We are dwarfs. But dwarfs who stand on the shoulders of giants (the ancients)….
Humberto Eco
The wisdom of the past contains most of what is needed to make this world a better place. We need but listen, learn and act on it.
Me
I have always believed that education can improve people’s lives, not simply because it has economic benefits and can make people more ‘productive’, but because it has the potential to help people discover what will make them happy and what can make the world a better place to live in. This is not to say that there are those who lead happy and prosperous lives with little or no education and that there is some truth to the Socratic graffiti quip “The unexamined life is not worth living, but the examined life is often difficult to live.” Yes. ignorance, willful or otherwise can be blissful for some, but I strongly believe that if we are to create a peaceful and just world, the more people who are able to distinguish between what is true and what is false, what is healthy and what is harmful, what will work and won’t work, the better.
My study of philosophy has taught me that the discipline is a subject looking for objectives and objects. For me the focus has been on trying to find out what others have thought about how to make the world a better place. While there are many problems with the utilitarian school’s attempts to achieve “the greatest good for the greatest number”, that goal seems to me to be the overarching value assumed by those who believe that democracy is the best way to arrange a social order. Of course Fido is buried in the convictions that minorities don’t matter and ‘devil take the hindmost’, convictions that appear of late to be gaining traction worldwide. The election of Trump and the subsequent rise in sexism, xenophobia, racism and sectarian violence have spurred me to pen what you are reading so that my “two cents” can hopefully find a more constructive form other than rants and Turretian tirades.
Over the last half a century I have become increasingly convinced that if we are to effectively deal with poverty and injustice we must focus on two entrenched traditions: the tyranny of men over women and the tyranny of out species over the rest of nature. The root causes of the “Me Too” movement and the existential threat of climate change are essentially one and the same. This is not to say that other topics and areas of study are not relevant and needed. Of course they are. But science, economics, psychology, etc. are all shaped or should be shaped by questioning the values implicit in them and the values and outcomes they bring forth, shape and sustain.
tirades
My main focus has been Western thought and, contrary to Ghandi’s clever quip, I think it does contain some good ideas. I have also tried to find out about the conceptions of justice and the good life in other religious and philosophical traditions and have always been more of a wanderer than a marcher, but have tried, especially in my teaching to keep an open mind and adhere to the Socratic insight that knowing that one does not know is the beginning of wisdom. There are many instances in which I have failed in this, but again, I am confident that the sources of what’s wrong with both my society and the world situation have been identified and also contain the measures needed to be taken to improve the lot of humanity.
Looking back as far as I can remember I have never been a believer in a god, or gods. But I have always been a seeker. I clearly remember trying to pray and looking and listening for an answer, a voice, a sign. I have also studied most of the world’s major religions and found in all of them important insights as well as many beliefs and tenets that I find dangerous and damaging. I did ‘play the game’ to please others, capping my religion career by earning the Boy Scout’s God and Country award. I was required to write a prayer which may have been read to a congregation, the only part of which I remember “Let us not in the midst of our materialistic well-being…”. I forget what followed, but hope I referred to the need to help the sick and hungry and not the importance of an eternal pure soul/spirit as opposed to the mortal corruptible coil. That latter Platonic distinction, made much of by theologians preaching shame and guilt attending the material body as opposed to the “higher” pleasures of the mind/soul is also present in secular ethical thought, e.g., most Utilitarians, including J.S. Mill, have also embraced the damaging duality.
But within a year after pledging allegiance to a God I did not believe in and a Country I knew very little about, I read Plato’s Euthyphro and encountered a liberating epiphany in Socrates’ simple question:
Is what you are doing right simply because the gods declare it is right or do the gods approve of what you are doing because it IS right and therefore they believe it is right?
And, later in the dialogue, Socrates leads his student to the insight:
….I think that the part of justice which is religious and is holy is the part that has to do with the service of the gods; the remainder is the part of justice that has to do with the service of mankind.
The separation of Church and State is prefigured here and is captured by Andre Schwartz Bart is his The Last of the Just:
Gallio’s Song
All day long to the judgment-seat
The crazed Provincials drew–
All day long at their ruler’s feet
Howled for the blood of the Jew.
Insurrection with one accord
Banded itself and woke:
And Paul was about to open his mouth
When Achaia’s Deputy spoke
“Whether the God descend from above
Or the man ascend upon high,
Whether this maker of tents be Jove
Or a younger deity–
I will be no judge between your gods
And your godless bickerings,
Lictor, drive them hence with rods–
I care for none of these things!
“Were it a question of lawful due
Or a labourer’s hire denied,
Reason would I should bear with you
And order it well to be tried
But this is a question of words and names
And I know the strife it brings,
I will not pass upon any your claims.
I care for none of these things.
“One thing only I see most clear,
As I pray you also see.
Claudius Caesar hath set me here
Rome’s Deputy to be.
It is Her peace that ye go to break
Not mine, nor any king’s,
But, touching your clamour of ‘conscience sake,’
I care for none of these things!”
To this day I am angered when I hear an adult tell a child Because I told you so. And to those who say blind obedience is needed in the military world, I would insist that obedience and trust are essential, but should never be absolute. As I write this the President of my country is a narcissistic bullying boor who has the power to blow up the world and I sincerely hope the admirals, were they to get the order, would refuse to do this. Example: Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer was fired because of his disagreement with Trump about the latters defense of a sailor who had been found guilty of posing for photos with the corpse of a prisoner. He did not go quietly:
The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries. Good order and discipline is what has enabled our victory against foreign tyranny time and again, from Captain Lawrence’s famous order “Don’t Give up the Ship,” to the discipline and determination that propelled our flag to the highest point of Iwo Jima. The Constitution, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, are the shields that set us apart, and the beacons that protect us all. Through my Title Ten Authority, I have strived to ensure our proceedings are fair, transparent and consistent, from the newest recruit to the Flag and General Officer level.
Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect, I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me, in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline. I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
The President deserves and should expect a Secretary of the Navy who is aligned with his vision for the future of our force generation and sustainment. Therefore, with pride in the achievements we’ve shared, and everlasting faith in the continued service and fidelity of the finest Sailors, Marines and civilian teammates on earth, I hereby acknowledge my termination as United States Secretary of the Navy, to be effective immediately.
It’s pretty simple: if you strongly believe something is wrong, don’t do it. If you are unsure, work at finding out the answer by listening to all points of view, especially those you do not agree with. If you strongly believe something is right, support it or at least don’t act in a way which undermines it. To be continued…….