Stream2

When I was about 20 years old I stumbled across an introduction to Kant. I was mesmerized by the idea that a sound ethical framework could dictate every single choice that I make in life. Up until that point I was intimidated and stressed by the idea that life is made up by the choices I make. Reading this introduction to Kant made me second guess that. Maybe life isn’t about choices, maybe it’s about knowledge.

Many years later I was talking to my brother and he mentioned the concept of a regulative ideal. The idea is similar.

In Buddhism there is such a regulative ideal, and it is moral ideal. The idea is simple – adhere to the moral framework provided by the religion and eventually you will find enlightenment. This idea never appealed to me and I’m not in bad company. Aristotle went over two types of virtue in his Nichomachean Ethics: moral virtue and intellectual virtue. His conclusion is simple: intellectual virtue leads to a better life than moral virtue.

Aristotle’s work is what inspired the idea of an intellectual framework. Maybe an intellectual framework, and not a moral framework, can also lead to enlightenment. (Of course having a moral compass is fundamentally important, but a compass is not a framework). Here too, I’m not in bad company. Many spiritualists recommend the principle of letting go as a means to find enlightenment. Letting go is not a moral framework; it is an intellectual framework.

A moral framework is something that regulates behaviour: it says “do good”. An intellectual framework on the other hand regulates thought: it says “let what you know dictate your thoughts”. Of course intellectual frameworks influence behaviour, but correct behaviour is not the goal. Stream of consciousness is the goal. (There is a risk here of doing bad, and I stress once again the importance of a moral compass, but this is not the topic of this post.)

There’s a subtlety here: an intellectual framework isn’t run of the mill knowledge. It’s knowledge that pertains to ones functioning as a human being (hence regulative). Long has there been a debate about free will. I won’t assert a stance here, but intellectual frameworks provide a clue. If a person has an intellectual framework regulating their thinking, then they’re not free to make any choice under the sun. Their choices must be in harmony with their intellectual framework. (A moral compass is another such regulative function, although perhaps not an ideal.)

Enlightenment aside, what an intellectual framework provides is focus. If you’re certain of the principle dictated by an intellectual framework, you don’t have to waste energy thinking about it anymore. You’re free to focus one level deeper. This is why intellectual frameworks catalyze growth. They’re a foundation to build upon.

Another beautiful thing about intellectual frameworks is that they can grow and develop. Maybe letting go is an appealing framework for someone searching for happiness, but if they discover happiness lies in having a positive moral effect on the world, then all of a sudden letting go isn’t sufficient. So their framework might evolve to right will. I.e. holding on to doing the right thing. If this were to happen, someone would have successfully circumvented the need for a moral framework: they found morality in their intellectual framework.

Since intellectual frameworks catalyze growth, they’re useful in many areas. If an entrepreneur succeeds in solidifying the perfect vision for the long term, then this can function as an intellectual framework too. Everything they work on becomes a path to the vision. They can build up a work system that leads to the vision, and the system functions as an intellectual framework too!