A Quasi Philosophical Blog

A Quasi Philosophical Blog

At the request of my brother Arthur this blog entry is going to be long and philosophical in it's essence. Incidentally this blog entry comes not only at the request of my brother Arthur, but also inspired by a 3 part documentary called The Trap by the BBC that he found floating around the Internet. Arthur is an expert at finding quality material on the Internet to stimulate and inspire the mind :-)

These incredible documentaries can be found at:

Google Video - The Trap Part 1

Google Video - The Trap Part 2

Google Video - The Trap Part 3 (note, Part 3 is broken into 3 parts...this link is to part 1 of 3. The other 2 parts are easily accessed from this link.)

More than anything, these documentaries have impressed upon me the notion that philosophy is not an idle academic subject, but a vibrant and nearly living thing. At the very least, the conclusions that we have drawn about the world, the way it works, and it's ultimate purpose have dramatically shaped our government and societal structures. This documentary covers the brief span of history from Post WWII to present regarding socio-political philosophies of the Western world, their consequences and possible future ramifications.

What the film makers saw as they studied the last fifty years of history was something that in philosophy we call Post Modernism. In the film the claim is that after WWII governments, politicians, and the average educated elite began to believe and follow the economic/mathematical theories of the human person as a rational agent in a very large and complicated game. Human beings, the economists and mathematicians theorized, are little more than rational agents acting on behalf of their self interest. Under this "efficient market" theory, human beings will rationally process all publicly available information and make decisions based on that information. The mathematical branch of Game Theory along with some questionable psychology was then used to further "prove" their theories. (See Note: 3)

The economists and government planners then postulated that under efficient market theory, government should step out of the way and let the markets be as efficient as possible. For in this worldview, maximal happiness, and societal equilibrium (i.e. a classless society) must occur when the rational agents are left to their own devices.

Government and a society then are the sum of the many free willed and self-centered agents. More or less we would all become cogs in the machine of humanity...equal cogs...free cogs!

Unfortunately for the brilliant mathematicians and economists (like John Nash who shaped Cold War era government policy, and who was also suffering from paranoid schizophrenia) our country, and certainly not our world, has failed to live up to the democratic-utopian ideal. Furthermore, feelings of alienation and purposelessness seem to have increased (my anecdotal opinion). And unfortunately rather than becoming cogs in the glorious humanity machine, the majority of modern Americans have become cogs in the corporate/consumerist machine (from this fact: we have record amounts of credit card debt mostly because we "need" so many products). The middle and lower classes have not had any real increase in the share of wealth, and thus classes remain as defined as ever (Wikipedia , see note 1). Good health care is still for us relatively wealthy in the world. And the vast amount of technology we have developed has failed to relieve us of a 40 hour work week. We in fact work more than 40 hours a week (Wikipedia)!

And thus we have arrived at our Post Modern, cynical and disillusioned, Prozac-society. We no longer trust government. We no longer really trust each other. We are less educated (graduation from high school rates may be high, but I don't see that as more educated). It seems that we have regressed!

So what went wrong?

To quote my good friend Edward, the major policy shapers of the 20th century started with a false Anthropology.

What are the consequences of holding such a false Anthropology?

In short, the consequences of such a belief can be seen (as the documentary hints at) in the Stalins, Lenins, Mao Tse Tungs and Pol Pots of the world. The massive amount of death and destruction in the 20th century is a result of the philosophical attitude that man is nothing more than machine, and thus just as expendable. The utlimate conclusion of such belief can only be the Nietszchean "Will to Power" in which the Uber Mensche (Super or Powerful Man) wins. Another consequence of the man-as-machine philosophy is purposelessness. As Nietzsche even pointed out, the Uber Mensche is one who realizes the purposelessness of it all, even power and fame, and still has the will to carry on, to pursue power and rulership! Unfortunately, he also saw that the great masses of "weak" (i.e. normal) people would sort of flounder sans meaning. (See Note 2)

There is a progression in the philosophy of the west that I see.

1.) Aristotle, Aquinas - truth can be known by asking enough questions. God is real because of cause and effect (Prime mover). If God is real then we are real, and important, for he created us. Knowing God is real and important. Aquinas' era is the apex of Christian influence in Western Culture

2.) Machiavelli, Hume and Kant - Morality is relevant to your position in life. Cause and effect is not provable. A priori truths (e.g. universal truths) cannot be proven outside of a formal system (Mathematics, formal languages). God is a hypothesis which may not be provable (though they still maintained that He was real).

3.) Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Darwin- The implications of Kant and Hume are that absolute truths, moralities and God cannot be absolutely known (unless somehow experienced). "God is dead" - Nietzsche. This is also the beginning of the end for Christianity as the major cultural ideology. Evolutionary biology adds that man is in no way unique, just a bi-product of the randomness of our universe. There can be no core essence of man, just a very complex machine composed of neurons and chemicals. (Hitler with his campaign of blood and soil is the perfect embodiment of this philosophy)

4.) Jean Paul Sartre - wrote a book called The Nauseum. He said that life is no better or worse than vomit. Pol Pot loved Sartre. Pol Pot killed millions of his countrymen.

5.) Modern Philosophers/Scientists - since nothing is provable/knowable but Mathematics, then Mathematical Science is the best way to describe our world, even ourselves! Thus the rise of economics in place of socio-political theory.

Because of our massive shift in philosophical understanding of the human person, namely that we are better described by numbers than by adjectives, our society has become what it has become: kind of depressed. The human being in our world has come to believe that he/she doesn't even really exist, except in a possibly material sense. And if we don't really exist, then what the heck is all this for anyhow?

Many many more pages could be filled with the ideas and thoughts of many many more philosophers. But as I stated in the beginning the main thing that I really walked away with from these documentaries is just how effective and powerful ideas and philosophies can be. Our country, and its people, is shaped to a great extent by its understanding of the world, the universe and human nature. A good life and a good country then starts with none other than a correct Anthropology/Philosophy, and that makes it one of the most important subjects to study!

note 1: Furthermore consider that the average household now has 2 income earners, and only makes about 30% more...what a rip off!

note 2: This is my favorite passage of Nietzsche's, this is a summary of it. I love it because it really captures the spirit of the age and the astounding consequences of a society without an immediate and active God.

note 3: a small (or rather large) hitch in that theory is that most markets are demonstrably inefficient...