God Is Dead: The Irrationality of Rationality
Elmo Recio
1999-08-29
"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in time of great moral crisis."
- Dante Alighieri, 13th Century Italian Poet
"God is dead" exclaims the ecstatic madman, while on-lookers in this imaginary market-place stare in amusement at him, whispering to each other, snickering. "God remains dead! And we have killed him!" These very words are what Nietzsche is best known for. But what does he mean by this? How exactly did we kill God? The answer is in simplicity itself. The answer creeps on our heels slowly but surely keeping its pace with humanity. The answer is reason. Reason itself, more appropriately the misuse (or overuse of reason in our lives.) Never before have the words of an individual rung with such ganz umgebend truth than in the world of today. In the world controlled by logic (computers) and multinational corporations, continually attempting to make their practices more rational (increase profit) at whatever the ecological, social, political, and ethical cost.
Nietzsche saw rationality as an escape from all that is of this world. He made gender references to stress his point of the unattainable goal of ultimate (universal) rationality (ie: Kant's categorical imperative). More importantly he stressed two points in the [mis]use of reason. His first point is its uselessness - uninteresting qualities when the Truth is obtained. The second point is the blind faith in this universal reason that many philosophers were having. These later points are the ones that I shall concentrate. Yet, it is necessary to understand truth as the unattainable goal in order to soundly conclude its metamorphosis into the uninteresting Truth.
First let us touch on the uninteresting Truth as Nietzsche attempted to explain it. He used a metaphor between a woman and truth. He said that all philosophers (as all heterosexual men) are not attracted to truth by any rational motivation. He held that the woman (therefore truth) is obtained by means which transcend rationality. Nietzsche held that philosophers attempt to cover up their hunches, and desires of the heart, with reasons constructed ex post facto.
Let us take Descartes as an example where he seemly took reason constructed from nothing, and rationally justified the existence of God. It was clearly obvious that his justification was something ex post facto by the circular argument involved in the rationalization of God's existence. Descartes states that he has a clear and distinct idea of God, therefore God exists. If God exists, then he can undeniably trust his clear and distinct ideas. Here it is plainly obvious that his 'desire of the heart' was 'filtered and made abstract' by rationalization. Yet all of this was after the fact. He had these inspirations and ideas in his head well before he had to need to rationalize it.
Descartes may have believed that he had reached his real opinion of God through his meditations (a better word in our context would be mediation). Yet at the bottom of all of this was the 'assumption,' as Nietzsche put it, of his idea of the existence of God that he defended with reason. Moreover, the fact that Descartes covered God with reason and rationality, there is no need for faith any longer. Descartes has removed this hunch from humanity by 'proving' the existence of God rationally. Yet as we have just said, it is ex post facto, where the foundation (faith) was covered with reason.
Nietzsche believed that elaborate metaphysical arguments were constructed to support a philosopher's personal observations and opinions; That they were not really there to ascertain truth. These personal opinions were an expression of that individual's hunches.(1) In this case, it is quite evident that Descartes was doing this very thing with the 'God' proof.
Let us continue with Descartes' proof of the existence of God. Nietzsche stated that once we obtained Truth, and understood it, Truth would become quite uninteresting. With his analogy to the Woman, Nietzsche stated that "The enchantment and most powerful effect of women is . . . An effect at a distance . . . There belongs thereto, however, primarily above all, - distance!"
Once we have this 'woman' in our hands, she loses the power over our instincts; and this mysterious force becomes, nothing special. This is blatantly obvious with the Descartes example. What has the church held above all as the most important factor in the existence of a god? This one meme(2) is faith. Should Descartes had been overly persuasive, and / or correct in his proof of the existence of God, then it would have rendered faith useless.
What is faith anyway? Is not faith just a hunch? Is faith not based purely in irrational thought, in the emotion? What happens when faith then goes by the way side? This is exactly the type of fears that Nietzsche attempted to capture by the over rationalization of the world. A type of displacement of the wonders of the world (ie: Why can some take pure joy at the simple watching of a sunset? or the beauty brought about by a flower) To replace the all too human emotions with cold calculability in our lives. This heeds a view of the future as an assembly line of humans with expressionless faces, since you can calculate when you are going to be happy versus when you are going to be sad, then there is no point in feeling either.
This may be somewhat related to today's treatment of various psychological disorders. Take for example, an individual that has just suffered a loss of a loved one. Such a loss may cause irreparable problems (psychologically) to the individual. Modern science has now a drug (of many), that can calculate the chemicals needed to be reproduced in the brain to make this person feel `normal.' But is covering up the problem actually taking care of it. Should the individual be allowed to suffer the pain of grief? This is a prime example of today's irrationality of rationality. The very thing that Nietzsche was attempting to warn us about.
Also, take the simple case of the doctor's office. Now-a-days it is not a matter of getting better. The sole reason why doctors exist is for making money. Yet, consider this, how many doctors do you see out there that are rich beyond the dreams of avarice? Not many. So who is making money? The insurance companies. The doctors' offices are constructed in such a manner that they can service humans as if they were instruments in need of repair. The doctor's office is an assembly line of rooms, each with a patient (piece of equipment to be repaired.) He will spend at most ten to fifteen minutes with you and go along down the assembly line.
Doctors no longer make house calls. Why is this so? It takes too much time. So time is another asset of humans that makes the rational irrational. If an elderly patient cannot come to the hospital, he or she must have a note, signed by the doctor, which states that the patient is unable to physically transport himself from his home to the hospital. Yet, this note must be given to whom? The insurance agency. For fears of insurance fraud, many doctors are hesitant of taking this action. Once again, the irrationality of rationality.
The second point to be touched upon by Nietzsche was that of a blind faith in rationality. A reliance that is very entrenched in nothingness. As he states with the analogy of the horizon of the infinite. He warned us of going out into this proverbial ocean and slashing and burning the land behind us. In modern times, this may be equated with the blind faith in technology, the computer. Do we have large databases of customer information because we need it? Or is it there because we can have it, hence we become dependant on it.
"It is true that it does not always roar, and sometimes it spreads out like silk and gold and gentle reverie. But times will come when thou wilt feel that it is infinite . . . Alas if homesickness for the land should attack thee . . . and there is not land any longer!" Nietzsche warns. For we have now just begun the voyage into the vast and infinite ocean. While corporations begin to slash and burn the land (both metaphorically and literally) laying off people left and right just so that the CEO's can make their companies more efficient (which also means an extra US$600k bonus for them this Christmas.) They all believe that this is in the name of progress. They see this as the rational thing to do . . . but is it humane?
All of the junk mail that we receive every day in the postal mail, all of the annoying phone calls that we receive at the most in opportune times, the menus that we wade through when calling a company before we reach a real human are examples of rationality. But to what extent? Is this an over rationalization of rationality? "The pressure's on the screen to sell you things that you don't need" written by Nick Rhodes from the musical group Duran Duran. Does one really need all of this technology, or is it used just because it is profitable for the companies to do so? Why are companies not cleaning up the environment? When shall an irrational moonlight swim in the Skuykill be healthy for a human (or for its native inhabitants?) Will the companies begin to clean the environment when they see that it is profitable to do so? Should we have to wait that long? How long shall it be before 9-1-1 telephone service becomes automated? It was not too long ago that buying anything online seemed like a technological dream. It was not too long ago when computers (personal) were instruments of the technologically elite. Now there are an estimated 42 million homes in the United States alone with computers connected to the internet.
Colleges across the country are no longer run by educators. They are run by a board of directors, board of trustees, usually under the interlocking directorships construct. The concept is that there is a small minority of people in key positions across various corporations. Colleges and universities are run by business men. The leaders of modern day rationality. To be profitable in a business you must sell at the most a consumer will spend, while keeping production costs down. It's quite simple when looked at from a standard business school point of view. The reality of it, however, is much different. The reality truly demonstrates the irrationality of rationality.
Before we continue let us suppose a hypothetical business. Consider a corporation making widgets. They wish to increase the profit in the production costs of their widgets. However, they have already squeezed the last penny from both post-production cost markups and the pre-production raw materials costs (I.e.: in the use of cheap materials) What would be the next logical step? Introduce Tayloristic business practices and attempt to maximize worker output. Yet even so, this does not increase (to a significant amount) the profit. What is left? Decrease the salary of the paid employees. Yet this cannot be done without massive productivity loss. The next step then, would be, layoff of the workers, and moving the plant to Mexico's Maquilladora strip. Now, instead of paying workers US$9/hour one can pay them close to US$1/hour. Profits for the company will increase ten-fold, what a very rational move. Yet, is it humane? For if people are laid off, then they will be unable to buy. If the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer... how is this to help society, who is going to be available to buy? This rationalization will kill itself; beaten by its own weapon.
One must seriously consider Nietzsche's warning for this blind faith in the irrationality of rationality. For once we have lost sight of land, it will be too late to turn back. It will be a downward spiral, like a whirlpool, never quite touching bottom, yet continuously, ad infinitum, delving into the darkness that is rationality.
Nietzsche was a philosopher ahead of his time. He saw the dangers that misuse of rationality would foster. American society has indeed killed God. But not this God as a supernatural being; we have killed the humane aspects of life. No longer are we considering the humane nature of our actions; we are taking part in loading the ships of rationality. We are standing by doing nothing, while millions of individuals are stomped on for the advancement of the business world's profit.
Where is our irrational side to stop us from doing these things? Of the many things brought to light by Nietzsche, two of the most important were the blind faith in rationality - technology, and over rationalization. These two things are ever so present in today's life that we never think twice about the irrational acts that this rationality causes. Where is Nietzsche's Madman when he is needed. Are we so stuck in everyday life that such rationality seems humane? Is Nietzsche's Madman represented by the homeless on the street, or the gunmen at Columbine? How many more would have to shed blood in this country before we realize the irrationality of rationality - before we question our ways as a society and move towards a more humane society?
1. Chapter 1, Section 17 of http://members.aol.com/soren/phil0.htm by James L. Hammond.
2. Meme is a basic unit of information transmission. Much like the gene. General information may be found at : http://polywog.navpoint.com/psych330/week5/midterm_paper.htm