Philosophical Questions: 120 Deep Questions About Life, Mind and Meaning

Philosophy begins with a question that will not go away. What is a good life? Do we choose our actions? What do we know? People have asked these for thousands of years, from Socrates in the Athenian marketplace to Viktor Frankl in a concentration camp to anyone lying awake at 2 a.m. today. The questions below are written to be used. Read one, think about it for a few minutes, and write or talk your way toward your own answer. There is no answer key, and that is the point.

The 10 Best Philosophical Questions to Start With

If you only have a few minutes, begin here. Each question also appears in its full section below, so tap through to keep going.

1. Is meaning something you find in the world or something you make?
2. Why is there something rather than nothing?
3. Are you the same person you were ten years ago, and what exactly has stayed the same?
4. Are your choices really yours, or the result of everything that came before them?
5. How do you know that anything you believe is true?
6. Would you still act morally if you knew you would never be caught?
7. Is happiness a feeling, a way of living, or a judgment about your life?
8. What is the difference between loving someone and needing them?
9. Is it fair for some people to inherit advantages they did nothing to earn?
10. If a good God exists, why does so much suffering exist?

Questions About the Meaning of Life and Purpose

Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who survived Nazi concentration camps, argued in Man's Search for Meaning that the drive to find meaning is a central human motivation. Aristotle asked a related question centuries earlier: what is a human being for? Start here if you want questions that point at the direction of your life.

1. If nobody ever evaluated your life, what would you still want to have done with it?
2. Is meaning something you find in the world or something you make?
3. What would you keep doing even if no one ever thanked you for it?
4. Does a life need a purpose to be worth living, or can it be enough to simply be alive?
5. If you could only be remembered for one thing, which would you pick, and why that one?
6. Is a meaningful life the same as a happy life?
7. What do you owe to the world just for having been born into it?
8. Can suffering ever add to the meaning of a life, and if so, when?
9. Would a life that never ended still have meaning, or does meaning need an ending?
10. What question is your life currently answering, whether you chose it or not?

Existential Questions About Existence and Death

Existential questions ask what it means to exist at all, and what to do with the fact that we die. Seneca wrote that we are always complaining that life is short while acting as if we had plenty of time, and Kierkegaard, often called the first existentialist, argued that anxiety is the dizziness that comes with freedom. For a longer set aimed at journaling, see our existential journal prompts.

11. Why is there something rather than nothing?
12. What does it mean for something to exist?
13. If you knew the exact date of your death, what would you change today?
14. Is death something to fear, or only the absence of something to fear?
15. Does the fact that life ends make it more valuable or less?
16. What parts of you do you expect to outlive your body, if any?
17. Is it better to know the truth about a painful fact or to live comfortably without it?
18. How should a person live if the universe has no built-in meaning?
19. What would you regret most on your last day, and what is stopping you from addressing it now?
20. Is a short life that was full better than a long life that was empty?

Philosophical Questions About the Self and Identity

Plato placed the real self in the soul and thought that knowing yourself was the starting point of wisdom, echoing the Delphic instruction to "know thyself." Later thinkers such as the Buddha argued that the fixed self we imagine is closer to a stream of changing experiences. These questions test which view feels true to you.

21. Are you the same person you were ten years ago, and what exactly has stayed the same?
22. If every cell in your body is replaced over time, what makes you still you?
23. Is your identity defined by your memories, your body, your values, or something else?
24. Which parts of yourself did you choose, and which were handed to you?
25. Do you have one true self, or are you different people in different rooms?
26. If a perfect copy of you existed, which one would be you?
27. How much of who you are is what other people believe you to be?
28. Would you still be yourself if you lost all your memories?
29. What would you have to give up before you stopped being yourself?

Philosophical Questions About Free Will

Augustine wrestled with how human freedom fits with a God who knows everything in advance, and Epictetus, a Stoic who was born a slave, taught that the one thing fully in our power is how we judge what happens to us. These questions ask how free any of us really are.

30. Are your choices really yours, or the result of everything that came before them?
31. If your decisions could be predicted perfectly, would you still be free?
32. Can a person be blamed for actions that flow from their upbringing and brain?
33. Is a choice free if you could not have wanted anything else?
34. Which of your habits did you actually decide on?
35. Is there a difference between being free and feeling free?
36. If you do not have free will, does it still make sense to make plans?
37. How much of your life is within your control, and how much only your response to it?
38. Would you want to know the future if knowing it removed your choices?

Philosophical Questions About Knowledge and Truth

Socrates became known for saying that he knew he knew nothing, and his habit of questioning confident people changed how Athens thought about wisdom. Plato's cave story asks whether what we take for reality might be shadows. Use these when you want to test how you know what you think you know.

39. How do you know that anything you believe is true?
40. Is there a difference between knowing something and being very sure of it?
41. Can you ever be certain that the world is not a dream?
42. Are some truths the same for everyone, or does every truth depend on the person?
43. What is a belief you hold mainly because everyone around you holds it?
44. Is it possible to be completely objective about anything?
45. Is more information always better for understanding the truth?
46. When did you last change your mind about something important, and what caused it?
47. Can you know what another person experiences, or only guess?

Philosophical Questions About Ethics and Morality

Confucius taught that goodness is built through practice in everyday relationships, while Aristotle argued that virtue is a habit formed by repeated action. Modern debates between rules and outcomes grew from these roots. Try these when you want to look at how you decide right from wrong.

48. What makes an action right or wrong?
49. Is it ever acceptable to lie, and who decides when?
50. Would you still act morally if you knew you would never be caught?
51. Do you have the same duties to strangers as to your family?
52. Is it better to be a good person or to do good things?
53. If you could gain a great benefit by harming one person, would that be wrong?
54. Are moral rules the same in every culture, or do they change with context?
55. How much of morality is feeling and how much is reasoning?
56. What is a small thing you do each day that you think is a moral choice?

Philosophical Questions About Happiness and the Good Life

Aristotle called the goal of human life eudaimonia, usually translated as flourishing, and argued that it comes from using our abilities well over a whole lifetime. Marcus Aurelius, writing as a Roman emperor, kept returning to the idea that a good life depends on the quality of our thoughts. For a practical companion, see what Stoicism is and how to practice it.

57. Is happiness a feeling, a way of living, or a judgment about your life?
58. Would you plug into a machine that gave you perfect pleasure for the rest of your life?
59. How much money, comfort or success does it take before more stops helping?
60. What would a good day look like if no one else could see it?
61. Is it possible to be happy while the people you love are suffering?
62. Do you pursue happiness best by chasing it or by ignoring it?
63. What do you already have that your younger self would have wanted badly?
64. Is contentment a virtue or a form of giving up?
65. What would you do differently if you valued peace over approval?

Philosophical Questions About Love and Relationships

In Plato's Symposium, a character named Aristophanes tells a myth in which humans were once whole and spend their lives searching for their other half. The Buddha taught compassion toward all beings. Use these to examine what you want from the people closest to you.

66. What is the difference between loving someone and needing them?
67. Can you love a person without really knowing them?
68. Is love a choice, a feeling, or a skill?
69. What do you owe a friend who has changed into someone you no longer recognize?
70. Is it possible to love someone and still hold them to the truth?
71. How much of yourself should you be willing to change for a relationship?
72. Can friendship be as deep as romantic love?
73. Is forgiveness something you give for the other person or for yourself?
74. What does it mean to be truly known by someone?

Philosophical Questions About Society, Justice and Politics

Plato's Republic asks what a just society looks like and who should rule it. Confucius argued that a good ruler leads first by example. These questions ask what we owe each other when we live in the same place.

75. What makes a law just?
76. Do you have a duty to obey a law you believe is unjust?
77. Is equality of opportunity enough, or does fairness require more?
78. How much freedom should a person give up in exchange for safety?
79. Who should decide what counts as true in public life?
80. Is it fair for some people to inherit advantages they did nothing to earn?
81. What does a society owe its weakest members?
82. Should the majority always get its way?
83. How would you design a society if you did not know what place you would hold in it?

Philosophical Questions About the Mind and Consciousness

The hard question of why physical processes come with inner experience is still open. Many traditions have taken it up, including Buddhist teachers who examined awareness through meditation for over two thousand years. These questions invite you to look at your own mind from the inside.

84. What is it like to be you, and can that ever be fully explained from outside?
85. Are your thoughts something you create or something that arrives?
86. Is consciousness only a product of the brain, or something more?
87. Could a machine ever have real experiences, and how would we tell?
88. Do animals experience the world in a way that matters morally?
89. When you notice a thought, who is doing the noticing?
90. Is your inner voice you, or something you listen to?
91. Do you see colors the same way other people do?
92. What happens to your sense of self when you are fully absorbed in something?

Philosophical Questions About God, Religion and the Universe

Pascal, a mathematician and physicist, wrote that the silence of the infinite spaces frightened him, and argued that reason alone cannot settle whether God exists. Lao Tzu described the Tao as a source that cannot be fully named. These questions are open to believers, doubters and everyone in between.

93. Is it reasonable to believe in something you cannot prove?
94. If a good God exists, why does so much suffering exist?
95. Can a person live a moral life without religion?
96. What do the world's religions agree about, and what do they not?
97. Is the universe a coincidence, a design, or something our categories do not fit?
98. If there are other intelligent beings in the universe, what would that change about how you see yourself?
99. Is wonder at the cosmos a kind of spiritual experience?
100. What would count as evidence that would change your mind about the biggest questions?
101. Does it matter to you whether the universe cares about you?

Philosophical Questions About Time and Change

Heraclitus is remembered for the idea that you cannot step into the same river twice, and Lao Tzu built much of the Tao Te Ching around yielding to change. These questions look at what stays, what goes, and how you live inside a moving present.

102. Is time something that exists, or something our minds use to organize experience?
103. Are the past and future as real as the present?
104. If you could relive one day exactly, would you, and would it still feel the same?
105. How much of your life do you spend in the present?
106. Is change always loss, or can it also be growth?
107. Would you want to go back and change a decision, knowing you would not be who you are now?
108. What have you been postponing as if you had unlimited time?
109. Why does time feel faster as you age?
110. How do you want to be remembered by the version of you ten years from now?

Fun and Light Philosophical Questions for Conversation

Philosophy started as conversation in the marketplace, and Socrates asked questions of anyone who would talk. These lighter questions work for dinners, road trips, classrooms, icebreakers and kids who ask "why?" a lot. For deeper writing prompts, see our deep journal prompts.

111. If you could ask any person from history one question, who would it be and what would you ask?
112. Is a hot dog a sandwich, and what does your answer reveal about how you define things?
113. Would you rather know the day you will die or the cause?
114. If you swapped lives with someone for a week, whose life would you pick?
115. Is it better to be feared or loved?
116. If you could remove one word from the dictionary, which one would it be?
117. Do you think animals have a sense of humor?
118. If everyone in the world told the truth for one day, what would change?
119. What is the most useful thing you believed as a child that turned out to be false?
120. What is a rule everyone follows that no one can explain?

How to Use These Questions

For journaling. Pick one question a day and write for ten minutes without stopping. Do not aim for a correct answer. Write what you actually think, then write the strongest objection to it. Come back to the same question in a month and notice whether your answer moved. If you want a structured set for this, try our guides to journaling like a philosopher and meaning of life journaling exercises.

For discussion. Read a question aloud to one other person or a small group. Have each person answer before anyone replies. Then ask "why do you think that?" and listen to the reason before you respond. The light questions in the last section work well for dinners, classrooms and car rides.

The Socratic method in four steps. Socrates did not hand out answers. He asked questions until a belief either held up or fell apart. You can do the same with any question on this page.

1. State your answer. Write it as one clear sentence.
2. Ask what it assumes. What would have to be true for your answer to be right?
3. Look for a counterexample. Think of a case where your answer gives a result you would reject.
4. Revise. Reword your answer so it survives the counterexample, then repeat from step 2.

Two or three rounds is usually enough to find out what you really believe.

Ask the Philosophers Themselves

The people who first asked these questions cannot answer them for us, but you can get close. In Life Note, you write a journal entry on any question from this page and get replies from mentors modeled on thinkers such as Socrates, Marcus Aurelius and Camus. They respond to what you actually wrote, so a question like "what would I regret most?" becomes a conversation instead of a blank page. For background on one of those voices, see our guide to Stoicism.

FAQ

What is the most philosophical question?

There is no official one, but "Why is there something rather than nothing?" is often named as the most basic. "What is the meaning of life?" and "Do we have free will?" are the other two people mention most. Each one touches every other part of philosophy, which is why they keep returning.

What are existential questions?

Existential questions ask about human existence itself: why we are here, what makes a life meaningful, how to face death, and how to act when no one can tell us the right answer. They are associated with existentialist thinkers such as Kierkegaard, Sartre, Camus and Frankl. Our existential journal prompts cover them in depth.

What are good philosophical questions for kids?

Questions that start from things kids already wonder about work best, such as "What is fair?", "Is it okay to tell a small lie to be kind?", "Do animals think?" and "If you could make one rule for everyone, what would it be?". Use the fun section above, ask "why do you think so?" after each answer, and treat every answer as worth hearing.

What are some philosophical questions to ask a friend?

Try questions that invite a story, not a speech: "What would you do with a year of free time?", "When did you last change your mind about something big?" or "What do you think a good life looks like?". The love and relationships and fun sections above are good places to start.

How do I answer a philosophical question?

State your view in one sentence, give your best reason for it, then argue against yourself. If you find a case that breaks your answer, adjust it. The four-step Socratic method above does exactly this. A good answer is one you can defend and are willing to revise.

Do philosophical questions have right answers?

Some have better and worse answers, since reasons can be strong or weak, but most have no single agreed-upon answer after thousands of years. Their value comes from what happens while you think: clearer beliefs, better questions and fewer unexamined assumptions.

How can philosophical questions help with journaling?

They give you a starting point that is bigger than your daily to-do list. Writing one answer a day trains you to notice your assumptions and to see how your views change over time. Our guide to journaling like a philosopher explains the habit step by step.