A Question of Authority

"I think, therefore I am" - Rene Descartes

This statement by the 17th Century French scientist and mathematician became, and to this day remains, a core element of western philosophy. And for a good reason: it is a primary truth which individuals can establish for themselves that is not based on any chain of logic. That is to say, it is not deduced or induced from other accepted truths. Put simply, it is self-evident.

I think this is a good place to start our search. Our senses can deceive us, after all, but the very nature of thinking proves that a person at least exists.

But we cannot stop there. People generally don't just exist, after all. We also act. We exert effort and resources towards an end we deem worthy of action. The amount of available resources (e.g. time, talent, money) varies greatly by person, but one thing is clear: they are all finite. So, we find ourselves in a position where we exist and we have some limited ability to affect things. But how do we go about choosing what to affect?

I would submit that the most important initial consideration is one of authority. If you look closely, you'll see an assumption nestled snugly amidst the preceding question. Before we decide what actions to take, we must ask whether we have the right to choose in the first place. What gives us the right to allocate resources? Where did we get these resources in the first place? Are we, as humans, our own ultimately authority? Is there a higher authority to which we are obligated?

It's a question of primal importance. Authority is about legitimacy and justification. We can see evidence of its significance all about us. Governments, organizations, and individuals all claim some level of authority, whether original or derivative, whether explicit or implicit. If such a claim is shown to be invalid, then legitimacy of that entity (and all entities which deduce their authority therefrom) can be called into question.

Therefore it is incumbent upon us, as humans, to determine whether our authority is trumped by one higher.

Put simply, it is the "God question." And it is there that we now turn our attention.