Philosopher Kanye West

Recently I watched an interview of Kanye West by David Letterman. I had anticipated that the insightful David Letterman would reveal Kanye to be the mad man of his reputation. Letterman certainly attempted to establish that. But by the end of the interview, the positions were exactly reversed for me. 

The crux of my reversal was Kanye's view that we are all about maximal expression of self. This position is the basis for his musical journeys and his clothing lines. This sometimes right, sometimes wrong, but always Kanye approach is also the basis for his controversial support of Donald Trump. While not endorsing Trump's articulations, he strongly supports Trump's attempt to articulate his views.

Since freedom for maximal expression of self has always conflicted with an obligation towards the feelings and beliefs of others, why has this topic turned into such an issue? It seems to me neither a higher level of sensitivities or in-sensitivities is to blame. That mistakes effect for cause. Instead, the morphing from the limited range of the power of advertising soundbites into the limitless bounds of memes through the internet turns up crazy for all involved.

This emphasis on maximal expression of self struck me as Spinozist and sane. Spinoza argues for a concept of conatus which defines our essence as an attempt to perservere in one's self. Spinoza's position put him as an early advocate of free speech and democracy. Yet conatus is most easily viewed physically, or as Spinoza puts it, within the attribute of extending. For Spinoza, every mode with an aspect of extending also has an aspect of thinking. Kanye's concept of maximal expression of self is the interior and thinking aspect of conatus. 

This maximal expression of self seems better than "the pursuit of happiness" structured into our nation's founding document. Certainly "life" is the physical notion necessary to individual development and "liberty" is the contextual importance. But liberty spent in the pursuit of happiness is poorly connected to real self. Better stated, liberty in the pursuit of maximal expression of self is rooted in the unique characteristics of an individual.

David Letterman was unable or unwilling to hone in on Kanye's point. Letterman appeared to approach the interview with preconceptions designed to caricature the interviewee. Kanye was open and honest about his struggles with mental health, describing a sprained brain syndrome that caused him to tend to ramp up. But Kanye revealed that the madness did not lie within Kanye, but within the collective crowd, included Letterman, obsessed with defining self by not offending others.