Varieties of Thought Volume III

Varieties of Thought

Attempt at a Tamrielic History of Ideas

Volume III -- Cyrodiil: the Elven Substrate Pollinated by Man

by Maelix Pallania

In the first volume, we traced back the roots of our philosophical tradition to the Summerset Isles. There was born the practice of rational speculation, and though it had little to show in terms of empirical applications, it helped craft logical tools that are still in use in modern science. In the second volume, we saw how the sundering of the Elves paved the way for a series of evolutions and revolutions in Aldmeri thought, with new paths charted by individuals or groups such as the Psijic, the Direnni or Vanus Galerion.

Freed from the shackles of dogmatism and bigotry, a renewed Elven philosophy would serve as the nurturing ground to Man's thirst for enterprising adventure, individual freedom, and empirical knowledge. Though Nordic thinkers are not as studied as Altmer by Cyrodiilic academia, their impact on the Imperial worldview shall not be underestimated. The Man of the North introduced the possibility of individuality, progress, self-fulfillement, while the Elf is prisoner of the impossible ideal of the recreation of a perfect and lost past. Imperial civilization is the fertilization of the Aldmeri substrate, of the Elven formal genius, by the Nordic element, allowing for the crafting of cognitive tools designed to accumulate knowledge and transform the world.

It is in the same vein that the Nedes freed from Ayleid oppression were able to use their former masters' wisdom, and bend it in order to serve their practical needs of economical sustenance, political organization and spiritual guidance. Conquerors of new lands, topplers of tyrants, Men had to carve their place on Tamriel, and could not afford the luxury of idle speculation. After centuries of stagnation under the Alessian Order (even though that ill-known, rarely studied era might be richer in discoveries that is commonly thought), and a few setbacks during periods of disunion and instability, the Cyrodiilic people has, since the days of Reman, been following a path of progress towards prosperity, justice and efficiency, fueled by its academic excellence.

Who knows if science would never have reached its contemporary degree of sophistication and technical efficiency, if the formal brilliance of the Aldmer had never been fertilized by Man? The first contact between the two great branches of the antique race of the Ehlnofey -- between the Nords and the Falmer in Skyrim, between the Ayleids and the Nedes in Cyrodiil -- caused their share of brutality and threatened to reignite the mythical wars of the Dawn. However, slavery, genocide and warfare paved the way for the Cyrodiilic synthesis between the ideas of Elf and Man -- for philosophies grounded in reason, in service of the individual, where freedom of action and of thought is both an ideal and a condition of possibility.

However, Imperial culture would not have fulfilled its potential if it merely was Aldmeri logic pollinated with the Nordic spirit of adventure and independence. Tsaesci influence was instrumental in building a civilization who would come to subdue the chaotic nature that had characterized Tamriel's Arena since the Dawn, to bring about an era of universal order, peace and prosperity. Tsaesci statesmanship and military doctrine have effectively allowed, since the late First Era, to harness the Cyrodiilic ability for innovation with groundbreaking institutional tools, in order to accomplish unprecedented collective goals.

Born at the crossroads of Aldmeri rationalism, Nordic individualism and Tsaesci political philosophy, contemporary Imperial civilization brought Tamriel to an epistemic and economic golden age. It achieved military supremacy, and used it to ensure political unification, free trade and universal citizenship, thus guaranteeing peace, personal dignity and collective prosperity. In turn, individual freedom nurtures the spirit of initiative and drives innovative scientific research, that can then be used by strong political institutions to transform society's material conditions for the greater good.

The scientific and technical achievements we are witnessing, though unprecedented, are the result of a millennia-long progress of human thought. Philosophical traditions originating in Summerset, Atmora and Akavir combined to give birth to a Tamrielic civilization fueled by epistemic efficiency and guided by universal humanism. Let us remember to remain curious about ancient, outdated texts -- to keep our minds opened to foreign, exotic ideas -- lest we stray from the indefinite path of progress.