Hello, everyone. I'm Stephen West. This is philosophize this patreon.com slash

philosophize this. If you want to help keep this show going, you can also go to

philosophize this.org for more information on the Amazon banner. I released two

episodes today and I know not everyone has the luxury to listen to them back to

back. But if you do, I highly recommend it. These two episodes go together. They

need each other. They complete each other. They should be together. Help them.

Either way, I hope you love the show today.

So like we talked about last time, when structuralism bursts onto the scene in

the early 20th century, there's an immediate shift in the way many thinkers view

the traditional assumptions we've made about subjectivity. The idea that what

you are is a free acting independent subject, sort of disinterestedly taking in

the universe, exploring the infinite options at your disposal. I mean, all that

starts to seem like an outdated, delusional way of viewing what it is to be

a self. What it starts to look like is what you are. Every preference, every

habit, every belief that you hold is merely an expression of rituals and

structures of a culture that you happen to be occupying during your time here.

The self doesn't shape the world. The world shapes the self as it goes. Now,

this is usually easy for people to get on board with when it comes to the

little things. For example, the gestures that we use, right? Like you can point

out to somebody that they wave at people when they greet them. And you can ask

them, where did you get that from? Where did you get the idea to move your hand back

and forth at someone when you see them? I mean, you didn't come out of the womb

...