Which
metanarrative is best?
Explanation:
On return to our cognitive map we should be looking from the perspective of wisdom with a view to a practical application of what wisdom we have. As we look in the various directions we see that different approaches will be appropriate. The need to establish what view a person has and then enter into dialogue with them from their own perspective is the only way to avoid confrontational issues. A person will not befriend someone who belittles the narrative they use to give meaning to their life.
Remember that perhaps the happiest people live in communities that are fundamentalist. No community would survive if the greatest percentage of the membership did not have a fundamental acceptance of the core values and legitimating metanarrative. These individuals are the pillars of the community and make it economically viable. Many of the adults may have doubts about the metanarrative but adhere to it with even a sense of desperation because they sense that without it the community would collapse. From this perspective, Shakespeare’s dictum that “All the world is a stage” rings true. As we socialize one another we encourage one another to participate in the “play.” Each should accept their role and play it as best they may. Unless enough participate the show cannot go on. But what about those that begin the quest and lose their faith in the metanarrative?
If a person believes in a metanarrative that moves toward the uncertain and also focuses on the self then they are likely to become depressed and seek escape. To exit the "stage" suicide may seem the only escape. It is for these kinds of cases especially that there is good purpose to use philosophy as psychotherapy (care of the self). A positive introduction to the quest may avoid the concern with this entirely. The quest can be followed in a way that critical thinking is introduced but the rapid replacement of world views can be periodically punctuated by stressing the repetitive nature of all metanarratives in light of the core values belonging to the original metanarrative. If the nature of the metanarrative is no longer believable, the values central to the metanarrative can still be safe. By interpretation, those values can be found to be central to all metanarratives, even those that are most critical of earlier narratives that are no longer believable.
This is why the neopragmatists exemplify our contemporary postmodern American philosophy. They seem to represent the most educated and elite. The American metanarrative they follow successfully explains how we can be so uncertain about so many things yet still find the community interest more powerful than self interest. So it is a movement towards neopragmatism that strikes me as the way of wisdom in our society.
The goal of studying philosophy and beginning the quest was to reach Wisdom. What this is for each of us may be something different. It is dependent on the metanarrative we accept. Each draws a cognitive map to place wisdom in the center.