Gods are imagined but t'Kelans call them "'...the Real Ones...'" (p. 21)
Plato thought that general, abstract ideas were more real than particular, concrete objects, that transient red things imperfectly imitated permanent redness, that, e.g., the institution of monarchy was preceded and produced by ideas of kingship and royalty, not by an economically based social hierarchy ideologically rationalized only after human actions and interactions had created it. Modern materialist philosophers argued that men had to eat before they could think, that social practice preceded philosophical theories and that philosophy, previously standing on its head, now had to be turned onto its feet.
That is one philosophy graduate's response to three words in a Poul Anderson text.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
There's also the hominins of Mars in S.M. Stirling's IN THE COURTS OF THE CRIMSON KINGS. They called their planet, somewhat presumptuously, the Real World.
But, I don't think monarchy or any other form of gov't arises only or primarily from economic causes. An economy merely provides the means or resources needed for any kind of socio/political organization. Chance and the beliefs and talents, or lack thereof, of a society's leaders also plays a role.
Ad astra! Sean
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