Truth?

A wise man once said, "All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth." [Nietzsche]

When I ponder over the irremediable mess that the world is in, I wonder, who is given the responsibility to interpret the events... Because the interpretation will dictate further development of events and ultimate chance for arrival at truth... But if power is the driving engine behind this interpretation, what chance for truth to resurface any time soon?

And power and truth are quite often not co-extensive...

Search for truth high above?

Who are the fittest?

On November 24, this day, in 1859 Charles Darwin (1809-1882) published his famous book, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life." His theory of evolution was also known as the 'survival of the fittest.' In this book he wrote:

As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.

Thus, a human being is constantly evolving, developing. In this struggle or evolutionary process, only the so-called 'fittest' will survive. This theory, in my opinion, was the precursor of Nietzsche's philosophy on the 'Übermensch' (the Superhero). It was also an outspring of the Renaissance/Enlightenment theory about the human being and the vast human potential.

However, the 'survival of the fittest' is also a dangerous theory. At a given time in a society we have those who are at a disadvantage in this struggle. Racial minorities are the first group. Does that mean that they are rendered to extinction and the white race is destined to survive? Who are the 'favored races' in this evolutionary process-- those who are in power or those who are the most intelligent? All I am saying is that while it is true that this struggle and the inner ability of the human being to survive in this struggle will determine the future of humankind, it is also true that this theory leaves those disadvantaged groups at the mercy of the 'fittest.' Therefore, I think the Darwinian theory, while unfortunately, realistic, is also cruel and unacceptable in a humane society.

I would hope that those who are able to survive would also have the inner morality and compassion to embrace those who were weaker and share their fortunes with them!

The Will to Live

A great German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) wrote in his famous "Will to Live":

Awakened to life out of the night of unconsciousness, the will finds itself an individual, all striving, suffering, erring; and as if through a troubled dream it hurries back to its old unconsciousness. Yet till then its desires are limitless, its claims unexhaustible, and every satisfied desire gives rise to a new one. No possible satisfaction in the world could suffice to still its longings, set a goal to its infinite cravings, and fill the bottomless abyss of its heart. Then let one consider what as a rule are the satisfactions of any kind that a man obtains. For the most part, nothing more than the bare maintenance of this existence itself, extorted day by day with unceasing trouble and constant care in the conflict with want, and with death in prospect. Everything in life shows that earthly happiness is destined to be frustrated or recognized as an illusion.

There is only one inborn error, and that is, that we exist in order to be happy. It is inborn in us because it is one with our existence itself, and our whole being is only a paraphrase of it, nay, our body is its monogram. We are nothing more than will to live and the successive satisfaction of all our volitions is what we think in the conception of happiness.

... Our life is like a payment which one recieves in nothing, but copper pence, and yet must then give a discharge for: the copper pence are the days; the discharge is death.

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), a great French philosopher and existentialist wrote similarly in "The Age of Reason",

I am my own taste, I exist. That is what existence means: draining one's own self dry without the sense of thirst.

... For nothing: this life had been given him for nothing, he was nothing and yet he would not change: he was as he was made. He yawned: he had finished the day, and he had also finished with his youth. Various tried and proved rules of conduct had already discreetly offered him their services: disillusioned epicureanism, smiling tolerance, resignation, flat seriousness, stoicism-- all the aids whereby a man may savor, minute by minute, like a connoisseur, the failure of a life. He took off his jacket and began to undo his necktie. He yawned again as he repeated to himself: "It is true, it is really true: I have obtained the age of reason."

Well, existentialism that was born and developed by writings of these philosophers and others, including Nietzsche, Kafka, Gasset was a product of nihilism, another trend in philosophy. Nihilism-- rejection and negation of everything, reduction of certain settled things into nothing. At the same time, existentialism raised the human being and sanctified its existence by postulating that there is nothing wrong with selfish and self-centered human 'existence'. That people have a right to live their lives to the utmost, to the most ridiculous fullness and richness... That narcissism and epicureanism were not that bad... Existentialism was also affected by voluntarism, another trend in philosophy, which promulgated the willpower as the basis of human life... It must be known that existentialism was a philosophy to counter Marxism. Since Marxism was focused on the 'community', not the individual, the existentialism felt that individualism was under an assail and thus needed support. Idealism and materialism of the 18th century philosophy were replaced by Marxism and existentilism in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

But of course, one of the necessary by-products of individualism was the lonely and depressed individual, stranded on the road all alone, and in despair. The communitarianism on the other hand provided the joyful 'community', a mass of people, at the expense of one individual's needs and wishes... Thence, the writings of all existentialists were filled with this longing for happiness and satisfaction of inner dreams... Perhaps, the only existentialist, who truly understood this was Soren Kierkegaard (see on this blog). He is considered the father of existentialism. Yet, he wrote in contrast with most who followed him,

The great thing, as I regard it, is to live in the congregation, to bring something finer out of it, if one is able; at all events to subordinate oneself to it and put up with it if one is unable to better it.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra...

"I am teaching you about the Superman. A human being is something that must reach perfection. A human being is a rope between a beast and the Superman-- a rope over the abyss...
I have learned to walk: since then I have allowed myself to run. I have learned to fly: since then I do not wait to be pushed to move...
You, believers in me: what is the point of all believers. You had not yet found yourselves when you found me. All believers are like that; that is why all faith means so little...
All Gods have died, now we want the Superman to live...
"Willpower"-- that is the savior and beginning of all happiness... But willpower itself is still in slavery...
Those who do not want to die from thirst must learn to drink from all glasses; and those who want to remain clean must learn to wash themselves with dirty water...
Break, break the old parchments!.. Do not try to treat those with incurable diseases...
Only those are courageous who have fear but learn to overcome it, who see the abyss but can look into it proudly...
You should not seek what is above your abilities...
If you want to get ahead and high above, use your own legs. Do not let others carry you, do not sit on others' shoulders and heads..."

I would like to speak with Zarathustra, or Nietzsche and tell them that whether people believe in God or not, whether they have willpower or not, they are capable of the worst crimes and most virtuous deeds... So, it is true that the human being is a rope between the beast and superhero but often these two are co-existent in the same person... That is the most unfortunate-- the mask that the humanity is wearing is often deceiving and treacherous... And that is why we cannot predict the future of humankind with any seeming certainty. The only hope is that we can suppress the beast inside of us before it brings the end of us...
However, the problem with Nietzsche's philosophy is that he suggested that the human being must reach perfection and become more evil. As Zarathustra expressed it, "The human being is similar to a tree, the higher its branches soar towards the sky and light, the deeper its roots go down into the soil and darkness."
One would hope that perfection means kindness and the Superhero is not evil... Otherwise, I would rather not have such superheroes... But of course, the line between the Evil and Kind is very fine and there is a big twilight zone in between...

(Russian painter Vrubel, (1856-1910) painted the 'Demon Sitting in a Garden' above in 1890. In reality, it is the humanity overwhelmed with its evil and in tears as a result...)