Philosophical Questions

1. What harsh truths do you prefer to ignore?

2. Is free will real or just an illusion?

3. Is there a meaning to life? If so, what is it?

4. Where is the line between art and not art?

5. What should be the goal of humanity?

6. Does fate exist? If so, do we have free will?

7. What does it mean to live a good life?

8. Why do we dream?

9. Where does your self-worth come from?

10. How will humans as a species go extinct?

11. Is it possible to live a normal life and not ever tell a lie?

12. Does a person’s name influence the person they become?

13. Is the meaning of life the same for animals and humans?

14. If someone you loved was killed in front of you, but someone created a copy of them that was perfect right down to the atomic level, would they be the same person and would you love them just as much?

15. If you could become immortal on the condition you would NEVER be able to die or kill yourself, would you choose immortality?

16. What actions in your life will have the longest reaching consequences? How long will those effects be felt?

17. How long will you be remembered after you die?

18. If a child somehow survived and grew up in the wilderness without any human contact, how “human” would they be without the influence of society and culture?

19. How would humanity change if all humans’ life expectancy was significantly increased (let’s say to around 500 years)?

20. Where do you find meaning in your life?

21. What do you think would be humanity’s reaction to the discovery of extraterrestrial life?

22. Will religion ever become obsolete?

23. If you could teach everyone in the world one concept, what concept would have the biggest positive impact on humanity?

 

24. Is suffering a necessary part of the human condition? What would people who never suffered be like?

25. Does hardship make a person stronger? If so, under what conditions and at what point is it too much hardship? If not, what makes a person stronger?

26. Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what was going well rather than what’s going wrong?

27. What benefits does art provide society? Does art hurt society in any way?

28. How likely do you think it will be that humans will last another 1,000 years without killing ourselves off?

29. What do you attribute the biggest successes in your life to? How about your largest failures?

30. If freedom is simply being able to do what you want, are animals freer than humans?

31. Would you want to know you are going to die before hand or die suddenly without warning?

32. Is humanity headed in the right or wrong direction?

33. Does the study of philosophy ever lead to answers or simply more questions?

34. What is the best way for a person to attain happiness?

35. If you had to guess, what do you think would be the most likely way you’ll die?

 

36. Is it better for a person to have a broad knowledge base or a deep knowledge base?

37. What is the best way to train people to see the gradients in the world around them instead of just a simplistic “this is good, that is wrong” view of the world?

38. Is intelligence or wisdom more useful?

39. Which of your beliefs are justified and which ones aren’t?

40. What do you contribute back to society?

41. What are you going to do with the one life you have?

42. Is it more important to help yourself, help your family, help your society, or help the world?

43. What life-altering things should every human ideally get to experience at least once in their lives?

44. What is the most important goal every person should have?

45. Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?

46. What are you capable of achieving?

47. By what standards do you judge yourself?

48. Can human nature be changed? Should it be changed?

49. How replaceable are you?

50. Why don’t we as a species take more advantage of the fact that we have almost infinite knowledge available to us?

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For more questions go to: 205 Philosophical Questions - A huge list of thought provoking questions (conversationstartersworld.com)