A thought about purpose: No telos persists outside of mankind. That doesnt mean it is or is not worth pursuing, for the values which constitute worth do not persist outside of mankind either. Both purpose and worth are real to humanity. It simply means that it is incorrect to pursue either under a misconception that theyre founded in something other than mans impulses and inclinations, for example a God or some vague notion of something greater than humanity. Purpose is manmade, it is a game. We set up a point and try to achieve it. We very much like this game, but it is only a game. A language game. Those who treat it or other metaphysics as if they are something other than this have become bewitched by their language. These things do not constitute a foundation for thought, for they too are thoughts, and thoughts are thought by people, and so it is the other way around, purpose and values are founded in people. We are doing this of ourselves, to ourselves, and for ourselves. All of this is to say that when we create a telos like manifest destiny, and then kill in the name of it, we do not do this in the name of a greater purpose, we do this in the name of ourselves. When we go to war, we do not fight for God and Country, we fight for ourselves. When we allow people to be homeless and hungry, we do not do so because they deserve to be or because they dont share our work ethic, we do it for ourselves. God, country, meritocracy, these ideas live within us. They persist because of us. We give them life through our acts. Our ideas do not refuse to feed the poor or kill another person, we do. It is only afterward that we cite a telos as a narrative for our impulses. This is why it is important not to mince words. To do otherwise is to bewitch ourselves with our own language, and then we act under the spell of that language, and how we act has consequences. And if the spell is strong enough, it should even make us blind to those consequences of our telos, and instead relish in them, or find us justifying them with a foundation that is thinner than air. A foundation which is no foundation at all. The only justification there can be lies in mankind. The question then, should not be What is our purpose?, but rather What motivates people?. Purpose is the narrative of our impulses, and so the concern should rest with what these are founded in. If you change an idea, you do not stop an impulse. If you change an environment, you just may. But this is a discussion for another time.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 07:42:01 +0000