20 philosophical questions too complicated to answer
Life is full of unknowns with no apparent answers. Here are some of the most interesting ones.
As human beings, we often ask ourselves questions about our existence, ask ourselves questions about our existence and the world around us and the world around us, as we express an innate tendency to reflect and analyze our being and our environment.
Some of these questions have a simple answer, but others not so much, because there are facts that are difficult for the human mind to understand. Sometimes, in addition, the environment is too complex and, therefore, venturing to defend a truth in a radical way may not be the best option.
Philosophical questions difficult to answer
In this article you can find a selection of philosophical questions very complicated to answer. They are the following:
1. What is the secret to being happy?
We have all asked ourselves this question at some time in our lives and, without doubt, many philosophers and scientists have been interested in answering it, many philosophers and scientists have been interested in answering this question.. In reality, what is the secret to happiness, and does happiness have the same meaning in Western welfare society as it does in times of war? A complex answer and one that opens a great debate.
Several investigations have been carried out in this regard. You can learn about the most important results of these studies in this article: "The 10 keys to happiness, according to science".
2. Will there be life on other planets?
A question that philosophers and scientists have asked themselves is whether life exists in other places outside our planet. Some people claim to have seen flying saucers, and others to have been abducted by extraterrestrials, although there is no evidence that this is so. If we stick to a statistical reasoning, it seems unthinkable that no other type of life exists considering the infinity of galaxies and planets. However, it can also be argued that the fact that no extraterrestrial organism has visited us may be an indication that life on other planets may be scarce or non-existent. Or at least, not sufficiently evolved.
Now, regardless of whether extraterrestrials have set foot on earth or not, is there life in other parts of the universe? We still do not have an answer to this question, but we are sure that human beings will continue to search for some form of life outside our planet.
How can the Universe be infinite?
One of those difficult questions to answer is whether the cosmos has limits.. Humans only know a small part of the Universe, but it seems to be infinite. Can that be possible? In fact, many astronomers claim that the universe is expanding, so technically it would not be infinite but finite. From many people's point of view, this seems hard to believe and, in fact, even to imagine.
4. Are we naturally good or bad?
According to Ortega y Gasset, man is thrown into the world without an instruction book.. We have no guide as to how we should behave. But are we good or bad by nature? Are we born with the clean slate that Locke spoke of? Scientists claim that we are strongly conditioned by our environment, but what influence do genetics have?
Undoubtedly, these questions are difficult to answer. Logically, the environment plays a determining role in our behavior, as Philip Zimbardo demonstrated in his experiment in Stanford prison. But still, it seems hard to believe in this day and age that, for example, during the Nazi era, so many people were capable of killing so many poor innocents. Most of us cannot imagine that there are people so cruel and capable of such barbaric acts as those of the Holocaust.
5. Is there such a thing as justice?
If we take a look around us we will realize that life is not fair. Barbarities are the order of the day in different parts of the world, and the way people are judged varies. the way people are judged varies from culture to culture.Is life itself fair or unfair?
6. What is the best moral system?
The previous point leads us to reflect on what is the best moral system and, in fact, it is extremely complex to distinguish between the right and the wrong, it is extremely complex to distinguish between right and wrong. Some people may argue strongly that violence is always unjustifiable. But... what does an individual do in times of war if a group of subjects commits a barbaric act against his family? Undoubtedly, the context plays a role in answering this question, and life is too complex to believe in a universal morality and ethics.
7. Is there life after death?
There is no evidence to affirm that after death our soul dwells in "Paradise" or in a better world. But it must also be said that the contrary has not been proven. This question, which fits perfectly with esotericism, has also interested some philosophers who have argued that there is something beyond death. Now then, what does this 'something' consist of? Difficult to answer.
What was there before the Big Bang?
Perhaps this question has been attempted to be answered more from science, but from the human mind it is almost impossible to answer.But from the human mind it is almost impossible to understand or imagine the Big Bang theory. Although science seems to have found evidence of the Big Bang, what, then, is time? This question may lead us to reflect on something that has an answer that is certainly complex and difficult to visualize, since it is very counter-intuitive.
Why is there something instead of nothing?
Our presence in the Universe is too complex to explain in words. Our day-to-day lives lead us to live life and let us get wrapped up in everyday problems, which we perceive as normal and by which we perceive that life has some meaning. But, possibly, at some point in time one of the questions will have come to our conscience: "How can it be that we have life? How can it be that there are all these things in the Universe? O, Why are there these laws of physics that govern us? Nothing in modern physics explains why we have these laws and why the Universe works the way it does.
10. What is the meaning of life?
Existentialist and humanist philosophers have often wondered about the meaning of life and its significance. This can be interpreted at the individual level from the search for identity.. Now, does life have meaning or is it all chance?
11. Do we have free will?
In the words of Rousseau: "Man is born free, but chained on all sides". This brings us to the dilemma of determinism. In the philosophy of action there are two currents with two different visions: according to the compatibilist perspective, of which David Hume is the maximum defender, the determinism of action is compatible with the possibility of attributing moral responsibility and free will.
However, there is also the incompatibilist perspective, which argues that it is not possible to consider determinism and moral responsibility together.. In fact, recent studies suggest that we make decisions even before we are aware of them, and Antonio Damasio, in his book called Descartes' ErrorDamasio, states that emotions are present even in decisions that we believe to be rational.
12. Can we experience the world objectively?
We often believe that we perceive the world as real and objective, but is it really so? Everything we see, feel, smell, etc., passes through our sensory receptors and reaches our brain to process the information. Now then, what would the world be like if we had the vision of hawks or the sense of smell of dogs? Surely, different.
13. Does God exist?
Does God exist? For atheists, logically, no. For believers, evidently not. For believers, evidently, yes.. Only agnostics confess ignorance about the answer to this philosophical question. Science has not found any proof that God exists and, in fact, the study of cognition and psychological mechanisms has historically been more closely related to atheism than other fields of knowledge. You may be interested to know more about this subject in this article: "Can you be a psychologist and believe in God?
14. Is there such a thing as objective ethics?
To what extent are ethics not a social construct based on arbitrary criteria? Is there a real foundation beneath our ideas of right and wrong? This raises many questions, because denying that this kind of ethics exists also implies assuming an ethical perspective.
15. What is it that distinguishes human beings?
It is difficult to draw a dividing line between what is human and what is not, and it may not be possible to do so by focusing on a single trait. Moreover, this is one of those philosophical questions that have moral implications for what moral implications when it comes to establishing to what human rights apply..
16. Can we be happy in solitude?
To what extent can our emotional well-being exist if we do not maintain a link with the rest of society? We are social animals, but on the other hand, historically, personal relationships are also a source of problems or even violence..
17. What is art?
Art is one of the most pervasive cultural and social phenomena in all human societies. For hundreds of thousands of years, it seems that wherever the wherever Homo sapiens have Homo sapienshave inhabited, processes of artistic creation have taken place.Why?
18. Is science always the best way to know things?
This is a philosophical question that has been addressed for decades by currents of thought such as positivism. However, scientific methods require time and effortIs this practical in all situations?
19. Why do we have children?
It seems that the fact of procreating is an "inertia", but it is difficult to express in words why we want to have children. it is difficult to express in words why we want to have children.. It is an event that involves sacrifices and a lot of money, but at the same time it is very common in all social classes.
20. Should we fight to preserve the legacy of our ancestors?
To what extent should we feel obliged to preserve the cultural elements built by past generations? Progress implies overcoming certain social conventions..
(Updated at Apr 12 / 2024)