NOTE: I originally posted this on r/debate, but it turns out it was against their rules, so I copy and pasted it here, in hopes you guys will be a little bit more helpful.
I finally have organized a debate club at my high-school, and our first meeting is this Wednesday. While I have a lot of debate topics, and a substantial amount of people who say will come, I have no idea what we should talk about.
I’m creating this club mainly for two reasons: enthusiasm and fear. I really enjoy conversing with others about existential and philosophical problems, and I hope this club will not only expand my own knowledge, but also to impart on others the same excitement I have for the subject. However, with the current political climate of ad hominem attacks, guilt tripping, and trials by public opinion, I also feel as if we are headed towards another Nazi Germany or USSR, and nobody else seems to be aware of it, nor are they intellectually or morally capable of combating it (not to say I am, of course).
Thus, I wanted to focus our discussions more so on the more metaphysical problems, rather than complicated and science-based problems, so that we, while children, can develop a logically based world view without having to delve deep into the world of studies and statistics, so that if we are able to take even one step towards paradise, or at least one farther away from the atrocities of our past. And while I am aware that data and statistics are hugely important, and that have a bunch of kids just talk about how they feel without regard to facts has its own problems, I feel this is the most reliable way to help people become more aware of just how stupid and evil we are as humans, and at least set us on a more righteous path.
Sadly, while I possess some rather strong emotions regarding this subject, I cannot think of a topic of satisfactory depth or approachability. Instead of something like “good vs. evil” or “does global warming exist and what should we do about it”, I was hoping to find something that straddles the line between metaphysical and specific. For instance, I had some wonderful conversations about “the relationship of sex and marriage”. However, while I enjoy this one, I feel it isn’t worthy of being the topic of the first meeting of a debate club, nor does it seem widely popular with those not interested in debate as much as I.
In conclusion, I’m looking for a topic for something more metaphysically-based and has a considerable appeal to the average person, Or at least something everyone has an opinion on.
Thank you for your suggestions.
P.S.: If I sound a like some self righteous ass, my apologies. It’s not my intention to.
Submitted January 28, 2019 at 05:07AM by Hollis_Luethy http://bit.ly/2DCZtiC