I, like many other (probably most or all) philosophers, have coined short phrases that have vast amounts of thought put into them, and have a great deal of meaning, but lose most or all of that meaning when translated. Yet these short phrases are how we express our philosophies, because to us they serve as a way of expressing a philosophical point in a sentence, and to fully explain them would require a book.
The Greeks, for example, would say that "All Is Fire", and there was a lot more to that phrase than a simple statement that everything was made of fire. One of these phrases, for me, is "What must be done, can be done, because it must be done."
The Greeks, for example, would say that "All Is Fire", and there was a lot more to that phrase than a simple statement that everything was made of fire. One of these phrases, for me, is "What must be done, can be done, because it must be done."
On the face of it, it sounds either absurd or like a sport-clothing marketing gig. Oh, sure, because something needs to be done, that makes it possible. It sounds like I'm saying that anything is possible, and that anything can be done by anyone.
Yet, that is rather far from the truth, and thus I need to unpack the phrase.
The first step is to examine the word "must" in the first section. "What must be done..." is a very specific clarifying statement. "Must" is an imperative word, and it is important to understand what the word really means, and also what it doesn't mean. That something "must" be done implies that there is a philosophical imperative that it be done, not simply a causal imperative.
An example of this distinction: For an airplane to fly, there "must" be gas in the fuel tanks. This is a scientifically-proveable statement, and cannot be argued with. However, simply because there "must" be gas in the tanks for the airplane to fly, there may be other reasons for the fuel tanks to be empty, and thus the the causal imperative does not become a philosophical imperative.
A philosophical imperative only comes into being when there is something that transcends simple causality and becomes a philosophical matter. When the explosion aboard Apollo 13 destroyed the oxygen tanks, it became a philosophical imperative that the men on the ground solve the matter of providing a solution to the problem of asphyxiation. The "must" of the situation wasn't simply causal, but philosophical ("We are not going to let them die. We are going to bring them back alive."), and the philosophical nature of the situation demanded a solution be found.
Which brings us to the second part of the sentence. "Can be done" should not be taken to imply that the solution is simply possible. If it became a philosophical necessity that I climb Mt. Everest, or get hired as a doctor at Johns Hopkins, that it must be done does not simply make it possible for that to be done tomorrow.
It "can be done" might mean that I spend the next five years training to climb mountains, working out six days a week, and taking every possible measure to ensure a successful outcome. If something becomes a philosophical necessity, then anything that can be done to make it happen should be done. There isn't even a real question of doing otherwise, because of the philosophical imperative nature of doing it demands an extreme level of commitment.
That level of commitment makes things possible that would not be otherwise. People who are totally committed to doing something will find it far easier, in many cases making the impossible possible, than people who are only casual about it. If I casually approach training to climb Mt. Everest, I will find it to be an excruciatingly hard endeavour, and will probably die in a failed attempt. If I am totally committed, then after several years of training, I will be in excellent shape, and will be able to handle the trip.
Which brings us to the final portion of the phrase. "Because it must be done."
Yet, that is rather far from the truth, and thus I need to unpack the phrase.
The first step is to examine the word "must" in the first section. "What must be done..." is a very specific clarifying statement. "Must" is an imperative word, and it is important to understand what the word really means, and also what it doesn't mean. That something "must" be done implies that there is a philosophical imperative that it be done, not simply a causal imperative.
An example of this distinction: For an airplane to fly, there "must" be gas in the fuel tanks. This is a scientifically-proveable statement, and cannot be argued with. However, simply because there "must" be gas in the tanks for the airplane to fly, there may be other reasons for the fuel tanks to be empty, and thus the the causal imperative does not become a philosophical imperative.
A philosophical imperative only comes into being when there is something that transcends simple causality and becomes a philosophical matter. When the explosion aboard Apollo 13 destroyed the oxygen tanks, it became a philosophical imperative that the men on the ground solve the matter of providing a solution to the problem of asphyxiation. The "must" of the situation wasn't simply causal, but philosophical ("We are not going to let them die. We are going to bring them back alive."), and the philosophical nature of the situation demanded a solution be found.
Which brings us to the second part of the sentence. "Can be done" should not be taken to imply that the solution is simply possible. If it became a philosophical necessity that I climb Mt. Everest, or get hired as a doctor at Johns Hopkins, that it must be done does not simply make it possible for that to be done tomorrow.
It "can be done" might mean that I spend the next five years training to climb mountains, working out six days a week, and taking every possible measure to ensure a successful outcome. If something becomes a philosophical necessity, then anything that can be done to make it happen should be done. There isn't even a real question of doing otherwise, because of the philosophical imperative nature of doing it demands an extreme level of commitment.
That level of commitment makes things possible that would not be otherwise. People who are totally committed to doing something will find it far easier, in many cases making the impossible possible, than people who are only casual about it. If I casually approach training to climb Mt. Everest, I will find it to be an excruciatingly hard endeavour, and will probably die in a failed attempt. If I am totally committed, then after several years of training, I will be in excellent shape, and will be able to handle the trip.
Which brings us to the final portion of the phrase. "Because it must be done."
Although it is ultimately up to the individual to know why they must do this or that, and I suspect that many people have never bothered to wonder why they do anything, it is the "Why?" that creates a philosophical imperative out of a causal imperative. "Why?" questions are the ones that create the high levels of commitment that make the impossible possible.
Returning to the Apollo 13 example, the "why" the oxygen system needed to be jury-rigged was obvious, and the philosophical necessity of fixing it created an extreme commitment in all of the engineers that approached the problem. Instead of wondering if it could be done, they started with the presupposition that it could be done, and from there worked to find the solution.
Now, it bears mentioning that the "Why?" of a situation is not always known to the individual, and doesn't truly need to be. There have been a great many people who have done great things without knowing why they were so driven to do them. However, the fact remains that because they believed that it must be done, they went out and did it.
To put it all together, what must be done (because there is a philosophical imperative to do it) can be done (because the high level of commitment and effort put towards doing it will make it possible), because it must be done (the philosophical imperative that it must be done requires that high level of commitment).
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