“The great law of culture is, Let each become all that he was created capable of being; expand, if possible, to his full growth; resisting all impediments, casting of all foreign, especially all noxious adhesions, and show himself at length in his own shape and stature, be these what they may.” -Thomas Carlyle.
Last time I ended by noting purpose in the societal realm refers to one’s unique role in the expansive world of humanity. Today I want to outline this section of the project as I see it.
- Introduction and outline.
- Reciprocity of purpose of culture and the individual.
- The nature of purpose at the level of cultural reality.
- Types of roles possible.
- Factors in choice of direction.
- Success factors.
- Benefits of cultural purpose.
- Synopsis and synthesis.
After the introduction and outline comes the preliminary issue of the reciprocity of purpose with regard to culture and the individual. Without reflection we might assume we happen to exist in a society wherein we are left to find a purpose. In reality human civilization is not a mere fact of the world like mountains or gravity, but a purposeful creation (or perhaps emergent organism) of humanity which some see as ‘designed’ to provide purpose for us. We will investigate briefly what the purpose of human culture appears to be and how this guides our quest for cultural purpose.
Then we will move on to the nature of purpose at the level of humanity especially how it contrasts with purpose at the level of self and of others in one’s life. From there we will consider the various types or modes of fulfilling purpose such as one’s trade, calling, or lifework.
We will then investigate factors in the choice of purpose considering physical, personal, situational, and historical contexts. Since readers may be at various stages in life, it is also necessary to address considerations of age. Another factor is how we wish to tie our purpose to our projections of human destiny.
The last three segments will address factors in achieving success such as commitment and virtuosity, the benefits that can be found in the correct choice and the completion of one’s cultural purpose, and a synopsis and synthesis. It is worth mentioning that the reader seeking an individual answer to the question of purpose in the human world will not find it in these coming posts since I work on the assumption that we each have a unique place in the matrix of society and the future of humanity. Instead be prepared to use this synthesis to help your understand how to hone your choice of ultimate place in the big picture of reality.
