Concept
Life as a Lego Box
Philosophy & Ethics
Creativity & LearningWhat does the Lego box mean in Issue.10?
Life as a Lego box is the central image of the reflective essay in Issue.10: an immense box of Lego toys in which infinite pieces of different colors and shapes fit compatibly and can build any toy, or dream, born in the world of ideas.
In short
In the essay The Metamodern Philosophy, Issue.10 asks the reader to imagine life as an immense box of Lego toys, where infinite pieces of different colors and shapes can fit compatibly, giving the possibility of building absolutely any toy, a dream in the article's words, born in the perfect world of ideas. Like a child who opens the box and realizes the pieces can be put together in any way, the metamodern philosopher marvels at every little detail of life and looks for new ways to unite pieces that were created to function in combination. The image also carries the essay's ethics: the philosopher does not separate from the other pieces, respects the subjectivity of others and, following the maxim the essay attributes to Socrates, affirms that we know nothing, because denying it would mean claiming to have discovered all the pieces in the infinite box that is the universe and our lives.
Key facts
- What does the Lego box stand for in Issue.10?
- Life, and in the essay's last sentence the universe and our lives: infinite pieces that fit together to build any toy, or dream, born in the world of ideas.
- Who opens the box in the essay?
- A child at the beginning of the long journey to get to know the world, the image the essay uses for the metamodern philosopher.
- Why does the philosopher not separate from the other pieces?
- Because, through the Law of Hume, one cannot deduce what should be from what is, and the concept of truth will always be particular to each person.
Where does the image appear?
The image appears in the second half of the essay The Metamodern Philosophy, in section 10.4 of Issue.10. After describing the metamodern philosopher as a bridge builder whose tools should unite what is separated, the essay proposes to imagine life as an immense box of Lego toys, and returns to the box in each of the following paragraphs.
What does the image teach?
The box gathers the essay's themes. The child who opens it stands for a mind that is still a tabula rasa, and the toys it can build are born in the world of ideas the essay takes from Plato. The pieces fit together, and the metamodern philosopher, like a child, looks for new ways to unite them. The infinite box stands for humility: as the essay says after Socrates, we must always affirm that we know nothing, because claiming otherwise would mean claiming to have found every piece.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.
Also from these editions: concepts
Also from these editions: terms
Related terms
- Discernmentnoun
- The ability to judge well, perceive keen distinctions, and grasp obscure psychological or practical truths.
- metamodernadjective
- Relating to a cultural paradigm that oscillates between modern sincerity and postmodern irony.
Related concepts
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- Tabula RasaTabula rasa is the epistemological concept that the human mind begins at birth as a blank slate devoid of innate ideas or preconceived notions. It asserts that all…
- Theory of FormsThe theory of forms is Plato's philosophical doctrine asserting that the physical world of senses is merely an imperfect shadow of a higher realm of immutable and eternal…