If one were to make a nasty statement, it could be said
that anybody can perceive, that even animals can perceive.
But an outlook appears at a very definite stage in the development
of society. Outlooks are not something which are ahistorical
appearing at any particular time in this or that shape.
The outlook that appeared in the battle against medievalism,
which is considered the most important, places the human being at
the center of development. That outlook was against feudalism,
against medievalism. Under medievalism, human beings were
considered nothing except as elements for the pleasure of the
leisure class, even to the extent that women were not supposed to
have any knowledge. Many people were not recognized as persons.
When the struggle against feudalism and medievalism began, the
outlook to place human beings at the center and not god, gained
momentum. However, in the process of this development, it was not
human beings, people, who actually gained ascendency. Their ascent
was cut short. It was the capitalist class which gained ascendency
and placed its private property at the center instead of human
beings. The bourgeoisie constituted a civil society based on the
protection of their private property. The capitalist rule of law
and their criminal courts etc., emerged on the basis of private
property.
As this development took place, there arose a class, the
working class, in whose interest it is to put human beings at the
center, for otherwise, they could not liberate themselves. The
outlook that began with the people of the age of enlightenment, of
the age of reason finds its full scope and expression in the works
of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. For the first time, the basis of
social development was discovered by Karl Marx. His work opposed
those ideas that presented the world as static, a world which came
into being according to the word of god and remained thus. Karl
Marx, with the precision of science, showed the relationship
between primeval society and different stages of the development of
class society. He pinpointed how the new society will come into
being. At that time, sharp struggle began in the sphere of outlook.
Either an outlook is acquired without prejudice, without
preconceived notions on the basis of developments in different
spheres, especially in the spheres of the natural and social
sciences, or the outlook is merely what a person pays the piper to
have. An outlook, a world view, is the highest development of what
human beings have achieved at any particular time.
Today, in this period, various theories and notions are
presented that suggest one should have only certain ideas, of a
particular kind. There are even theories that state that men cannot
grasp the oppression of women, or the majority of the population
cannot possibly understand the oppression and plight of the
national minorities. All this is presented to ensure that people do
not have a world outlook. Supporting these backward views and
feelings is not just a human trait, it's a trait that belongs to
animals as well. These traits are based on instincts, where the
instincts are transformed into a genetic code, which dictate how
one is to behave. But human beings are more than their instincts.
Historical development has shown that humans are on the threshold
of consciously creating a society for which conditions exist.
There is a lot of difference between world outlook and
perception. Perception, to be generous, is the starting point of
possessing a world outlook. It is a very low point, a very humble
beginning. The development of a comprehensive world outlook was one
of the greatest achievements of the 19th century. The 19th century
was when all the different fields of sciences found their summation
up to that point. For example, in the natural sciences, all the
different fields combined to give rise to the theory of evolution.
This theory of evolution did not deny the theory of creation, it
rejected it, it refuted it. The starting point of evolution was the
refutation of creationism. In the same way, in social science,
Marxism is the summation of the controversies of the past dealing
with the dichotomy between body and soul, the origin of ideas, the
contradiction between idealism and materialism, between dialectics
and metaphysics and other issues. For the first time, an outlook
based on scientific discoveries was elaborated. The 20th century
has seen the application of these sciences and it has transformed
the whole world.
Today, the world is at a stage of retrogression when all the
old, all the negative from the days of feudalism and medievalism,
is being presented as radical and a reform. Today, philosophers
pride themselves on denying even those philosophers from ancient
times who were progressive. They put the medieval reactionaries on
the pedestal. That is why this rejection of outlook, at least for
British science, is considered a radical departure from the past.
American science, from 1870, right after great discoveries
were made, rejected the scientific outlook. They gave rise to the
theory of pragmatism which was a combination of science and
religion.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
