Arvindus

Contemplations

Wokeism

Content

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The word 'woke' is rather new and comes from the English language where it is also not very long in use. The word is an Afro-American corruption of the English 'wake' which indicates a being awake.

The word became in use within the Afro-American community to refer to a being awake for a presupposed unequal treatment of Afro-Americans. Through aligned groups in the Netherlands this term was introduced into the Dutch language to mutatis mutandis refer to the same. Primarily 'woke' was a term to refer to a being awake of individuals with a non-European ethnicity (and initially especially of individuals with an African ethnicity) for their racial discrimination.

This being awake or 'wokeness' encompassed a remarkable point of departure regarding the above mentioned racism. Someone with a European ethnicity would not be able to validly define such aforementioned racism. Such a defining was within 'wokeism' pejoratively called 'whitemansplaining', being 'the explanation of the white man'. 'Wokeists' took the individual experience of racism of individuals with a non-European ethnicity as leading to determine whether a certain situation should be considered as either racist or not. Racism was not what was objectively defined as racism but what by an individual with a non-European ethnicity was subjectively experienced as racism.

This may easily be considered as a Copernican or Cartesian turn. Like Copernicus once made the turn from a geocentric to a heliocentric cosmology and Descartes once did that from a theocentric to an anthropocentric philosophy, so did the wokeists turn from objectivistic truth finding to subjectivistic truth finding. Truth about racism is in wokeism not found in objective data that is gained by empiricism and logicism but in in subjective data of experiencing individuals of a specific ethnicity.

This woke form of truth finding makes that racism cannot be objectively and generally defined but that this must happen subjectively and individually. This makes wokeism also relativistic. When a situation by one individual with a non-European ethnicity is experienced as racism and by another individual with the same ethnicity as non-racism and if the real occurrence of racism thereby is dependent upon the experiences of the regarded individuals then the racism of that regarded situation should be considered as relative. Thus according to wokeism racism only exists in the subjective experience of someone with a non-European ethnicity.

Now a wokeist could object that racism does exist objectively but that this objective racism can only be known by individuals with a non-European ethnicity. However in that case such an individual should be able to define racism objectively, but so far has such a definition not yet come to us from wokeism.

Now the term 'woke' has not only spread from Afro-American groups to Dutch groups with a non-European ethnicity but also internationally to other rightly or not presupposed discriminated groups, such as for instance that of the transsexuals. Although they themselves shall perhaps not apply the term 'woke' to themselves is by outsiders their fight for emancipation gathered under it.

That the fight for emancipation of certain transsexuals by outsiders is gather under the same name of 'woke' as the fight for emancipation of certain non-European ethnic minorities has perhaps much to do with the fact that they employ comparable subjectivistic points of view. Like racism according to woke individuals with a non-European ethnicity lies in their individual experience, so the being of a man or a woman lies according to woke transsexuals in their individual experience. Being a man is feeling yourself to be a man and being a women is feeling yourself to be a woman, like racism regards the feeling of being racist treated – according to the woke doctrine.

Above was spoken about subjectivism and objectivism, whereby under the latter name empiricism and logicism were mentioned. Empiricism as sense perception and logicism as logical deduction are objectivistic and make use of the third person perspective, like subjectivism actually encompasses emotional experience and makes use of the first person perspective. Wokeism is thus besides subjectivistic also emotionalistic. This is also why outsiders often blame wokeism to be inconsistent. Emotionalism simply does not wield a third person perspective and does not follow the laws of logic.

This emotionalism of wokeism can further also be recognized in the emphasis that is being laid upon hurting. The not hurting of certain minorities, for instance individuals that have no European ethnicity or who identify with the to them opposite natural sex, is within wokeism leading for action. That they with their actions for their fight for emancipation may even so hurt individuals (namely those not belonging to their minority group) is thereby usually not taken in consideration, and this totally fits within an emotional subjectivistic first person perspective (which some may call 'egocentrism').

What now can as a result of the above be concluded? Wokeism can basically be considered as a movement of truth finding that thereby wields the principles of subjectivism, emotionalism and first person perspectivism. This movement therewith easily collides with the more traditional academic movement of truth finding which wields the principles of objectivism, empiricism, logicism and third person perspectivism.

And this conclusion offers a good basis for possible following publications to build upon.