Why Axiomatix?

Why “Axiomatix”? Well, one way of understanding how we learn, how we think about the world, and how we imagine new and different worlds is to assume that we hold to certain basic axioms, that is, unproven and unprovable statements that we consider true. Indeed, that we do hold to such axioms might be the first axiom of this blog I’m calling Axiomatix. While axioms may be argued for and justified – while scads of evidence can be accumulated to “prove” them – what makes them axiomatic is that they are “self-evident”, as in one of the scriptures of U.S. American society: “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” The word “axiom” comes from the ancient Greek, and means something like “worthy”, “required”, or “proper”, and among the Greek philosophers an “axiom” was understood to be true without any need of proof or argument. Now, the reason I’m interested in exploring my own axioms and giving the readers of this blog some opportunities to explore theirs is that they demonstrate how important simple faith and self-evident understanding can be in establishing the tenor and texture of our everyday lives. Axiomatix does not aim to prove that any particular axioms are “wrong” – indeed, that would assume that they could be “right” – but instead to show how different axioms generate different worldviews and how different worldviews literally create different worlds.

For the most part, we remain ignorant of our axioms. This is one reason that the Socratic Method is a powerful teaching tool: by asking questions and exploring the logical consistency of the answers, Socrates helped bring to light the axioms of his students and fellow philosophers. Unless you belong to a group that places great importance on orthodoxy – that is, one that includes the possibility of heresy – then you probably don’t have a very good idea of what your axioms are. The problem is that those axioms – self-evident truths that are often sexist, racist, heterosexist, speciesist, etc. – have even more power by being invisible to you. In the context of Axiomatix, therefore, I hold this truth to be self-evident: Knowing our axioms is the first step towards changing them, or, indeed, in embracing them more fully. I think, for example, that the Golden Rule – Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You – is a very cool axiom; I also think that, while many in U.S. American society pay lip-service to it, most of us do not in fact attempt to fully articulate it in our everyday lives. This is just one example of the kinds of axioms I’d like to explore here.

In my own work as a theorist and ethicist, I've had the opportunity to bring to light, reject, and transform many of my axioms. With Axiomatix, I'd like to continue that process, and I invite you to join me. What truths do you hold to be self-evident? What worlds and ways of being do those truths imply? And indeed, do you truly hold to them – do you practice them – or do you simply hope to? If you wanna play, try answering these questions, and maybe through conversation we can come up with some interesting new axioms - and some interesting new worlds and worldviews to live in.