Philosophy Question for Discussion and Debate

1. If you could change just one thing in the world, what would it be?

2. What are the characteristics of a good friend?

3. Does the “Law of Attraction” exist and what is it?

4. Is there such a thing as true love?

5. Is it better to have love and lost or never to have loved at all?

6. Which is easier – to love or be loved?

7. What do we call it “falling in love”?

8. Would you look for a husband on a dating site? Why or why not?

9. Do you think “wild” animals should be kept as pets? When and why?

10. Do people need friends? Why?

11. If we ban drugs, why not harmful food additives and alcohol?

12. How do we know electrons and black holes exist if we cannot see them?

13. Is it ever okay to tell a secret?

14. Would you break the law to save someone you love?

15. What do you fear most?

16. If you won the lottery, would you quit your job? Why or why not?

17. Would you rather have a job you love that pays very little, or a job you hate that pays a great deal of money?

18. Does time change from one day to the next and is this why some days seem to go on forever?

19. If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?

20. Does life exist somewhere else in the universe?

21. Which historical figure, good or bad, do you think had the biggest impact on the world? Your country?

22. Is there such a thing as luck?

23. Which makes a better pet – a cat or a dog? Why?

24. Do you think there will come a time when all shopping is done online?

25. Which season is best – summer, winter, spring, or fall? Why?

26. Are clowns funny or scary?

27. What is the right age for getting married?

28. Is it more important to be a leader or a follower?

29. Can animals “think” and/or “reason”?

30. Does a person’s name determine anything about their personality?

31. Why aren’t houses equipped with sensing lights that turn off when nobody is in the room?

32. Are emotions rational or irrational?

33. Are there universal human rights? What are they?

34. What rights, if any, do animals have?

35. Do computers have the ability to be creative?

36. Do wars ever solve the problems of countries and governments?

37. Is there a cause for every event?

38. Do people really have free will?

39. Is love different from sexual desire? Passion? How?

40. How much freedom should people be allowed to have?

41. Should governments have penalties for those who live unhealthy lifestyles?

42. Should the government make organ donation compulsory?

43. Should people be allowed to sell their organs and should organ donors be financially compensated?

44. Should people have the right to live and travel anywhere they wish with no state or country boundaries?

45. Does democracy work for every country?

46. Since the birthrate is down in the U.S., should people be required to have at least one child?

47. If someone is killing themselves and you simply watch and refuse to interfere, are you responsible for that
death?

48. Should we limit the amount of money people can earn and save to avoid an unequal distribution of wealth?

49. When you are driving and see one shoe on the side of the road, what do you think happened to the other shoe?

50. Is torture ever justified?

51. Is it always good to have choices?

52. Which is more important, justice or mercy?

53. Is preservation of a country’s culture a good reason for limiting immigration?

54. Is there a difference between fair trade and free trade? What is it and which is of greater importance?

55. Is defining people according to race a social construct or a biological category?

56. Will it ever be possible to travel through time? Space?

57. Should terminally ill people be allowed or encouraged to commit suicide?

58. Is it ever okay to break the law? Why and when?

59. What are dreams and why do we have them?

60. Can a person be “educated” without a formal education?

61. Is there such a thing as honor in today’s society? How would you define honor?

62. How relevant is the family in today’s world?

63. Which is more important, to be respected or liked?

64. Which is better, to play a good game and lose, or cheat and play a “bad” game and win?

65. Is the way we compensate people for their jobs “fair,” or should we have some way of making sure people are
paid appropriately? (i.e. football players and teachers)

66. What exactly is self esteem and where does it come from?

67. Can vegetables feel pain when you bite into them?

68. When you go to a movie theater and the seats have armrests, which one is yours and which your neighbors?

69. Should a vegetarian eat animal crackers?

70. Since women do not think their own facial hair is attractive, why don’t they shave off their eyebrows?

71. If you work out every day to add an hour to your life, aren’t you using that extra hour you have added so that
working out really doesn’t add any hours to your life?

72. Why don’t they make cheese and lunch meat slices the same size and shape as a piece of bread?

73. Why can’t you buy mouse flavored cat food?

74. Why is it that a dog hates to have you blow in its face, but loves to stick his head out of the window in the car?

75. Why do they nail down the lid of a coffin?

76. Why don’t they have seat belts on buses, when they do on airplanes?

77. Why do you have a flotation device under your seat and not a parachute on an airplane?

78. Why don’t we have a name for the top of our foot and the backs of our hands? Would the opposite of sole be
pole and the opposite of palm be salm?

79. Why do round pizzas come in square boxes?

80. At what age does a person become “elderly?”

81. Do our pets have names for us?

82. Why is a mustache considered attractive on a man, but not on a woman?

83. Where and how would you hide an elephant if someone gave one to you but you could not let anyone know you
had it?

84. Why do we consider babies healthy if they are plump, but women who have the same body composition are
considered fat?

85. Would you kill ten people to save 1?

86. What is the meaning of life?

87. Does nature or nurture form a person’s personality?

88. Can we know what happiness is without sadness?

89. Can we understand good without evil?

90. What is the truth and is it the same as reality?

91. Is there such a thing as truth, or is it relative?

92. Can a person be happy if they have never experienced sadness?

93. How and when did everything begin?

94. How do you know what is real and what isn’t?

95. Is there a reason for life and what is it?

96. What happens to a person after they die?

97. Do humans have a soul? Do animals have a soul?

98. Does what a person observe alter what actually occurs?

99. Must we have evidence to know the truth?

100. How do you know what is real?

101. How much control does a person have over their life?

102. Is it always wrong to lie? When (if ever) is it okay?

103. Is it okay to do something “wrong” if no one sees it or knows about it?

104. Do you shape your own destiny or does everything happen by fate?

105. Do numbers really exist or are they something man has created?

106. When do you think the world will “end”?

107. When does human consciousness begin?

108. What are thoughts and where do they come from?

109. What is the soul? Does it exist before life and continue after?

110. Do parallel universes exist?

111. Why are people told to respect the dead?

112. What is the purpose of life?

113. Is everyone’s life of equal value?

114. Is the most important purpose in life happiness? If not, what is?

115. Which is more real, mind or matter?

116. What is love?