Fabiano and Celox
I found myself getting a bit down on things after I read the work of Hans Vaihinger and his book called the philosophy of “As If.†This was an incredibly difficult book to get a hold of and I must say that it cost a pretty penny. That’s why I had my girlfriend buy it for me! Actually, it was a surprise on her part (by the way that made me happy, briefly).
If you have not read Vaihinger, and I know no one that has, then you should. He points out how many, many things are just constructs that humans make to create, I suppose, order. The idea of free will is necessary for the judicial system and the construct of averages is needed to make statistics. He even goes on to explain how the circle computation is actually made up of lines in order to compute it.
His ideas are described as neo-Kantian. I suppose that is because Kant suggested that we pretend that something is true in order to make it true. On a personal note, I think that this is what created PC-type people. Vaihinger seems to dismantle Kant’s inspiration.
In my opinion, the book is a must read. Please have whiskey and pills handy per chapter, because I did not.
The bottom line is that he convincingly dismantles every major concept from the social to the hard sciences.
So, I tend to agree that nothing is real. Almost everything is a construct. However, those constructs really have effects on people and the world. For instance, I don’t believe in free will, rather I think that humans are programmed to respond in different ways base on their environment. However, this fact did not save the many people that I knew in prison that were turned from a cute kid into a misanthrope.
Stuff is real, but it’s people that decide on making it real. The unfortunate fact is that most people forgot that it was human that made most of our institutions up. It can be maddening to be around people that can’t even explain why or how people do what they do. Perhaps this is almost like a defense mechanism against becoming hopeless. Who knows?
Anyway, I’m wondering just what you are expecting. What did you think was supposed to exist? Also, what is happiness and how long is it supposed to last. You speak of happiness as if it were a car part or something. I just can’t find a 57 Chevy ashtray! Isn’t happiness a state. States ebb and flow, right?
Additionally, different people have different expectations of happiness. Some people look only for BIG happiness and some find MINUTE happiness in all kind of things. So, please tell me what you think happiness is.
From my perspective, I agree with the famous quote (can’t remember who) “Life is constant anxiety with moments of happiness,†and this is opposed to the unfortunate expectation that life is filled with happiness and just a little anxiety. Also, Happiness, to me, is a decision and an attitude that you can choose. One day you can be mad at children for misbehavior and then tomorrow you can decide that misbehavior is really just the kid developing and exploring, and then it’s kind of cool and cute.
So, that leads well (in my mind) to the subject of meaning. Meaning that exists outside of yourselves can only exist if a god exists. This is why gods were created, in my book. They tend to back up systems of ethics with an outside, sometimes frightening, meaning.
If one does not have this outside agency to watch over you, then what! Well that means that you have the responsibility to create meaning. That is one of the major ideas behind the philosophy of existentialism.
Ok, so why should I follow through on my responsibility? Well, we do know a couple of facts about life. Life is finite. A person’s timeline is unknown. A person’s life can last a hundred years or it can last a few days. Misery and suffering are things that we know to be true. It can be argued that extreme suffering on an individual level is not good. Thus, not following through on your responsibility to others can cause misery and suffering. Also, not doing something about it means that you are a passive accomplice to suffering.
The philosopher Sartre talked about all of this stuff in relation to WWII. I can’t find much wrong with the idea unless you believe the miserable shrieking of a person getting murdered to be ok once they are finally killed. Perhaps a starving kid is just another biological unit in atrophy. Most people don’t look at things this way.
It is worth talking about what you think about this stuff.
Finally, here are several things that existentialists believe trouble people when they come to grips with a life that is not controlled by some outside agency:
- Death.
- Freedom
- Existential Isolation
- Meaninglessness
Going into these ideas would be lengthy but I will if you want.
I think that the most difficult concept up there is number three. That means that we are trapped in our heads but desire contact with others and we have to deal with that. The rest just tend to freak people out mostly because they are trained to act and think like children.
Anyway, let’s have some feedback.