Philosophyspeaking topic
“I understand then why the doctrines that explain everything to me also debilitate me at the same time.”
— Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- Plato's theory of forms: how can an abstract shape like the perfect triangle be more real than the world we can touch?
- We are told hard work is the gateway to a better life. Maybe internalizing the work ethic is actually a trap.
- Naming is something like attaching a label to a thing.
- To be happy, you have to stop thinking about happiness; chase it directly and it runs away. Maybe the things we want most only arrive once we stop wanting them. Is desire, then, something that sabotages itself?
- The panopticon: does a person who knows they might be watched start policing themselves, even when nobody is looking? If the mere possibility of an invisible authority is enough to change our behavior, where does freedom begin?