Attempts to eliminate ambiguity only underscore the disorder humans suffer

Evidence

Over the ages, philosophers have endeavored to eliminate the ambiguity of the human condition “by escaping from the sensible world or by being engulfed in it, by yielding to eternity or enclosing oneself in the pure moment” (p. 8). We may try to confine the most troubling aspects of our existence to the shadows, or to create a sense of order that will provide the security we think we need. But such efforts simply serve to highlight the “disorder from which we suffer” (p. 8). The sense of mastery that emerges from advances in technology and science is also accompanied by a crushing fear of being subject to forces beyond our control. As rational beings, we have the capacity not only to create but also, as the example of atomic weapons has shown, to destroy. — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 879

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the Frankfurt School reading of reason’s dialectic of enlightenment, where mastery generates new fears. — connects to: Beauvoir located an irreducible ambiguity at the heart of the human condition — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 877; Humans claim understanding only by tracing phenomena back to something inexplicable — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 192; Certain philosophical problems like the mind–body problem may be fundamentally unknowable by humans due to cognitive closure. — Cognitive closure (philosophy) (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Most philosophy has systematically masked rather than faced human ambiguity #corroborates (0.85)
• Humans claim understanding only by tracing phenomena back to something inexplicable #expands (0.75) — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 192
• Multiple identity claims betray disorder rather than richness of identity. #corroborates (0.73)