George Orwell’s 1984 is a difficult work to digest, with several threads, themes and questions begging to be explored. The three most pressing are reflections on fear, the human spirit, family as a bulwark against tyranny, and the coal-miner objection to capitalism.
George Orwell’s classic 1984 warns of totalitarian governments, a surveillance state, and the societal consequences of limiting free expression and diversity of thought. Interestingly, Orwell uses the degradation of the family as a major component to the introduction of totalitarianism, as well as assaults on individuality and objectivism about truth and the external world. This timely tome can be discouraging, but is undeniably thought-provoking and insightful for the pioneers of the 21st century.
Christianity––or any religion for that matter––is considered nothing more than a preference and a hobby in our secular age. Religious talk seems meaningless and embarrassing. We must accurately face the postmodern critique of Christianity, and offer an account of the world that satisfies the postmodern subjectivist as well as the rationalist.
One of Nietzsche’s keen observations has to do with human suffering. In the Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche points out that whenever we suffer, no matter how alone we feel, there is a deep suspicion that someone is witnessing our pain. This witness, says Nietzsche, allows us to escape the unacceptable idea that our suffering is senseless and meaningless.
Dostoyevsky said that without God, nihilism will reign, and so we must return to classical Christianity. Nietzsche said without God, nihilism will reign, and so we must create our own values. Carl Jung said that values seem to be built into our consciences, and we must reach into our mythological roots to discover meaning. Jordan Peterson, like his intellectual predecessors, offers the next stepping stone for the future of Western philosophy, which is an answer to existentialism and postmodernism.