Objectivity as the Root of All Good
It is often said that “money is the root of all evil.” Whether you believe that statement or not, it begs the question “what is the root of all good?” The good is that which is right and ought be. Since the good is what ought be, that means it’s something that needs existence. Without objectivity, how can we be sure the good exists in reality by our actions? Indeed, without objectivity, we wouldn’t even know of a thing called “the good.” The good is something that needs presence, and only objectivity can provide it. To be unobjective and to try to be good would be to try to divorce the good from reality. If the good isn’t in reality, that means there’s nothing that is good in reality and reality falls flat and empty. In the end, objectivity is the root of all good.
The good cannot be known without objectivity. There’s no understanding something if it’s outside of reality. As well, there needs to be some basis for understanding the good. For example, you can’t have a “good outside of reality,” because there’s no reason for it to exist. A “good outside of reality” could only ever be an arbitrary claim since there’s nothing connecting it to anything else for you to even indirectly study it or know it exists. The good only makes sense if there’s something connecting it to objectivity (Otherwise, it’s meaningless). Since there’s no alternatives for nature, only the course of time, “the good” can only apply to something that has requirements for its continued existence for which it acts. Only living things have requirements for their continued existence for which they act, and only humans need to explicitly identify the requirements for their action (the other animals are based on instinct). “The good” is a teleological need for people. It provides us the road map for our actions and continued existence.
There cannot be any good without objectivity. Without objectivity, there’s nothing to connect your actions with the real world. Imagine trying to help someone while avoiding reality; you wouldn’t even be able to identify the person to help. There is nothing good in the world if no one acts to make there be good, and you can’t act without objectivity. Only with the connection to reality that objectivity provides can you truly do good. With objectivity, you can identify problems, think of solutions, and act in the real world to solve them. Since the good is that which “ought be,” it is a violation of the good not to bring it into existence, and it can only be brought into existence through objectivity.
The good is that which “ought be.” As such, it should exist in reality. In fact, the good can only be known from objectivity, as it is the only set of tools that provide one with the ability to connect things to broader existence. As well, without objectivity, there’s no means to bring the good into reality, which violates its basic dictum. Objectivity is the root of all good.
Objectivity as Unavoidable
Objectivity, adherence to the external world, is at the base of our daily existence. Every time you trust your senses, care about someone in your life, or drive your car, you’re relying upon objectivity. Yet, there is a lot of doubt and consternation surrounding objectivity, and there are people who attempt to avoid objectivity. Objectivity can be seen as a creator of anxiety or as an unwanted, impinging world. These people are confronted with a world they deny that they cannot leave or turn away from. However, the objective world is ever-present for a person awake, and its influence is found in each of our mental states. There is ultimately no escape from objectivity.
The objective world is our daily engagement. As long as one is conscious, one is engaging in some level of objectivity. People may avoid objectivity, by closing off certain qualities of the external world, and this is common. However, simply observing and using one’s eyes is an engagement in objectivity. As much as a person may dump objectivity, e.g. by doing things hazardous to one’s health, denying a basic fact, or believing pink elephants put one’s shoes on every morning, they ultimately engage in the basic objectivity of sense perception. If a person recognizes another person’s existence, they are recognizing an objective fact (this is why you need objectivity to care about a person in your life, since you must recognize a person’s existence and their qualities in order to care about them). This creates an unavoidability of objectivity. If you’re alive, you’re being objective in some capacity.
Our internal worlds are even not left alone by objectivity. The internal qualities we have only evolved in order to engage with the objective world. Indeed, most, if not all, of our internal existence is made up of our external world, since consciousness is an interaction between ourselves and the external world. Dreams and hallucinations are composed of things we know in the external world, and our internal love is based on external entities. It’s such the case that experiments with extreme sense deprivation, in which subjects were closed off from all sensory information, show a depreciation or non-existence in internal qualities, such as thought and behaviors. Indeed, isolation and sensory deprivation is often used as a punishment in prisons. Our internal worlds are a creation of our interaction with the external world, and, without the external world, our internal worlds go dark and empty.
Objectivity is used at all points in our daily lives. By having or engaging in sense perception, one cannot separate oneself from objectivity. Indeed, it is an essential part of our internal mechanisms, and, even when we’re not directly engaging in objectivity, such as in dreams, we always are marked by its presence.
Everything is Real
Everything is real. Since everything must exist in reality, it has realness. One may say a hallucination isn’t real, but what one means is that it has no external presence. It would be inappropriate to truly say the hallucination doesn’t exist, as the person who is having them is having them. What one really wants to do is work out what the hallucination is. What is the context of a hallucination’s realness? A hallucination is real in its presence in a human mind. It has context in the inner workings of the hallucinator’s mind with its interaction with the outside world. The hallucination has real function in existence, even if it’s a malady.
This can be said about anything in existence. Since anything that may be brought to our attention must exist in reality in some way (even as a fabrication) and have some function in existence, it can be claimed that everything is real. What must be determined is how it is real and what is its realness.