The Existential Baseline | A Logical Proof for Rational Minds
a Companion to The Contemplation of Happiness
The EXISTENTIAL BASELINE is the principal assertion that there is no inherent MEANING in the project of existence. This does not imply that there is therefore no meaning to be found in the project of existence, but simply instead that any such MEANING which may be found within the project of existence will necessarily not be inherent to any individual, object, concept, entity, or other thing of any kind.
The following is a set of logical proofs composed in support of the rejection of all forms of dogma and any and all philosophies of INHERENCE.
I | Fundamental Subjectivity in Reality
INDIVIDUALS may only know, perceive, or understand THINGS which they are capable of knowing, perceiving or understanding.
INDIVIDUALS may know, perceive, or understand THINGS only because they are capable of empirically confirming the existence of THINGS.
INDIVIDUALS are incapable of accessing (knowing, perceiving, or understanding) metaphysically objective facts of REALITY because metaphysically objective facts of REALITY cannot be confirmed by empirical means.
C: An INDIVIDUAL’s knowledge, perception, and understanding of the nature of REALITY is contingent upon and limited to its subjective empirical understanding of REALITY.
II | Object Value
OBJECTS have VALUE.
OBJECTS are valuable because INDIVIDUALS believe them to be valuable, thereby assigning them relative subjective VALUE.
OBJECTS have no VALUE if individuals believe them to have no VALUE.
C: OBJECT VALUE is assigned solely by INDIVIDUALS.
The above set of proofs demonstrates that MEANING and VALUE are not inherent properties of existence, but rather instead properties formulated as subjective value-judgements based on the evaluation of the empirical information pertaining to REALITY which is available to the INDIVIDUAL. These subjective value-judgements are thus necessarily assigned to OBJECTS by the INDIVIDUAL through the exercise of the INDIVIDUAL’s AGENCY.
Appendix A: Auxiliary Proofs
III | Social Objectivity
An INDIVIDUAL’s knowledge, perception, and understanding of the nature of REALITY is contingent upon and limited to the scope of its subjective empirical understanding of REALITY.
OBJECT VALUE is assigned solely by INDIVIDUALS.
A SOCIETY is constituted by the aggregate consciousness, knowledge, and awareness of the INDIVIDUALS who cooperate to support and contribute towards its existence.
A SOCIETY has no means to acquire any consciousness, knowledge, or awareness outside of the contribution of INDIVIDUALS towards it.
C: A SOCIETY created via the cooperation of INDIVIDUALS always necessarily suffers the same constraints of knowledge, perception, and understanding of the INDIVIDUALS which compose it. Therefore, a SOCIAL OBJECTIVITY does not and cannot constitute a metaphysically objective REALITY.
IV | Dismissal of Ethics and Ethical Systems
Ethical systems are necessarily bound up with and founded upon a belief in INHERENCE: of inherent good and evil, or of right and wrong. Ethics and INHERENCE are thereby inseparably entangled, and to abandon one demands that the other be abandoned as well.
Ethical systems are concerned with the making of fundamental metaphysically objective value-judgements: in other words, the creation of OBJECTS. Ethical systems are concerned with determining shoulds and shouldn’ts, rights and wrongs, goods and bads, or goods and evils.
An INDIVIDUAL’s knowledge, perception, and understanding of the nature of REALITY is contingent upon and limited to its subjective empirical understanding of REALITY.
OBJECT VALUE is assigned solely by INDIVIDUALS.
C: Metaphysically objective ethical systems are responsible for the codification of the metaphysically objective nature of REALITY while simultaneously being created by INDIVIDUALS and SOCIETIES which have no means to access any kind of metaphysically objective REALITY.
V | Dismissal of Ethics and Ethical Systems II.
Ethical systems are concerned with making value-judgements only within the realm of SOCIAL OBJECTIVITY—with determining shoulds and shouldn’ts, rights and wrongs, goods and bads, or goods and evils.
Systems of SOCIAL OBJECTIVITY are formulated within a SOCIETY.
C: SOCIALLY OBJECTIVE ethical systems are created via the cooperation of INDIVIDUALS, and therefore always necessarily suffer the same constraints of knowledge, perception, and understanding pertaining to those INDIVIDUALS.
Ethical systems cannot be made to be SOCIALLY OBJECTIVE, as a system of ethics founded upon SOCIAL OBJECTIVITY necessarily suffers the same constraints contingent to a SOCIETY, whereby the whims of a given SOCIETY are as purely subjective and arbitrarily established as the acts of a given INDIVIDUAL. Additionally, ethical systems cannot be made to be metaphysically objective, because a system of ethics founded upon inaccessible facts of a metaphysically objective reality is equally as arbitrarily established as one founded upon a SOCIAL OBJECTIVITY. Therefore, ethical systems can only ever truly be subjective.
Appendix B: Definitions
AGENCY: the INDIVIDUAL’s free will. The power of the INDIVIDUAL to make decisions and act upon the world, or upon REALITY.
EXISTENTIAL BASELINE: the principal assertion that there is no INHERENCE.
INDIVIDUAL: a singular, conscious entity. For the intents and purposes of this proof, essentially a human being.
INHERENCE: the belief that OBJECTS can or do possess innate, intrinsic, or implicit VALUE of some kind.
MEANING: important or worthwhile quality. Value, purpose, significance, etc.
OBJECT: any perceived individual, object, concept, entity, or other thing of any kind.
REALITY: the space which INDIVIDUALS and OBJECTS inhabit.
SOCIAL OBJECTIVITY: the collective subjective perspective of a of a given SOCIETY.
SOCIETY: a group of INDIVIDUALS which share common social or cultural characteristics.
THING: see; OBJECT.
VALUE: see; MEANING.