Preproceedings 2006 - Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society

The Rational Structure of Non-Violent Worldview
Antonino Drago, University of Florence and University of Pisa, Italy
1. A premise
Was the 1989 event of the non-violent liberation of so
many Eastern countries an explosion of irrationality? Most
people think so, since rationality in national defence has
also been equated with a great capability for destruction,
obtained by applying scientific research, that is, the
collective reason of mankind applied to human needs. To
want to face a conflict without weapons was considered as
a merely wishful attitude.
Yet the in 20 th cntury, Indian people, subjugated by
the greatest colonialist empire, conquered national
independence without weapons. Their leader, Gandhi, was
inspired by a notion, non-violence, which rejects all
offensive means. Moreover, Gandhi often reiterated that
his non-violent method had to be qualified as a very
science, so that his life experimented with it in a scientific
way (e.g., see the title of 30). On the other hand, Gandhi
accused Western science of being one of the structural
violences exported by Western civilisation.(29) Apparently,
by the term “science” Gandhi was referring to the hard
sciences, yet by interpreting them from an alternative
viewpoint. Which one?
2. An alternative tradition within Western
science
An close look at the history of scientific theories proves
that since the 18 th century natural science has included a
relevant minoritarian tradition. It is not difficult to recognise
that classical chemistry was at variance with Newton’s
mechanics, the dominating theory throughout two
centuries of science. The same holds true for: (12) L.
Carnot’s calculus(6), geometry(5) and mechanics(4), S.
Carnot’s thermodynamics(7), Lobachevsky’s non-
Euclidean geometry(37), Einstein's theory of special
relativity(26).
The alternative attitude of so many theories is
commonly ignored since they are all accused of being
"phenomenological", “immature”, lacking advanced
mathematics theories. Yet, a comparison shows that they
enjoy a common method, which was sketched by L. Carnot
as an improvement of the “synthetic method”. 1
3. The parallelism with conflict theories
Its basic features are shared by some social theories and
even Gandhi’s non-violent thinking.
i) According to L. Carnot's synthetic method, each of
the above-mentioned theories, rather thanbeing organised
as an apodictic system (whose truth flows from few, abstract
axioms by means of a purely deductive development), first
posits an universal problem concerning a given field of
phenomena; e.g., in classical chemistry, to discover which
elements constitute matter; in S. Carnot’s thermodynamics,
the maximum efficiency in producing work from heat; in
Lobachevsky’s theory, whether more than one parallel line is
1 "Note" (6, 217-253). An authoritative book on his scientific activity is (32). A
more recent and complete book is (8).
possible in geometry; in Einstein's theory, which are the
Lorentz invariants in mechanics(13,7, 37,9, 26).
Likely, Gandhi’s worldview cannot be derived from
self-evident principles; rather it puts the universal problem as
to how to solve conflicts in interpersonal relationships by
means of a final agreement among opponents.
Let us note that a scientific theory of even the most
intimate conflicts, i.e., Freud’s psychoanalysis, shares this
feature: it places the problem of solving traumas in a
patient.(27) Also Marx' theory of social conflicts places the
problem of how to overcome capitalism in mankind's
history.(31)
Some theories mediate between natural sciences and
the theory of conflicts; strategic theories apply rationality in a
scientific way to a lot of factors involved in the most
tremendous conflict – war. Rather than merely use brute,
destructive force, some strategiespose the universal
problem of managing wars by linking the best destructive
power with political aims. This attitude characterises the
three strategists Sun Tzu,(41) L. Carnot,(8) Clausewitz.(10)
ii) Each of the above theories induces from commonly
shared knowledge a new method, capable of solving the
previously stated universal problem. Such a feature is
apparent in classical chemistry, where chemists, although
lacking direct evidence on elements of matter, induced, from
both analysis and synthesis of common substances, an
excellent method for listing these elements. Similar notes
apply to the remaining above-mentioned natural theories. In
particular, Einstein's theory started his celebrated paper by
suggesting a new method for measuring space and time, for
obtaining a first Lorentz invariant.(26)
Likely, Gandhi’s theory of non-violence leads us to
induce from the knowledge of the common links with an
opponent a conciliatory viewpoint, from which to develop a
specific method for solving through a common agreement
the conflict.
Notice that both Freud and Marx did not appeal to
esoteric or highly abstract notions from which to draw their
theories; rather, both wrote books addressed to a wide
public for presenting new methods.
Just because the above-mentioned alternative
strategists based their theories on common knowledge their
books on strategy were addressed to laymen.(10,
Introduction) Each of such theories does not suggest a list of
technical orders imparted to subordinate people, but a new
method, which each soldier can interiorise.(1,11,21)
iii) The entire synthetic method was qualified in semiformal
terms by L. Carnot as the method of the ‘adjunctions’
to a given system, which is so generalised that the search
for a solution is made easier; after the desired solution is
obtained, it is introduced, by suppressing auxiliary variables,
to the initial system. For instance, in the (ancient)
infinitesimal analysis one adds to a mathematical system to
be solved some auxiliary variables, commonly called
infinitesimals; which, after the solution is obtained, are
"suppressed". In his mechanics, L. Carnot added
“geometrical motions”, which in the simplest case represent
changes in the reference frames, and which in general
constitute a group of transformations; in fact, Carnot started
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