An Incommensurable World

If every philosophy is spinning in its own universe
And does not claim affinity with the other,
Then why this burning passion to find a unifying principle,
To standardize disparate ideas into a magical concord,
To knit the world into a composite whole!
 
Perhaps we still believe that it is possible to find
A common quality amongst diverse peoples,
A single principle that binds societies together,
One single thought that may signify us and
Separate us from the animal kingdom.

We impose a common language,
Despite Kuhn's remarks to the contrary,
But find a polyglot empire,
Impure in its multiple ethnicities,
Opposing each other with new paradigms.

We have been unmasked by Feyerabend
That we first assume and then interpret,
We create a new theory, find new terms,
Step out of a logical discourse and
Claim to be both rational and consistent.

Our concepts are different,
Our cosmologies are far removed from each other,
And yet we believe that we can
Play language games with synonyms
To create a commensurable world.

First published in Best Poem: A Literary Journal, January 31, 2008