Can the ultimate aim of all my inquiry be summarized in some way?
I discussed this with an AI that has a fairly good grasp of what I read and write. Based on the material I ask it to analyze, it suggested several possible formulations, but in the end I still had to articulate it myself. The central question—for me, at least—is this:
“How can we come as close as possible to a social order that provides favorable conditions for a happy life, the development of human character, and the preservation of a stable civilizational environment?”
Everything else I think about—nationhood, social inequality, economic development, relations between civilizations, Islam, and countless other topics—is ultimately secondary. They are supporting lines of inquiry directed toward answering this fundamental question.
That leads to three broad areas of study:
- selected aspects of psychology (we need a clear understanding of what human character is, what constitutes a happy life, and what leads to it);
- the general principles and recurring patterns that govern the exercise of political power;
- logical reasoning and the methods of inquiry that allow us to reach sound conclusions. Without them, we cannot reliably distinguish reality from our own wishes or assumptions.
In other words: the human mind, political power, and the methods of research.
I consider it unfortunate that so few people ask themselves this fundamental question. If a hundred well-educated people in the Czech intellectual sphere devoted themselves to it consistently, and if they genuinely exchanged arguments with one another, we might already have a fairly good understanding of how to move forward.
I mention this as an explanation for why I find commentary on individual politicians and their disputes so uninteresting. It becomes genuinely worthwhile only when a particular case allows us to uncover a more general principle.