THE LAST INDIVIDUAL: The Ascendancy of the Sociomaniacal Mindset

ISBN: 0595452698

Author: Redmann, Dean

Condition: New

Where people see their own views as representing 'truth' and 'reality,' they are naturally much less troubled about demanding that others agree with, and conform to, their personal views. Where a person views the world as being indeterminate and ambiguous, he is much less prone to insist that others submit to any particular ideological vision. Dogma facilitates a totalitarian disposition. Individuals have the prerogative of being dogmatic in their personal views, but only to the extent that this does not incite them to impose those views upon others as well.A fundamental approach to undercutting totalitarian mentalities and the concomitant political regimes is then, to minimize dogmatism and delusional 'certainties,' and for this reason I would implore all individuals to commit to the introspection and circumspection necessary to come to a responsible and enlightened assessment of their own 'certainties.'This book is in part a presentation of some of the considerations that I believe must be contemplated in the process of responsibly forming any vision for one's life. I suspect that most people do not often subject their ideological core to a withering examination. Given a sufficient personal examination of the considerations herein, one should find that it is much more difficult to subscribe to dogmatic views than is commonly supposed by those living unreflected-upon lives. The dogmatist does not regularly feel the immense complexity and uncertainty which weighs against the confidence he has in his views. Myself, I can not escape the necessity of a fundamental and intractable skepticism concerning life and man's ability to comprehend it.I believe considerable time and effort is spent debating things that actually depend on their underlying, supposed, and often indeterminate premises. This book is a reconnoitering of some of those underlying issues, and a call for appropriate temperance in conclusions built on debatable or preferential foundations. It's a call for respect for the legitimate plurality and sovereignty of individual conscience.