April 22, 2013
In this primarily political guidebook, Van Den Berg introduces what he calls the philosophy of universal subjectivism. It becomes evident, though, that this is not a unitary system emergent from fleshed-out premises as much as it is a long-practiced mental exercise. Reminiscent of spontaneous childhood introspection, Van Den Berg's philosophyâpresented as the sum of John Rawls's and Peter Singer'sâcharges individuals to reimagine society from the position of one at the political and ethical control board. The express purpose of this thought experiment is to "diminish suffering and promote happiness." While ensuing chapters emphasize Van Den Berg's prioritization of suffering, the topic of happiness is directly addressed only to be essentially dismissed. This is not surprising given an early statement in which the author exonerates his philosophy from going into exhaustive detail on the fundamentals, asserting that all basic questions of philosophy play second fiddle to ecological crisis. This stance manifests itself repeatedly as statements that result from philosophical rumination are presented without qualification. Neither the philosophical basis for governmental involvement nor the reason for privileging suffering are satisfactorily substantiated. The author takes a dim view of humankind while calling for dramatic behavioral changes meant to accomplish a goal never integrated into a comprehensive philosophy.