20 Philosophical Questions That Are Very Complicated To Answer
Human beings frequently we ask ourselves questions about our existence and the world around us, since we express an innate tendency to reflect and analyze our being and our environment.
Some of these unknowns have a simple answer, but others not so much, since there are facts that the human mind finds difficult 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.
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 point in our lives and, without a doubt, There are many philosophers and scientists who have been interested in answering it Actually, what is the secret to being happy? Does happiness have the same meaning in the Western welfare society as it does in times of war? A complex answer that opens a great debate.
In this sense, several investigations have been carried out. You can learn about the most notable results of these studies in this article: “The 10 keys to being happy, according to science.”
2. Will there be life on other planets?
A question that both philosophers and scientists have asked themselves is whether life exists in places other than our planet. Some people claim to have seen flying saucers, and others to have been abducted by aliens, although there is no evidence that this is the case. If we stick to statistical reasoning, it seems unthinkable that no other type of life exists taking into account the infinite number 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 evolved enough.
Now, regardless of whether aliens have walked on earth or not, Is there life in other areas of the universe? We still do not have an answer to this question, but surely humans will continue searching for some form of life outside of our planet.
3. How can the Universe be infinite?
One of those questions that is difficult to answer is whether the cosmos has limits Human beings 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 the point of view of many people it seems difficult to believe and, indeed, even to imagine.
4. Are we good or bad by nature?
As Ortega y Gasset said, man is thrown into the world without a book of instructions We have no guideline on how we should behave. But are we good or bad by nature? Are we born with the blank slate that Locke spoke of? Scientists affirm that the environment significantly conditions us, but what influence does genetics have then?
Without a doubt, these questions are difficult to answer. Logically, the environment plays a determining role in our behavior as Philip Zimbardo demonstrated in his Stanford prison experiment. But still, it seems hard to believe these days 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 carrying out barbaric acts like those of the Holocaust.
5. Does justice exist?
If we take a look around us we will realize that life is not fair. The atrocities are the order of the day in different parts of the world, and The way people are judged varies depending on the 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 reality, It is extremely complex to distinguish between good and evil Some people can defend staunchly that violence is always unjustifiable. But… what does an individual do in times of war if a group of subjects commits barbarism against his family? Undoubtedly, context plays a role when answering this question, and life is too complex to believe in universal morality and ethics.
There is no evidence that affirms that after death our soul lives in “Paradise” or in a better world. But it must also be said that the opposite has not been proven. This question, which fits perfectly with esotericism, has also interested some philosophers who have defended that something exists beyond death. However, What does that ‘something’ consist of? difficult to answer
8. 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 understand or imagine the Big Bang theory. Although science seems to have found evidence of the Big Bang, what, then, is time? This question can lead us to reflect on something that has an answer that is certainly complex and difficult to visualize, since it is very counterintuitive.
9. Why is there something instead of nothing?
Our presence in the Universe is too complex to explain in words. Our day to day life leads us to live life and let ourselves be enveloped by everyday problems, which we perceive as normal and from which we perceive that life has some meaning. But, possibly, at some point some of the questions will have come to our consciousness: “How can it be that we have life? How can it be that there are all these things in the Universe? EITHER, Why do these physical laws exist that govern us? Nothing in modern physics explains why we have these laws and why the Universe works like this.
10. What is the meaning of life?
Existentialist and humanist philosophers have often asked themselves 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 everything coincidence?
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 greatest 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 maintains that it is not possible to consider determinism and moral responsibility together In fact, recent studies suggest that we make decisions before we are even aware of them, and Antonio Damasio, in his book called Descartes’ errorstates that emotions are present even in decisions that we believe are rational.
Many times we believe that we perceive the real and objective world, but is this really the case? Everything we see, feel, smell, etc., passes through our sensory receptors and reaches our brain to process the information. However, 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?
God exists? For atheists, logically, not. For believers, obviously, yes Only agnostics confess themselves ignorant of 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 related to atheism than other areas of knowledge. You may be interested in knowing more about this topic in this article: “Can you be a psychologist and believe in God?”
14. Is there an objective ethics?
To what extent is ethics not a social construct based on arbitrary criteria? Is there a real foundation under our ideas of good and evil? This raises many doubts, 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 establish a dividing line that separates what is a human being from what is not, and possibly this cannot be done by focusing on a single trait. Also, this is one of those philosophical questions that have moral implications when establishing what human rights apply to
16. Can you be happy alone?
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 ubiquitous cultural and social phenomena in all human societies. For hundreds of thousands of years, it seems that there where he has lived Homo sapiensartistic creation processes have taken place Because?
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 effort ; Is 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 you want to have sons or daughters It is an event that entails 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 obligated to preserve cultural elements built by past generations? Progress implies giving up on certain social conventions
