Radiohead and Philosophy - Brandon W. Forbes [18]
Radiohead’s songs suggest that you should erect a barrier, even of repeated minimal words, or the assertion of a “we,” to protect yourself—and then there proves to be a place in each song to which you, too, can’t be admitted, because the singer has something within him closed to interference, just as every one of us does, or should. We’ll all have to find the last dwellings within ourselves that are closed to intrusion, and begin from there. The politics of the next age, if we are to survive, will be a politics of the re-creation of privacy.8
3.
All the Argument We Need
JOHN SYLVIA
In early June of 2008, Radiohead teamed up with MTV’s project EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) and released a music video for the song “All I Need.” Typical music videos follow a story element of the song, show clips of the members of the group playing their instruments, or just use intriguing visuals. This video’s quite different. It does feature a story, but it has an edge.
The video features a split screen. On the left is presumably an American child going about his typical day. On the right is a child presumably from another country also going about his typical day. Despite similarities such as waking up, washing their faces, and eating, the video shows the stark contrast between the two lives. The American child is relatively comfortable. He watches television, goes to school, reads from a book, and colors a picture. In contrast, the other boy works in a shop. Near the end, this boy puts down an almost finished shoe just as the American child takes off his shoes to go to bed. The shoes are shown right next to each other on the split screens and look similar, if not identical. Because this video was made specifically for the EXIT program, the meaning is clear; however, even if we didn’t know the reason the video was made, the message should be fairly clear in light of labor conditions around the world.
Because the shots are so similar, they contrast how different the lives of the two boys are.
Although there is by no means universal agreement, many people have been strongly affected by this video and made aware of the exploitation of child laborers in other countries. I’ve long thought about the issue from a political and philosophical perspective. Yet this video still made an incredibly strong impression on me—stronger than even some of the best philosophical arguments in western philosophy. My reaction struck me as somewhat strange. The little philosopher’s voice raced in my head after watching the video. Traditional arguments about the things in the world are expected to be logical and clear. An argument should be carefully constructed and precise. Yet music, even lyrically, is very often vague, imprecise and fuzzy. What then could it offer about the matter which philosophy or logical discourse could not?
Arguing without Argument
Perhaps you’ve already guessed my answer. Music can elicit such a strong reaction precisely because it can cause an emotional response when we listen to it. This reaction seems to be somehow stronger than reactions to simply logical or rational philosophical arguments. We’ve already looked at this musical and emotional argument against child labor, so what would a more philosophical argument look like?
We can choose from many different ethical theories to make our case, but let’s try to keep it simple. The basic principle of utilitarianism is that what is right is the action which produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. We could spend a lot of time splitting hairs over different formulations of this principle and exactly what we mean by “greatest good.” But if we accept the basic principle of utilitarianism, it does not seem like exploiting children for labor brings about the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The good of my being