Philosophyspeaking topic
“There is only one inborn error, and that is the notion that we exist in order to be happy.”
— Arthur Schopenhauer
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
- There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.
- Wittgenstein's beetle: everyone has a box containing something they call a 'beetle', but nobody can look inside anyone else's box. When we use the same word for inner feelings like pain, are we really talking about the same thing?
- Do we have free will, or is it an illusion we cannot live without?
- Virtue ethics: does asking 'what kind of person should I be' capture morality better than 'what should I do'? Is it rules that make us good, or character?
- The doctrine of double effect: is intending a bad outcome different from foreseeing and accepting it? If a drug given to ease a patient's pain hastens their death, does intention make the act legitimate?