The title is a mouthful. Four major fields of education and research. All based on social science as opposed to empirical science. But all of these are focused on mankind struggling to find purpose in life. The age-old question – Why am I here? Asked in many languages, by many people, learned and not. The common quest is ‘What is the purpose of life?’
I am starting a binge watch of “Genius of the Modern World“, a British TV docu-series. The first program covered Karl Marx and his impact on economics, social philosophy and history. The second program devoted a serious look at Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher and theologian. Next is Sigmund Freud.
I have often questioned the meaning of life. Religion was the deepest well I visited in younger years. Over time I distanced from that, searched other resources. Eventually I came back to religion. In fact, several times. I think the difficulty was all the baggage associated with religion. Too many rules and regs. So much reading and preaching. Maybe not enough thinking for myself?
Again, over time, I came to settle on a few things that work for me: God is real; the Bible helps understand the world in a broad context; the Bible is not a factual representation, but a metaphorical one; it is a teaching and learning tool providing much perspective. Ritual is often gobble-de-gook that gets in the way of understanding. Music is a major gateway for me to meditate and know my spiritual self. I prefer the intricacies of classical music hundreds of years old. Also the lyrics for much of that music comforts and teaches me things about myself. And my God.
So, Nietzsche had it mostly right, I think. Religion gets in its own way. God is present and good. He/she is not dead. Accepting that point generally eliminates all the other soul throbbing angst Nietzsche goes through. After all, his concern was what happens to mankind when God is pronounced dead? Well, what follows that makes no sense IF the reader concludes God is alive and well. Simple. To me at least.
Marx was another keen thinker. Although associated with economics, his real issue was social justice, dealing with the well-being of the common man. Earning a living in capitalism was demeaning, he thought. However, he never was able to solve the problem of ownership and governance or management of that capital. He was not a communist, but rather a socialist. His conclusions supported majority ownership of capital by the state. Coupled with government regulations and management, working class folk would be protected and achieve higher standards of living. He was wrong on many facets.
Marx was correct on how capitalism injures workers when greed and bad management is present. Not all capitalists are greedy or evil. Regulations are needed to protect workers and owners. Those share the benefits of capitalism while protecting it as well. Not a perfect system, but one that is manageable. The important thing is not the how, but the fact that Marx brought attention to the plight of the poor, working class public. That and his insistence that the end-all of society is not the enrichment of the rich. Society must be focused on what is best for all people – the common good.
I await the program on Freud to re-learn his importance to world history. I know he upended medicine with his expansion into psychiatry and methods to diagnose and treat mental health issues. Freud’s contribution will likely focus on quality of life through better understanding of the self and how that affects interrelations. I’ll report on what I learn from that chapter of the docu-series when I have seen it.
For now, this has been a helpful review of things long forgotten!
May 26, 2020
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