PHILOSOPHY ALERT!!!
[this is probably the longest post I have ever made, please do not be alarmed, I promise it won't happen often[-:]Response to: How to Live in Accordance with Your Atheistic Belief by Beni on HighExistence
I usually enjoy reading perspectives on Perspectivism (the philosophy that states that knowledge is limited by the perspective of the individual), but this rendering left me feeling as if the author’s perspective was too narrow. There are two main things that the author fails to see, and I feel it is my solemn duty to help broaden her perspective.
Before I go into these two blind spots, I would like to begin with praise of the author. In laying out the basic idea of Perspectivism she hits the jackpot. The analogy of the puzzle is perfect, Nietzsche would be very proud. Also, the last two exhortations of accepting one’s own perspective as flawed and of entertaining as many perspectives as possible are very good. It is important to realize that one does not know everything, and the sooner that is realized the sooner one can begin to truly learn. And to truly learn one must seek other perspectives in order to fill out one’s own and make it broader. These are some very good points made by the author, but there are two flaws exhibited in the rest of the article.
The first has to do with the classification made of theism. My surmision is that the author’s main understanding of theism comes from an external understanding of American Evangelical Protestantism, which would see the emphasis being placed on faith as an individual experience. Based solely on this surface evidence the author’s classification is correct, however, theism is bigger and deeper than this. Most theists, while emphasizing individual experience of faith, will also emphasize the use of a tradition. This tradition is a composition of a huge number of perspectives, allowing the theist, if they take the time to learn the tradition, the vantage point of seeing most of the “puzzle,” a lot more than they could see on their own.
An example of this can be pulled from Evangelical Protestantism. The tradition is centered around the Bible, which was written by many different authors over a fairly lengthy period of time. In addition to this are commentaries on the Bible, which were written since the beginning of Christianity, so again a vast number of perspectives from across a great length of time.
So it seems that the classification of the theist should be: someone who should know that their personal perspective is limited, but that they belong to a religion that is composed of many perspectives, and that the beliefs they hold come from this composite view of the world, and thus depending on how well they know the tradition they can be fairly certain of their understanding of reality.
That is the first thing the author does not see. The second has to do with her first exhortation to atheists living in accordance with perspectivism, that -sDBof disposing of one’s notions of right and wrong. The thing is, the greater number of perspectives held, the more one can be sure that their understanding of reality is sound. Thus, if one understands a great deal of perspectives, one can better determine what is right or wrong. For the fact that one cannot be sure of what is right or wrong from a limited perspective does not mean there is no right or wrong, it means that one has not learned enough to determine accurately what is right or wrong. This ties into the next two exhortations the author makes, and if these are done, then the person following them can be more certain of what is right or wrong. Thus, one’s notions of what is right and wrong should not be disposed of, but should instead be subjected to the furnace of many other perspectives to see if it holds up.
Conclusion: Beni does a good job in this article of laying out perspectivism and how it should be lived out, but does not have a wide enough perspective to correctly classify theism, and also does not see that there are right and wrong, though one needs to be careful in proposing what is right or wrong.
-sDB