The
Illuminatus Trilogy asks an interesting question:
Is the thought of a unicorn a real thought?
Got your answer? Good. Are you
sure? Maybe you should read it once more.
Really, really sure this time?
This is offered as perhaps the central question of modern
philosophy, as well as an underlying force behind all the "
mystery" organizations that supposedly wield power behind-the-scenes.
Okay, a
unicorn is fictional, therefore it isn't
real. But clearly the
thought of a unicorn is real, right? Well, an empiricist would naturally ask you to point to the "thought of a unicorn" and when you are unable to do so, suggest that your
thought of a "thought of a unicorn" is as unreal as the one-horned creature is purports to represent. Like
qualia, the
mental representation is, at best,
ephemeral.
How about the "thought of a
horse"?
Real,
unreal?
Now, who would you side with, in an argument between Jack, who asserts a real unicorn would also have the attribute of
immortality, and Jill, who is sure only horse-like-ness and a single horn is
sufficient for something to be a unicorn? Is one of them right? Neither? Both?
Let's take our unicorn and put him on the flag of some of the most influential
concepts and
social movements that have directed human
history.
Say,
democracy.
Nope, never existed. There has never been a true rule-by-majority of a state in history. Not even a rule-by-the-majority's-representatives, if you really look at the nature of this "
representation". And if it never existed, how can we say it even can exist, or that we know what we are talking about when we use that term?
Yet, millions of people have pontificated, sacrificed and died in the name of this particular unicorn, and many, many others.
The argument continues that it doesn't really matter if "
democracy" or "
socialism" or the "
CIA" or the "
Illuminati" exist, they have
power. The
power to direct people's lives, money, and energy.
Having existence is not a necessary attribute of an entity's power.
Hmm... I need to get back to hunting my unicorn. I
know it's here somewhere, darting and hiding in the wide, open fields of
metaphysics,
epistemology,
mythology,
politics...