Intellectual Originality

When someone says that we are "only standing on the shoulders of those before us," he or she is gravely mistaken.  Yes, there are specific disciplines (science and history especially) that can only make great progress over time because one generation passes on information to the next.  However, there are at least three fatal flaws with the position that we can only rediscover the sound conclusions of earlier generations.

First of all, there are enormous matters that have been largely, if not entirely, glossed over by historical philosophers and theologians, ranging from matters of epistemology to metaphysics to genuine Christian doctrine (the metaphysics of logic, the extent of absolute certainty, and multiple other issues have scarcely been correctly addressed).  Combined with the fact that most writers and thinkers were thoroughly fallacious, it becomes clear that history contradicts the idea that humans generally tend to gravitate towards truth.  It is only a minority that embraces actual rationality.

Second, even if all knowable truths had been discovered throughout prior generations, one could and likely will discover at least a large number of them independently, as if it was the first time any human had learned of them.  In such a scenario past men and women would have nothing at all to do with one’s discoveries.  To credit them with one’s intellectual realizations would, therefore, be erroneous.

Third, since someone had to be the first person to discover or recognize a truth, it is not true that people can only stand on the shoulders of others.  This is even more pronounced when someone must challenge or overturn a common ideology in order to make progress: in at least some cases, this would mean venturing out into uncharted philosophical territory.

Of course intellectual originality is not dead!  There is a great deal of philosophical/theological stagnancy in the present world, but this is because of a refusal by the majority to critically think about concepts that scarcely receive proper attention, as well as a reluctance to confess that many documented people of history engaged in mere sophistry.  One reason it is not impossible to develop genuine intellectual originality is because many humans were often never close to the truth to begin with.  History is a record of the numerous fallacies, ideological failures, and assumptions that many individuals have embraced.

If someone tells you that you can do nothing except rediscover truths that others have acknowledged, they are lying, ignorant, or stupid.  It is impossible to derive all of one’s knowledge from the work of past individuals.