Ideology Is The Enemy Of Reason

[naomi24]

True or false?

[Old_Geezer]

Hope would hope a good ideology was born out of reason.

[woofgang]

oo good question
If by idealogy, you mean
"A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy" (Oxford Dictionaries website)
then maybe.....I mean if you accept it whole without understanding or critical thought then yes reason goes by the board; but if you investigate and examine the detail and test it against known fact then no.

But maybe its not the concept of ideology that is the enemy of reason, but the attitude of the individual - acceptance without questioning vs. using ones intellect.
And I guess society and the zeigeist of the time have an effect too. Does society expect, even require, individual thought or placid acceptance?

[Theland]

It depends. The sick ideology by the rich right wing is often swallowed hook line and sinker by the great unwashed, dressed up as patriotism, There Is No Alternative, and trust me, I'm your friend.
Rich get rich and poor go to hell.
But hey! We voted for this ideology!
Now we can reason about it.

[Hypognosis]

@Naomi

I'm not sure I fully understand the question so this may be non sequitur...

If you are born into an advanced civilisation where thousands of individuals have already done all the thinking and actions required to build said civilisation, you cannot hope to start from first principles and work it all out for yourself, by the power if reasoning.

It is far easier to go to school, listen and learn and regurgitate the 'right' responses to exam questions IF you want to get on in the outside world. You have to accept the ideas (aka ideology) handed out to you.

Thinking for yourself will only cause you to be treated as a heretic.

So, reason can, on occasion, make itself an enemy of ideology. Whether that is reciprocated 100% of the time or only on those same occasions, I cannot say. The inquisition travelled around in search of heresy. "Seek and ye shall find", as the saying goes.

Would anyone like any toast?

[Theland]

The atheist ideology prohibits the acceptance of the possibility of a creator, imho.

[wildwood]

^^^ Not so Theland.

Atheism is the discard of absurd and ridiculous postulations.

[woofgang]

possibly ideology encourages reason but giving some intellects something to hone themselves on?

[woofgang]

not "but", "by"

[jomifl]

Probably true, there are a lot of dead Russians who would have lived if Russian crops had understood and followed Marxist ideology. Had reason prevailed perhaps agronomists rather than idealists might have held sway.

[Hypognosis]

@jomifl

How subtle is *your* distinction between idealogue (peddlar of ideology, in my book) and idealist (one in the process of detaching themselves from reality)?

[jomifl]

That's a tricky one hypo...and not really to the point :-)

[Hypognosis]

@jomifl

Engaging sulk mode.

;o)

[Theland]

Absurd and ridiculous?
Oh alright then.

[naomi24]

Ideology, //The set of beliefs characteristic of a social group or individual ….Visionary speculation, especially of an unrealistic or idealistic nature.//

Regardless of rationally irrefutable argument those who embrace any particular brand of ideology, whether political or religious, do not appear to be amenable to entertaining any idea that falls outside the scope of their beliefs. They are completely inflexible. That doesn’t doesn’t seem awfully sensible to me, so I would say that ideology is the enemy of reason.

[Zacs-Master]

What if you want to be ideological about beating reasonable?

[naomi24]

People who cling to particular brands of ideology all think they're being reasonable - but they're not.

[Theland]

And if by reason one comes to embrace an ideology ?
Until by reason one discards it and discovers something better?

[naomi24]

Theland, will reason eventually cause you to rethink your ideology?

[mibn2cweus]

An ideology stands or falls based on its premises, the validity of that which is presupposed in order to support that particular ideology.

The 'primacy of consciousness' is a common basis for many failed ideologies; the presupposition that existence is dependent upon that which can only be derived by virtue of existence. One can not overstate the importance of grasping this key concept for understanding the nature of and relationship between consciousness and existence. Apart from existence there would be nothing to be conscious of and a consciousness apart from something to be conscious of is a contradiction. Consciousness presupposes existence and the means and process required of and for consciousness to take place.

Upon examination you might be surprised by how many ideologies fail scrutiny based on the simple presumption of the 'primacy of consciousness'.

[Theland]

Yes, I exist and am conscious of the fact of my existence.
Is that right?