2.69
There are many ways one can change the world. We can act within the world: rearrange entities and patterns of entities. We may have a certain aesthetic or ethical sense or ideal, for instance, according to which we try to rearrange such entities: we see a line and want to keep drawing it; we see an array and want other entities to continue it.
Or we act upon the world — not that one ever fully escapes the world, but this kind of action involves rethinking the terms of the world. It involves rethinking from things themselves, for these deny full adherence to the terms through which they’re understood and thereby offer new ways of thinking. Thus, the world and things act upon you.
We cannot actually separate the first and second ways of changing the world. Engaging with things within the world entails an engagement with the world itself, acting upon the world is in actuality to act within it, and the world acts upon you in both cases. Acts of interpretation cause changes on both levels, because they situate us in relation to our world. Gestalt shifts also occur on both levels. But, nonetheless, there’s a difference of emphasis.
Acting upon the world can involve seeing things in a new way: a transformation of self and world.
Why should one change the world? – There could be a variety of reasons, and it’s questionable whether one could even choose not to. – A question posed within all philosophy is how one should live. Even in the depths, perhaps especially in the depths, of the Tractatus or Language, Truth and Logic, the ethical question persists. Even in the midst of linguistic analysis, onto-ethical stances are taken.
Why should one change the world? – Because our world doesn’t accord with how we should best be.