On the End of History

On the End of History: Ideologically speaking, the end of history is not the same thing as the end of time. Whereas the end of time has a kind of religious connotation to it, the end of history is merely philosophical. With that being said, there have been a variety of philosophical viewpoints put forth on this topic from thinkers like Kant, Hegel, and even Nietzsche. Yet the two philosophers who have probably made the biggest impact on "end-of-history" thinking are Karl Marx and Francis Fukuyama. For Marx, the end of history would arrive once communism had replaced capitalism as the sole socioeconomic ideology in the world. This meant, in effect, that social classes would cease to exist, that private property would be abolished, and that the state would become the primary source of socioeconomic engineering (jobs, education, healthcare, etc.). But Marx could/did not foresee the rise of labor unions, which often served to mitigate/reconcile tensions between capital and labor (bourgeoisie and proletariat). For Fukuyama, who's writing roughly 150 years after Marx, the end of history coincided with the end of the Cold War. In a sense, the absence of a legitimate communist threat meant there was no longer any major ideological obstacles for Western-style liberal democracy to overcome. However, in the time since Fukuyama first published his thesis (1989), the globe has seen a significant rise in Islamic fundamentalism that frequently seeks to destroy Western democracy.

On Critical Culture Theory

On Critical Culture Theory: Before diving into cultural theory, it's important to offer a working definition of "culture." For historian Kristin Hoganson, culture is a common framework of methods and references to help one understand the human experience. To put it another way, culture consists of all the basic units that make up a community. A key feature of culture is language, which serves as the primary vehicle for communicating words/ideas (and their respective meanings). Take the above image, for example (semiotics). The line separating the written word "TREE" from a common symbol for a tree teaches us that there is no rational or inherent connection between words and symbols that represent them. It's only through experience that people build an understanding of written/spoken words and the descriptive symbols to which they refer. But aside from language, there are other key features of culture, including "memes" and "texts." Memes effectively transport the units of cultural life. Having emerged from Darwinian thought, memes are to culture what genes are to biology. Their sole purpose is to replicate, especially by capturing the attention of a wide audience. With cultural texts, however, they can be anything that demands meaning from you (a book, a song, a film, a painting, etc.) In short, both memes and texts seek legitimacy by impacting culture at large.

On Defining Modernity

On Defining Modernity: How does one define the term modernity? And when did it arrive? Many Western historians point to the Thirty Years' War (1618 - 1648), which resulted in a significant decline of the Catholic Church's influence over European political affairs, as the birth of modernity. But other intellectuals tend to emphasize certain technologies that emerged from industrialization. Perhaps the two most important ones were electricity and railroads. With electricity, the routines of daily life (which usually followed the Sun's rhythms), changed drastically. In fact, Edison's 1879 carbon filament light bulb, while providing over 1200 hours of light, helped people work through the night without the use of fire. Regarding railroads, Aldous Huxley wrote, "To us, the moment 8:17 AM means something - something very important, if it happens to be the starting time of our daily train. To our ancestors, such an odd eccentric instant was without significance - did not even exist. In inventing the locomotive, [James] Watt and [George] Stephenson were part inventors of time." And as steam locomotives approached speeds of 70 MPH by the end of the 1800s, people began to experience the sensation of speed for the first time in history. At bottom, modernity is all about the annihilation of time and space.

Pragmatism: An American Social Philosopy

Pragmatism: An American Social Philosophy: When pragmatist philosopher William James (pictured above) wrote the essay "What Pragmatism Means" in 1904, he had already been thinking about the topic for about 30 years. In 1872, James and a few of his Harvard-related colleagues (Charles Sanders Peirce and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.) formed The Metaphysical Club, which sought to resolve a variety of metaphysical disputes altogether. Such metaphysical disputes included the purpose of religion, the meaning of reasoned judgment, and the nature of justice. For the most part, early pragmatism developed as a social philosophy with the primary intention of undermining traditional metaphysics. And as such, it can be viewed as the American response to European existentialism. Ultimately, however, pragmatism centered on linking theory with practice. The pragmatic method shunned absolutist thinking (especially ideologies and dogmas) and embraced uncertainty (anti-foundationalism). For James, pragmatism was not a new philosophy. Its roots extended as far back as Socrates. But what was new about pragmatism involved its universalistic impulse toward inclusion (inclusion of ideas, viewpoints, peoples, etc.), which had an array of practical consequences for any modern democratic society.

On "Atlas Shrugged"

On "Atlas Shrugged": Oddly Nietzschean in its prescription for present-day morality, Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged (1957) contended that man's only moral obligation (in this life) was to rationality, and not to other people. And similar to Nietzsche, Rand's philosophy (objectivism) has been attacked as both anti-academic and literary, without any serious grounding in empirical thought. Regarding her philosophy, she stated, "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." Of course, pragmatists like William James shouted "Damn all absolutes!," which itself was a kind of absolute. But like Nietzsche, Rand believed that it behooved man to focus on this life (as opposed to the afterlife), because modern industrial (democratic) society demanded a great deal of responsibility from man. With Christian morality being geared so heavily toward the afterlife, Nietzsche and Rand wondered if Western civilization could ever overcome itself and move beyond metaphysical thinking. In fact, John Galt (the protagonist of Atlas Shrugged) was essentially Rand's version of Nietzsche's "Overman" (Übermensch).

Twenty Pithy Philosophy Quotes

Twenty Pithy Philosophy Quotes: 1.) "Existence precedes essence." 2.) "I am, therefore, I'll think." 3.) "Doubt is the origin of wisdom." 4.) "Hell is other people." 5.) "There are no facts, only interpretations." 6.) "The last Christian died on the Cross." 7.) "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth." 8.) "Irony is a qualification of subjectivity." 9.) "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards." 10.) "I must find a truth that is true for me." 11.) "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." 12.) "Can an eternal happiness be built on historical knowledge?" 13.) "When not prompted by vanity, we say little." 14.) "It is a great folly to wish to be wise alone." 15.) "The horror makes the thrill." 16.) "From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step." 17.) "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains." 18.) "A specter is haunting Europe; the specter of Communism." 19.) "There is but one coward on Earth, and that is the one who dare not know." 20.) "Accept suffering and achieve atonement through it - that is what you must do."

Fast Food Philosophy

Fast Food Philosophy: When one thinks of the American fast food industry, he or she probably envisions hamburgers, french fries, and soda. Yet there is a great deal more to the multi-billion dollar industry that seeks to maximize sales and minimize costs. Just as Henry Ford developed the assembly line to boost efficiency at the Ford Motor Company in the 1910s, Ray Kroc merely adapted that concept for McDonald's in the 1950s. The ability to mass produce a combination of meat, potatoes, and carbonated soft drinks brought McDonald's to the forefront of corporate America. Nevertheless, it was the booming car culture of the American West, particularly in California, that cemented the idea of "fast food" in connection with "magic motorways." Post-World War II American culture demanded convenience, as people sought to exit the city's core in favor of suburban tract housing along the city's edge. Commuting to work on freeways in one's car became the newest and most convenient form of transportation. And as Aldous Huxley wrote in his Brave New World (1932), "Speed is the only truly modern sensation." Ultimately, the combination of speed, convenience, and efficiency helped solidify the American fast food industry as a consumer staple by the late twentieth century.

On Simone de Beauvoir's "Second Sex"

On Simone de Beauvoir's "Second Sex": When French feminist, Simone de Beauvoir, published The Second Sex in 1949, few understood its significance with respect to the emerging philosophy of existential feminism. In fact, one of the most well-known phrases surrounding the feminist movement originated with Beauvoir's book. It follows that "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." Such a statement makes an important distinction between the terms of 'gender' and 'sex.' Whereas 'gender' is more of an acquired trait, 'sex' is a permanent condition. Today, people can have 'sex' changes at the hands of a skilled surgeon, but attributes of their original 'sex' still exist underneath the surgical work. Building on the themes expressed in Beauvoir's "Second Sex," Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique in 1963. This book effectively launched feminism onto the same stage as the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s; as Friedan went on to establish the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966. Much of the feminist legacy, however, has shifted in scope since the mid-twentieth century. Naomi Wolf, the woman in the above video, advocates "third-wave feminism," which basically seeks to redefine the feminist movement in the wake of the Cold War by getting women more involved in politics and creating a greater awareness over issues like reproductive rights and sexual harassment.

On Hell Masquerading as Progress

On Hell Masquerading as Progress: In his essay What is Metaphysics? (Was ist Metaphysik?), Martin Heidegger asserts that humans are constantly on the edge of the Abyss. That is, each person faces the prospects of non-existence on a constant basis. A certain Being-toward-death (Sein-zum-Tode) exists to put each person in despair from time to time. It's that primordial feeling of anxiety, which subtly creeps into a person's unconscious, especially in times of extreme self-awareness. This anxiety constitutes an irrational fear, which is neither directed at a specific entity nor governed by personal insight. As a result, one becomes increasingly hardened in his attempts to repress the visceral fears that afflict him. For example, flying on an airplane demands a conscious trust of the aviation process (physics, machinery, etc.) by people. After attaining this trust, a basic co-relationship develops in which people effectively become machines. When the pilots grasp the controls, they are, for all intents and purposes, man-machines (Die Mensch-Maschinen). And whenever turbulence strikes, it reminds people of the greater-than-thou physical forces acting on the aircraft. At that point, death is merely an accepted risk that one assumes when flying.

Facing the Consequences of Being

Facing the Consequences of Being: Breathe! Not too much though, for you might inhale some of the carbon monoxide coming from that flaming car! What a way to go out! Smoke inhalation - isn't that nice? And yet it is happening all the time to those who smoke cigarettes. Ah, the consequences stemming from human actions are dreadfully serious, but when is man going to realize this rather mundane fact? Where is Mr. Discipline when you need him? It seems to me that he has been on a permanent vacation to Never Never Land since the end of World War II. The fate of Western civilization rests on the shoulders of Mr. Discipline. He taught us how to export more than import. He taught us how to produce more than consume. And he taught us how to win more than lose. Perhaps Mr. Discipline was wearing a mask when he taught us Westerners how to thrive. Maybe his real name is Confucius, and quite frankly, the way the Chinese are prospering these days, that idea would not be all that unbelievable. Even so, as a self-indulgent individual who comes from a decadent Western society, I tend to endorse the notion that once man starts something, he simply cannot help himself to stop.

Complete Justice = Complete Catastrophe

Complete Justice = Complete Catastrophe: Ecophilosopher Garrett Hardin considers this equation as central to its core principles. In his 1968 essay titled "The Tragedy of the Commons," Hardin explains how every rational being will seek to maximize his or her gain in the event that everything becomes the common property of all. Some see this notion as a seething critique of communism, and in particular, the Soviet farming policies related to collectivization. One way to solve the problems stemming from common ownership is to advocate a policy of privatization whereby only a limited number of people have access to certain resources. Given that the world itself possesses only a finite body of goods, man must put into place a series of control measures with respect to the environment. For Hardin, an area in dire need of regulation is the burgeoning growth of human population. He firmly believes that the freedom to breed, as laid out in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), is an insidious concept. The primary basis for his reasoning stems from the fact that those who have many descendants are actually doing a serious disservice to society in the sense that they consume more resources in safeguarding their well-beings. Although people have characterized Hardin as being both aloof and cynical, he has certainly hit upon something important (like the Malthusian limit).

Ontology vs. Technology

Ontology vs. Technology: In Martin Heidegger's essay The Question Concerning Technology (1950), he refers to nature as "The Enframing" whereby a systematic ordering of the landscape by mankind has resulted in a seemingly unrecognizable and irreversible situation that constitutes our present condition in the world. Not being able to recognize and understand the changes brought by technology to the Earth and to the Self holds drastic consequences for the future. Today, mankind can operate a high-definition television or a super-charged automobile without having to comprehend even an inkling about the physics behind their respective operations. And this is precisely where the fields of science and technology have come to supplant the most basic and primal elements of man's being-in-the-world. For example, the above picture is the Sylmar Cascades in Southern California, which serve as the Los Angeles Aqueduct's terminus. Without the Sylmar Cascades, which require vast amounts of energy to pump mass quantities of water through the Newhall Pass, more than ten million people in Los Angeles County would be facing a serious water crisis (not that they already are). And how many Angelenos truly understand the survivalist implications of such a technological apparatus?

The Ineffability of Modernity

The Ineffability of Modernity: What's that sound? That sound that eerily creeps up behind you when you walk down the street. Is it the sound of urban sprawl? Is it the sound of reindustrialization? It's catching up with you every moment of your existence on the Earth. There is no exit. Nobody can escape the sound. It's delicate and ineffable at the same time. It masks itself as progress. Machines working hither and thither, cars traveling to and fro, planes taking off and landing, but it's all helter-skelter in the end, right? Yet we are creatures of the 21st century. And what does that mean? In a way, man has certainly lost his ability to know himself. Likewise, Articulating what it means to be a human being in the 21st century has become nearly impossible. People who define themselves by their material possessions only get distracted and lost in them over the long term. Thus, man has created the infamous Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.), just as he has with various other social anxiety disorders. But it's that SOUND which clouds each one of our individual concerns, and until we learn to transcend that SOUND, we will be locked in this vicious cycle of modernity.

Business Ethics

Business Ethics: It seems to me that there is a contradiction in the term "business ethics." On one hand, "business" implies a certain degree of self-interest while on the other hand, "ethics" calls for a universal recognition of proper behavioral practices. Therefore, business ethics is fundamentally about finding an appropriate balance between the self-interests of business and the universal interests of ethics. Yet how does one come to find this balance? Well, for one thing, locating this delicate balance must come from within the individual. That is, a person in pursuit of business ethics must possess faith in the virtue of justice. Having even a limited understanding of the role that justice plays in the business world will put a man leaps and bounds ahead of his so-called "uninformed" colleagues. In Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (2004), the concept of business ethics has become distorted by the postmodern drive for commercialism in the world's industrialized nations (G8). Perkins highlights the issue of giving monetary aid to the Third World in the form of categorical grants and strings-attached loans. To burden the Third World with debt is to control their resources, and thus, control their people.

Schopenhauer the Hedgehog

Schopenhauer the Hedgehog: In 1851, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer expounded his conception of "The Hedgehog's Dilemma" in his work Parerga und Paralipomena. For the most part, this dilemma is concerned with the idea that hedgehog's can only get so close to one another before they inevitably hurt each other with their spiny backs. (In fact, just for clarification, hedgehogs do not possess "large" spines on their backsides. There might have been an error in translation from the German to the English with regard to porcupines and hedgehogs.) Regardless, Schopenhauer takes this apparent paradox in the animal rationale and applies it to the human condition. That is, when two people become close with each other, most likely married couples or good friends, the potential for hurting one another is a lot greater than if the two people were unacquainted. At the same time, if two people who know each other well remain apart for a long period of time, then the mental anguish of loneliness may start to consume them. In coping with this dilemma, man is often inclined to turn inward and become anti-social, as this act appears to be the best way of safeguarding his dignity. Needless to say, the hedgehog's dilemma has become a popular concept in psychology, as couples seeking marriage counseling are made aware of this contradiction. The ultimate solution to this problem of human interaction seems to involve the locating of an optimal distance between subjects. In other words, finding a so-called "comfort zone" is the key to coexistence.

The Nature of Evolution

The Nature of Evolution: Evolution is becoming an increasingly optional process these days. That is to say, mankind must engage in a whole host of things to initiate the evolutionary system behind all living things on Earth. The schematic demise of the environment coupled with the preference for profit over conservation merely spells disaster in the long-term. Indeed, we know we're doomed on Earth one day because the Sun will cease to burn. But evolution used to be a consistent and involuntary aspect of human existence. Now it is nothing more than a by-product of mankind's divinely bestowed free will. In effect, man has the ability to choose whether or not he wishes to participate in the unification of humanity's consciousness (evolution). According to French Jesuit paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, evolution marks an ascent toward consciousness. And the hyper-personal area where the ultimate unity of consciousness occurs is what Teilhard referred to as the "Omega Point," which for all intents and purposes, is God. Therefore, evolution does not happen to individuals but to mankind as a whole. And it's only through a collective merging of thought and consciousness that man will be able to achieve an eternal evolutionary future.

On the Consequences of Being

On the Consequences of Being: And hence, I say, the consequences of Being are grave! Man must be wary of his actions for they will eventually affect his future state of Being. Likewise, man ought to be wary of appearances for they are merely manifestations of Being. As a result, appearances tend to mask the deeper, inner reality that exists within us all. This inner reality is motionless for it is the Truth and as such it is unwavering. Being is and nothing is not. The ultimate reality therefore is not something but someone and as such He is a manifestation of the divine. To think and to be are one and the same. Therefore, the temporal (thinking) side and the eternal (Being) side of man are synthesized into one wholesome thing. This thing can be understood rationally as a free spirit which seeks to embrace his naturally endowed right of freedom. And when man fails to fully recognize his eternal side, then he is said to be in despair; or if taken in a theological sense, he has sinned. To alienate the free spirit from the thinking Being is to separate the elements of man that make him whole, and thus, man has fallen into sin by splitting his Being into two halves.

On the Philosophical Imperative

On the Philosophical Imperative: And hence, I ponder, what is the philosophical imperative and why is it a necessary component of life in the postmodern era? The pursuit of wisdom is marked by various obstacles. In order to truly pursue wisdom, man must detach himself from everything that hinders him. That is, man must come to terms with both the temporal and eternal elements of his Being through a systematic inquiry into what it means to exist in the world. This systematic inquiry into the true nature of things can otherwise be called the philosophical imperative. Derived essentially from the philosophical body of metaphysics, the philosophical imperative insists that man must address the fundamental questions surrounding his being-in-the-world. In an effort to engage in the philosophical imperative, man ought to study philosophy since it teaches him not only how to think but also how to be in the world. Moreover, given that philosophy expounds the true nature of things (manifestations of the divine) to man, it therefore teaches him why things like phenomena occur the way that they do. And yet, philosophy remains the only field of study dedicated to uncovering the ultimate truth about human existence. Hard sciences like biology, chemistry, and physics only go so far as to discover what appear to be rather menial and random truths about the larger concern of humanity itself.

On the Prospects of Progress

On the Prospects of Progress: And hence, I ponder, what are the prospects of progress? Is mankind perpetually improving or disimproving over time? And what does science offer humanity that art does not? I say art is the manner through which man separates himself from the things that hinder him. Science teaches man by dissecting things while art teaches man by assembling things. Both science and art are necessary tools in the realm of human progress. However, it is science which holds the capacity to be truly destructive and for that reason, art proves superior. Assuming that man has a limited but innate will of infinite merit, I conclude that mankind is generally improving over time. This improvement will necessarily entail an enhanced moral disposition. All rational beings will therefore arrive at the same conclusion concerning morality insofar as their ability to reason will lead to the creation of more wholly egalitarian societies. The type of government required to foster this improvement of mankind most certainly has to be a republic, because as Locke saw it, republics were the only proven protectors of natural rights like life, liberty, and property.

On the American Dream

On the American Dream: And hence, I ponder, what is meant by the American Dream? Is it more of an ideal or a reality? For most Americans, the Dream contains a threefold purpose relating to economics, politics, and society. With economics, Americans wish to attain a level of comfort through financial stability. In many ways, the economic side of the Dream embodies the notion of what it means to be an American, and thus, it serves as the most important element. This claim can be made because without financial stability, the political and social meanings of the Dream become less pertinent. No man is going to think about abstract concepts like equality and liberty unless he first has food in his belly and a roof over his head. And therefore, economics remains the most fundamental interest of all Americans aspiring to capture a little piece of the Dream. Jefferson first constituted the Dream in the Declaration of Independence. Yet when one considers the 'peculiar' institution of slavery and its lingering vestiges (Jim Crow), the Dream loses its potency. It would take the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. to reconstitute the Dream for both the 19th and 20th centuries respectively.