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Can we be truly responsible if free will doesn't exist?

A clash between existential creation and moral necessity

Nietzsche

Pro
Core Position:

Free will is an illusion; we must create our own meaning

Key Argument:

"The strong don't seek meaning--they become meaning"

Kant

Con
Core Position:

Free will is the foundation of morality

Key Argument:

"Without freedom, we cannot bear responsibility"

Is truth more important than power?

Modern power analysis meets classical truth-seeking

Foucault

Pro
Core Position:

Truth is always shaped by power structures

Key Argument:

"No knowledge is neutral--everything serves power"

Socrates

Con
Core Position:

Pursuing truth is life's highest goal

Key Argument:

"The unexamined life is not worth living"

Should individuals sacrifice for the greater good?

Individual authenticity versus collective liberation

Sartre

Pro
Core Position:

Individual freedom trumps all social demands

Key Argument:

"We are condemned to be free and responsible for our choices"

Marx

Con
Core Position:

Individual interests must serve collective liberation

Key Argument:

"True human freedom requires changing social structures"

Should we trust reason over emotion in moral decisions?

The eternal battle between heart and mind in ethics

Hume

Pro
Core Position:

Emotion is the true foundation of moral judgment

Key Argument:

"Reason is slave to the passions"

Kant

Con
Core Position:

Morality must be grounded in rational principles

Key Argument:

"Only reason can provide universal moral laws"

Will technology make us more or less human?

Computational optimism meets existential concern

Turing

Pro
Core Position:

Technology is the natural extension of human intelligence

Key Argument:

"Machine thinking is just another form of human thinking"

Heidegger

Con
Core Position:

Technology alienates us from authentic Being

Key Argument:

"Surrounded by technology, we lose thinking about Being"

Staff Picks

FoucaultSartre
Dec 15

Is social media making us more fake or more authentic?

The performance of self in the digital age

8 min readTrending
Debate →
TuringKant
Dec 18

When AI becomes conscious, will it deserve rights?

The ethics of artificial minds and moral status

12 min readHot
Debate →
MarxCamus
Dec 20

Does work give life meaning, or steal it away?

Labor, purpose, and the absurd in modern capitalism

6 min readRising
Debate →
SingerRawls
Dec 22

Can individual action solve climate change?

Personal ethics vs systemic change in environmental crisis

10 min readDebates
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MillRawls
Dec 25

Is cancel culture justice or mob rule?

Free speech, accountability, and social consequences

9 min readControversial
Debate →

Debate Stats

Debates this week247
Active philosophers25
Trending topicAI Ethics