HZB3M / HZT4U
The Big Questions
On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions adapted from Robert Solomon’s
The Big Questions. Be prepared to share your answers.
1. Is there anything you would willingly die for? What?
2. If you had only a few minutes to live, what would you do with them?
3. Which is most “real” - the chair you are sitting on, the molecules that make up the chair,
or the sensations and images you have of the chair as you are sitting on it?
4. Suppose that you live in a society where everyone believes that the earth stands still,
with the sun, the moon, and the stars revolving around it in predictable, if sometimes
complex, orbits. You object, “You’re all wrong; the earth revolves around the sun.” No
one agrees with you. Indeed they think that you’re insane… Who’s right? Is it really
possible that only you know the truth, and everyone else is wrong?
5. Will a good person (one who does no evil and does everything he or she is supposed to
do) necessarily be happy, too? In other words, do you believe that life's ultimately fair?
Will a wicked person surely suffer, at least in the long run? (If not, why should anyone
bother trying to be good?)
6. Have you ever made a decision that was entirely your own, which was no one’s
responsibility but yours? (That is, it was not because of the way your parents raised you,
not because of the influence of your friends or television or books or movies, not
because you were in any way forced into it or unduly influenced by someone or by
certain circumstances.) Explain.
7. Is freedom always a good thing? Explain.
8. “Life is but a dream,” says an old popular song. Suppose the thought were to occur to
you… that it is possible, or at least conceivable, that you are just dreaming at this
moment, that you are still asleep in bed, and only dreaming about being in philosophy
class and answering questions. How would you prove to yourself that this is not true,
that you are indeed awake?