Questionable Truths

E. F. Schumacher (1911-1977)

In his 1973 manifesto, Small is Beautiful, Fritz Schumacher made a list of six 19th century ideas that an educated person would most likely hold as true, despite their being no proof of their validity. Moreover, holding these ideas true may be detrimental to society. 

1. Evolution. Do higher forms continually, always, and only develop from lower? He's not debating Darwin; he's challenging the notion that homo sapiens is the crowning achievement to which every other life form aspires--the image of Man at the top of the heap.
2. Competition. Does survival of the fittest justify the elimination of other forms of life with which we are interdependent? Natural selection explains the innate desire to survive and reproduce. Beyond that, a more cooperative approach to living would be better.
3. Materialism. Are religion, philosophy, and art merely supplements to material life processes, as Marx suggested? 
4. Psychoanalysis. Freud's interpretation of personality disorders as manifestations of genital obsession and unfulfilled childhood incest-wishes is demeaning and obscene. (Since Schumacher's book was first published, Freud's ideas have been discounted.)
5. Relativism. When nothing can be right, nothing matters. Relativism undermines what truth as may be found in pragmatism. 
6. Positivism. No knowledge is genuine unless based on empirical facts? This reliance on the scientific method denies the possibility of objective knowledge about meaning and purpose.

In his words, these six ideas ideas "dominate ... the minds of "educated" people today" (p. 67).  Schumacher placed the word educated in quotes to emphasize his point that the education system which teaches alleged facts does a disservice. Better would be an education system which imparts values.

The way in which we experience and interpret the world obviously depends very much indeed on the kind of ideas that fill our minds. If they are mainly small, weak, superficial, and incoherent, life will appear insipid, uninteresting, petty, and chaotic.

Schumacher was one of the first economists to question the appropriateness of using gross national product to measure human well being, emphasizing that "the aim ought to be to obtain the maximum amount of well being with the minimum amount of consumption." 


Schumacher argued that our current pursuit of profit and progress which promotes giant organizations has resulted in gross economic inefficiency, environmental pollution and inhumane working conditions. He proposed a system of intermediate technology, based on smaller working units and regional workplaces, utilizing local resources. 


I enjoyed and highly recommend this book.


Hat tip to Jack, who also recommends Small is Still Beautiful: Economics as if Families Mattered. This follow-up book by Schumacher's daughter takes up the themes of economic and political "smallness" for the new millennium. It offers an alternative to global consumerism based on respect for nature, humane working conditions, local sourcing, and appropriate technology.

References

Schumacher, E. F. (1973 / 1999). Small is beautiful: Economics as if people mattered, 25 years later... with commentaries. Point Roberts, WA: Hartley & Marks Publisher's, Inc.


Related post about happiness per unit of consumption: http://philosfx.blogspot.com/2011/04/happiness.html
Previous post about this book: http://philosfx.blogspot.com/2011/06/toward-new-economics.html
Related website: http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/buddhist_economics.html
Wikipedia entry about the book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful