A Look at Western Philosophy’s Split Personality

Do you ever feel like there’s a bit of a disconnect in how we approach life these days? On one hand, we talk about hard facts and scientific breakthroughs, but on the other, when it comes to what’s right or wrong, things get hazy? Turns out, our Western culture might be suffering from a kind of philosophical schizophrenia, and it’s subtly shaping how we think and act without us even realizing it.

Let’s break it down.

The Science Side: We’re All Actually Realists Here

When it comes to science and technology, our culture is implicitly realist. What does that mean? Realism, broadly speaking, suggests that reality exists independently of our minds, thoughts, or perceptions. We believe in objective facts, in a world “out there” that we can investigate and understand through observation and reason. When we talk about AI, quantum computing, or even just building a bridge, we’re operating on the assumption that there are real, objective laws and structures we need to discover and work with. We trust scientific theories because we believe they aim to give a true account of an independent world. This is super practical, and it lets us innovate, build, and solve complex problems like disease or climate change.

The Morals Side: Hello, Idealism!

But then, when we shift to questions of morality, values, and what constitutes a “good life,” suddenly things get subjective. This is where idealism often creeps in. Idealism posits that reality is fundamentally mental or mind-dependent. If moral values are seen primarily as constructions of individual or collective consciousness, without an independent grounding, this can lean towards ethical subjectivism or relativism. “What’s true for you might not be true for me,” “you do you,” “live your truth” – these popular phrases reflect an underlying idealism where personal perception or social agreement becomes the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong.

This creates a strange split: we demand objective truth from our science, but often shy away from it in our ethics. It’s like we’re trying to navigate the world with one eye open to hard facts and the other closed, just feeling our way through values.

The Invisible Hand of Culture: Who’s Doing the Thinking?

Here’s the kicker: this philosophical divide isn’t just an academic debate. It’s deeply embedded in our culture, constantly influencing us. Think about the “hypnosphere” – the technologically-mediated environment where everything is infinitely reflected in a network of meanings we can’t quite distinguish. Algorithms are constantly shaping our initial perceptions and desires, influencing what we deem “good” to pursue. This isn’t overt control, but a subtle, pervasive “permanent suggestion” that can bypass our rational deliberation and direct our will towards consumption or ideological conformity.

So, if our “good” is being presented to us by non-human intelligences optimized for engagement or profit, are we truly the sole authors of our actions? Or is our culture, with its inherent biases and underlying philosophical assumptions, actually doing a lot of our thinking for us? This is especially true when traditional vices like greed or endless consumption are subtly reframed as public virtues and made to drive economic growth.

The Way Out: Back to Reality

This is a huge challenge, especially for young people who are constantly immersed in this digitally curated reality. Even if you intellectually understand the importance of objective truth, the pervasive influence of an idealist-leaning culture can make you behave as if subjective feeling is all that matters morally.

The only way to cut through this philosophical fog is to constantly return to the principle of reality. We always need to ask ourselves, “What is this?” not “What do I feel about this?”, or “What does this algorithm tell me about this?”, but a rigorous, honest inquiry into the objective nature of things.

From there, we can then think and act accordingly, aligning our choices with what is genuinely true and good, rather than being swayed by manufactured desires or subjective whims. It’s about reclaiming our capacity for genuine freedom and self-determination in a world that increasingly tries to manage our inner lives.

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