Practical Philosophy Discussion Topics

I’m not into turgid traditional philosophy, but there are lots of very interesting practical questions and topics worth exploring philosophically, such as for a Cafe Philo. This informal paper maintains a list of the questions and topics that strike me as particularly interesting.

Impractical topics

Before we get to the actual list of practical philosophy discussion topics, we should note that some topics that may have some superficial appeal are decidedly impractical for a satisfying philosophy discussion for a number of reasons:

1. No agreed upon, common, shared vocabulary of terms.
2. Merely a matter of semantic interpretation of the words.
3. No solid facts that can be agreed on to form a foundation for discussion.
4. No practical way to confirm assumptions.
5. No agreement on assumptions.
6. No practical utility to any answer that comes from the discussion.
7. No practical way to confirm conclusions, even in theory, for us mere mortals.
8. Idle speculation with no sound basis in fact or reason.
9. More of a religious or theological topic, far beyond the realm of the merely practical, earthly, or worldly.

To be clear, my posture is that any question on any topic is fair game for a philosophy discussion, but while most topics can easily be discussed by any group, questions or topics that fall into the categories listed above can be very problematic and call for a very deep commitment on the part of discussion participants to be able to set aside their values and beliefs and use strict critical thinking to examine all beliefs, values, dogma, assumptions, biases, and articles of faith. That can be done, but for impractical topics it can be very difficult and very problematic and requires a very carefully vetted group of discussion participants.

Some of the impractical topics are merely impractical not because we can’t talk about them but because they are too speculative, fanciful, or frivolous to arrive at conclusions which might conceivably be useful in our daily lives.

For example:

1. Does God exist?
2. What is the meaning of life?
3. Why is there something rather than nothing?
4. How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
5. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
6. What was the origin of the universe?
7. How will the universe end?
8. Is there intelligent life elsewhere in the universe?
9. Does the multiverse exist?
10. Is time travel possible?
11. Are we living in The Matrix?
12. Are we living in a simulation?
13. What do extraterrestrial women want?
14. Did God know in advance what the universe would look like?
15. Is the universe exactly as God expected it would be?
16. Is the universe exactly as God intended it to be?
17. Did God indeed roll the dice with the universe?
18. Does an omniscient entity/deity necessarily know the future, or can omniscience be limited to the present and past?
19. Does the soul exist?
20. Would the universe be better off with a God or without a God?
21. Is there a single God or a pantheon of Gods?

The list of practical philosophy discussion topics

Now the actual list of practical philosophy discussion topics…

I’ll add to this list as new questions and topics come to my attention.

There may be some repetition in order to attempt to distinguish nuances of meaning as well as alternative phrasings which might be more evocative.

The entries are in no particular order, although they are in chronological order as they occurred to me.

1. What is the role of protest in a democracy?
2. When is change good?
3. When is change bad?
4. What is peaceful assembly?
5. Is the media required to be objective?
6. What is the role of media in a modern society?
7. What is the role of media in a democracy?
8. What is truth?
9. Is literal truth required in politics?
10. Is literal truth relevant to politics?
11. Does literal truth apply to politics? Campaign promises, descriptions of problems, descriptions of solutions and proposed policies, etc. Versus vague themes, lofty claims, and emotional appeals.
12. What do we really know?
13. What does it mean to know something?
14. When is confidence warranted?
15. What is intelligence?
16. What are all of the features of intelligence?
17. What is emotional intelligence?
18. What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and emotion?
19. What is free will?
20. What do people mean by free will?
21. How free is free will?
22. What is the relationship between autonomy and free will?
23. Is free will compatible with reason?
24. Is free will compatible with the rule of law?
25. Can philosophy tell us whether free will exists?
26. Can robots ever have free will?
27. How could we tell if a robot had free will?
28. Is it ethical for robots to be endowed with free will?
29. Should it be legal to endow robots with free will?
30. Is anything absolute?
31. Are there any absolutes?
32. How absolute is absolute?
33. Is truth compatible with power?
34. Is literal truth compatible with power?
35. How compatible are reason and power?
36. What makes you think you can handle the truth?
37. What’s fair?
38. Is anything ever really isolated or is everything always connected?
39. Can we understand the nature of existence without a deep comprehension of quantum mechanics?
40. Who can we believe?
41. Who can we trust?
42. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give God to create a better universe?
43. How much of 2,500 years of philosophy is worth keeping?
44. What are the best parts of 2,500 years of philosophy?
45. If you could keep only 1% of 2,500 years of philosophy what 1% would that be? (or 2%, 5%, 10%, 25%, or half)
46. What have we learned from 2,500 years of philosophy?
47. Are we any closer to objective truth after 2,500 years of philosophy?
48. Is responsibility a choice or an obligation?
49. Do we have responsibility for our thoughts?
50. Can we be held responsible for our thoughts?
51. Is life easier today than at any time in the past (years, decades, generations, centuries, millennia)?
52. Is life getting easier or harder?
53. What qualities does time have?
54. What does time mean?
55. What qualities does space have?
56. What is space like at and near the edge of the universe?
57. What is time?
58. Is time observable?
59. Does time really exist?
60. Does time really exist or is it simply a metaphor?
61. Does time really exist or is it simply a metaphor, a mere bookkeeping device?
62. What is space?
63. Is space observable?
64. Does space exist separate from matter, or does space exist only because of matter?
65. What is science?
66. How much of science does the average person need to know to lead a good life?
67. How much of mathematics does the average person need to know to lead a good life?
68. What do average citizens need to know about science?
69. What do voters need to know about science?
70. What is the role of science in a modern society?
71. Is knowledge of science completely optional for the average person?
72. Can science guarantee that we have the truth?
73. Where would we be today without philosophy?
74. Does technology have philosophical implications, or is it only social effects of technology which have philosophical implications?
75. Do databases have philosophical implications or is it only social effects of databases which have philosophical implications?
76. Must God obey the laws of physics?
77. Can God violate the laws of physics?
78. Is God subject to quantum mechanics?
79. Is there any level of physics which God is subject to? Time? Space? Total energy in the universe?
80. Is it possible to ever violate the laws of physics?
81. Does philosophy cover or include theology?
82. What is the name for the level or levels of existence below quantum mechanics?
83. Is time our friend or our enemy?
84. Is time your friend or your enemy?
85. Is time just a metaphor?
86. Are we getting better at predicting the future?
87. Is terrorism necessarily immoral?
88. Should extremism be illegal?
89. Is world government possible?
90. What are the preconditions for a viable, vibrant, and sustainable world government?
91. Is now the time for world government?
92. What are the ethics of speculation about the future and the unknown?
93. Does speculation have a place in philosophy?
94. How ethical is wild speculation?
95. Can speculation be irresponsible?
96. When is speculation responsible?
97. When is speculation irresponsible?
98. When is speculation reasonable?
99. When is speculation unreasonable?
100. When is speculation warranted?
101. Which is more important, now or the future?
102. What are the mortal sins of philosophy?
103. Is the future our friend or our enemy?
104. How relevant is history to now?
105. Why study history?
106. What is wisdom?
107. How should we define knowledge?
108. What is knowledge?
109. Is knowledge necessarily true?
110. Can knowledge convey all meaning?
111. What is the relationship between wisdom and knowledge?
112. Does wisdom require calm dispassion?
113. Does age bring wisdom?
114. Does age guarantee wisdom?
115. Is reason compatible with passion?
116. Does reason require calm dispassion?
117. Is consent to slavery possible?
118. How much is a human life worth?
119. How should we calculate the value of a human life?
120. Can a human life be assigned a financial value?
121. What is one year of a human life worth?
122. How much is each year of a human life worth?
123. What is each of the years of a human life worth, from conception to death?
124. Does a human fetus have any rights?
125. How much is a human fetus worth?
126. What is your time worth?
127. What is your time worth to you?
128. What are the most valued virtues?
129. What are the most appealing virtues?
130. What is the single most important virtue?
131. What is the relationship between values and virtues?
132. What is the difference between ethics and morality?
133. Are morality and ethics exact synonyms?
134. Is morality based on emotion while ethics is based on reason?
135. Is life possible without beauty?
136. What is life?
137. How much of news is knowledge?
138. Is knowledge always or necessarily more powerful than belief?
139. Which is more powerful, knowledge or belief?
140. What is the relationship between belief and knowledge?
141. What is the relationship between belief, knowledge, and truth?
142. What is the relationship between belief and reason?
143. What is a fact?
144. Are all facts necessarily objective?
145. Are we each entitled to our own facts?
146. Are we each entitled to our own sources of facts?
147. Are all facts necessarily knowledge?
148. Is all knowledge necessarily factual?
149. Should the law ever be used to enforce morality?
150. Does morality have a place in the law?
151. Is it advisable to get law involved with promotion of morality?
152. Is it reasonable to base law on morality?
153. When is civil disobedience justified?
154. What criteria must be satisfied to justify civil disobedience?
155. Is civil disobedience compatible with the rule of law?
156. Are there limits to civil disobedience?
157. Are negative questions ever answerable or even reasonable?
158. What is safe?
159. What does it mean for something to be safe?
160. What is the relationship between correlation and causality?
161. What is a causal link?
162. What is money?
163. Is money real?
164. What are moral wages?
165. How can injustice be cured?
166. Can injustice ever be completely cured?
167. How can hate be cured?
168. Can hate ever be completely cured?
169. Does evil exist?
170. What is evil?
171. Do we all have the capacity for evil?
172. Is the capacity for evil part of human nature?
173. Is evil a choice?
174. Do money and morality ever mix?
175. Can anything positive ever come from mixing money and morality?
176. Can contemporary morality be applied to the distant past?
177. What is law based on?
178. What could law be based on?
179. What should law be based on?
180. Who is “we”?
181. Is adherence to European-based democratic political ideology a form of “white supremacy”?
182. Is Western-style democracy a form of white supremacy?
183. Does Western-style democracy have its origins in white supremacy?
184. Is Western-style democracy rooted in white supremacy?
185. Was Western-style democracy rooted in white supremacy?
186. Was The Enlightenment rooted in white supremacy?
187. Was The Enlightenment based on white supremacy?
188. Is messy democracy always superior to a stable dictatorship?
189. Is messy democracy always superior to a stable authoritarian regime?
190. Would you prefer a messy democracy or a stable dictatorship?
191. Must democracy be messy?
192. What is the relationship between democracy and capitalism?
193. Does (Western-style) democracy require capitalism?
194. Does socialism require central planning?
195. How should we decide between socialism and capitalism?
196. How much of your mind can you speak freely without getting into trouble?
197. What is the meaning of meaning?
198. Can you ever really set your bias aside?
199. Is patriotism optional or an obligation, a civic duty?
200. Can nonsense ever have meaning?
201. Can myths ever have real meaning and be relevant to the real world?
202. Compare and contrast emotional certainty and intellectual certainty.
203. Who deserves what?
204. Who is deserving?
205. Is empathy natural or must it be learned?
206. Can empathy be taught?
207. What is authenticity?
208. Is authenticity just another illusion?
209. Is authenticity objective or subjective?
210. Is authenticity who we want to be or who we are?
211. Is authenticity about aspiration or acceptance?
212. Do you prefer a captivating story or boring facts?
213. Why do most people prefer comforting stories to cold, hard, boring facts?
214. Can love ever be an obligation?
215. What does it mean for love to be deserved?
216. Can unconditional love be deserved?
217. What is the American Dream?
218. Who gets to define the American Dream?
219. Can the American dream be redefined?
220. Who gets to define shared values?
221. What is the value of rituals?
222. The value of rituals.
223. The role of emotional intelligence in persuasion.
224. Is emotional intelligence compatible with reason?
225. What is the role of emotional intelligence in reason?
226. Which is more compelling, nature or nurture?
227. What is purpose?
228. What is the nature of purpose?
229. What is the meaning of purpose?
230. Is a life without purpose worth living?
231. When is suicide justified?
232. Is suicide ever justified?
233. When is suicide permissible?
234. Is suicide ever permissible?
235. What is a crisis?
236. What constitutes a crisis?
237. Does God play dice with the universe?
238. How deterministic can the universe be if it is based on the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics?
239. How deterministic can the world be if it is based on quantum mechanics?
240. Is an uprising a constitutionally-protected action?
241. Can an uprising ever be considered “peaceful”?
242. Is uprising compatible with the rule of law?
243. Do people have a natural right to revolt?
244. What are natural rights?
245. What natural rights do we have even if they are not formally recognized by the constitution, the UN, or other law?
246. Do exceptions really prove the rule?
247. How do exceptions prove the rule?
248. Should government leave people feeling powerful or powerless?
249. How do we balance ethics and the law?
250. How do we balance our personal ethics and the law?
251. Is pride a sin or a virtue?
252. Should we be proud of complexity or afraid of it?
253. Do we owe anything to authority?
254. Do we have any obligations to authority?
255. Is it reasonable to use words as weapons?
256. Is it reasonable to use speech as a weapon?
257. Is it reasonable to use truth as a weapon?
258. Is beauty relevant in modern society?
259. Is any right absolute?
260. Are there limits to all rights?
261. Is practicality missing the whole point of philosophy?
262. Is there a future for Luddites?
263. What are our ethical obligations to robots?
264. What are our ethical obligations to AI systems?
265. What are our ethical obligations to artificially-intelligent systems?
266. What constitutes legitimate criticism?
267. Are there limits to criticism?
268. What is a fair inference?
269. Can inference ever be objective or is it always subjective?
270. Should we always defer to experts and the elite?
271. Do we have an obligation to defer to experts and the elite?
272. Do we have an obligation to treat the words of an expert or the elite as truth?
273. Does expertise matter anymore?
274. Is expertise inherently anti-democratic?
275. Do we have an obligation to listen to others?
276. Is it our choice whether to listen to others and to whom we will listen?
277. Are there any limits to philosophy?
278. Are we entitled to anything?
279. Who is entitled to what?
280. What scientific discipline is best-suited to study racism?
281. What scientific discipline is best-suited to study sexism?
282. Are the biblical parables relevant to modern society?
283. Is the mind like an iceberg with only the tip being conscious and most of it unconscious?
284. How much wisdom is needed to govern society?
285. How much wisdom is needed to participate in government?
286. How much wisdom is needed to vote?
287. Are we obligated to believe everything that we can’t prove false?
288. Which is more important, the forest or the trees?
289. How dangerous can narrative be?
290. Is narrative the intellectual equivalent of fire?
291. Is the purpose of narrative manipulation and social control?
292. Is narrative a reasonable substitute for raw truth?
293. Is narrative a reasonable substitute for raw truth, raw facts, and raw, concise knowledge?
294. Can obligation be oppression?
295. Who is intellectually superior?
296. What does it mean to be intellectually superior?
297. Is anybody intellectually superior?
298. Does intellectual superiority convey any special rights or obligations?
299. What is a burden?
300. Is it wrong to want to play God?
301. Can social science tell us the truth about anything?
302. Is science being hijacked by ideologically-motivated scientists?
303. Is science being compromised by sociopolitically-activated scientists?
304. Is the profit motive a vice or a virtue?
305. Is the profit motive a bug or a feature?
306. Is capitalism broken?
307. Is capitalism beyond repair?
308. How can we make capitalism great again?
309. What makes a discussion topic impractical?
310. What decade would you most like to do over?
311. How can we be sure that something is true?
312. Can we ever be sure that something is true?
313. How can we be sure that something is not true?
314. Can we ever be sure that something is not true?
315. Is it more urgent to inquire about what confuses us or what we are certain about?
316. Is it more urgent to inquire about what makes us anxious or what satisfies us?
317. Is it more urgent to address climate change or economic inequality?
318. Can we really set priorities without considering long-term resource requirements?
319. Should we care how the universe originated?
320. Should we care how the universe might end?
321. Should we behave any differently if there is no God or afterlife?
322. How do we know what is right?
323. Which is more compelling, fact or fiction?
324. Which is more appealing, reality or fantasy?
325. Should there be limits to fantasy?
326. What is enlightened self-interest?
327. Do we have an obligation to answer every question posed to us?
328. Do we have an obligation to respond to those who are insincere or disrespectful?
329. When is civility called for?
330. When should incivility be tolerated?
331. Is civility required for a modern society?
332. Does civility demand that we refrain from intentionally offending others?
333. Do we have an obligation to treat others in a civil manner?
334. What is joy?
335. How much joy do we need to live a good life?
336. Is the joy of relief real joy?
337. How much meaning is there in music?
338. Is there wisdom in music?
339. What is the nature of philosophical inquiry?
340. Can philosophy ever answer any question?
341. Can philosophy tell us the truth about anything?
342. Can philosophy tell us the objective truth about anything?
343. What questions, if any, can philosophy answer?
344. Are there any questions which philosophy can answer?
345. Are there any questions which philosophy can answer objectively?
346. Are there any questions which philosophy cannot help us understand?
347. Can philosophy itself ever answer any of our questions?
348. Does vocabulary matter?
349. Can we communicate effectively without a shared vocabulary?
350. Does semantics matter?
351. What is reason?
352. What is reasoning?
353. What is the relationship between reasoning, logic, intuition, and judgment?
354. Can logic and emotion ever be compatible?
355. Is existentialism less or more relevant today?
356. Is silence a natural right?
357. How golden is silence?
358. Is bias always a bad thing?
359. Is bias generally a good thing even if excess may still be a bad thing?
360. Is life possible without bias?
361. Would life be bearable without bias?
362. What are animal rights?
363. Do all animals have equal rights?
364. Is it possible to reason from nothing or are some beliefs or assumptions required?
365. Must robots and AI systems be preprogrammed with some knowledge in order to do any reasoning?
366. How do characterization and interpretation affect the meaning of a fact?
367. How can we balance passion for open-minded inquiry and passion for particular conclusions?
368. Is induction still a logical fallacy in modern society?
369. Should you always be open to talking to your enemies?
370. How effectively can we communicate if we don’t share values?
371. Why doesn’t science inspire confidence any longer?
372. What social contract is in effect in modern society?
373. What was the traditional social contract?
374. Should anyone be exempt from reason?
375. Must we accept science?
376. Must philosophers defer to science?
377. Must philosophy defer to science?
378. Must we accept the views of experts?
379. Must philosophers defer to experts?
380. Must philosophy defer to experts?
381. What is the distinction between bias, prejudice, and hate?
382. Is disinformation an existential threat to democracy or simply a fact of life which every citizen is expected to cope with?
383. Is disinformation an existential threat to modern society or simply a fact of life which every citizen is expected to cope with?
384. Do you trust the judgment of your fellow citizens?
385. Should you worry (about anything)?
386. What worry, if any, is justified?
387. Does reality ever need a good excuse?
388. Should we ever allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good?
389. When might the perfect not be the enemy of the good?
390. Are appeals to authority still a logical fallacy in modern society?
391. Must trust be earned or can it be demanded?
392. What is the role of reason in modern society?
393. Are we obligated to believe authority?
394. Who gets to dictate truth?
395. Is lust a vice or a virtue?
396. What does it mean to take responsibility?
397. Are you responsible if following authority?
398. Is dogma compatible with reason?
399. Could you ever trust a smoker to tell the truth?
400. How many classes should there be in a modern society?
401. Are they watching us now?
402. What is your greatest flaw?
403. What is your greatest strength?
404. Do the ends ever justify the means?
405. Under what criteria do the ends justify the means?
406. When and where in daily life is reason appropriate?
407. When and where in daily life is reason ever inappropriate?
408. What are the preconditions for the use of reason?
409. Does any problem demand an emotional response?
410. When is an emotional response justified?
411. Is fear ever justified (in contrast to reasoned caution)?
412. Is reason dead?
413. Is reason dead, dying, declining, in disfavor, unappealing, or just too much effort?
414. Is reason more trouble than it’s worth?
415. Why can’t reason get any respect?
416. What is the relationship between knowledge and intelligence?
417. Is it natural to be skeptical?
418. Is intellect ever not superior to the passions?
419. When is intellect not superior to the passions?
420. Is it fair to expect others to know what you mean?
421. Can we ever rely on intelligence to overcome bad judgment?
422. Are disputes over culture and values necessarily racism, sexism, homophobia, or xenophobia?
423. Who should study philosophy?
424. Why should anyone study philosophy?
425. Should everyone be required to study philosophy?
426. Is gossip ever a good thing?
427. Does gossip have any redeeming social value?
428. Who can be trusted with gossip?
429. Is your dignity ever worth your life?
430. Is belief a human right?
431. Are any beliefs unacceptable?
432. Are any beliefs forbidden?
433. Do fiction and fantasy benefit or harm society?
434. When did society become modern?
435. Are citizens of a democracy obligated to defer to experts?
436. Are individuals of a modern society obligated to defer to experts?
437. What is the best way to plan for the future?
438. Is Simulation Theory a realistic possibility?
439. To what degree can we trust our senses?
440. Is pessimism ever warranted?
441. When is pessimism warranted?
442. How can we become more optimistic?
443. How much optimism makes sense?
444. When is optimism warranted?
445. When is optimism not warranted?
446. Can you really apologize for the actions of another, such as a friend, relative, or ancestor?
447. Can you really apologize for the actions of your community or country?
448. How different might the world be in 10, 25, 50, or 100 years?
449. How well do we really understand each other?
450. Can we ever really understand each other?
451. Is induction still a logical fallacy in modern society?
452. Is generalization still a logical fallacy in modern society?
453. Are we morally obligated to defer to experts?
454. Are philosophers morally obligated to defer to experts?
455. What’s so modern about modern society?
456. When did modern society become modern?
457. What are the criteria for modernity?
458. Why shouldn’t some animals be more equal than others?
459. Is fighting ever appropriate in modern society?
460. Is the language of violence ever appropriate in modern society?
461. What constitutes a plan?
462. What is the source of moral authority?
463. What is the relative value of generalizations vs. universals?
464. Are universals always superior to generalizations?
465. When are generalizations reasonable?
466. Are we responsible for our own thoughts?
467. Is social harmony a reasonable goal?
468. What will it take to achieve social harmony?
469. Should a good person ever cooperate with a bad person?
470. Should a good person ever tolerate or accept a bad person?
471. Does emotion have a legitimate place in discourse?
472. Does emotion have a legitimate place in public discourse?
473. Does emotion have a legitimate place in philosophical discourse?
474. Are there reasonable limits to emotion in public discourse?
475. Are smokers necessarily bad people?
476. Is frequently smoking of marijuana a sign of a flawed character?
477. Does stigma have a place in modern society?
478. Do we have a right to stigmatize anything or anybody?
479. Do we have a right to be free from stigma?
480. Do we have an obligation to respect everyone in a modern society?
481. How much sin should be tolerated in a modern society?
482. Is anything pure?
483. Are we getting more intelligent?
484. Are we getting less intelligent?
485. How much are we obligated to believe about the future?
486. What are we obligated to believe about the future?
487. Are unintended consequences necessarily a bad thing?
488. Is there anything that should never be forgiven?
489. Is there anybody who should never be forgiven?
490. Is it ever acceptable to lie?
491. What are acceptable excuses for lying?
492. What is destiny?
493. What is the nature of destiny?
494. Is destiny a real thing?
495. What is existence?
496. Should we have empathy for the unborn (distinct from empathy for the parents)?
497. Should we have empathy for an unborn fetus?
498. Should we have empathy for an unborn embryo?
499. At what stage of pregnancy should empathy to the unborn begin?
500. What obligations do we have to the unborn?
501. Should we have empathy for the dead?
502. Should we have empathy for the souls of the dead?
503. Should we have empathy for our ancestors?
504. Should we have empathy for animals?
505. Should we have empathy for all animals?
506. Should we have empathy for fish, reptiles, or insects?
507. Is virtue signaling a good thing or a bad thing?
508. Does science (or math) have any value if you can’t understand it?
509. Does knowledge have any value if you can’t understand it?
510. Can you claim to know something (vs. merely believe it) if you don’t have a reasonably strong comprehension of the justification for its truth?
511. When is knowledge needed and when is belief good enough?
512. In what situations is knowledge needed and when is belief good enough?
513. Is the human mind the final frontier?
514. Do you prefer the unexpected or the desired?
515. What does it mean when scientists say there is no proof for something?
516. Is absence of proof proof of absence?
517. Does absence of proof constitute proof of absence?
518. Which is more powerful, knowledge or judgment?
519. Should spiritual beliefs be tolerated by modern society?
520. Should religion, spirituality, and theology be beyond the reach of philosophy?
521. Can we know anything with absolute certainty?
522. What criteria must be satisfied to achieve absolute certainty?
523. Can any philosophy question be answered with absolute certainty?
524. How much knowledge of philosophy is needed to be a good person?
525. Can philosophy prove the existence of anything?
526. Can any belief about the future be true?
527. What aspects of truth are relevant to the future?
528. What is real?
529. Is the past real?
530. Is the future real?
531. Are ideas real?
532. Are thoughts real?
533. Is our imagination real?
534. Are fantasies real?
535. Are illusions real?
536. Are rainbows real?
537. Is the meaning of art real?
538. Is meaning real?
539. Does meaning exist?
540. Should verbal assault be legal?
541. Should verbal assault be illegal?
542. Should verbal assault be acceptable in modern society?
543. What is the role of the elderly in modern society?
544. When are second chances appropriate?
545. What should our response be to dictatorships?
546. What should our response be to authoritarian rule?
547. What is beyond the pale?
548. Should you ever have to apologize publicly for something you say in private?
549. What are the ethics of time travel?
550. Should history have a role in ethics?
551. What are the ethics of writing history?
552. What are the ethics of rewriting or reframing history?
553. What is required to hold a belief?
554. What are the criteria for belief?
555. How reasonable is justified true belief as a definition of knowledge?
556. Do beliefs ever need to be justified?
557. Can we understand the future?
558. Can we have any knowledge about the future?
559. What is privacy?
560. What are the ethics of privacy?
561. Can philosophy tell us what’s good or bad about democracy, capitalism, or socialism?
562. Does romance have a place in modern society?
563. Where does knowledge come from?
564. Is truth needed to find happiness?
565. Will truth guarantee happiness?
566. What is the relationship between emotion, passion, and feelings?
567. Can eugenics be made socially and morally acceptable?
568. What might a Eugenics 2.0 look like (new, improved, safer, fairer, more socially acceptable)?
569. How distinct are genetic engineering, mate selection based on DNA profile, and eugenics?
570. Which is more cruel, eugenics or Darwinian evolution?
571. Should children be exposed to philosophy?
572. Should children ever be exposed to philosophy?
573. At what age should children be exposed to philosophy?
574. What aspects of philosophy should children be exposed to?
575. Who can be a philosopher?
576. What are the criteria for being a philosopher?
577. Can anyone be a philosopher?
578. What is freedom?
579. What are our freedoms?
580. What are the limits of our freedoms?
581. What are legitimate constraints on our freedoms?
582. What is peace?
583. What are the bounds of peace?
584. What is peaceful?
585. What is beyond the bounds of peaceful?
586. What is a person?
587. What criteria should be used to define who or what can be considered a person — whether human, primate, other sentient animals, coup, group, company, child, infant, fetus, elderly, mentally ill, comatose, sleeping, anesthetized, induced coma, robot, AI system, alien creature, disembodied mind, creative works of an individual, etc.?
588. How much of our body, mind, personal effects, gestures, communications, creative efforts, offspring, relationships, family, community, etc. constitute our person?
589. To what extent should government seek to preempt prohibited conduct or force required conduct, rather than simply react after the fact? (law, courts, regulations, law enforcement, regulatory enforcement)
590. Are there things in life that you just shouldn’t question?
591. Are there no coincidences in life?
592. Who is entitled to define what constitutes fake news?
593. Who is entitled to define anything?
594. How inclusive does inclusiveness have to be in a purportedly inclusive society? E.g., tolerance of intolerance?
595. What qualities and aspects of life does art enable?
596. What qualities and aspects of life depend on beauty?
597. Must obligation be involuntary?
598. Is obligation more meaningful if it is voluntary?
599. Must a deity have a purpose or meaning?
600. Can a little fascism be a good thing?
601. Is fascism a broad spectrum or an all or nothing proposition?
602. Are cycles in life and nature significant or irrelevant?
603. Can truth be abused?
604. Should philosophers defer to the media?
605. Should anyone defer to the media?
606. How much privacy can you retain if you voluntarily enter the public arena?
607. How much privacy can you expect if you voluntarily enter the public arena?
608. Is art inherently liberating or just another manipulative trap?
609. Is democracy inherently liberating or just another manipulative trap?
610. What is politics?
611. What is the relationship between politics and government?
612. Does gender matter?
613. Does gender identity matter?
614. What is the role of gender in a modern society?
615. What is the role of gender identity in a modern society?
616. What can you do to dissuade people from lying to you?
617. Where does hate come from?
618. What drives hate?
619. Can good ever come from hate?
620. Is science real?
621. Is science a human creation?
622. Is this question philosophical?
623. Question everything. Why?
624. Is it ever okay to compromise your principles?
625. When is it okay to compromise your principles?
626. What are the branches of philosophy?
627. Are any of the branches of philosophy more important than the others?
628. What are the more important concepts of philosophy?
629. Does morality apply to metaphysics and epistemology?
630. Is ethical diversity a good thing or a bad thing?
631. When is ethical diversity a good thing?
632. When is ethical diversity a bad thing?
633. What’s your favorite wisdom?
634. Does wisdom have to be comforting?
635. What is the relationship between discourse and inquiry?
636. How certain do you need to be to claim that you know the truth?
637. Is there anything wrong with using facts and truth as weapons?
638. Is it okay to use facts and truth as weapons?
639. When is it okay to use facts and truth as weapons?
640. When is it not okay to use facts and truth as weapons?
641. How much of government is politics?
642. Which aspects of government are politics?
643. Is anyone morally obligated to defer to experts?
644. What is the heart?
645. What does it mean to be human?
646. What is humanity?
647. Is tribalism compatible with humanity?
648. Is tribalism necessarily bad?
649. Is there anything that you are 100% certain about?
650. Is there anything that you are absolutely sure of?
651. Is secular morality an oxymoron?
652. Are there any facts in philosophy?
653. Do you tell the truth because you should or because you want to?
654. Are you a better person if you tell the truth because you want to rather than because you should?
655. What do you believe must be true but can’t prove it?
656. What do you believe is likely to be true but can’t prove it?
657. How much of human intelligence is actually just animal intelligence?
658. Can philosophy tell us which art is good?
659. Is causality overrated?
660. Is our search for causality a lost and hopeless cause?
661. What is morality, really (metaphysically)?
662. What is the ultimate source of morality?
663. How can we justify beliefs which we can’t prove?
664. When is regimentation a good thing?
665. Does wisdom have value in the modern world?
666. What value does wisdom have in the modern world?
667. How binding is a promise?
668. Are there things we shouldn’t promise?
669. Are there promises we shouldn’t make?
670. What can we promise?
671. Is race an easy or hard problem to solve, and why?
672. What is the relationship between race, ethnicity, culture, and values?
673. What is a symbol?
674. Do symbols exist in the natural world?
675. Do symbols have meaning?
676. What is the meaning of symbols?
677. Who determines the meaning of symbols?
678. Do symbols have power?
679. What grants symbols power?
680. Can the meaning of a symbol be changed?
681. Can the meanings of symbols evolve?
682. How can the meanings of symbols evolve?
683. Is hope rational or irrational?
684. How do we balance equality and equity in a just, fair, and free society?
685. What questions would you want to ask an extraterrestrial being?
686. Who needs religion and why?
687. What can philosophy tell us about natural rights?
688. What is the role of religion in modern society?
689. What is philosophy?
690. Is noisy rhetoric compatible with reason?
691. Are narrative and noisy rhetoric compatible with reason?
692. Are appeals to emotion compatible with reason?
693. When can appeals to emotion be an acceptable alternative to reason?
694. When is revolution appropriate?
695. What obligations do we have (and to whom) during a revolution?
696. Do we need metaphysics now that we have modern science?
697. Why do we need metaphysics now that we have modern science?
698. In what ways can metaphysics add value to modern science?
699. In what ways can the metaphysics of philosophers add value to modern science?
700. Does metaphysics offer anything beyond what modern science can offer?
701. Does the metaphysics of philosophers offer anything beyond what modern science can offer?
702. Does the philosophical conception of Good exceed the reach of science?
703. Must respect be earned or is it an obligation?
704. Who’s to say whether respect must be earned or is an obligation?
705. Is morality simply a blend of ethics, meaning, and values?
706. Do you choose your philosophy or does your philosophy choose you?
707. Who can claim to be a real American?
708. Are citizens obligated to defer to science?
709. Are we obligated to defer to science?
710. Can reason overcome lack of empirical evidence?
711. Can reason overcome lack of empirical evidence and constitute proof?
712. Can reason constitute proof?
713. When can reason constitute proof?
714. Can math ever adequately represent the real world?
715. Can math ever adequately represent the full nuance of the real world?
716. Can math ever adequately represent the full detail of the real world?
717. What can philosophy tell us about reality?
718. Is philosophy dead and we’re just beating a dead horse?
719. What can philosophy tell us about mathematics, statistics, and science?
720. What principles and guidance can philosophy offer us on mathematics, statistics, and science?
721. What can philosophy tell us about thinking about the future?
722. Are ethical truths subjective, relative, arbitrary, or consensual?
723. Is science anti-democratic? Not subject to the will of the people. People can’t vote against it.
724. Is science relevant to political discourse?
725. Is science dying and/or losing relevance or popular support?
726. Is an injustice anywhere necessarily and always a threat to justice everywhere? Was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. technically correct when he asserted: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail? What specific justification is there for this belief?
727. How do obligation and obedience relate to morality?
728. What does morality require with respect to obligation and obedience?
729. Can morality be strictly voluntary — not an obligation?
730. Is morality compatible with choice and free will?
731. When is logic appropriate — and when is it not?
732. Can logic be appropriate if the premises cannot be empirically validated?
733. Can logic be applied to matters of belief and faith?
734. Does using truth as a weapon demean its value?
735. Is truth overrated?
736. Can truth survive narrative?
737. Is the future part of reality?
738. Is the past part of reality?
739. Is reality only the here and now?
740. How do we reason about the transcendental? God, spirituality, faith, supernatural, superstition, perfection, good and evil, irrational beliefs, mysteries, intuition. Math: irrational numbers with infinite digits an infinity of natural numbers, infinitely dense real numbers, perfect geometric figures, transcendental functions, and infinite series.
741. What criteria and techniques does philosophy have to offer us to help us decide whether an issue concerns objective truth or subjective truth?
742. What criteria must an issue meet to be considered a matter of objective truth?
743. Capitalism vs. socialism: How much is objective and eternal truth vs. subjective truth which is a fielder’s choice or personal preference?
744. How can we tell the truth about anything?
745. How much of what we know is true?
746. How much of what we think we know is true?
747. Is democracy just another conspiracy theory? Designed to facilitate exploitation of the people by a self-appointed elite. An elite dictatorship with elections as more of a manipulative facade than a true source of power for the people.
748. How much harassment should be legal and constitutionally protected? Focus here is on protests, especially for non-official, average citizens who get caught in the crossfire. The impetus is the couple who pointed guns at a mob of protesters who they felt were threatening their home and encroaching on their private property. Could also be corporate executives, managers, employees, investors. Could also be neighbors, local small businesses, anyone who is the target of an aggressive complaint. Not intended to cover sexual harassment, but the question does arise there as well. Varying situations such as an official while acting in an official capacity, an official at home or on vacation, officials at public meetings or other official or semi-official gatherings. Where are the limits for free speech and peaceful protest? Potential for protest to interfere with official business, including police or other law enforcement or court activity.
749. When is extrapolation warranted? Related to induction and generalization.
750. Is faith in science warranted?
751. How much faith in science is warranted?
752. Philosophy as critical national infrastructure. International as well. To what extent do we critically rely on it. How can it be attacked or undermined? How can we defend it? How can we support it?
753. How much attention do we need to pay to the future?
754. How much of the future is worthy of our attention?
755. What aspects of the future require our attention?
756. What aspects of the future warrant our attention?
757. What is progress?
758. What constitutes progress?
759. Is there progress in human nature?
760. Is there progress in the human condition?
761. What might constitute progress of the human mind? As in the famous Thomas Jefferson quote.
762. Is progress relevant to art?
763. What criteria could be used to judge progress in art?
764. Is moderation overrated?
765. Is there anything wrong with enjoying life?
766. Is critical thinking dying… or already dead? In favor of adhering to ideology, dogma, and identity.
767. Is democracy dying… or already dead, and we just don’t realize it yet?
768. “Our” democracy- but who’s “our”? Rampant social and political divisions — we’re more “other” than “us.” A nation of others rather than unity.
769. The slippery slope of quasi-truth. “As-if” truth. Nobody has the ultimate truth, but we all act as if we did. Taking too much comfort in our overconfidence of our purported knowledge.
770. Are we trying too hard to live in the future? Does our reach exceed our grasp?
771. Are we trying too hard to live too far in the future? Does our reach exceed our grasp?
772. Of hubris and humility. Failure to recognize over-confidence. Recognition of the risks of over-confidence.
773. Why is symbolism so compelling? Is it warranted philosophically, or simply a consequence of human nature?
774. How can reason compete with symbolism and its emotional appeal?
775. Is everyone entitled to their own version of reality? Negotiation — acceptable intended deception — Business (contracts), Personal (buy a car), Government — Contracts, International relations, treaties. Law enforcement interrogation — acceptable to lie to a person being interrogated. Theater — alternative reality, “lines” separate from normal reality. Role playing — intentional creation of alternative reality. Halloween — everyone entitled — and expected to have — their own version of reality? All is fair in love and war.
776. Does wisdom require evidence?
777. Does truth require wisdom?
778. Is wisdom dead?
779. Is diplomacy dead?
780. Why is diplomacy dying while militarism is ascendent?
781. What’s the best way to predict the future?
782. How do we balance idealism, pragmatism, and technocracy in government?
783. How much and what is every informed citizen expected to know?
784. What does it mean to be an informed citizen?
785. Should law be based on reason or democratic?
786. Should law be rational or democratic?
787. Should law be based on reason or popular opinion?
788. Is it appropriate for any of us to police the beliefs of others?
789. How much tolerance must we have for the beliefs of others?
790. Are we morally obligated to respect and defend the reproductive rights of sluts and drunken party girls?
791. Who is responsible for divisions of society?
792. Who is responsible for social divides?
793. Are nuclear weapons a national treasure and essential to our national security or a moral abomination and make us less safe?
794. Are nuclear weapons a necessary evil?
795. What is a necessary evil?
796. Are necessary evils really necessary?
797. Is Pascal’s wager a safe bet?
798. Should the precautionary principle be mandatory?
799. When should the precautionary principle be mandatory?
800. Was the American Revolution really necessary?
801. Is armed conflict ever really necessary or justified?
802. What should Chamberlain have done? Is counterfactual analysis of history ever reasonable? Or, what if it had been Churchill (or anybody else!) rather than Chamberlain? Is there a practical and useful lesson from that experience?
803. Why hasn’t the 21st century panned out as well as we were promised back in the 1960’s?
804. When did it become clear that the 21st century wasn’t panning out as well as we were promised back in the 1960’s?
805. What can we expect for the rest of the 21st century — good, bad, great, and ugly?
806. Would the development of an artificial womb solve the abortion issue, by splitting abortion into two distinct parts, termination of pregnancy by removing the live embryo or fetus from the womb, and the separate question of whether the removed embryo or fetus should be terminated or placed in an artificial womb to gestate and be born to live a healthy life albeit separately from the biological mother? Bonus of enabling women to have children without the negative effects of pregnancy.
807. Should ethnic pride be valued, respected, and maybe even encouraged, or is any form of pride always a mortal sin?
808. Is ethnic pride a virtue or a vice?
809. Are only minorities permitted to have ethnic pride?
810. What is decency?
811. Is decency objective or subjective?
812. Is decency always subjective or can it be objective in some situations or under some conditions but not others?
813. Who gets to decide what decency is?
814. Is decency a group value and we get to pick which group we belong to?
815. Is decency a universal value for all of a society, personally subjective, or a group value and we get to pick which group we belong to?
816. Should citizens have the right to question science?
817. Should the lay public have the right to question science?
818. Can a non-scientist challenge science?
819. Should parents have the right to kill their children as long as they do it in private? Inquiry into how the right to privacy could justify a right to abortion.
820. When does human life begin?
821. When does human life end?
822. What is personhood?
823. When does personhood begin?
824. When does personhood end?
825. If personhood begins at birth, shouldn’t newborn infants have the right to vote, drink beer, drive, have (consensual) sex, get married, own and use a gun, choose not to eat their vegetables, and choose not to go to school or do their homework?
826. Do we have a moral obligation to respect and defend the reproductive rights of sluts and drunken party girls?
827. Why are even the best doctors, lawyers, theologians, philosophers, and scientists unable to figure out when human life begins? As the U.S. Supreme Court has lamented, “When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man’s knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.”
828. Is an embryo or fetus part of a woman’s body? The issue is whether the tissue is part of her body if it has distinct DNA.
829. What is the relationship between thinking and believing? Is “What do you think?” about what you are thinking or what you believe?
830. Is there any truly meaningful essential distinction between spirituality and philosophy? Is philosophy a religion of sorts? Is spirituality a philosophy of sorts? Doesn’t philosophy contain just as much dogma as spirituality? Isn’t spirituality just as practical if not more practical than philosophy?
831. Should law ever be driven by emotion or only by calm, dispassionate reason?
832. Should scientists ever be involved in the setting of public policy? Or do they have a vested interest which puts them in a conflict of interests?
833. Is disrespect for national symbols a legitimate form of speech or protest? Based on what reasoning?
834. What is the court of public opinion?
835. Does the court of public opinion help or hinder the furtherance of justice? Is it fair?
836. Is it better for the law to represent objective eternal truth? Or is some degree of subjectivity or evolution reasonable?
837. How far back in time must we go to establish causality for any situation, consequence, or outcome?
838. Is slavery necessarily wrong, under all conditions?
839. Was Obama correct when he indicated that we shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good?
840. What fraction of the practice of science is admirable? As opposed to aspects such as unsupported speculation, infighting, ego, unethical behavior, faked data, unmitigated bias, rhetoric, etc.
841. Is compromise a virtue or a vice? Is it ever virtuous? Is it ever a vice? What specific criteria should be used to judge whether a particular instance of compromise is virtuous or legitimate?
842. Is all compromise evil?
843. Is compromise a necessary evil? Or a temptation for a mortal sin to be avoided?
844. Is law a fascist construct?
845. Is law anti-democratic?
846. Should law be democratic?
847. Should there be a degree of offense between misdemeanor and felony? Such as with a significant fine but no jail time or loss of voting rights or other consequences.
848. Can anything about the future ever be considered to be a fact? Maybe scientific laws.
849. Can any prediction of the future ever be considered to be a fact? Maybe scientific laws.
850. Do we have any evidence of the future?
851. Do we have any evidence of what the future will be?
852. What can we believe about the future if we have no facts of the future to base those beliefs on?
853. Is it ever ethical to rob Peter to pay Paul?
854. How should we think about the future?
855. How should we talk about the future?
856. How can we think about the future?
857. How can we talk about the future?
858. What is the most effective way to think about the future?
859. What is the most effective way to talk about the future?
860. How can we classify thoughts and talk about the future? Such as theoretically possible, practically possible, unlikely, somewhat unlikely, very unlikely, likely, somewhat unlikely, very unlikely, extremely likely, extremely unlikely, possible but unlikely, not worth worrying about, distinction between worry and concern, important to worry about, something to be concerned about, nothing worth being concerned about, etc.
861. What are the most important aspects of the future that we need to be concerned about?
862. What can philosophy tell us about climate change?
863. Can philosophy tell us anything about the natural world that science can’t tell us? Do we need philosophy if we have science? Have all of the useful aspects of metaphysics been subsumed into science?
864. What do citizens need to know about conspiracy theories?
865. When should senior citizens, the elderly, or those with mental health issues stop voting? What specific criteria should be used?
866. Is revenge ever justified?
867. Do counterfactuals have a role in the conduct of foreign policy?
868. The risks and negative consequences of weaponizing truth and justice
869. What does America mean and what does it stand for?
870. Is history relevant to philosophy?
871. Is the past relevant to philosophy?
872. Is it wise to take Sergeant Schultz of Hogan’s Heroes advice of “I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!”? And is that a virtue or a vice?
873. Is ignorance really bliss and is that a virtue or a vice?
874. Can a crime ever be honorable? Is that the same as or distinct from civil disobedience?
875. How should we balance between merit and equity in a modern society? Is society both meritorious and equitable, or does it have to pick one and stick with that as the bias? Must the balance be fixed or can the balance shift on a subjective basis, or are there some objective criteria for adjusting the balance?
876. What epistemological status should be accorded to the concept of “as if”? A close cousin to conjecture, “what if”, and counterfactuals, but still somewhat distinct. The question also implies a question about the value to discourse and the value to society overall of the concept of contemplating and reflecting on possible facts that are not clearly established as facts. Seems like a useful and beneficial tool.
877. Is anything in the universe absolute?
878. Is what’s good for the goose really good for the gander? Ditto for all items of folk philosophy and common sense.
879. Are we obligated to think only kind thoughts about authority? And speak and write about them.
880. Is authority a net drag on modern society? Will people generally only do good, the right thing, if coerced or even forced to do so by authority?
881. What is the utility or value of expressions of outrage? Can outrage ever be a virtue, or is it always a vice?
882. What is the utility or value of the Serenity Prayer?
883. Is it ever wise to borrow trouble from tomorrow? Maybe to allow for unexpected contingencies — but shouldn’t that be classified as the expected rather than worrying about some specific prospect?
884. How epistemologically justified is it to use the words “almost certain”, “almost certainly”, or “an almost certainty” as if to imply the truth of any proposition? Is this still mere speculation? Is this maybe a “tentative truth” — if such a thing could be considered epistemologically valid?
885. Is virtue signaling virtuous?
886. Is virtue signaling a virtue?
887. Should we value virtue signaling?
888. Is virtue signaling an obligation?
889. Should we value mystery? Motivation: atheist philosopher Daniel C. Dennett: “I want people to see what a meaningful, happy life I’ve had with these beliefs… I don’t need mystery. … I want to show people, look, the magic of life as evolved, that’s thrilling! … You don’t need miracles.”
890. Should we consider love of mystery as a vice or a virtue?
891. What is the role of tradition in a modern society?
892. Does tradition have any valid role in a modern society?
893. Do we have an obligation to respect and defend tradition in a modern society?
894. Is majority rule just? Is a plurality of three or more choices just? Is a barely absolute majority just? Is a 60% majority just or more just? Is a 67% majority just or more just? Is a 75% majority just or more just? Is even a 99% majority necessarily just or more just?
895. Is outrage ever just?
896. What criteria must be met to justify outrage?
897. What constitutes evidence?
898. What criteria must be met to justify evidence?
899. Can belief ever be obligated?
900. What is the philosophical basis for an obligation to believe science? Is there anything in metaphysics/ontology, epistemology, or logic, or is it simply an ethical claim from some particular ethical framework(s), but not inherent to philosophy itself?
901. What would you hope that kids are taught about America — and the world in general? How to balance negative aspects of history and positive aspirations about the future.
902. What is obligation really? How many dimensions or interpretations and qualities does it have, including legal, moral, and practical? What sanctions are realistic for failures to fulfill obligations?
903. Is secrecy a virtue or a vice?
904. Is transparency necessarily a virtue?
905. Is science an obligation or an opportunity?
906. Can we ever be obligated to believe anything?
907. What should democracy look like?
908. Do average citizens need to pay any attention to what happens in Washington, DC?
909. When does the average citizen need to pay any attention to what happens in Washington, DC?
910. Do average citizens have an obligation to pay any attention to what happens in Washington, DC?
911. Do average citizens need to pay any attention to what happens in the rest of the world outside of the U.S.?
912. When does the average citizen need to pay any attention to what happens in the rest of the world outside of the U.S.?
913. Do average citizens have an obligation to pay any attention to what happens in the rest of the world outside of the U.S.?
914. Should citizens have a right to lie to the government?
915. Should people have the right to lie?
916. Should people have a constitutional right to lie?
917. Should people have a human right to lie?
918. Is it ever safe to assume that anything is true?
919. Is revolution a natural right?
920. Is revolution a human right?
921. Should revolution be recognized as a human right?
922. Should revolution be recognized as a constitutional right?
923. Which is worse, an idealist who is too pragmatic or a pragmatist who is too idealistic?
924. Should history be more about facts or more about narrative?
925. What is loyalty in the context of employment in a business or other type of organization? Is it more of a commitment of employees to the organization, or a commitment of the organization to the employees, or both, but is there some sense of a clear directionality?
926. Can experience ever be an objective fact? Maybe for a group who collectively share the same experience, but even then individuals may not share the experience equally.
927. When is inference justified? What criteria must be met? Are there varying degrees of justification, or only one strong, absolute form of inference?
928. If the American Revolution were to occur today (or had been delayed until today), would you be a patriot or a loyalist? Would you think that America would be better off today if it were still part of the United Kingdom or the British Commonwealth like Canada?
929. Is a healthy level of skepticism necessary in a modern democracy? Is too little or too much unhealthy, and that some level is necessary to keep a check of the risk of bureaucracies becoming out of control and out of touch with the people?
930. Prequel to the Bible: What WAS God thinking?
931. How can we know if we’ve lived a deprived life in some way? What criteria? Is it all relative?
932. Which is America’s greatest strength, its idealism or its pragmatism, or both in equal measure? Is one of them dominant or not?
933. Is there any truth, validity, wisdom, or utility to the old saying that you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer? Sun Tzu is credited with “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.”
934. Is systemic racism a fact or a narrative?
935. Should international law explicitly recognize revolution as a human right?
936. Is presumption reasonable if belief cannot be justified by sound evidence?
937. What lessons can we learn from history without counterfactual reasoning?
938. What lessons can we learn from history in the absence of counterfactual reasoning?
939. What lessons can we learn from history if counterfactual reasoning is not considered reasonable?
940. Is it necessary to distinguish between philosophy and theology?
941. Are there limits to the right to privacy? For example, with respect to abortion.
942. Why is militarism so much more appealing than diplomacy?
943. Was there ever really a golden era of diplomacy or was diplomacy always weak and more of a mirage? Focusing on peer-level and near-peer level or second-level international relations, not a powerful country directing the fate of a much weaker country.
944. Is life much easier without concern for truth?
945. Do kids really need to know about evolution? Why? For what purpose?
946. Is life more about opportunities or obligations?
947. Do war or peace have any meaning without the other?
948. Is meaning more about contrasts or about commonality? How are two concepts different? How are two concepts similar?
949. Is democracy an end or a means to some other end? Such as raw power, or the ability of one group to impose its will on another group.
950. Should morality necessarily be a higher priority than freedom?
951. What are the ethics of discussing the future?
952. What are the ethics of discussing the unknown?
953. What is America really all about? What can be changed? What can’t be changed? What is essential?
954. Does rhetoric have a place in a modern society? Or is it completely unnecessary and in fact counterproductive or even harmful?
955. How reasonable is rhetoric in a modern society?
956. What philosophical issues are raised by the Oppenheimer movie?
957. What does it say about society and democracy that liberals and the media don’t trust people to filter information by themselves, that the media is needed as a gatekeeper to “protect” democracy from misinformation and disinformation?
958. Does protecting people from misinformation and disinformation run the risk of censoring legitimate discourse, including political speech? That misinformation and disinformation can be subjective and in the eye of the beholder.
959. Can it ever be reasonable to weaponize truth? Do the ends ever justify the means?
960. Is it ever ethical to weaponize truth?
961. Is it ever ethical to weaponize truth however noble the aim?
962. Can we ever be certain about the future? Other than trivial natural facts and trivial certainties such as gravity, the length of a day, the length of a year, the turnings and lengths of seasons, the overall pattern of life from birth to death, the overall nature of human nature.
963. Is it ever reasonable to rejoice in the misfortune of others?
964. Granted that guns enable gun violence, but what are the root causes of gun violence?
965. What does it mean when someone says “that’s just semantics”? Aren’t semantics extremely important and outright essential for clear communication?
966. Does the court of public opinion have a role in a modern society?
967. What roles does the court of public opinion have in a modern society?
968. Is the accused entitled to a presumption of innocence in the court of public opinion?
969. Should the accused be entitled to a presumption of innocence in the court of public opinion?
970. Are calm and serenity luxuries or necessities?
971. Is it ethical to lie to a political pollster? Or is all of politics fair game for a little white lie here and there?
972. Should facts trump narrative? Or should appeals to emotions, passion, and fears be the controlling force in discourse and policy?
973. Who and what process should decide what constitutes human rights? Unelected elites? National leaders? Commissions appointed by national leaders? The people and democratic ballot initiatives?
974. How reasonable is the current conception of human rights? Is anything missing? Is anything not appropriate? Are any things culture-specific? Can something be a human right if it can’t be enforced?
975. How would an epistemologist or ethicist approach the question of whether OJ did it? What are the goals, criteria, and limits of epistemology and ethics?
976. Should the law be permitted to trump the will of the people in a modern democracy?
977. How far does the will of the people extend in a modern democracy? What aspects of a modern society are not strictly democratic?
978. How much of a democracy is actually democratic? The extent of the power of even elected leaders and representatives, as well as unelected officials and career bureaucrats (civil servants), and commercial interests to arbitrarily and capriciously act contrary to the will or interests of the people.
979. Is ignorance a natural right? Not formally and explicitly recognized as a human right, a constitutional right, or a civil right, but… Especially if… ignorance is indeed bliss — is bliss a natural right? May be an especially relevant question in environments where objective truth is difficult or even impossible to obtain.
980. Should ignorance be recognized as a human right? Formally and explicitly in UN human rights treaties.
981. Should access to objective truth be a human right? Formally and explicitly in UN human rights treaties. But what would this mean in environments where objective truth is difficult or even impossible to obtain?
982. Should philosophers or citizens concern themselves with how laws and sausages are made? Or should we limit ourselves to the final product, not the process. But then there are the issues of democratic participation, transparency, and accountability. Still, is there at least some truth to the old admonition that men should not inquire as to how their laws and sausages are made. A key difficulty is that it is not humanly possible for any citizen to fully access and keep up with all aspects of how either laws or sausages are made. The real issue is a matter of trust, delegation, and representative government and commerce.
983. What would you do with an “extra” billion dollars? Personally, as an individual, that is, although I suppose you could ask a government bureaucrat overseeing a multi-billion dollar budget the same thing, but it wouldn’t really be the same thing at all, I think.
984. Do we have a right to obligate future generations? Should each generation have the right to decide their own obligations?
985. Did past generations have a right to obligate us, the current generation?
986. Is intergenerational obligation a real thing or just an illusion?
987. Should damage or destruction of property be considered violence? Some contend that only harm to people constitutes violence.
988. Who is justice for? Society vs. the individual vs. groups vs. communities. Civil courts vs. criminal courts? Is criminal justice purely for society, or do individuals, groups, and communities have a legitimate role?
989. Who is best positioned to determine when a human life begins? Does that entail deciding whether human life and personhood are the same thing?
990. Are we obligated to prevent the perfect from being the enemy of the good?
991. Should indigenous people be obligated to respect political borders?
992. Should indigenous people have the right to travel and migrate freely between the modern countries that now span their historic areas of travel and migration?
993. What should citizens need to know about the game of chess? Rules and strategies that reflect the restrictions, challenges, and opportunities in modern life.
994. Have we made any progress in understanding the nature of knowledge?
995. What does the concept of knowledge mean in modern society?
996. What should be against the law? What criteria and threshold for what should be simply norms vs. laws — or even merely social preferences.
997. How consensual should change be in a modern democracy? How big a majority? How careful and deliberative a process is needed? How to address concerns about tyranny of a majority — especially a slim majority?
998. How consensual should policy change be in a democracy?
999. Are courts anti-democratic? What if the people disagree with the courts?
1000. Are traditional values more of a strength or a weakness?
1001. Is tradition more of a strength or a weakness for a modern society?
1002. What does it mean to be an individual? Especially in terms of autonomy, sovereignty, and authenticity.
1003. What are the limits of representative democracy? When are leaders and representatives too disconnected from the needs and interests of individual citizens?
1004. What is justice? Who is it for? Why pursue it — what are the motives? What are the psychic needs for justice?
1005. Can speculation about the future ever be considered truth? Under what criteria? Never?
1006. Is every proposition ever precisely true or false? Is it ever valid to assert simply that we just don’t know the truth value with sufficient confidence? Subjective truths. Context-dependent truths.
1007. What do we need to know?
1008. How satisfying and acceptable can life be without knowledge?
1009. Is opposition to populism and nationalism un-American or anti-democratic?
1010. Would a society without obligation be practical, satisfying, or acceptable?
1011. Should we be obligated to avoid the appearance of impropriety? Not just high-level officials or executives, but even low-level officials or employees — literally, everyone, all citizens, all members of society.
1012. Is it ever appropriate to rob Peter to pay Paul? Including redistribution of wealth, taxes, and social services — any involuntary transfer of assets.
1013. How much can we believe without really personally understanding why a belief is justified? Belief based on authority, or perceived expertness.
1014. Why read books? What exactly are we getting from them? How reliable is any information we read in books — what can we trust? What other sources of comparable information are there and what special benefit, if any, do books offer? Magazines, documentary movies and videos, academic papers, expert media, personal experience, second-hand information, school, lectures, talks, conferences, seminars?
1015. Does truth have any intrinsic value or primarily instrumental value? What exactly is the value of truth?
1016. What exactly is the value of truth? Or benefit.
1017. Are there beliefs which should be illegal?
1018. What criteria might be used to justify categorizing a belief as illegal?
1019. Is there any philosophical, epistemological, or ethical distinction between a belief which exists as an unspoken or unexpressed thought and a belief which is spoken or expressed in some way?
1020. When is civil war the best course?
1021. What criteria should be used to judge whether civil war is the best course?
1022. Are activists more of a boon or a bane to a modern society?
1023. Is moral imperative a real thing? Or a cynical abuse of the appeal of morality?
1024. Who has the authority to assert a moral imperative?
1025. Do we have any obligation to comply with the moral imperatives of others?
1026. Can you really understand the world without listening to everyone? Particularly the social sphere, people. Even those you might disagree with or find offensive in some way.
1027. Can the health of a society be measured by the degree to which valued activities occur voluntarily rather than due to obligation? Or… Is a society healthier when valued activities occur voluntarily rather than due to obligation?
1028. Where does joy come from?
1029. What is the source of joy?
1030. What is the cause of joy?
1031. What is the purpose of joy?
1032. Are there any questions which philosophy can answer definitively?
1033. Can philosophy determine the objective truth about anything?
1034. Should we value voluntary behavior more than obligatory behavior?
1035. Should the health of a society be judged by the prevalence of voluntary behavior over obligatory behavior?
1036. Does the court of public opinion have a legitimate place or role in a modern society?
1037. Which is more problematic to justify these days, knowledge or belief?
1038. Which is more dangerous, idealism or pragmatism? Dangerous in the sense of leading people, organizations, or countries to engage in beliefs or actions which are detrimental to their true interests.
1039. Is democracy in America resilient or at great risk?
1040. What profession can give us the best answer to the question of when life begins?
1041. What professions are needed to give us the best and most complete answer to the question of when life begins?
1042. What would life be like without philosophy? Human life, that is.
1043. Is life possible without philosophy? Human life, that is.
1044. Does AI need philosophy? If so, why?
1045. Does artificial general intelligence need philosophy? If so, why?
1046. When and where in our daily lives do we need philosophy? Why?
1047. Is it essential that we avoid the appearance of impropriety? Who decides what constitutes such an appearance? Can appearance, like perception, be subjective?
1048. Can the law speak to morality? Or should the law be blind to morality and moral matters?
1049. Is the question of when human life begins subjective rather than a truly objective truth?
1050. Is the question of when human life begins a definitional truth, with disputes about the definition and subjective criteria, rather than an objective truth?
1051. How can we tell the difference between careful reasoning and wishful thinking?
1052. What methods can be used to tell the difference between careful reasoning and wishful thinking?
1053. When it comes to the question of when human life begins, does philosophy matter, or is it merely a practical matter? Exactly what role does philosophy play in such matters, and is it a definitive role or merely a supporting role?
1054. What professions can play what roles in addressing the question of when human life begins? Such as doctors (both practitioners and medical researchers), lawyers, scientists (biologists and social scientists), theologians, philosophers, and ethicists — and politicians. Other groups who might weigh in — feminists, activists, other non-MD healthcare professionals.
1055. Can belief ever be an obligation? Can belief ever be obligated?
1056. Can law alone ever determine facts?
1057. When or under what conditions can or should estimates, approximations, or assessments be treated as facts? Should such purported or presumed facts be marked with an asterisk and be treated more carefully than actual facts?
1058. Who should you believe? Is this really the right question, or should we really ask WHAT should we believe or what criteria should be met to hold a belief? Does “who” maybe suggest an appeal to authority, a presumption that anything a particular source says, or says is true, must be true by definition, which would fly in the face of the traditional philosophical wisdom that an appeal to authority is a logical fallacy?
1059. Are people entitled to believe whatever they want to believe? Even if demonstratively false? Even if not based on evidence? Is it an essential right, like speech? Can belief be based merely on aspirations? (e.g., believe in equality, or believe that others are inherently good.)
1060. What is democratic?
1061. What does it mean to be democratic?
1062. Who gets to decide what the term democratic means?
1063. Is obligation anti-democratic?
1064. How much of a modern democracy is truly democratic? When or where do or should citizens have a say, a vote, a veto?
1065. Is self-fulfilling prophecy a real thing?
1066. What threshold of consent should be required for changing the law? Simple majority, plurality, super-majority, or super-super-majority (such as three-quarters for amending the U.S. Constitution)? Or maybe even multiple votes, possibly over a span of years, and maybe even across multiple election cycles?
1067. Can citizens be expected or obligated to respect any law passed by only a simple majority? Which may ignore significant minorities or demographics of the population?
1068. Is democracy inherently fragile?
1069. Is democracy inherently resilient?
1070. Is democracy inherently resilient or inherently fragile?
1071. Is our democracy resilient or fragile? Can we withstand all challenges or are we in the process of crumbling?
1072. Is obligation a good thing or a necessary evil?
1073. Is obligation a virtue or a necessary evil?
1074. What is liberty and does it have any meaning today?
1075. What is the purpose of evil? Shouldn’t or doesn’t everything have a purpose?
1076. What areas of expertise are relevant to the question of when human life begins?
1077. Are demographic group minority rights a real thing? Such as gender, race, age, national origin, ethnicity. Or do only individuals and organizations have rights?
1078. What criteria might, could, or should be used to justify categorizing something as illegal? Beliefs, speech, writing, expression, intentions, or actions.
1079. Who do you want to kill? Hypothetically, of course!
1080. Is politics more about truth or power?
1081. Are we obligated to believe the truth?
1082. Who is entitled to establish obligations?
1083. Which is a greater danger to world peace, idealism or pragmatism?
1084. Which is a greater danger to world peace, the spread of authoritarianism or promotion of democracy? In the sense that many of our democracy promotion activities may be triggering even greater authoritarian responses. And the road to hell may indeed be paved with good intentions, even the best of intentions.
1085. Is civil society anti-democratic? Or at least civil society organizations which have clout that individual citizens don’t have. Democratic in the sense of one person one vote.
1086. Should non-minorities have a right to grievances?
1087. What is the right to petition for a redress of grievances and does it have any meaning today? Or has its meaning or utility diminished over time?
1088. How can we discern the truth about the utility of polls and surveys?
1089. Is the primary value of truth intrinsic or instrumental? Concern that weaponization of truth (especially facts) for ideological or political purposes may be undermining its inherent value or even a lot of its instrumental value.
1090. Are we obligated to explain and justify our beliefs? Do we have a right to privacy about the nature or details or origin of our beliefs?
1091. Does life have meaning? Inherent meaning? Intrinsic meaning? Objective meaning? Subjective meaning?
1092. Do the majority of people need religion — to guide them in their private and public lives? My feeling is that only 30% of the people (between one out of three and one out of four) are capable of finding their way through private and public life without religious guidance, and that the other 70% really do need the structure and dogma offered by religion, a sense of a shared objective truth that they don’t need to worry about or figure out.
1093. Does history repeat itself, first as tragedy, second as farce, as suggested by Karl Marx?
1094. Is diplomacy in service to military activity worthy of being called diplomacy? In contrast to the pursuit of peace through only peaceful means.
1095. How much of the Bible is a good guide for modern life?
1096. When is war the answer? Under what criteria (just war)? Is this a question of principle or mere pragmatism (when can a war be won)? Is there always an alternative to war, or sometimes no practical alternative?
1097. Can any two (or more) things be exactly the same? Define exactness. What criteria for “X and Y are exactly the same”?
1098. If we don’t know the truth of a proposition, are we obligated to accept and believe that it is false? Or vice versa — we don’t know that a proposition is false, are we obligated to accept and believe that it is true? Or can we simply accept and believe that we don’t know the truth, one way or the other?
1099. Profiles in Courage — what advice would JFK give us today. As we ponder the role of Washington, DC in modern American society and the roles of politicians and elected and appointed leaders, representatives, and other officials in our government and their impact on society.
1100. What are the essential distinctions between human rights, civil rights, and constitutional rights? Do we really need all three, and do they really need to be distinguished and… segregated?
1101. Is speculation a valid goal of epistemology? How should we value speculation relative to truth?
1102. Should infants or small children be considered persons?
1103. What criteria or age should be used to determine that a human being has reached the majority of personhood?
1104. What is mathematics? Derived from the Greek word mathema, meaning “that which is learnt”, “what one gets to know”, hence also “study” and “science”, but… what does it REALLY mean in the modern era? For example, how is mathematics distinguished from science, or even from knowledge or epistemology in general?
1105. Is the simplicity of a question (“It’s a simple question!”) ever necessarily a valid criterion or useful indicator for judging the relevance, legitimacy, or utility of a question? Or, is the apparent simplicity a strong hint that there is more than meets the eye and that the question is more than likely anything but simple?
1106. Is neo-colonialism a serious threat to world peace? Are Western efforts to “reform” or even merely to “aid” countries and even entire regions of the Global South effectively a new form of colonialism that undermines regional and global stability, most notably by provoking the BRICS bloc into reacting to Western efforts which may be perceived as threatening BRICS spheres of influence?
1107. What avenues or methods are now available to petition the government for the redress of grievances in the modern era? And how effective are they? What were the historical methods and how effective are they today? What are distinctly modern methods, and how effective are they? What problems or issues remain? What new and novel methods may be needed?
1108. Does intelligence depend on the soul? If a machine doesn’t have a soul, can it ever achieve human-level intelligence? Or maybe an artificial soul might be possible?
1109. What is the utility of poetry?
1110. Should there be an age of majority for personhood? Should infants or small children be considered persons? Should the age be based on cognitive or language skills or behavioral skills? Ultimately there is the question of a fetus vs. a newborn infant — what is the real difference in terms of personhood that can be measured or even detected, or is it simply an arbitrary legal or philosophical question?
1111. Does human nature prevent us from learning and applying lessons from history?
1112. What are the obligations of senior citizens and retired people? Or what should they be, or even what could they be? How objective are they (universal, for all) vs. subjective (personal ideology, personal views, and personal choice)?
1113. When (and why) did the concept of a woman become no longer a universal eternal objective truth? When did it become subjective, negotiable, and a personal preference?
1114. How many universal eternal objective truths do we know?
1115. Can moral equivalence ever be objective or is it always subjective? Since, generally, disparate moral frameworks are involved — apples vs. oranges.
1116. Is the appearance of impropriety as bad as impropriety itself? If even only relatively rather than an absolute equivalence. Even if not technically as bad, is it at least morally as bad and as reprehensible?
1117. Should we treat the appearance of impropriety the same as impropriety itself? Even if not technically or legally as bad, is it at least morally and ethically as bad and as reprehensible?
1118. How can we best train young people for their role in the court of opinion?
1119. How relevant are lawyers to political affairs? Sure, they can be of assistance and even necessary for drafting legal documents, laws, treaties, contracts, and regulations, but can or should they ever be in the driver’s seat for setting public policy?
1120. Can morality ever be adequate justification for accepting that a belief is true or knowledge or fact?
1121. Are we morally obligated to obey the laws of physics? They are only models of reality, not actual physical reality itself.
1122. Is political satire generally productive and effective or dysfunctional? Are we better off with it or would we be better off without it?
1123. How much of so-called democracy really just amounts to government control of the people rather than protecting the freedom, privacy, and voting and running for office of citizens? The institutions of government and government policy are frequently not democratic at all, and may impinge of freedom, privacy, and other rights rather than protect them.
1124. How does mental acuity apply to emotional intelligence? Or does mental acuity apply only to intellectual intelligence, and emotional intelligence has its own acuity, emotional acuity? Or does mental acuity apply to both intellectual intelligence and emotional intelligence, and intellectual intelligence has its own acuity, intellectual acuity?
1125. Does every right come with responsibilities? Is there an ethics to the responsible exercise of a right? Abuse of free speech and assembly.
1126. What matters most in people’s lives, process or values?
1127. Are the laws of physics anti-democratic?
1128. Can a little autocracy be a good thing?
1129. Can too much democracy be a bad thing?
1130. Does it matter whether we think of America as a republic or a democracy?
1131. Are truth and power compatible?
1132. Does philosophy require a commitment to enlightenment? To the pursuit of enlightenment.
1133. What does democracy entail? What does the concept of democracy entail? How do you parse democracy relative to republic (including the rule of law), human rights, democratic processes (voting, running for office), and public policy? What specifically (how much of this) do people generally mean when they refer to democracy — or to “our democracy”?
1134. I know my natural rights! Remind me again what they are! In contrast to enumerated and codified human rights, constitutional rights, civil rights, and other explicit legal forms of rights.
1135. Is common sense still relevant in the modern world?
1136. What does common sense mean in the modern world?
1137. What are the limits to common sense in the modern world?
1138. Does common sense apply to science?
1139. What’s the best way to train young people in common sense?
1140. Can common sense be taught?
1141. How reliable is common sense?
1142. How much of wisdom is just common sense?
1143. Is intelligence overrated? For example, intellectual intelligence vs. emotional intelligence, such as empathy, compassion, and generosity.
1144. How civilized is civilization? Are civility and being civilized more aspirational than realized?
1145. How can or should we balance or prioritize tradition and change? Indeed, which is more important, essential, and vital?
1146. Which is the greater risk to democracy, idealism or pragmatism? How to balance between them.
1147. How do we balance between idealism and pragmatism in a democracy without fatally compromising either?
1148. Is expertise anti-democratic? If we don’t get to vote on it.
1149. Who is entitled to claim civil disobedience as a defense of otherwise criminal conduct? Maybe even for homicide such as for political assassination or the head of a corporation deemed to be egregiously harmful to society.

To be continued…

For more of my writing: My Five Main Areas of Focus.