter?

10) Has mind created matter or has matter evolved mind?

11) What determines the fate of each individual?

12) Is man a creator and mover of his life, or does he lives at the effect of forces over which he has little control?

13) Does free will exist or are our lives determined by outside factors-and if so, what are those factors?

14) Is there a Supreme Force that intervenes in our lives?

(a) Or is everything pre-determined from the beginning of time;

(b) Or is life just random, full of coincidence and accident?

15 What is good and what is bad or evil?
(a) What is moral?

(b) What is ethical?

16 Who decides good and bad, right and wrong; and by what standard?

17 Is there an absolute standard of good and bad beyond one's the personal opinions?

18 Should good and bad be determined by custom, by rational law, or by the situation? do we have no choice.

19 What is the ideal relation between the individual and the state? Should the individual serve the state or the state serve the individual? What is the best form of government and what is the worst? When is a man justified in rebelling against the established order and creating a new state?

20 What happens at death? Is death the end of everything or is there a soul in man that continues to exist beyond death? If so, is that soul immortal or does it too eventually cease to exist? If the soul does continue to exist after death, what is the nature of that existence? If there is an existence after death, is "good" rewarded and "bad" punished? If so, how do you reconcile this with the concept of predestination?

1 Reply

@Deftil,

What don't I know? After being told, what else don't I know?

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@Deftil,

At the level of the infinitesimal or quantum world particles are just mathematical equations and cannot be fathomed by using images. Only when observed do they come into existence either as moving waves of fundamental particles that can exist in more than one location at any moment in time

For anything to be considered real it must be observed

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@Victor Eremita,

Victor Eremita;24885 wrote:

Why is there something rather than nothing? - Heidegger
Quite the impossible question, isn't it.

How should I live? What life or ideal should I live or die for? - Kierkegaard
A very difficult and personal question, that no one can answer except me.

Prove to me that you are not figments of my imagination. - Solipsist.
Well, any answer that you give, is just part of my imagination; so suck it.

is it possible if you can pm me with an answer to that question? i have to answer that question for a philosophy class i'm taking, i would love it if you helped me with some ideas on how to actually say it.

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@Deftil,

Suicide is the only question that can be discussed involving a legitimate pro/con conversation,everything else is trivial in my opinion.

1 Reply

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