Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver - Essay Example

Ideas have consequences” by Richard Weaver. The thesis that Richard Weaver undertakes in his book d “Ideas have consequences” is the explanation of what he refers to as the “dissolution of the West” (Weaver 17). He offers an analysis of why such a dissolution took place on the basis of deduction, based upon the assumption that (a) man is free and (b) the world is intelligible, therefore the dissolution of the West is the result of unintelligent choices made by man. The author is Richard Weaver and the title of the book is “Ideas have Consequences”, which was published in the year 1948. This essay will set out the major arguments offered by Weave in his book and express support of those ideas. The content of Weaver’s book encompasses several topics, all of which are geared towards supporting his dissertation about the dissolution of the West. It covers several areas such as historical incidents, the spirit of egotism as it is expressed in art and culture, hierarchical systems, various kinds of stereotypes, as well as the presentation of man as a spoilt child intent on pursuing his own selfish ends rather than promoting those kinds of values that support the progress and welfare of mankind. Weaver discusses many historical incidents, myths and tragedies in order to discuss how they may have contributed to or detracted from the truth and caused progress or decline in western ideals and values and their impact upon other nations and peoples. One of the tragedies Weaver discusses is by using the analogy of Macbeth. In the Shakespearean play, one evil decision was made, which led to a chain of other decisions which were also correspondingly evil. This also happened in the case of western civilization, because one evil decision set a trend which was replicated in several of the decisions that followed, resulting in the defeat of logical realism, the critical event which ultimately led to the present state of Western decadence. Hence, Weaver’s argument is that one bad idea can be yet another nail in the coffin of western ideology, by contributing to a decline in the efficacy and support that those ideas receive from elsewhere in the world. In explaining the present levels of decadence, he presents the argument that it is the result of the shift in an underlying metaphysical dream which was the foundation of progress and the propagation of Western ideas. He commences his argument by pointing out that every man who is a part of a culture has “three levels of conscious reflection”, i.e., (a) his “specific ideas about things” (b) his “general beliefs or convictions” and (c) his “metaphysical dream of the world” (Weaver 18). Weaver’s argument is that the underlying metaphysical dream which man carries is the foundation of all the good ideas that he has, because its source is from God as man is created in the divine image. But when man chooses to seek after and consume wealth, i.e., give in to an evil idea or motivation, then he deviates from this divine path and metaphysical dream which is uplifting and tends to regress into a state of decline rather than progress. Yet another argument that Weaver (1948) offers are the corruption of art, and he attributes the reason for the decline of art as being the foundational idea that nothing exists beyond that which can be perceived by the senses. Hence, the human actions in propagating art purely as a means to satisfy the senses rather than a means to explore the core of the divinity suggested by the image in which man is made, so that it can produce an elevation in his ideas. Weaver has also suggested that a deviation from the metaphysical dream is the root cause of the events that led to the Holocaust because the segregation of the Jewish race was an evil idea in itself, which in turn resulted in many evil and horrific deeds that were a complete turnaround from the idealistic ideas and notions that man should have adopted, such as equality and non discrimination. I found myself in support of many of Weaver’s ideas, because his foundational premise is the assumption that since man is made in the divine image, he needs to pursue his metaphysical dream if Western ideas are to be progressive. The reality as represented in historical events and incidents is man focusing on his baser instincts and functioning on that basis rather than working towards a higher ideal. I found myself staunchly supporting his premise of the metaphysical dream and his argument that most of the evil that has resulted has been caused by man deviating from this metaphysical dream. Many of the arguments that are offered against those who support the position that man is fashioned in the divine image and should therefore pursue his metaphysical dream, is that science has made a considerable difference, and man needs to function on the basis of his intelligence rather than the dream. Weaver’s book however, offers a means of combining the two by arguing that man’s intelligence should lead him to support the kinds of ideas that he knows will benefit mankind rather than pursuing a hedonistic path, which can only inevitably lead to destruction, as revealed in historical incidents such as the Holocaust. The decline in western civilization is therefore the direct result of a deviation from the metaphysical dream. While it may be argued that knowledge has progressed considerably since Weaver wrote his book and therefore, the argument it offers may no longer be valid, I feel that this is a defining book that spells out in a logical way, the reasons for the decline of Western civilization, as valid today as it was when the book was written. Humanity is a race and globalization has only brought the peoples of the world closer together by dissolving geographical boundaries that once divided people. Hence, it is imperative to promote the message in Weaver’s book, of unity and progressing together as race towards good objectives that would benefit humanity as a whole rather than promoting ideas that encourage man to be selfish, greedy and materialistic in his goals. I would recommend however, that Weaver should have included a more detailed explication showing that the evil ideas have led to evil events but they could not necessarily have been prevented. Man is intelligent, but since he is also free, this means that he is free to either use his intelligence or abuse it. Therefore, it would be impossible to change the events of history or mandate a resurgence of Western civilization in a different form, because the dichotomy between intelligence and choice would always exist. The only way that man could be pushed mandatorily into pursuing the metaphysical dream would be by eliminating his freedom of choice and offering him only one alternative, i.e, to follow the good. Weaver argues quite definitely and well that metaphysical beliefs produce consequences, either good or bad, in terms of human action. But the basic truth is that these consequences could have arisen anyway and might not have been preventable. Certainly, the failure to adhere to the metaphysical dream could have been the cause of many of the ills that afflict society today, as well as the horrific incidents which have occurred in history, like the holocaust, but the interlinking of freedom of choice and intelligence might have inevitably produced this result. The freedom of choice allows man to not use his intelligence in some instances; it also allows him the choice to lean towards the pursuit of selfish goals and objectives rather than working towards higher, more idealistic goals. References: Weaver, Richard, 1948. “Ideas have consequences”, University of Chicago Press. Read More