Society, Politics, Social Reform, and Pathei-Mathos
Modern Society and The Individual
Society, in the context of this essay, refers to 'modern societies'
(especially those of the modern 'democratic' West) and means a
collection of individuals who dwell, who live, in a particular area
and who are subject to the same laws and the same institutions of
authority. Modern society is thus a manifestation of The State, and
which State is predicated on individuals actively or passively
accepting some supra-personal authority [1].
In modern societies, change and reform are often therefore
introduced or attempted by The State most usually: (1) on the basis
of the manufacture of some law or laws which the individuals, and
the established institutions, of the area governed by The State are
expected to obey on pain of some type of individual punishment,
financial and/or physically punitive (as in prison); or (2) by means
of State-sponsored or State-introduced schemes such as, for example,
the British National Health Service and which schemes are invariably
enshrined in law.
The essence of such change and reform of a society - large-scale,
effective, rapid change and reform in society - is therefore, for
the majority of people, external, and most often derives from some
posited or assumed or promised agenda of the government of the day;
that is, derived from some political or social or economic theory,
axiom, idea, or principle, posited by others, be these others, for
example, politicians, or social/political/economic
theorists/reformers (and so on).
There is thus a hierarchy of judgement involved, whatever political
'flavour' the government is assigned to, is assumed to represent, or
claims it represents; with this hierarchy of necessity requiring the
individual in society to either (i) relinquish their own judgement,
being accepting of or acquiescing in (from whatever reason or motive
such as desire to avoid punishment) the judgement of these others,
or (ii) to oppose this 'judgement of others' either actively through
some group, association, or movement (political, social, religious)
or individually, with their being the possibility that some so
opposing this 'judgement of others' may resort to using violent
means against the established order.
Objectively, this process of change and reform by means of a
hierarchy of judgement manifest in laws, and of State authority and
power sufficient to enforce such laws, has resulted in fairly stable
societies which are, for perhaps the majority of people, relatively
peaceful, not overtly repressive, and - judged by the criteria of
past societies and many non-Western societies - relatively
prosperous.
Thus, while many problems - social and economic - remain and exist
in such societies, with some such problems getting worse, such
societies work reasonably well, contain an abundance of
well-intentioned, moral, individuals, and appear to be better than
the alternatives both tried in the past and theorized about. Hence
it is not surprising that perhaps the majority of people within such
societies favour solving such problems as do exist by existing
social, political, and economic means; that is, by internal social,
political, and economic, reform rather than by violent means and the
advocacy of extremist ideologies.
Furthermore, many or most of the flaws, and the problems, within
society are recognized and openly discussed, with a multitude of
people of good will, of humanity, of fairness, committed to or
interested in helping those affected by such flaws and problems, and
thus not only trying to improve society but also to finding and
implementing solutions in tolerant ways which do not cause conflict
or involve the harshness, the violence, the hatred, the intolerance,
of extremism.
For, while most large-scale, effective, rapid change and reform in
society tends to be by enforceable State laws and State-sponsored
schemes, change and reform also and significantly occurs and has
occurred within society, albeit often more slowly, through the
efforts of individuals and groups and organizations devoted to
charitable, religious, or social causes and which individuals and
groups and organizations by their very nature are invariably
non-violent and often non-political. Furthermore, such non-violent,
non-political, individuals and groups and organizations often become
the inspiration for reform and change introduced by The State.
Some Problems of Modern Society
Before outlining a possible numinous approach to reform and change,
based on the philosophy of pathei-mathos, it would perhaps be useful
to outline some of the social problems that still beset modern
societies. What therefore constitutes a social problem within a
society? How is such a problem defined?
In essence, it is an undesirable circumstance or way of living that
affects a number of people and which undesirable circumstance or way
of living others in society are or become aware of; with what is
undesirable being - according to the ethics of the philosophy of
pathei-mathos [2] - that which is, or those who are, unfair; that
which deprives or those whom deprive a human being of dignity and
honour; and that which is and those who are uncompassionate.
Thus, among the many problems of modern societies are misogyny;
ethnic and religious discrimination, hatred, and prejudice; and
social/economic inequality.
For example, misogyny - from the Greek μισογύνης - is
unfairness toward, and/or prejudice and discrimination against,
women. Often, as in the past, this is a consequence of an existing
prejudice in a man: for example, that men are somehow better than
women, or that women are 'useful' only for or suited to certain
things; or that the subservience of women, and thus their
domination/control by men, is 'a natural and necessary' state of
human existence.
Misogyny in individual practice often results in men being
violent/domineering toward, or selfishly manipulative and
controlling of, women; and thus in them treating women in a
dishonourable, undignified, unfair, and uncompassionate way.
Similarly, a hatred or dislike of or discrimination against an
individual or a group of individuals on the basis of their perceived
or assumed ethnicity is treating that individual or group in a
dishonourable, undignified, unfair, and uncompassionate way.
Thus such social problems are often the result, the consequence of,
a lack of empathy in a person, with this lack of
συμπάθεια with other human beings having often in the past
been evident in the treatment of people and individuals by
governments, States, and institutions, and often revealed in and
through discriminatory, unfair, uncompassionate laws.
A Numinous and Non-Political Approach
Given that the concern of the philosophy of pathei-mathos is the
individual and their interior, their spiritual, life, and given that
(due to the nature of empathy and pathei-mathos) there is respect
for individual judgement, the philosophy of pathei-mathos is
apolitical, and thus not concerned with such matters as the theory
and practice of governance, nor with changing or reforming society
by political means.
For, as mentioned in Some Personal Musings On Empathy,
" [the] acceptance of the empathic - of the human, the
personal - scale of things and of our limitations as human beings
is part of wu-wei. Of not-striving, and of not-interfering, beyond
the purveu of our empathy and our pathei-mathos. Of personally and
for ourselves discovering the nature, the physis, of beings; of
personally working with and not against that physis, and of
personally accepting that certain matters or many matters, because
of our lack of personal knowledge and lack of personal experience
of them, are unknown to us and therefore it is unwise, unbalanced,
for us to have and express views or opinions concerning them, and
hubris for us to adhere to and strive to implement some ideology
which harshly deals with and manifests harsh views and harsh
opinions concerning such personally unknown matters.
Thus what and who are beyond the purveu of empathy and beyond
pathei-mathos is or should be of no urgent concern, of no
passionate relevance, to the individual seeking balance, harmony,
and wisdom, and in truth can be detrimental to finding wisdom and
living in accord with the knowledge and understanding so
discovered. "
This means that there is no desire and no need to use any
confrontational means to directly challenge and confront the
authority of existing States since numinous reform and change is
personal, individual, non-political, and not organized beyond a
limited local level of people personally known. That is, it is of
and involves individuals who are personally known to each other
working together based on the understanding that it is inner,
personal, change - in individuals, of their nature, their character
- that is is the ethical, the numinous, way to solve such personal
and social problems as exist and arise. That such inner change of
necessity comes before any striving for outer change by whatever
means, whether such means be termed or classified as political,
social, economic, religious. That the only effective, long-lasting,
change and reform is understood as the one that evolves human beings
and thus changes what, in them, predisposes them, or inclines them
toward, doing or what urges them to do, what is dishonourable,
undignified, unfair, and uncompassionate.
In practice, this evolution means, in the individual, the
cultivation and use of the faculty of empathy, and acquiring the
personal virtues of compassion, honour, and love. Which means the
inner reformation of individuals, as individuals.
Hence the basis for numinous social change and reform is aiding,
helping, assisting individuals in a direct and personal manner, and
in practical ways, with such help, assistance, and aid arising
because we personally know or are personally concerned about or
involved with those individuals or the situations those individuals
find themselves in. In brief, being compassionate, empathic,
understanding, sensitive, kind, and showing by personal example.
An Experience of The Numinous
The change that the philosophy - the way - of pathei-mathos seeks to
foster, to encourage, is the natural, slow, interior and personal
change within individuals; that is, the change of personal character
by the individual developing and using their faculty of empathy and
inclining toward being compassionate and honourable by nature. In
essence, this is a numinous - a spiritual - change in people, a
change of perspective, quite different from the supra-personal
social change based on laws desired by modern States and by those
who champion or who employ political, economic, and social theories
regarding society, government, and the individual.
This interior personal change, by its numinous and ethical nature,
is one that does not seek to reform society through politics or by
any type of agitation, or through the use of force, or by means of
any type of organization, social, political, economic, religious.
Instead, such numinous change is the reform of individuals on a
personal, individual, and cultural basis; by personal example and by
individuals cultivating, in accordance with wu-wei,
conditions and circumstances whereby they themselves and others can
move toward συμπάθεια with other human beings through a
personal knowing and experience of the numinous. Such a knowing and
experience of the numinous can be cultivated by a variety of means,
for example by harmonious surroundings; through an appreciation of,
and a living in balance with, Nature; by love and respect and
manners and a desire for peace; by periods of interior and exterior
silence; through culture and thus through music, Art, literature, an
understanding of history, and through respect for and tolerance of
the many religions and spiritual Ways which have arisen over
millennia and which may manifest the numinous or something of the
numinous.
David Myatt
2012 ce
Notes
[1] The State is defined as:
The concept of both (1) organizing and controlling – over a
particular and large geographical area – land (and resources);
and (2) organizing and controlling individuals over that same
geographical particular and large geographical area by: (a) the
use of physical force or the threat of force and/or by
influencing or persuading or manipulating a sufficient number of
people to accept some leader/clique/minority/representatives as
the legitimate authority; (b) by means of the central
administration and centralization of resources (especially
fiscal and military); and (c) by the mandatory taxation of
personal income.
My personal (fallible) view is that by their nature States often
tend to be masculous (hence the desire for wars, invasions,
conquest, competition, and the posturing often associated with
'patriotism'), although in my view they can become balanced, within,
by acceptance of certain muliebral qualities, qualities most
obviously manifest in certain aspects of culture, in caring
professions, in pursuing personal love and the virtue of wu-wei, and
in and by the empowerment and equality of, and respect for, women
and those whose personal love is for someone of the same gender.
As mentioned elsewhere, I am somewhat idiosyncratic regarding
capitalization (and spelling), and capitalize certain words, such as
State, and often use terms such as The State to emphasize
the philosophical truth of State as entity.
[2] The ethics of the way of pathei-mathos are the ethics of empathy
- of συμπάθεια. In practical personal terms, this means
dignity, fairness, balance (δίκη), reason, a lack of
prejudgement, and the requirement of a personal knowing and of
personal experience, of πάθει μάθος.
An ethical person thus reveals, possesses, εὐταξία
- the quality, the personal virtue, of
self-restraint; of personal orderly (balanced, honourable,
well-mannered) conduct, a virtue especially evident under
adversity or duress.
Thus, and as mentioned in Enantiodromia and The Reformation of
The Individual, the good is considered to be what is fair;
what alleviates or does not cause suffering; what is compassionate;
what empathy by its revealing inclines us to do, what inclines us to
appreciate the numinous and why ὕβρις is an error of
unbalance.
Hence the bad - what is wrong, immoral - is what is unfair; what is
harsh and unfeeling; what intentionally causes or contributes to
suffering, with what is bad often considered to be due to a lack of
empathy and of πάθει μάθος in a person, and a consequence of
a bad φύσις, of a bad, a rotten, or an undeveloped,
unformed, not-mature, individual character/nature. In effect, such a
bad person lacks εὐταξία, has
little or no appreciation of the numinous, and is often in thrall to
their hubriatic and/or their masculous desires.