The synthetic question that drove philosophical inquiry for centuries was “why?” and those who asked it were looking for an answer. As analytical thinking and utilitarianism began to dominate the world, the primary question became “how?” and those who asked it still believed that they could find an answer. As the unity of knowledge was fragmented into ever less-connected bits of information, the rhetorical question that has arisen out of despair and hopelessness is a cynical “why not?” and those who ask it assume there is no answer.
