The Illustration is based on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
I should say that I appreciate that philosophising is not everyone’s cup of tea so I won’t be too disappointed if there is insufficient interest. But I thought I’d give it a go just in case. The Preface isn’t typical of the rest of the book because I am trying to differentiate between living in my home and living in the phoney world. So there are more facts being presented than there are in the rest of the work which deals mostly with philosophical issues. But throughout the book I am attempting to use life experiences to illustrate the philosophical points I am making which means that the book contains elements of biography. This means that it is less dry than a purely academic work. I should also say that my Ukraine Weekly Update will continue and will not be affected in any way by this new venture - i.e. if it happens. (The Preface was written in late autumn nearly two years ago, btw). At the risk of promoting an avalanche of comments, it would be helpful if people were honest in saying that it is or is not the sort of thing they would be interested in examining. Some may say that they need more information before deciding - which I can then provide. A summary of the philosophical issues discussed in each chapter is shown right at the bottom. If people press the subscribe button to indicate approval that would be good but comments be appreciated also. Best Rob
Preface
Philosophising in a Phoney World
‘If you stay offline; it’s just real life; you just have to stay off line’ (Joe Rogan Experience 9th Feb 2022)
I live in the Scottish Borders, about a mile East of Sprouston village and not far from the abandoned railway line that used to link Berwick on Tweed with Kelso. This is where I walk my dog every day. It is autumn and the leaves have long since turned yellow, brown and russet red. All that remains of the numerous hawthorns are their blood red berries among bare branches. In the summer, yellow Hypericum perforatum, pink Rosebay Willowherb, green cleavers and horsetail will prosper along the line while in one section a variety of beautiful Lupins will flourish. In the fields around the line, the high prey drive of my Pointer hound seeks out pheasants, pigeons, swans, ducks, rabbits, hares, crows and deer. For me this is a walk, but for him it’s a hunt - as he pulls me along the line. Cattle and horses graze in the fields next to my home. Even though I can’t see it, I know that the Tweed is running fast and full less than a mile away to the North. I could take the dog there if I chose to do so. Or I could walk him over the hill to the south for views of the Cheviot hills. In the summer, wheat, barley and rape will grow in these fields and apples will grow on the tree in our garden.
Once upon a time this line hosted the Flying Scotsman, diverted this way to Edinburgh due to flooding on the East Coast line. I have been told that the ‘non-stop’ Scotsman actually stopped at Sunnilaws Station (about four miles to the east), when the signal operator fell asleep and failed to give the signal for the train to proceed.1 Two miles to the South, the Scots fought and won a battle against 3,000 English horse at Hadden Rig in 1542.2 Two miles to the East, in the year 1018, the Scots and English fought another battle at Carham3 which determined, more or less, the boundary between the two countries that is still in place today. Alongside the farm just to the south of my home the remains of a hill fort can be seen from the air. The Romans lived here too, so I am told.4 The area at the back of the terraced houses where I live once hosted pigs and a little hamlet prospered in an adjacent field many years ago. About a mile to the West the great Anglo-Saxon King Eadwine built a great hall at Sprouston village in the 7th century.5 Six miles further West, I can see the daunting Reiver tower at Smailholm6 and about five miles beyond that the Eildon Hills dominate the landscape. Here the Picts, the Scots, the Celts and the Romans all had settlements at some point in the past.7 In 1513, about ten miles to the East, at Flodden field, the English defeated the Scots in one of the bloodiest ever encounters between the two. The Scots lost up to 20,000 Knights, which was catastrophic for the male population of the Borders region.8 To the North, at Duns and Chirnside, two great philosophers once lived.9
This is my home and it appears very real to me. It is reassuringly real. I know that if a plant looks like a dandelion but does not have a hollow stem, then it is not a dandelion. I know that if I squeeze the yellow petals of Hypericum perforatum between a finger and thumb they will emit a red substance. If no red substance is emitted when I do this, then the plant cannot be Hypericum perforatum. I know that eventually the leaves of the deciduous trees will all disappear over the winter, but I also know that the new growth, though invisible, is already underway and that in the spring, buds, blossoms and new leaves will thrive. The plants and animals that I encounter on a daily basis are in no way false, neither is the dog that pulls me around nor the wife I love dearly. I speak with my eldest daughter and my mother on the telephone nearly every day; they are reassuringly real. All these things are reassuringly real.
I accept what I have read in books about the history of the area and have no sense that any of this is false – though I am not so naive as to believe in the complete accuracy of the accounts I read. But I certainly don’t get the impression that there is any intent to deceive in these accounts. There is a sense of history about this place that makes it an interesting one in which to live. The history and the general agreement about that history, is reassuring.10 I feel ‘anchored’ in my home; secure in the knowledge that I am physically, intellectually and emotionally bound to my environment through its history, geography, botany, ornithology, biology and industry. Farming is the main industry here and it shapes the lives of people in the Borders to varying degrees. We learn to live with its rhythms.
As recently as 100 years ago, this world would have been the only world we had meaningful interactions with. Living, as we do, in a cottage that once housed farm labourers, I would probably have worked on the estate of our landlord, The Duke of Roxburgh, while my wife would probably have been in service. Instead of restraining my pointer dog in his efforts to hunt, I would be inviting him to assist me as I chased hares, rabbits and pheasants. My wife would have known how to prepare these things for the pot.
Although newspapers and books would have been available to read, I would probably not have involved myself in politics, economics or world affairs. Such things were the province of my betters and I would have known my place as a farm labourer. My world view, if I had such a thing, would have been influenced by information provided by my masters and what I had learned at school or church. And, I believe, we would have had this same sense that this world was reassuringly real. After all, we would have had little reason for thinking otherwise because no one would be vociferous in disputing any aspect of this reality.
But between then and now another world has crept up on us - almost unperceived, gradually, stealthily, and yet ultimately ubiquitous. It consists of communication technology and takes the form of cinema, DVDs, computer games, television, radio and various internet mediums.11 These are part of what I call the ‘phoney world’.12 Events that happen in the ‘real world’ are often presented to us through the ‘phoney world’; and are sometimes distorted by it.13 The phoney world provides us with information that is sometimes entertaining and entertainment that also appears to inform. Fact and fiction are sometimes conflated in representing the world to us through phoney world mediums. Our penchant for voyeurism is satisfied through something rather contradictory labelled as ‘reality TV’. The phoney world also provides us with news from around the globe through the Mainstream media (MSM - or legacy media) and documentaries on any subject you care to mention. Movies sometimes claim to accurately represent various periods of history; but they are often accurate only in relation to form rather than content. Costumes and sets may be accurate but the history seldom is. For some people, these provide the only ‘history’ they are likely to engage with.
As a long time student of history, these historical inaccuracies can be annoying, to the extent that I’d prefer that most historical films had never been made. In the Woke era, this inaccuracy has reached epidemic proportions as film makers have become more concerned to tick their ‘diversity’ boxes than paying any lip service to the truth.14
The ‘drama doc’ genre, is often employed to ‘teach’ us about history and these sometimes prioritise diversity over fact. They are usually long winded at presenting sparse, simplified information and the drama often appears second rate. History books are much more informative and entertaining; and the information from documentaries would typically fill only a few pages of these books.
Very often, history, as presented to us via the phoney world, lives up to the title I have given to that world. It does not satisfy my need for historical accuracy, but I am also very much aware that I am sometimes being deceived in the interests of values, or even an agenda, held to be important to the film maker. The history of my home is very different. I have read many accounts about the historical importance of Norham Castle, and St. Cuthbert’s Church (14 miles to the north east) for example.15 Some of the information I have read is repeated on boards outside and inside these buildings, just as some of the information I have read about Flodden is repeated on boards overlooking the former battlefield. I trust this history, which is not disputed locally at least, much more than that presented to me by the phoney world – even though I accept that there will be inaccuracies.
Science and nature documentaries are not always accurate either and sometimes involve complete fabrications in the service of ‘entertainment’ or the agendas of the film makers. The television medium, which most people take for granted, provides ample opportunities to distort the truth through film. For example, images of massive blocks of ice breaking off in the arctic are shown in order to promote the idea of ice melt caused by ‘global warming’ – but this breaking off of huge blocks of ice happens every year. This type of presentation appeals to the emotions – in this case fear, while images of sad lonely polar bears are employed to engender sympathy for the idea that polar bear populations are being decimated due to ‘global warming’.16
So my distrust at the way the phoney world sometimes presents history applies to science and anything else it tries to present. New technology makes it easy to deceive and is sometimes employed by people whose business it is to deceive. This is especially true of politics – and nowadays most things are political. Politicians and their advisers, along with influential billionaires, Media owners or representatives of non-governmental organisations, have their own values, their own ideologies and their own agendas. They have no incentive to present us with ‘the truth’ but every incentive to use the phoney world as a platform from which to disseminate ‘narratives’ that reflect their own interests. We can have absolutely no reason to believe such people and yet many of us do.
Social media isn’t any better. It’s a minefield of inaccuracies, misinformation, bullying, insults, and even censorship by the platform owners. Information wars are fought out between ideologically driven ‘useful idiots’ of the various causes for which social media has become a battleground. Here, as elsewhere in our phoney world, things like the truth and reality are the first casualties to fall. Values such as honesty, forgiveness and integrity are conspicuous by their total absence from the field of battle. But it may be a little misleading to call social media encounters battles; they are more like cases of heckling from the sidelines. Believers tend to occupy the same Facebook groups or YouTube channels as fellow believers. These operate in a similar way to echo chambers, reverberating with the amplified views of their members. Anyone disagreeing with the accepted narratives will be hunted down by gangs of angry wolves (as I know from personal experience). Through the phoney world, villains can be made into saints and saints into villains. Anyone who disagrees with identity politics narratives and expresses this on social or mainstream media will be ‘cancelled’17. Transgressors are never forgiven.
Interaction in my home is much more civilised and measured than this.
As a rule, facts about my local world are not disputed conspicuously and personally; at least not in my experience – though I appreciate that there are fewer platforms in my home where such disputes could take place. But the phoney world is disputed and hotly disputed at that. Mainstream narratives predominate, whereas those of the sceptics form a relatively weak, but not insignificant challenge to these. The mainstream narratives will include ‘global warming’ (I will not use the term ‘climate change’); lockdowns; masks; ‘vaccinations’; critical race theory; patriarchy; globalism; identity politics; intersectionality, institutionalised racism and so on.18 Sceptics, generally, don’t agree with any of these things.
So the phoney world contains different versions of reality; with some versions being promoted by MSM and NGO representatives, governments, government advisers, billionaires; and so on. Other versions of reality are hardly ever mentioned by the above; they are marginalised and even ridiculed, along with the so-called conspiracy theorists who espouse them.
My home isn’t like this at all, but maybe if I was blessed with more social interaction, differences in views would become more apparent; because they do exist. This is not to say that my home survives in splendid isolation from the phoney world. It is affected by the individuals who peddle their wares there. These include politicians who create laws that I must obey even within my local world – and these laws sometimes assume the shape and character of the phoney world.19
Children, like adults, also have their own homes where they play with each other face to face; where they can smell each others’ sweat or farts, see each others’ expressions and create their own fantasies spontaneously. When they switch on their computers they also enter the phoney world. They may interact with others but not on a face to face basis. The games they play will not be spontaneous; they will be structured for them. The distinction between reality and fantasy is blurred in some games that encourage children (and some adults) to use their limbs as pretend tennis players or football players; giving them an impression that they are employing skills that they really don’t possess. Phoney world tennis players may not be able to play tennis at all.
To summarise then; the phoney world is sometimes used by people who have an interest in misrepresenting ‘reality’ to us and the technology available to them makes it easy for them to do this.20 But this is not to say that technology is always used to deceive us. Many programme makers do provide content that is well made, decent and honest; perhaps this applies to the majority of content. Much of the time, broadcasters do not seek to deceive in producing their programmes. Even with regard to mainstream news, there are some broadcasters who are sceptics and present a challenge to the ‘favoured’ narratives.21 Also, many YouTube channels are dedicated to providing us with ‘alternative’ views of reality and a critique of the mainstream. It must also be noted that the phoney world encroaches on our homes in some cases, as we must obey the laws that are produced by those who are part of the phoney world. Finally, the construction of a phoney world supported by very powerful people and the marginalising of sceptics, either in the mainstream or on social media, has created (at least) two groups of people who occupy different realities. The sceptics form a much smaller group than those who occupy the mainstream. Those in the mainstream do very little, if any, of their own research but rely on the mainstream media for their information. I am assuming that they must trust these mainstream sources up to a point, because they obey instructions received through them and accept the view of reality they provide.22 Sceptics, on the other hand, access the mainstream much less, but rely on their own research to inform their view of reality. They have very little, if any trust in the mainstream. This division is important because it prevents the people from forming a united front against their oppressors who eagerly promote divisiveness in any way they can (e.g. through identity politics) so as to distract from the fact of their own oppression.
So this is the ‘phoney world’, but what do I mean by philosophising, you may ask? And why is it important?
Philosophising, involves ‘doing’ philosophy; it can help us engage with the phoney world more effectively: even if it cannot provide us with the ‘truth’ or ‘reality’ (difficult things to establish, especially in the phoney world) it can direct us towards these things. Philosophising involves, for example, differentiating between knowledge and belief, understanding what it is we do when we make different types of judgment, employing deductive and inductive reasoning, asking questions and engaging in conceptual analysis. Philosophising also involves a critical examination of language and seeks to explore metaphysical questions such as the existence or not of God or free will. Philosophising does not involve going out and seeing; I can’t prove that a plant is a dandelion by employing philosophy; I must examine it. So philosophising will not provide us with facts, though it may help us to identify fiction. At its core, philosophising involves simple reflection on and analysis of anything we care to direct it towards. I have been doing it personally and as a community philosopher for more than thirty years – and have found it useful and rewarding. Most people philosophise but some do it more effectively than others.
The most important philosophical attitudes with which to engage the phoney world, in my view, are skepticism, agnosticism and optimism.
Footnotes
1 Interview with Edward Young, of Sunnilaws Station House, March 2019. His father, also Edward, was the signalman who fell asleep.
2 The New Statistical Account of Scotland: Sprouston Parish (1845).
3 A. Moffat The Borders: A History of the Borders from Earliest Times Deerpark Press: Selkirk (2002) It is not strictly correct to describe the combatants at Carham as Scots and English; this is anachronistic since Scotland and England did not exist at this time. The combatants were Northumbrians and the former occupants of what is now Lowland Scotland.
4 ibid
5 The Anglo Saxons Marc Morris, Penguin Random House (2021) p. 72
6 Reivers were bands of outlaws that operated on both sides of the border in the 16th and 17th centuries. Reiver towers are like miniature castles in which the Reivers kept their livestock and families to protect them from rival Reiver bands. A. Moffat The Borders: A History of the Borders from Earliest Times Deerpark Press: Selkirk (2002)
7 ibid
8 ibid
9 I am referring to medieval philosopher Duns Scotus (who lived in Duns) and David Hume (who lived in Chirnside), respectively.
10 Placards at sites such as Flodden field and Carham church confirm this view of history, so do the local commemoration rituals.
11 Newspapers also play a big part in the phoney world, even if they are part of the old technology. Yet most newspapers now have online versions.
12 My 1991 version of the Concise Oxford Dictionary tells me that ‘phoney’ means sham; counterfeit; fictitious or fraudulent and is a child of the 20th century, to the extent that it still feels like a colloquialism. The term also applies to people who are false in some sense. Originally, the term is supposed to have referred to ‘phony’ bookmakers in outdoor betting establishments at racecourses in Chicago during the early part of the 20th century.
13 There is much about the ‘real world’ that is possibly false, as I discuss in Chapter two.
14 There have been no black English Queens, by the way, and Ann Boleyn was white. Wokeness, or political correctness, which I discuss at length in Chapter One, sometimes attempts to replace what is, with what should be, and it does so through the phoney world – especially social media. For example, if a man wishes to identify as a woman we are encouraged by Wokists to accept that this man is, biologically, a woman.
15 In 1291 Edward 1st of England met with Scottish nobles at Norham at their request to mediate in a dispute over who should be the next king of Scotland. Edward chose the unpopular John Balliol and made him accept Edward as his overlord – which threatened Scottish independence. But Balliol was never fully accepted by the Scottish nobles and war eventually broke out for the Scottish throne and independence from England. William Wallace and Robert The Bruce became ‘legends’ during this period.
16 Polar bear populations have actually increased in recent decades. See New Scientist 2007: Climate myths: Polar bear numbers are increasing | New Scientist
17 Being cancelled can involve losing one’s right to post on social media at least; it could also involve online vilification and even loss of job and career.
18 If you would like to find out more about identity politics I would recommend The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity by Douglas Murray – Bloomsbury Continuum: London (2020)
19 For example, during 2020, in the middle of the ‘pandemic crisis’, speed limits were reduced throughout the Borders region. The Borders has a good record with regard to road accidents, which have not increased at all in recent years. The locations where the limits were reduced were not accident black spots and there is no evidence that the limits were reduced for road safety reasons. But speed limits can have no other function than to make the roads safe for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Therefore, the new speed limits are telling us that whereas it was safe to drive at 30 mph in certain areas prior to 2020, this is no longer the case. Safety can now be secured only by driving at 20 mph or less. The change in speed limits has the effect of discouraging the use of reason and teaches people to obey rather than think. The ridiculously low speed limits recently imposed on us in the Borders are just as phoney as anything in the phoney world. The ‘reality’ being presented to us; i.e. that it is not safe to drive faster than 20 mph, is a phoney reality and our reason knows this, if we decide to listen to it. Much the same could be said for the ridiculous lock down measures that have been imposed on us since March 2020. The phoney world has represented reality to us as much more dangerous than it actually is and the vast majority of people have accepted this ‘reality’. It has to be said that only a minority of motorists in the Borders actually stick to these new speed limits, which provides hope that people do trust in their reasoning and are not easily cowed into obedience.
20 When Hitler became dictator of Germany after the Enabling Act of March 23rd 1933. his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels realised the potential for radios to be employed for purposes of indoctrination. Towards this end he made sure that radios were cheap enough for people to purchase and that they were installed in public places. Goebbels also employed cinema for this purpose.
21 For example, some of Sky News Australia’s programmes, some Fox News coverage in the USA and some Talk Radio programmes in the UK.
22 I have friends and family who have accepted the injection of a substance (an experimental ‘vaccine’ ) into their bodies as part of a massive ‘field trial’ without doing any research into that substance. Never has ‘blind faith’ been so misplaced – as recent research into the adverse effects of the ‘vaccines’ is beginning to show. See, for example: Spike Protein Goes to Nucleus and Impairs DNA Repair (In-Vitro Study - Not Possible In-Vivo) - YouTube
Philosophical Issues Covered by each Chapter
In Chapter One, The Bewitchment of Language, I explore the way in which language has been used, especially within the phoney world, not only to bewitch our intelligence but also as a political weapon to silence dissent, dissenters, debate and even to suppress legitimate scientific research. Political Correctness, or Wokeness, plays a big role in this.
Chapter Two (Agnosticism) is devoted to epistemological scepticism, or agnosticism. For someone seeking truth, engaging with various media in the mainstream and outside of it is precarious, to say the least. It is sometimes difficult to know whether or not what is presented there is true or not – so it can sometimes be better to adopt an agnostic attitude towards some claims, especially when they involve rather pessimistic speculation about the present and the future, which could cause us distress. Being agnostic can help us avoid a commitment to the many falsehoods that afflict our world.
Chapter Three (Thinking Independently) examines the events that led to my breaking away from ‘the left’ and becoming more independent as a thinker. I explore the important lessons I learned from this, including the role of loyalty and duty in hampering our thinking.
Chapter Four (Dogma) will tackle the issue of dogma in all its forms. I had not been studying philosophy long when I realised how harmful dogma is and how it stifles and distorts clear thinking in many respects. Dogma exists in many areas of life where we would not necessarily expect to find it.
Chapter Five (Free Will) will examine the implications and benefits of accepting that we could not have done other than we did.
Chapter Six (Death) looks at how I have used philosophy to come to terms with my own death – given that I do not believe in an afterlife.
I do like your political summaries, precise and no fuss. However I was sceptical about your announcement of sharing philosophical thoughts. Well, I have to admit it was really interesting to read, quite different from what I expected. Please carry on!
Somewhere in that book Russell provides more detail, but I haven't the time to look through it all at the moment.