i wanted to see what some people considered the most intriguing issues debated in philosophy. a list of you’re top 10 would be appreciated.
i’d say that “why is there something instead of nothing?” is a major one for Western philosophy.
a combonation of my body with its environment. the body being a result of my parents, the environment being a result of the big bang maybe, limited by my perceptual range.
In the order I thought of them:
Why does matter attract matter?
What’s electric charge?
What are the strong and weak nuclear forces?
Is the universe deterministic, probabilistic, or something else?
What’s colour?
What’s sound?
What’s touch?
What are smell and taste?
What happened at t = 0?
Are there to be any future superior-states of man (Ãœbermench, space-child, etc)?
- Is the world real or an illusion? AKA What is the ultimate nature of reality?
- What is death?
- What is a good life?
- What is truth? How many levels are there to truth? Can something be both true and false? Or inaccurate if you prefer?
- The famous question of Albert Camus.
- Is action favorable or futile?
- Is there a God? and its companion Why is there evil?
- What do people mean when they say something?
- Is it profitable to study ph¡losophy?
- Who the Hell do you think you are?
What is the 10 most intriguing questions in philosophy. ^10
i think that some of the most talked about philosophy revolves a lot around ethics. Thus “what is ethical?” would be one. Personally i believe the most important one to be
“What is the truth?” starts to wonder 
I don’t have 10 but they tend to be along the ethical lines as blindseer stated.
One other one that I have is:
Since we can’t actually determine whether or not god exists, why do we have so many arguments about it? Why is it so important to us?
cheers,
gemty
Mine ten would probably be something like:
- What is the purpose of what we call ‘life’ - what’s it doing?
- What’s the best way to live
- What can we and can’t we ever know
- What is the ‘mind’ (and coupled with that, was is thought)
- Freewill
- God
- What is the best way to run a society
Life after death - Why does the universe work the way it does
- How could ANYONE vote for George W Bush
The entire notion of ‘the Genealogy of Morals’ was enitrely new to me when I came across it in Nietzsche’s writing…
best understood through the question:
‘Under what ‘conditions’ did man construct the value judgements good and evil? and what is their intrinsic worth?’
Mind blower…for a boy who was only in HighSchool…
- Can anything be known a priori?
- Is logical necessity the only necessity a rational man should consider?
- Non Cognitivism vs. Realism - which is ‘right’?
- What is the nature of the relationship between an analysis and a definition?
- What is the business of Philosophy? (modern-aporia for me, but things always get me to doubt that)
- What is the nature of a concept?
My 10 (no order)
- What is the imagination?
- Can thought go on without a body?
- Would Virtual Reality be ethically viable?
- Can we invent a metalanguage?
- Is there anything inherently human?
- Is this the only universe?
- Is there a God?
Is there a detrop? - What is the purpose of art?
- What is the best means to bring about a revolution?
(1 year. Woot. Woot.)
All the above are good but, I think each person has their own top list, that they may be embarrassed to ask like:
Why does PMS cause women to go ballistic and think reallly off the wall thoughts
Why do we have toenails and finger nails and then we are told not to chew them even though they cry out to be chewed.
Why is it called toe jam
Why can’t you say what you think if someone has a hair style that mkes your ribs hurt with laughter.
Why are people so sensitive
Why can’t we all take turns being the boss
Nose bugers are too a statement aren’t they?
Why if you live in a one bathroom home does everyone seem to need it at the same time.
Metaphysics:
1-Does anything exist without matter?
2-Does God exist?
3-Does man exist metaphysically?
Ethics:
4-What is the end of man?
5-What is good for man?
Epistemology:
6-Can we know?
7-How can we know?
Physics:
8-What are the principles of matter?
9-What is time?
Aesthetics:
10-What is beauty?
11-Why did you ask about the top 10 philosophical questions?
These are great issues. And for what it is worth I am going to address most of them briefly. Some of them arte not relevant and others are very.
The real question is is there a physical ontologically real existence separate from the spatiotemporal world. Remember matter is merely a function of curved spacetime. Of course this issue has relevance especially in terms of the mind/body problem or consciousness and is the dominateing issue separting Rationalists and so-called Empiricists.
From a physics and mathematical point of view, we have strong evidence of a world or realm distinct from the spatiotemporal one we experience through our physical sensory system. So i would suggest that quantum mechnics already intimates a physical phenomenon that transcends spacetime and that is the wavefunction. With respect to mathemtical truth, Godel’s theorems regarding incompleteness show that truth transcends proof. And that it is a human behavior distinct from formal computational reasaoning that allows us to make this determination. Many philosophers, inclkudiing Quine, Putnam, Chaitin, and others really miss the true implications of this theorem and Turings work as well. The point being, if mathematical truth is non-empirical, and indeed transcends formal systematic reasoning, that means mathemtical objects hold an ontological significance and meaning which seems to transcend spacetime. That is we cannot locate or sense mathemtatical truth in that sense. In other words. we have an ontology and metaphysics which is different from our traditional sense impressions of spacetime. Even Kant warned us about those limitations but was unaware of Godel and the advances in quantum theory which seem to enable us to transcend our material world and access the noumenal or Platonic world if you will. In know the distinction oiperationally between them, but in a braod sense they are related.
Not necessarily a philosophical issue, but scientifically i believe the question is open and indeed answerable physically in a limited sense.
I am not sure what this mean. Life after death? Metaphysics doesn’t have to do with mystical issues necessarily. metaphysics is the interpretation and analysis in a braod sense of physical science. Thus with regard to consciousness and human self, yes, I believe there exists an aspect of thew universe, the consciousness, which transcends the material spatiotemporal realm, but which is physical and scientifically explainable.
I think you epistemic questions are somehwta ddressed in this way. But in terms of knowledge and what defines it I am more then willing to discuss that.
Finally, your metaphysical inquiry ointo the nature of matter and the physical universe and something worthy of discussion. Why don’t you set the tone…
Hormones. Why do men commit more crimes of passion than women?
Evidently, individuals living in the same home tend to have similar cycles. A study I read years ago.
Just a few of my most terrific sources of teenage-angst:
Does metaphysics exist ?
Are synthetical a priori categories and intuitions actually for real ?
Does Santa Claus exist ?
Is thought isochronous with language ?
What is genius and in what way am I akin to it ?
What does that mind button do ?
I would take my real name’s approach to your question and look at the different fields of philosphy. If you haven’t got it already, I would highly recommend the Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Or any introductory book that shows the many different fields or thought groupings that philosphy deals with. Though, all of the different fields intermingle and relate to each other. (In the Oxford Companion, The diagrams and maps of the different fields of philosophy at the end of the book demonstrate how interrelated all of the many fields are. But I still think that it might give one a good framework on the different categories certain issues in philosophy have been grouped into.)
No particular order.
- Is knowledge possible?
- Is there a such thing as nothingness?
- Is time only relative?
- Do we really exist in the same way that we think we exist?
- How is everything held together in the quantum level?
- For this question I spent the last 15 minutes trying to think of it. It is my 2nd biggest question and I have not a clue how to word it. If this makes any sense, here it goes. How come things are? How come there is? How can things be? I hope I got atleast some point across, sorry its just such an abstract thought that I can’t put it into words, even in my mind I can’t make sense of it.
efg14,
Thank you for responding. You have some interesting things to say about space-time. Here are some thoughts:
- “Of course this issue has relevance especially in terms of the mind/body problem or consciousness and is the dominateing issue separting Rationalists and so-called Empiricists.”
I’m neither. I’m a Scholastic.
- “With respect to mathemtical truth, Godel’s theorems regarding incompleteness show that truth transcends proof.”
In a system. I’m not sure this is the same in philosophy.
But you say some interesting things about math. Aristotle deals with math also in his metaphysics.
- “Not necessarily a philosophical issue, but scientifically i believe the question is open and indeed answerable physically in a limited sense.”
If I were to answer it physically, I would be doping physics. I intend it to be addressed metaphysically, and in that part of Philosophy it is a defintie question to be addressed.
- “metaphysics is the interpretation and analysis in a braod sense of physical science.”
Metaphysics (before Decartes) is the study of being insofar as it is being. Under this falls any attempt to define things without matter. That which has matter is addressed, more specifically and properly, in physics.
- “Thus with regard to consciousness and human self, yes, I believe there exists an aspect of thew universe, the consciousness, which transcends the material spatiotemporal realm, but which is physical and scientifically explainable.”
Okay, I wrote something close to this on an essay here, so I’m being careful (as one should be in philosophy). How do YOU see transcendence of the physical by the physical. I have heard argued by teachers that this IS (part of) a proof that man transcends the physical.
- “Finally, your metaphysical inquiry ointo the nature of matter and the physical universe and something worthy of discussion. Why don’t you set the tone…”
Great! The principles of physical things are form and matter.
Yours cordially, and welcome to the boards,
mrn