5 Big Questions of Philosophy

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5 Big Questions of Philosophy

Does Any of This Matter?

Free Will - Even if there is no meaning to life, the presence of free will allows you to make life matter just as much as you want it to.

Necessity - Just as how something can't be made from nothing, something can't be made for no reason. This inherent necessity helps to argue that there has to be some meaning to all of this, whether we know it or not.

Religion - The thought that none of this matters is what often leads people to religion. From a religious standpoint everything you do matters in someway shape or form. The idea that in the afterlife you will be judged based upon your actions over the course of your life makes everything matter to a religious person.

What is Our Place in the Universe?

Cosmology - Cosmology helps to broaden our understanding of the universe through the lens of religion. This commonly deals with questions like "what is our place in the universe".

Space & Time - In the greater scheme of the universe, humanity will have existed in a brief period. Hardly notable in comparison to the infinite number of galaxies that exist. Maybe our purpose is to be a quick footnote when discussing the universe as a whole.

Existence & Conciseness - What is the ultimate purpose of humanity? Is it to continue the path of technological advancements? Or is it simply just to reproduce and ensure that the human race lives on? Maybe the ultimate purpose for humanity is just to live a happy life. This is what Epicurus famously promoted. The idea of a life free of stress and pain. To some this is what humanities place is. To sit back and just enjoy life.

What is the Meaning of Life?

Necessity - Everything has a purpose. Nothing is created for entirely no reason no matter how inconsequential it may be. This is an argument for the idea that there has to be a meaning to life. Nothing is meaningless so why should life be the one exception?

Religion - Many people believe the meaning of life is religion. Finding faith in a deity can serve as the meaning to life for many people. It can help to serve as a grounding point for all of life's questions. However others might not find satisfaction in this answer.

Identity - Everyone is different. 2 people won't always share the same interests or beliefs, so why should the meaning of life be any different? The meaning of life many not just have one concrete answer as it could change for each person on the planet.

Do We Have Free Will?

Identity - Identities are ever changing. No one is the exact same their entire life and this is used as one of the main arguments for the existence of free will. However an argument could be made that every change we make to our personalities was already predetermined along with every action we make. This argument is known as determinism.

Existence & Conciseness - If humans lacked free will, we wouldn't be able to question if we did. If we didn't possess free will, we wouldn't spend time questioning whether we do or not. Whatever was keeping us from developing free will would surely not want us to even think about the possibility of us having free will. This serves as further proof to the argument that we have free will.

Religion & Spirituality - Is everything predetermined by a greater deity? Some argue that believing and following any deity or group of deities goes against free will as you're living your life in order to gain the approval of someone or something. Others argue that the ability to chose a belief system speaks to the existence of free will and that their belief in their religion grants them free will.

Does God Exist?

Necessity & Possibility - How do you create something out of nothing? This is what Thomas Aquinas argued in favor of the existence of a god. If nothing existed then how was the universe as we know it made? This is one of the key arguments used to prove the existence of a god.

Cosmology & Cosmography - Most of what we understand about space and where we came from is based upon theories as we still lack a full understanding. The belief that all of humanity was created by a greater deity is often times used as an explanation for this. Whether we were created by a greater being or through a natural chain of events is one of the most widely debated topics still to this day.

Religion - Humans tend to lean into the idea that there is some form of greater beings watching over us. The idea that we're all alone and the only reason life as we know it exists was created as a byproduct can cause distress, due to this the idea of god or gods can be very appealing.