The insight that claims of absolute, unchanging truth (divine command, totalitarian ideology, scientific certainty) are not the antithesis of construction, but its most aggressive form. Absolutism is built by rigorously eliminating contradictions, declaring its foundations sacred or beyond question, and constructing entire social systems—laws, education, punishments—to reinforce the illusion that its truth is eternal, natural, and not a human-made edifice. It's construction that denies its own constructed nature.
Example: "The dictator's cult wasn't just belief; it was the Theory of Constructed Absolutism in action. His every word became 'The Eternal Truth.' History was rewritten, art was purged, and critics vanished to construct a reality where his rule was as absolute and unquestionable as gravity. The 'absoluteness' was a terrifyingly elaborate social production, maintained by fear and spectacle, not a fact of the universe."
by Abzu Land January 31, 2026
Get the Theory of Constructed Absolutism mug.