Conatus: REVISED EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

said, from the sequence, that we seem somewhat at the mercy of our being in the world and then acting without any reflection. But there is a bit of reciprocity going on — the symbols we receive from others, or make for ourselves, have a certain impact on future sensations and perceptions. Change is possible! The normal way of looking at things relies too much on the dubious notion that we will analyse everything and then act rationally! It is the tension between these opposing ways that we look at the world that leads to the contradictions in human behaviour, of which we are often unaware. It harks back to Plato’s chariot and rider or Haidt’s elephant and rider. The alternative progression reminds us that the horses and the elephants are mostly in control!

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To summarise this section on truth, it might be said, ‘the truth is out there’, even although there is little certainty about ever finding it! Yet despite the onslaughts of scepticism and pragmatism there is a persistent belief in the existence of an essential truth. We love the axioms and the laws of physics. Yet I suspect we also love the idea of mystery — that some truths might be forever hidden yet still work their effects in our world.

Could the human quest for truth ever be successful? Gödel’s theorems suggest that no system can ever be understood from within the system itself. (Kurt Gödel seemed to be trying to get to something close to the idea of Platonic forms in his work, but many have interpreted what he did in different ways. For a good

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