We have an idea of how the laws of physics, chemistry or biology work. But some questions concerning the structure of the Universe and our own being still remain insoluble for us, as they are beyond our understanding. As a rule, they relate to philosophy rather than exact sciences. Here are some of them.
Why do we exist?
We initially take our existence for granted. But if you think about it, how and why did it happen that we exist? Why are there animals, plants, and various inanimate things in the world? And why are they all arranged in a certain way and obey certain laws?
However, in philosophy, the so-called "anthropic" principle operates, which says that the world manifests itself in a similar way, since we are present in it as observers. Although this still does not fully answer the question, where did we actually come from.
Is the world around you real?
How can we prove that the world looks exactly the way we see and feel it, and that all this is not a colossal illusion? Or is our reality just a simulation created by a more advanced mind?
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If we are created and controlled by someone else, then we may have no idea about our true nature. But for our convenience and safety (so as not to go crazy), it is better to assume conditionally that our Universe is real.
Is there free will?
The presence or absence of determinism is one of the favorite topics for scientific and philosophical discussions. A person usually thinks that he has a choice in this or that situation. But is it? Is there a chain of causes and effects that make us act this way and not another? And quantum mechanics claims that we live in a universe of probabilities and our actions are completely the result of chance …
Recent research in neurosurgery has shown that the human brain makes a decision before it is made up. But if thought processes are on an unconscious level, why do we still look like conscious beings, and not zombies?
Does God exist?
Believers do not doubt the existence of God as an intelligent being, and atheists generally deny the existence of any higher powers. Perhaps it is worth listening to the opinion of agnostics, who believe that our mind is too limited to know the structure of the universe.
There is, for example, naturalism, which asserts that the structure of the Universe is the result of the interaction of autonomous natural processes with each other. Although this does not exclude the so-called "grand design" that launched all the mechanisms of motion of the Universe (deism). There are also Gnostics who do not doubt the existence of divine forces, whose nature is inaccessible, however, to our experience …
There is a lot of evidence that we are really controlled by someone or something. But we cannot really know God.
Is there life after death?
For believers, everything is simple: good people after death will go to heaven, and bad people - to hell … Materialists, however, are convinced that there is nothing “on the other side” and with the extinction of consciousness after death, the world for a person disappears, just like himself. However, none of the dead have yet returned from the afterlife, and cases of "miraculous resurrection" or revival after clinical death cannot be considered a full-fledged death.
So we have no one to find out what awaits a person there, beyond the bounds of physical existence. And we can neither assert with absolute certainty that there is an afterlife, nor deny its existence. Nevertheless, the chance that our existence does not end with death remains - and quite serious …
In metaphysics, there is the concept of repeating cycles. "Everything that is and what was, will still be," said the famous astrophysicist Carl Sagan. In turn, his colleague Hans Moravek believed that we will always observe this Universe, remaining existing in one form or another. Of course, it is not possible to check this highly controversial idea.
What are good and evil?
It seems obvious to us that some things are good and others are bad. It is enough to read the biblical commandments or numerous moral and ethical codes … But in reality everything is much more complicated. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one or several lives to save many lives … A saved child can later become a maniac or dictator … In the Middle Ages, those who were suspected of witchcraft were tortured and burned at the stake so that they could not harm others …
It turns out that unambiguous moral values simply do not exist. What appears to be good in one situation turns into evil in another. And vice versa. Therefore, one can speak about good and evil only in a narrowly focused, rather conventional sense, for example, to give assessments within one social formation.
