– Hey Leo, you seem sad today. What’s eating you?
– The injustice in this country. And the fact that I can do nothing about it.
– So you decided to resign yourself, kid?
– What can I do, Acratus? The big businesses that run this country are everything, and the individual is almost nothing.
– Do you mean that the strong and unjust are much more powerful than people like you, who are thirsty for justice?
– Yes, that’s it!
– So what would you need in order to improve the situation?
– A lot of power, no doubt, like that of those big businesses.
– Beautiful dreams, kid, but no more than dreams. Because to have such power, you would have to become like them. Besides, it would take you forever to get there.
– You see why I am depressed?
– Wait, let me tell you about an interesting idea I read a few weeks ago in my Theory of Knowledge course. We had to read a text by Thomas Reid – have you heard about him? An eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher who claimed that common sense is the starting point of philosophy. Anyway, he said that every “great power” is like a great river.
– It’s a metaphor, isn’t it? What does it mean?
– I liked this metaphor too, so I copied the passage to my notebook. Here it is: “The power of a person may be compared to the Nile, the Ganges, and other great rivers, which cut through the landscape and go through vast regions, sometimes bringing to many nations great benefit and at other times great harm. Yet, when we trace those rivers to their source, we find that they originate from small fountains and creeks.”
– I don’t get it, Acratus. I am not a big river! I cannot bring great benefits and great harms to the world.
– True, but notice the end of this passage: “When we trace those rivers to their source, we find that they originate from small fountains and creeks.”
– You mean, every big power starts from a small power? I still don’t get it.
– Look, kid, you as an individual person in this big society – what is in your power to do?
– Well, I can do many things, but always small ones, never like those who are truly powerful.
– For example?
– I can move my body. Actions, gestures, and… thought, and therefore speech.
– Alright. And what do you think about this domain of personal “power”?
– To be honest, Acratus, it’s a little thing.
– It certainly is, but can this “little thing” be a small fountain that develops into a big river?
– I don’t see how.
– Think about it this way, kid: The leader who gave the order to drop the atomic bombs, or a general who commanded armies to devastate entire countries, or to overthrow governments, what did he personally do?
– Personally? Well, he gave commands. He talked. He made certain gestures to emphasize his words.
– In other words, he exercised his will on his most immediate domain: his thoughts, his words, and his actions.
– I think I understand you, Acratus, but I still don’t understand where you are going with this.
– In other words, your will-power has immediate effects on your thoughts and actions, but they lead to more remote and bigger effects: “A powerful prince who gives a command – what is it but the sound of his breath, modified by his organs of speech?“ Isn’t it great, Leo, that a few words can produce such a huge effect?
– Yes, it is!
– So if a big businessman can utter a few words that will result in terrible things, can’t something similar happen in the opposite direction? Can’t a few words sometimes bring about what is good, beautiful, fair?
– I see it clearly, Acratus! Just as a small action by a prince can have a huge impact on the world, in the same way a Gandhi or a Luther King can accomplish much too!
– So, do you still think that in the face of injustice nothing can be done?
– No, you are right, something can be done, in any situation. It may be very little, and yet…
– … that little thing can have great consequences.
– Yes!
– And that’s because, “Great effects may be produced through human power,” although perhaps not immediately. Sometimes the effects are very indirect – they influence “the minds of others: through good education, proper instruction, persuasion, good example, and through the discipline of laws and government.”
– Yes, education: You educate a small child, and years later that child may be a social reformer. All this inspires me to do something about social injustice. I can now see that I shouldn’t give up, I shouldn’t feel impotent, because the domain of my will power is entirely mine, and with it I can do small things that may lead to a great change.
– You see it very well, Leo. But there is something else that is important here: If you use your will power for the sake of the good and the beautiful in the face of social injustice, it will do something to you. “It is in our nature that those qualities which elevate and dignify human nature are acquired by proper efforts; and contrary behavior creates the qualities that lower our nature below the level of beasts.”
– What does this mean?
– That if you act for a good purpose, you give dignity to your life. It means that you have the power to elevate your life – or degrade it, depending on what you do, even if your power is very limited. This is a wonderful ability, because only human beings are given the possibility to rise above their biological existence, and also above their social conditions. That is why Thomas Reid declares: “What a noble and divine use of human power is given to us!” Remember: It is in your power to dignify and elevate your own life, as long as your aims are high. And isn’t a dignified life a life worth living?
-Oh, Acratus, how much clarity shines now in my head! What magnificent ideas you have presented to me!
– I’m glad to hear that, Leo. Let’s not forget this conversation: We did very “little” – we uttered a few sentences, made a few gestures, exchanged several ideas – and yet, we made a step towards elevating our lives, haven’t we?
= = =
Thomas Reid (1710-1796) was a Scottish philosopher and the father of so-called “common-sense philosophy,” which regards common sense as the starting point of all philosophical investigations and as their foundation. His philosophy was popular in certain historical periods, but his popularity declined in the 20th century.
The above blog refers to Reid’s essay “The active powers in general” in his book ESSAYS ON THE ACTIVE POWERS OF MAN (1788).
To read more, see the page Thomas Reid on the Agora website at: https://philopractice.org/web/reid