The needs of society

We discussed this very subject over dinner. One 'scientific' approach is to consider animal societies which are non-human, as it allows us to be a little more objective.

Insects can be particularly interesting social animals. If you take ants or bees, for example, the individual insect is subservient to the needs of the colony, or 'society', of insects.

From a neo-Darwinian perspective, however, it is the genes, rather than the individual, that count. What matters is the 'selfish' gene, rather than the 'selfish' individual!

Upon reflection, I would add, like Keynes, that in the long run, we are all dead, so individuals are pretty irrelevant. If we can leave our world a little better than we found it, Sydney Grew, that will suffice?

Have you another, Practical Pacifist?

Well, if an American was the winner in the twentieth century, Jason, it might well be an Asian who will be the winner in the twenty-first century, or even Jason himself? As for kleines c, well, it is important to ask what we mean by winning or losing! If we are all sitting a table playing a game of cards this lunchtime here in 'The Third', and kleines c finally plays his winning hand, four aces, is he the winner? Well, I guess that it ultimately depends upon the game being played, Jason, and who gains what from playing? If I gain a pint from all the aces I have stuffed up my sleeves, is this fair, and does it ultimately matter?

The nineteenth century German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, famously concluded that 'Gott ist tot[/i]'. What did he mean? God is dead, although he added that there may still be caves in which his shadow will still be shown. God's death was supposed to be a liberating event, just as Christians have always argued that Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday is a liberating event. In the very first of his books, 'The Birth of Tragedy', Friedrich Nietzsche uses this phrase three times:



What he is saying, I think, is that the greatness of the early Greeks, before Socrates, lay in their tragedy. He never really forgave the trivialising practice of rationalising everything with Socratic argie-bargie, or indeed, Plato for setting up a hero whose main qualities are those of talking everybody else into the ground, as has occasionally been attempted by kleines c himself! Friedrich Nietzsche may be asking, as indeed Shakespeare and Goethe occasionally ask, is the whole world really to be taken seriously, or is it not a great game, a great play like 'Hamlet' or 'Faust', some kind of drama played out by we know not whom, as a spectacle for we do not know whom? Can we make sense of such an aesthetic justification for mankind? If I may quote the late Margaret Thatcher directly, Jason:



This particular interview (on 23 September 1987) was published in 'Woman's Own' (on 31 October, 1987). The original context was a remark on "people constantly requesting government intervention", Jason, but it is usually quoted out of context. The sentiment and wording resemble a quotation from the libertarian philosopher, Robert Nozick.

Wikipedia - Margaret Thatcher

In Kantian terms, I would agree that we have a duty to 'look after' ourselves and our neighbours. If we are unable to look after ourselves, we are unlikely to be of much use to our neighbours.

Wikipedia - Categorical imperative

Interestingly, Adam Smith, the founder of modern economics, postulated the existence of 'society', in whose mechanisms all people participate, and to formulate the laws of 'the market'. As for Jason, I suspect that by focusing on the detail of processes and systems, we often miss the big picture. Nevertheless, the devil is very often in the detail. The c solution to the universal paradox of choice is that we have to try and find some kind of balance between the principle of duty and the principle of freedom. This is by no means easy, as the nature of that balance is changing all the time. It is a bit like climbing. You have to adjust your weight distribution all the time, as otherwise, you are likely to fall off the mountain. Both as individuals and as a global society, we have been weighed in the balance, and all too often, found wanting. Cheers, all (whatever you are drinking)!

Videojug - London: The Nag's Head Pub