Do I Exist or Not?

Question

Tommorrow I am debating my friend on the topic "Do i exist or not". It is a one-on-one debate which my teacher will be filming and then awarding us marks and grades on how well we debate and howwe press ideas etc. I am saying that i exist and am real and my friend is saying that i do not exist and am not real. I need some points and pointers to help. Any ideas or suggestions to say that i do exist?

Any Contribution will be helpful.
Thankyou.

Answer 1

ASK: if I did not exist there would be no debate, so then why are we all here?

Answer 2

Smart *** answer: punch your Friend in the face as hard as you can, then ask "If I didn't exist, then that wouldn't hurt so bad, would it". I think that would win the debate right there.

Also remember it is almost impossible to disprove a negative. Can you prove to me that Leprechauns don't exist in Ireland? No, you can't. So your friend has the harder task.

Also, in order to have a debate, you need two sides. If you didn't exist, there would be only one side, and it would me more of a lecture not a debate. If you ask "Is this not a debate?" and it is agreed that it is a debate, you can proceed with the proof that because there are two sides, one of which is you, you exist.

Answer 3

Well you could be in a coma,have you ever been in one before? If not how would you know for sure you weren't in a coma? Or what if you already died but God didn't think you were quite ready to enter Heaven so you were placed on this middle plane of existence with everything similar in every detail to the old life you left except on this plane everything is down to the nitty gritty,Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Answer 4

As a nihilist i can only say this: You can prove nothing!!!

If you regress yourself to the things you deduce to be true, till the very begining, you will find one answer, the only thing you can count as real is the fact that you exist. Above that fact you have to make assumptions, for example:
What i see is real.
What i feel is real.
What i think is real.
The validity of your conclusion is TOTAL, it is dynamic(to try to sort opposing information inputs), but at the end you are the one who choose what is real(most of the time it is a subconscious process).

Therefore you exist, because all the data inputs i trust, point it to be true, and because i say so(subjectivity is cool isn't it).

Answer 5

You can start by the most common argument about existence:
"Existence its all we have, non existence its a contradiction, since; if nothing existed not even non existence will be possible" Good luck!

Answer 6

You exist because you have a personality, a heart, and most importantly you have a soul. If you touch a table, both you and the table can't mix, so you are your own being.

Good luck.

Answer 7

You most certainly exist. If you didn't you would not have been able to post your question. What does your friend think the definition of exist is?

Answer 8

get all technological and act like you know everything. then mention the phase "cogito, ergo sum" its a famous phase by Rene Descartes
in latin, it means "i think therefore i am" basicly it means that you exist because you are thinking...this is how it goes... if you doubt everything, even your own limbs and self, guess what? your mind must exist in order for you to be doubting everything

Answer 9

Do you know what your friend's points are going to be? A good start is to find that out and then come up with a good rebuttal.

Answer 10

If I cut off your arms and legs are you not still a alive and a human being? If i chop off your head are you not still a being...i have no idea where i am going with this