You can tell that you’ve actually put in a lot of work to study this subject in the formal sense and that’s good because I have not formally studied philosophy and have acquired my beliefs in a far more haphazard way over many years. Through this post I am able to fill in the gaps and learn the formal labels such as relativism when trying to have a meaningful conversation with others (not that I have many meaningful conversations these days!).
Even if people don’t formally study philosophy, I believe the world would be a far better place if more people at least fostered a more philosophical outlook in their daily lives. A good example of this just came to mind:
I am from a generation that grew up in a more traditional world, long before all the woke nonsense came along. A part of me is appalled at the idea that a man can suddenly start wearing a dress and claim to be a woman or vice-versa. In my everyday physical life, there is no way I would accept such nonsense no matter how many laws are enacted and I don’t accept that this is just a generation thing. And so to suggest that this is a culturally relative issue would not really float with me on an everyday level of consciousness. However, there is another level of me that totally accepts this concept as I truly believe that on a non-physical level our spirits are sexless or genderless or whatever term you want to use. With that in mind, if my 6ft bearded colleague wanted to suddenly turn up for work in a dress tomorrow, I would on one level laugh out loud (or at least snigger quietly in order to avoid potential wrath) but part of me would say, perhaps he was really a she in a past life and some of that has carried over into this life. And from his point of view, he should also not be offended and expect the law to be sympathetic if I can’t stop myself from laughing in his face. If we were all more philosophically minded, I think society would maintain a kind of equilibrium and we could all follow natural law and the underlying principle of do what the hell you want as long as you don’t cause harm to others. I know in practice there would be obstacles and, as you pointed out, there would be relativism at play as to what constitutes deliberate harm to others, but as a civilisation continually in search of progress we should at least aspire to such a goal and sincerely try to live our lives accordingly.
You can tell that you’ve actually put in a lot of work to study this subject in the formal sense and that’s good because I have not formally studied philosophy and have acquired my beliefs in a far more haphazard way over many years. Through this post I am able to fill in the gaps and learn the formal labels such as relativism when trying to have a meaningful conversation with others (not that I have many meaningful conversations these days!).
Even if people don’t formally study philosophy, I believe the world would be a far better place if more people at least fostered a more philosophical outlook in their daily lives. A good example of this just came to mind:
I am from a generation that grew up in a more traditional world, long before all the woke nonsense came along. A part of me is appalled at the idea that a man can suddenly start wearing a dress and claim to be a woman or vice-versa. In my everyday physical life, there is no way I would accept such nonsense no matter how many laws are enacted and I don’t accept that this is just a generation thing. And so to suggest that this is a culturally relative issue would not really float with me on an everyday level of consciousness. However, there is another level of me that totally accepts this concept as I truly believe that on a non-physical level our spirits are sexless or genderless or whatever term you want to use. With that in mind, if my 6ft bearded colleague wanted to suddenly turn up for work in a dress tomorrow, I would on one level laugh out loud (or at least snigger quietly in order to avoid potential wrath) but part of me would say, perhaps he was really a she in a past life and some of that has carried over into this life. And from his point of view, he should also not be offended and expect the law to be sympathetic if I can’t stop myself from laughing in his face. If we were all more philosophically minded, I think society would maintain a kind of equilibrium and we could all follow natural law and the underlying principle of do what the hell you want as long as you don’t cause harm to others. I know in practice there would be obstacles and, as you pointed out, there would be relativism at play as to what constitutes deliberate harm to others, but as a civilisation continually in search of progress we should at least aspire to such a goal and sincerely try to live our lives accordingly.
Thanks for portraying complex ideas in simple terms - keep it up. Would love to hear your thoughts about ‘moral progress’
What a fine essay.
Damn valuable.
Thank you for writing it, Meno.
It is a joy to encounter a brilliant clear mind.
Thanks for the kind words and for your readership!
"Relativism remains an important reminder that you’re not as smart as you think!"
Very interesting article, I like it!