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The present work, Think, opens with the question how
knowledge is derived and accumulated as intellectual capital by
cultivating the questioning spirit, of asking the how and why of
things. Blackburn shows that Copernicus and Galileo by wrestling
with the implications of modern scientific world-view and
discarding the existing models of the solar system had laid the
foundation of the mechanical science of nature. Thinking is thus
a continuous motion in the intellectual sphere. Though
appreciative of Descartes’ sceptical approach, Blackburn
prefers the empiricism of Locke and Hume for apprehending the
reality of life. But to claim knowledge is claiming a sense of
relationship with the world within and without.
In the second
chapter "Mind, the thinking thing tool," the author
gives a primary place to the adoption of analysis as an
essential tool regarded as the goal of philosophy. This brings
in close proximity of philosophy the scientific method of
investigation. Analysis is in the splitting up of the whole in
parts under a microscopic investigation, and thinking is a
matter of taking the world to be one way or the other. In the
third chapter, Blackburn grapples with the problem of
determinism and freewill. He examines how an individual
constrained by the deterministic social, cultural and political
pressures makes frantic efforts to chart a free and deliberate
course. Blackburn rejects the supine, lazy Sufism that reflects
a passivity of outlook by submitting to divinity. The author,
however, regards the bus as a "determined machine."
Self-consciousness,
soul and soul-force are the terms Blackburn examines in chapter
four. Self-consciousness, another name for one’s biography,
opens up a whole world of wonder and mystery. As distinct from
the world without, self-knowledge or search for one’s own
identity fuels our thoughts about the problems of life and
death. The author is convinced that humankind has illusions for
the self which thinking cannot destroy. Kant had tried to leave
room for the immortality of soul because its religious dimension
affects the thinking of many people in the world.
No theme has
preoccupied humankind so much as God, which the author discusses
in chapter five. Ontological, cosmological, design and
revelation arguments are put forth to affirm the existence of
God. Acquinas had considered God absolutely necessary for
explaining the cosmology of the universe. The First cause
argument rests on the premise that there is a cause for
everything. The design notion views God as the "Wise
Architect" who by his skilful engineering does not let the
frame of Nature fall apart. The author emphasises that the
popular design idea of the universe was knocked out by Darwin’s
Theory of Evolution.
Connected with the
question of God is the problem of Evil. If there is God, then
why does Evil exist, and why the good and the noble continue to
suffer the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."
Where is justice, and how does God dispense it? The question of
evil was brilliantly raised and viewed from different angles in
the section on Job in the Old Testament. The simplest
answer to the question of Evil given by the gullible is that it
is not God but human beings who by their ignoble deeds of
commission and omission have made the world what it is. The
notion of hell and paradise tries to answer the question, but in
vain. Following Spinoza, Blackburn suggests that only the moral
ideas and ideals are the guiding principles for leading a good
and just life, regardless of the argument in favour of or
against God. Whether illusion or reality, God, largely a
projection of human ambitions, tends to fulfil human needs.
According to the author, not rationality or scientific spirit,
but blind faith justifies the existence of God. But does blind
faith, the author asks, enhance the quality of life and make
human problems easier to tackle by the tenacity of will power.
It cannot be
denied that some of the noblest deeds have been done by men of
religions faith, while it can also be asserted that those
without religious faith have also contributed a good deal to the
well-being of their fellow creatures. The author also highlights
the immense harm religion has done by accentuating the spirit of
separatism, cultural imperialism and tribalism in the name of
God.
I think that
chapter VI on "Reasoning" is most illuminating. It
examines the issues relating to the processes and modes of
thinking by interpreting terms such as premise, analogy and
conclusion, which help us to examine some of the problems of
human knowledge. The issues connected with language and logic
are also raised. Blackburn focuses on some of the ideas that
underline formal logic. He emphasises how dependent we are on
the brute faith in the uniformity of nature. Paradoxically,
science contains within itself the device for correcting its
illusions. Blackburn suggests the ways to test the variety of
the data supplied by the senses on which we rest our opinions.
The last chapter,
"What to do," deals with the purpose and meaning in
life. What is really the ideal life in the topsy-turvy world? To
the author, technical thinking is practical, which, by adapting
means to ends, settles some of the immediate issues in the light
of experience. Practical thinking consists of adjusting simple
obligations that we are apt to require of each other. For a
meaningful life Blackburn emphasises the cultivation of human
values such as imaginative sympathy (the art of putting oneself
in the place of other person), love, understanding, friendship,
goodwill, appreciation of beauty and plurality of concerns for
the poor and the suffering. Eventually, Blackburn relies on
moral conduct as the touchstone of leading a good life directed
to human welfare. There is no cant or hypocrisy in it.
Essentially Blackburn is a firm and convinced humanist, who
emphasises the value of humanism as a philosophy. Thinkers like
Voltaire and Bertrand Russell too had regarded humanism, the
religion of humanity, as a panacea of human ills.
This book is a
short dictionary of Western thought. It makes a valuable
contribution to the understanding of various approaches devised
by philosophers and scientists to explain some of the key issues
relating to the problems of human of existence. Blackburn is a
free and candid thinker who shies away from giving final answers
to the questions he raises. It is his flexibility of approach
that is most impressive, which is reflected in his clarity of
thinking. Seldom does he caste a die in his own favour—he
leaves the question open for examination and deliberation.
Therein lies the beauty of the book—a model of conciseness and
lucidity.
NOTE:
In the review titled "Endless search for God," in the
issue dated September 1, 2002, the sentence "Aristotle’s
pupil Plato" should have read "Aristotle’s teacher
Plato." The error is regretted.
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