Believers: Passionate & True
The doctrine is held to be true and, as explained earlier, belief is part of school membership and psychologically fundamental to group cohesion. Where adherence confers status or financial benefits, there is always the danger that belief is feigned. However, the focus here is on the reverse: the significance of a person's apparent intensification of belief.
Cause-centred Membership
Within the interaction-for benefit mentalities, it is natural that individuals who are intrinsically cause-centred will be the most passionate members of a philosophy school.
Such individuals will get particular gratification from adherence to the doctrine and will see it as providing them the opportunity to prosper via:
- a meaning in life
- a focus for their high standards
- an opportunity to moralize and exhort
- rules and principles to enable obedience
- their willingness to disseminate doctrinal ideas and applications.
This passion commonly leads to leadership and guardianship positions within the school. Other adherents who are more balanced (e.g. ) or more realistic (e.g. ) might well do a better job even if they are viewed as suspect by the majority.
The biggest problem arises when the individual is as a secondary mentality. Insofar as a doctrine is criticized for extremist positions, it will likely be these individuals who are responsible. Where there is abuse or dishonesty within the school, it will be because the drive for is primary and the importance of is secondary.
The more constructive mentality combination in a leader is . Here, fairness and social benefits of school membership are prioritized, and there are likely to be efforts to interact helpfully with the wider community as well.
«True Believers»
Adherents to a School truly believe the doctrines. But the notion of «true believers» as elaborated in a widely appreciated book by Eric Hoffer (1951), does not properly apply to them. This appellation relates to those who participate in mass movements that seek to enable united action and self-sacrifice for a supposed glorious future.
The founder of Hoffer's mass movements is a "man of words" who attacks and discredits common beliefs in society while creating slogans for a new faith. This faith with its slogans appears superficially to be similar to doctrines and often gets labeled as an "-ism" (e.g. Bolshevism, Nazism). In these movements, there is a rejection of reason, no individualization or mentoring, no peaceful analysis and no debate.
Features of Hoffer's true believers:
It is evident that membership and belief within a philosophical school as presented here, and even participation in an associated movement, have nothing to do with Hoffer's " true believers".
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Originally posted: 7-Sep-2022. Last updated: 20-Mar-2023.