Inquiry into the Past

    The inquiry into the past can be seen as a way to find out how people behaved to justify a present action. Some people in the past worked this way, so we should work this way to. At first this argument seems to be a logical fallacy of some sort. But even if you were to charge to argument with being a formal fallacious, there is still an insight to be gleaned from the argument, which is the fact that the past can be a guide for present action.

    Once we have a firm grasp of the events that are important to us, then we can begin to move forward in our plans, which are based upon our understanding of these important events. Usually these events are either pleasurable or painful experiences that we wish either to run after to avoid or seek after to brook. But these personal concerns are too trivial though because no one cares about them. So we must look to pubic events to begin our inquiry into these important matters.

   The happy experiences of mankind have been found in their work though managing either their own property or the people who live on that property. Note that this post is not about slavery, but rather what people enjoy in their work. In either case, their property has been the source of enjoyment because of the yield from it such as grain from a farm. People then trade items that are either man-made or found in nature to gain a benefit from them. These products come from land, which is the focus of mankind for their happy experiences. We seek to improve the functions of these sources of happiness through our labor over our property that has been given to us.

    The painful experiences of mankind have been through the disputes that they have over their property. Conflicts begin over disputes over the right to property. These fights are not going to be resolved any time soon, so it seems to be the natural outcome over disputes about ownership. And usually the winner of these fights are the the stronger willed ones, who relentlessly pursue what is theirs. So we are impressed as historical inquirers over the struggles of mankind and seek to find a reason why these painful experiences happen.