TITLE:
The Confusion of the Symbol and That Which Is Symbolised: Religion, the Nation State, Politics and Society
AUTHORS:
Richard Startup
KEYWORDS:
Symbol and Symbolised, Religious Symbols, Nation and Nationalism, Social Status, Left and Right in Politics, Making the Grade in Education
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Philosophy,
Vol.12 No.1,
February
17,
2022
ABSTRACT: The extent of confusion between symbols and that
which is symbolised is examined across five institutional spheres. Religion is
the institution most marked by confusion of this type; indeed in some respects
the symbolic message of religion may be the
extent of the substantive reality. On the other hand, the very existence
of the nation state may be judged to depend upon the exercise of the human
imagination; hence providing a source of instability which may lead to the
excesses of nationalism. In regard to social status, the main problematical element is a certain
circularity: it is necessary to get people to exhibit differences in behaviour
which are then used to justify or constitute the status differences themselves.
In politics, the symbolism of left and right threatens to
strangle creative thinking, while in education the tendency on all sides to orient towards public systems of
measurement and grading undermines
the claim that what is really important is pupil and student learning. A
social cost is being paid for the failure to recognise and, where possible,
address the issues identified.