Yesterday we looked at Kelly's philosophical system George A. Kelly: The Psychology of Personal Constructs Part III Constructive Alternativism and Existentialism
      As an undergraduate philosophy major I developed a theory that American Pragmatists and European Existentialist were really saying the same thing in different languages. Pucture yourself sitting in a cosmopolitan restaurant near two other tables and you can overhear the conversations going on at the other tables. Now let us suppose that by a very strange coincidence, the people at one table speak French but not German, and the at the other table the conversationalists speak German but not French. And by an even wierder coincidence they are both having the exact same conversation. And you are able to know this because you happen to speak both German and French.
      My point is that Pragmatists, having arrived at their constructs by specifically American experiences, and using their specific philosophic vocabulary in their dialect of English are discussing their philosophy of life, while the Existentialists, having arrived at their constructs by the specifically European experience (Russian, German and French), and having their own philosophical vocabulary, do not realize that they are mostly saying the same things.
      George Kelly, being an American, understood how his philosophy was in line with Pragmatism, but we can also see in his work many parallels with Existentialism. Existentialism begins with the notion that existence precedes essence. That is, first we are born and we just exist. But our essence, that which makes us human, has to be deliberately developed by ourselves. Existentialists also have a concept called "choice by default." If some of us are not alert to the absurdity of our human condition, and do not consciously make choices that will give us freedom from deterministic forces, then Reality has a way of making choices for us that, in all probability, will not result in freedom. In other words, if you do not choose, then you have made a choice, by default, not to choose, and you are still held responsible for the consequences of your choice not to choose.
       You do not even have to believe in free will, you just have to act as though you had free will. Many people think of Existentialism as an atheist philosophy, and many Existentialists are atheists, but many other important Existentialists were/are Christians and Jews.
      As you can see, I find George Kelly to be a convenient link between Existentialism and Pragmatism. Read yesterday's (Mon. Aug. 10th) blog again and see how Kelly views the consequences of our choices. Remember, just as not all choices are good ones, so not all personal (and social) constructs are good ones. We have to live by the ones that Reality chooses for us, or we can choose better ones.
       Tomorrow: More about Constructive Alternativism and Existentialism. Determinism and free will
Alert all your friends who won't give up their racial identities and/or who make money from owning private property, that this blog challenges their personal and social constructs.
For those of you who have only recently joined us, my rants began on January 1, 2011. Scroll down to that date to begin.
My rants on racial identity began on July 9, 2015
My rants on private property began on July 14, 2015 My website