On the Problem of Bad Presuppositions
In the realm of conversation, we are greeted with several types of statements. The most common are observations and value judgments. An observation is an objective description of something, while a value judgment is more of a subjective interpretation of what something is like to us. Value judgments are inherently unhelpful, in that they make things what they are not — they are relative to the person. Unaware people are quite subject to this, especially when it comes to one’s personal experience or ideological conditioning. To this end, such people refer to toxic and damaging presuppositions — oftentimes, we are led into a moralistic, self-centered rabbit hole when we talk with them. Because of their incredible laziness, sometimes incredible callousness, they will presume things to be true without deeper analysis, which causes harm to the sanctity of healthy conversation. Such people presume things on the basis of THEMSELVES, rather than some rational set of principles, which makes discourse difficult.
I particularly take issue with people whose assumptions are loose and not coherent enough to make sense, but especially when those assumptions are based on weakness, deception, or resentment. There are many comparative, egoic ways of thinking, such as “if we live in a money system, I must participate in it without shame”, “if people have hurt me before, I am entitled to hurt people in the future”, or “if I am failing in life, it must be someone else’s fault”, and so on and so on. Such faulty thinking leads to a damaged and unhappy person, especially in such difficult times. There are also manipulative arguments, such as “you aren’t good because you do bad habit X”, or “you are too X”, or “you’re not good enough to be X”, and these kinds of statements lead us to doubt ourselves — these are disconfirming value judgments, ones which are based on nothing good and seem to intentionally harm. We are to be vigilant with such things.
In philosophy, a presupposition is a statement implicit in an argument; it is what’s left unsaid, but is logically implied. When I speak of a bad presupposition, I am referring to a belief inherent in someone that does not follow from anything, and is based in something entirely subjective. Furthermore, it follows something foreign to it. There seems to be a mainstream paradigm at all times, though it shifts according to what’s popular nowadays. It is popular, for example, to focus on external validation, but such a methodology leads us only to lose ourselves. It is further popular to politicize and divide things — we are now made to affirm a political view of the world, and separate things into distinct and conflicting categories, which directly interferes with the possibility of peace. The bad presupposition here is 1. There is some set of things people hold to be true 2. Those things are acceptable in mainstream society 3. I should hold those things to be true. This fallacious thinking leads us to form foreign, unwieldy beliefs, ones we don’t even care about.
I believe that the West in particular has thrown itself into such a relativity of values, and such a lack of interest in objective truth, that anything can be posited as long as it appeals to a person. A society functions because the values which guide it are sensible. It can easily decline, simply because we neglect those values entirely — by relegating truth to something which can be loosely and subjectively interpreted, rather than objectively solved for, we deny the possibility that something can be ‘better’ than another thing. I am not presupposing this, however — postmodernism has paved the way for such reasoning, wherein there are no ‘better societies’ or ‘better moral systems’ or ‘better people’, only blobs of disjointed nothingness.
It is depressing, actually, when we consider that future generations are being robbed of a future, but also being denied the right to think freely. Only a fool would believe that our thoughts are our own, since we are implanted with so much. I feel this explains why we have such an immense rate of depressed and anxious people, for they cannot grasp a truth, a true truth, and they fail to recognize why their unfreedom and presuppositions have led them to unhappiness. Perhaps they are frightened that if they let go of their presuppositions, they will have nothing to cling onto, but it is the opposite — by assuming nothing, and eventually working from certain basic principles, we can at least attempt to make sense of what we are observing, without relying on faulty thinking. It is like any other time in life, just harder.
I am not against presuppositions in general, but rather ones that lead to bad outcomes. Moral relativism, in particular, presupposes that societies are inherently entitled to their “way of doing things”, despite the fact that many absurd and inhumane practices emerge from such an approach. If we grant the premise that “we must respect how others conduct themselves”, then the presupposition is “we must respect ANYTHING they do”. This weakness of thinking has caused us to be far too tolerant, because it grants any behavior as acceptable. In a more objective lens, we would be able to discern right from wrong, and would be able, without much bad presupposition, to categorize such behavior correctly and without much issue. Another position I take issue with is the one that assumes a power struggle — for, if we are constantly battling some abstract opponent, we find ourselves consumed with the battle, and can no longer find time for ourselves. This is what political people do when they lecture others, get emotional, and shame/censure/cancel others: they have nothing to learn, so they will pontificate on many topics with this arrogant, snide air, one which fills others with discomfort and even anger. I have stopped associating with such people, for they are lost souls.
Indeed, I may also have my share of bad presuppositions, but I am constantly battling with them. One can easily fall into the absurd fallacy that “we are our thoughts”, not realizing that many of our thoughts are conditioned reactions to our own experiences. Indeed, have we really considered the significance of a truly ‘original thought’, in a time where ideas are constantly being copied and remade over and over? Personally, I yearn for a time when people will be open to talk with one another, and focus more on the merits of their ideas. I am looking forward to a revolution of thought, one where people won’t ‘thought police’ one another, and one which would bring us closer. As far as people are complicit in making one another uncomfortable, people will become gradually more uncomfortable, until no real ideas will be seen. I do wonder if the perpetuators of this shame can feel the karma of being uncomfortable themselves.
On the subject of lost souls — this term refers to someone who is so consumed by bad presuppositions that there is no saving them from themselves. By the age of 60 or so, I would say a person is slated to their thoughts, and very little could be done if their thoughts are not well-formed. We can only imagine how foolish, how callous, how sickening it is, when parents mold their children in their own image, with no regard for the trauma they inflict. This is true of any presuppositions at all, whether they are political, religious, financial, or personal, because a child is not something to objectify for our own ends. A lost soul is someone who, no matter what information they’re given, clings on to certain faulty thoughts, particularly the egoic ones — all of these obligations, priorities, comparisons, which do nothing more than separate a person from the world. But the world is part of our lives, so we must respect it.
I think I have said enough on this topic so far. However, it is not a project I’m done with. The basic problem I’ve tried to highlight is: 1. Many people suffer from bad presuppositions 2. Bad presuppositions come from ignorance 3. Ignorance comes from weakness 4. Weakness comes from ego. Though this is not exactly the right way to frame what I’m saying, it does structure a path by which people reach this point. If anything, I have written this out to be a template of ‘correct’ vs ‘incorrect’ thought, so I’m not inclined to say that my way is the right one to approach this complicated topic. I have simply tried to explain what is going on, and what we can do to work on it.
Thank you.
