This is a new concept for me although it has been brewing for a while on the back burner, slowly getting warmer and warmer, and perhaps now ready for the front burner.
I am not an economist but will learn as much economics as I need to, in order to advance my cause here. Fifteen years ago I didn't know much about philosophy. But now I think I could teach philosophy. Indeed, by reading 'Hegel's Hotel: DGBN Philosophy', you can learn both the history of philosophy -- and some of the modern-day dynamics of it.
'America, you don't need 'buy a degree' -- worse, 'povertize' yourself -- in order to educate yourself. The internet is by far, the biggest, most powerful library in the world -- at your fingertips and your beck and call. Self-empowerment is at your fingertips and you don't need to go through all the 'hoops' of your local -- or not so local -- university to get yourself there. Nor pay their eye-popping tuition fees. The internet and your local library and/or bookstore will do. In combination with a passion to learn...
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A good -- well-balanced -- economic philosopher has to be able to take Adam Smith's 'The Weath of Nations' and Karl Marx's 'Capital: Volume 1' and throw them side by side on the same couch. I just did that.
And sit down and read them. This is not going to happen today -- or overnight.
I can't even promise you that I will read either of them in their entirety.
However, I will at least speed-read my way through both -- and familiarize myself with both.
Others writers of note on the Capitalist side: Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden
Other writers of note on the Socialist side: Erich Fromm
In the meantime, I have some opening arguments that I wish to develop here....
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'Humanistic' -- by DGBN standards -- implies: compassionate, caring, altruistic, generous, loving, empathetic,
sympathetic', supportive, encouraging, liberal, democratic, and ethical...
In contrast, 'Existential' -- by DGBN standards -- implies: freedom, accountability, responsibility, understanding and accepting logical consequences...
DGBN Philosophy recognizes, accepts, and promotes a 'dialectical-democratic, post-Hegelian, integration' that we are calling: 'Humanistic-Existentialism'.
DGBN Philosophy is always looking for better and better creative
dialectic-democratic, humanistic-existential integrations.
DGBN Philosophy does not generally go out of its way looking for 'either/or' solutions to problems or conflicts although, admittedly sometimes these may inevitable and/or neccessary in life.
The problem with 'either/or' solutions to problems is that they tend to create 'dialectic-democratic splits' either in the personality and/or in the society that they are being applied to. They tend to create 'righteous/narcissistic divisionisms' that lead to anger, rage, hate -- and (violent) destructiveness/self-destructiveness - either inside the personality and/or outside the personality in the social and/or political and/or religious environment... that the democratic-dialectic split is being applied to.
Thus, we have the 'The Republicans' vs. 'The Democrats'...
'The Capitalists' vs. 'The Socialists'...
'The Christians' vs. 'The Muslims'...
And so on...
These dialectic-democratic splits tend to promote both internal and external disharmony within and between people.
Which is why DGBN Philosophy keeps looking for more and more, newer and more creative -- dialectic-democratic integrative solutions to problems/conflicts.
The key to a better, more balanced, harmonious life -- lies in the 'hyphen'.
'Humanistic-Existentialism'...
'Capitalist-Socialism'...
'Socialist-Capitalism'....
'Republican-Democrat'..
'Democrat-Republican'...
'Muslim-Christian'...
'Christian-Muslim'...
I will take a little break before I come back to say more...
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A shower, a little break, another coffee, and I am raring to go here again...
More hyphens...
'Structural-Processes'...
'Verb-Nouns'...
'Reductionism-Wholism'...
And back to the influence of Sir Francis Bacon...
DGBN Philosophy has three more 'Idols' to add to Bacon's list...
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These are three of the most dangerous components of Western thinking:
1. Idols of The 'Either/Or', 'Black or White' Principle;
2. Idols of Reification: The 'Turning Processes into Structures, Verbs into Nouns' Principle;
3. Idols of Reductionism -- Turning 'Wholes' into 'Pieces' and Not Going Back
to 'The Whole' Again.
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Idols of Reification ('Boxification', 'Discrimination', 'Racism', 'Sexism')
Reification may refer to:
Reification (fallacy), fallacy of treating an abstraction as if it were a real thing
Reification (Marxism) (German: Verdinglichung), the consideration of an abstraction or an object as if it had living existence and abilities; at the same time it implies the thingification of social relations
Here is what happens in this type of situation. This type of thinking is equally dangerous for academics and non-academics alike.
For academics, philosophers, psychologists, scientists, doctors, researchers, theorists...the danger is this:
You think you have captured the 'essence' of something -- a thing, a life process, a phenonmenon...
And you 'conceptually box' it, categorize it, classify it, name it...
But your 'conceptual box' is in your head, in your brain, in your 'mind-brain' -- not in the real world -- and confusing the two ('concept-referent' confusion) can be really, really dangerous...particularly if your 'conceptual box', your 'theory', your 'classification or category' is a bad representation of the 'real life process' that it is supposed to represent...not to mention that life is always changing, mutating, evolving...while you still carry that old, outdated 'conceptual box' in your mind-brain that is no longer accurately representative of what it is supposed to represent.
It may not even be a 'bad idea' that you are carrying around in your head that is the problem -- it might be a 'badly representative medication' that you are using that could be causing a huge problem to your health....because it doesn't properly 'match' and/or 'compensate' for the pathological life and/or death process that it is trying to 'fight' and 'conquer'.
More on this later. Time for another break...
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