Tiny Manifesto #11
It is my intention to come to terms with the claims of “those philosophers who have thrown most light on political and moral life, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Marx.”
Towards a Personal Pattern Language for Political Action: Iteration 2026
Manifestoes 1-50: Preparatory actions I can intend without involving anyone else but myself
This being the first tiny manifesto I post but hypothetically the eleventh following what I hope to discover to be the starting point of this project, I am not in 2026 able to make connections to any encompassing patterns. I hope such connections will become clear as I continue, and I intend to annotate those discoveries in future posts in this project and future iterations of this project.
Both the actions that constitute my life and reflection on my life rely on attention to the best thinking available so far on what is good for humans (taking into account what is good for the whole earth). Where is that “best thinking so far” to be found?
It is my intention to come to terms with the claims of “those philosophers who have thrown most light on political and moral life, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Marx.”
Alasdair MacIntyre makes this claim about Aristotle, Aquinas, and Marx in his 2016 book, Ethics in the conflicts of modernity: An essay on desire, practical reasoning, and narrative (on page 237). For the time being I am persuaded by MacIntyre’s assertion because of the ways in which MacIntyre relies on these three philosophers across the full arc of his own life’s project of moral inquiry. In my annual reflective practice reports on my scholarship (to my graduate school colleagues) I have for several years mentioned this persistent intention, and as this effort at coming to terms is already part of my everyday life it makes for a good first tiny manifesto to publish here on Substack. It is my intention in my scholarship to make no philosophical assertions I cannot support in and with my own life, and so affirming this intention seems right and good to me at this time, given my efforts towards it so far.
While I don’t believe that this pattern, as articulated in this intention, applies to every human in every place and in every time, I am persuaded that it applies to everyone who must come to terms with the historical reality of 21st century capitalism and of modern nation states, everyone whose life is afforded and constrained by the effects of Eurogenic colonialism. For the time being, I am persuaded these three (with an assist from MacIntyre himself) are our best available guides, to follow, to emulate, and perhaps for a future generation to surpass. And I am persuaded that some pattern like it—coming to terms with those philosophers who can be said to have thrown most light on political and moral life in their place and their time—applied, applies, and will apply to everyone else.
The action this pattern demands of me is becoming deeply familiar, in the remainder of my life, with the bodies of work of each of these philosophers and with the best critics and proponents of their work, and—as best as I am able—testing their insights against both the objective historical conditions within which I find myself and my own lived experience.
This being the first tiny manifesto I post but hypothetically the eleventh from what I hope to discover to be the starting point of this project, I am not in 2026 able to make connections to any encompassed patterns. I hope such connections will become clear as I continue, and I intend to annotate those discoveries in future posts in this project and future iterations of this project.
Also see: A Note on Tiny Manifesto #11