A single act of morality does not amount to a character, but, on the contrary, a consistent act results to a ‘genuine’ character.
Yerima Zakari
Of the many excellencies perceived in the order of being, there is none which places a point upon reflection like treat-morality.
Explain the purport of your remark.
Man lives in an intricate evolutionary world where great expectations – content-wants – become subjects of enquiry, to meet these necessities. For whatever reason, machines, industries, strategies etc were invented to solve these wants. Thus, the ‘fabrics’ of reality have been revolutionized ranging from psyche state where thoughts, ideas are conceived, processed, born for the express purpose of man’s consumption. Not in all cases are these thoughts, or ideas appear simple. Sometimes they appear to be complex activities – for the higher the quality of demand, the greater the thoughts are determined and structured to yield an effect in terms of positive or negative. When the negative effect appears, man becomes dejected, even feels alienated from his world. For diluting his state of being, for trying to find solution to his state of being, the more complex this finding appears to be; the more he wrestles, the more he becomes complex, in which case the whole course of his life is set ablaze, therefore, he delves for a working solution to his woes, even beyond his realm to that of supernaturals. Therefore an object of unseen, social and mental forces he becomes – with these forces having a great hegemony on him, with each, at most, determining his existence. To revitalize the glorious state, power, autonomy guaranteed to him by ‘natural justice’, and to restrain nature, act upon it, isms of some sorts were introduced, formed, and institutions like ‘mental’, ‘social’, ‘religious’, ‘linguistics’ etc were established for studying reality, and the regulation of this.
What is the focal claim for this?
The mental institution is a world of restless activity with myriads of thoughts competing, conflicting with one another on what and how reality ought to be. Determinants of appropriacy, correctness, rightness of man’s realistic world are wisdom, knowledge, understanding and with man’s ability to utilize these, and with him being the final arbiter of the crosscurrent of thoughts, ideas, in him. All thoughts, ideas, attitudes being visible are product(s) of that world for they, first, are debated, processed, refined and structured before manifesting in the external world of affairs – meaningful. Thus, on this backdrop, theories by men of high calibre were propounded to investigate the nature of man’s act. Notable among these is Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory of personality which argues that human behaviour is the result of the interactions among trio components of the mind: the id, ego, and superego. This theory places great emphasis on the role of unconscious mental conflicts in shaping behaviour and personality that man’s desires are often conflicting and the resultant effect is his behaviour:
I want to do this now, says the id.
Of course. We can compromise ego
It’s unrighteous to do that superego.
The id, operates entirely unconscious (outside conscious thought), concerns itself with instant gratification of basic physical needs and urges. Its desire for ice cream held by a stranger is triggered by its sudden urges, without considering the implication of this action. Partly conscious and partly unconscious is the ego which Freud considered to be ‘self’, and its job is to balance the conflicting demands of the id and superego in the practical context of actuality. If the ice cream is eventually taken from the stranger by the id, the goal of the ego is achieved. Axiology is what superego is concerned with – stating the society’s ethics of social and moral principles, akin to what is called ‘conscience’, in which man learns what is right and wrong culturally. Taking the ice cream from the stranger will be considered rude by superego. Man overcoming the superego will later likely feel guilt and abash over his actions.
Beyond doubt, if so. But how ever-static is the trait considering time and the inevitability of change?
Freud believed, so do his contemporaries, that the nature of the conflicts among the components changes over time as a person grows from infant to adult. That these conflicts progress via a series of five basic stages, with each a different focus: oral, phallic, latency and genital which are directly related to a different centre of pleasure – physically. That the five stages presented conflict biologically, in which case ‘pleasure-seeking’ urges focus on different areas of the body (‘erogeneous zones’). The child’s ability to resolve these eternal conflicts determines their ability to cope and function as adults in future. Unhealthy personality traits are certain with failure to resolve them at the developmental stage.
Similarly, Carl Jung’s theory of personality types shows various behavioural patterns and attitude. ‘Using the theory, you can delve deeper into your own mind and comprehend your thoughts and feelings’. The attitudes, introversion and extroversion, show one’s trait. The introverts are more comfortable with the inner-circle world, so they see the world in a mode it affects them; the extroverts feel relaxed in the world of objects, events and other people, and the impact of their world is of ultimate value to them. In his book Why You Act The Way You Do, Tim Lahaye suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine (optimistic, social), choleric (short-tempered or irritable), melancholic (analytical, quiet), and phlegmatic (relaxed, peaceful). Each of these characters is defined by a list of descriptive characteristics. So, people assign to one or more types by matching the person with those descriptions
So good are the isms. But social context of man’s development is neglected by these claims, Freud’s particularly.
Man’s complexity is somewhat structurally designed by these forces, which form the basis of the theorists’ subject-matter, and considering the status quo of reality.
Objection! Objection of the highest order. Conditions for survival appear, at distinct level, to be determinants of his existence. In fact, mental postulations depict reality in one fraction – they seem even vague. What claim is there that social acts make up one’s trait?
Too realistic. Undeniable – so it is.
Empirical justification of this claim demands exposition.
Of the many ‘integrities’ perceived in the order of man’s trait, social existence, writes Marx, ‘it is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.
By what term – dialectical materialism or socio-cultural setting?
Partly one; partly the other. The man from the East, it is said of him forfeiting his home, even his deity for cent’s sake – and wonders in foreign lands, for the accumulation of wealth. Thus, he is a microcosm of the larger kind. In his vein, such enterprise is chronic, ossify and determined his social perception, impacting his existence for new social order. In the second, man lives principally as langue presents it to him: the thought of his culture, values are shaped by the power of langue, so that he makes sense of the world by categorizing it: distinguishing objects, events, actions, and people. Some actions are defined as criminals; others are not; certain events come to be defined as crimes and how certain people come to be defined as criminals. He organizes the structures of reality by that means.
Great! But complicit in social actions, it is believed that one acts in certain ways as defined by one’s culture. A negro – when informed of his tradition – operates better in this way. His behaviour here is determined by the goodness and greatness of his cultural values.
Much of people’s attitudes are traditio-culturally based. There are cultures that outward expression of emotions is permissible; others are not. The expression of grief in open and public way is guaranteed by the former, British in this respect.
So, that forms the way man in that circle acts –
Of course. But partly his actions are conditioned by a milieu, experiences and others actions toward him. A child, being a Nigerian, born in Wales will certainly sound Welsh. The experiences, particularly ordeal ones, will likely impact one’s mode of living. Others’ actions directed at him will shape his social being. Of these acts, the greatest is ideology, which ideologues esteem to form, whatever motive, attitude of a kind toward others. Racism being typical of this. Thus, a deterministic situation for one’s act, and reversal of acts toward one as penalty.
Hum! An ideological character. It is not all the case that his morality is determined by cause or higher demands, for there are unprecedented circumstances whose root is unpredictable, unexamined to decipher with empirical eyes, except by means of an eagle one.
In such case, the higher beings are consulted, even invented at discrete levels to solve the uncontrollables. Fates as such befall on him, for higher sensitivity, dexterity are devoid in him.
So, intentionally his giving in is a necessary condition to restrain his being assigning a new morality to him by them, whose intent is discretely in two: rest or restless – impinging upon him.
If so, and let’s grant it so. Certainly an architect with distinct colour they become – hovering restlessly around him to ensure his slavery act, his decision within their confines.
Even their division in two: light and darkness!
The respective attempt is to impact his will to serve theirs – by so desire, assign an ‘originality’ to him by the act of painting.
Of no value it can be declared of his nature, integrity and creativity – now that his acts are not determined by his higher rationality and the senses.
Like the ancient Jezebel whose flesh was refined by heated make up to act otherwise, so is he.
Verily. By what other means of act is there, besides? Thought?
Idea.
Embedded in thought? So it’s a determinant of social order, and of being.
It seems so. But of the pinnacle is code being ultimate to impacting reflection, idea for social being. See! In theatre, it is better for the surgeonist to err – in which case only a soul is lost, than for a code expert to err in speech – in which case ‘ages to ages’ will be affected: with neo-trait being the order of time.
Doubtless. Prototypical of this – is the herdsman whose memory stores up an ordeal act done against him, and so he passes, by the potency of how this is passed, and not necessarily the content, it to his generation, in chain, who will avenge such crime. Thus, enmity ensues; the birth of neo-entrenchment.
Even the structures of being seem amoebic by virtue of what, if really so, but how it is addressed. Consider this: The external man advent into the black State was, first, to affect the negro’s psyche by tearing down the systems of his beliefs, objects, events, maxims, names etc and declare to him of their darkness. On this basis, he sets up and exalts, like the Messiah’s name, western ideologies into the negro’s inner world, so that he dances to the rhythm of his cunning celestial drumbeat. So literal was the pulchritude of the ideologies to the man that intrigue his mind at the expense of figurative instrumentality of these ideologies. See the great irresistible impact on the chronicle of the negro’s generation! He acts ‘westernly’ alongside, at most, his offsprings.
Ignorance. Ignorance of the highest order! So darker beyond thick gloom, greater than any pestilence ever in existence! Has he no reasoning to have refuted and sensitized his offsprings of this?
Beware – no matter one’s intellectuality – that the voltage of code skillfully employed certainly will lead to volte-face of one, in particular one’s subconsciousness. He edifies himself; his generation in, with or by that notion; that medium. Thus, this is morality of a kind whose ageing practicing is an absolute phenomenon.
Great harm than good has been done! No wonder the author asserts the condemnation and practicing of an alien mode of code and advocates, with provocation, an indigenous one, particularly in the literary circle-enterprise to edify, sensitize and preserve the negro’s ideologies – as in Decolonising the Mind.
A point to be honoured; acknowledged. Who then can set the mountain in motion?
If all hands on deck, and via the mirror of life.
Little, if so, recognition, attention, value will be given to the critic by the international arena. Otherwise if this happens at maximum rate, the point is the content in him, and his natural resources, which will be of benefit to them.
It seems an instance as such depicts all akin events upon once a colonized. They are made to give credence to their confidence as phantom, vain. 60%, by statistics, of educated elites in the foreign lands, in particular Super power, are aliens. The negroes at most. But what is the case?
Labour for sustenance level-farming
Too idiotic! Such toiling is nothing but to build the whites’ land, economic and political systems, so that the end product is higher development – then in turn, the dark skin is parasitic of its architecturing, even on the dominant being, rather than being symbiotic. The black world, its Moses seek for technical aid from abroad to develop their States. Natural resources are extracted, taken there, refined, pay them in huge cent, then brought back, which becomes unoriginal product to be sold to, and consumed by the black citizens. A man is good at X is shuned in his State, but taken, dusted by the light skin to be used and improve his State. In favour of inky man, can’t this treatment be reversed? Has the raven skin lost its logic?
{Giggle} Nothing more than the power of rhetoric often practiced, in which case it has an effect of permanence on the target.
To note one point: that metamorphosis of thought – even with the widely axiom mode of discourse – be treated by means of vast empire of wisdom to awaken the death conscience of the society, with aim of revitalizing its aura, values and state of being.
Together with the ‘mysteries’ examined, so that man be himself. But so long it has been done. Let him be thoughtful of his ways. Here comes the evening star. It is high time we left.
Yerima Zakari
Department of English (Ed.)
UniJos, November, 2016.
08101183141, Yerima220@gmail.com
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