Post by Magnet Man on Jan 28, 2008 12:05:30 GMT -5
Some four centuries ago Descartes rationalized existence via the famous dictum “I am because I think”.
The modern would might have been an entirely different place today if he had put aside mathematics and concentrated his great mind more on the unifying the distinction between corporeal nature of “I am” and the incorporeal nature of “I think”.
He never did, and so the world went on to dismiss the divine appointment of kings, chop of their heads and adopt man-made constitutions to over-see the government of human behavior. The hollow nature of the Cartesian dictum is clearly evident in the carnage of two world wars and the human condition today, which remains but a button-push away from species extinction.
Back in the 1950’s, a Jesuit priest who had studied to be a scientist, struggled with the obvious conflict of interests between his two callings. It lead him to become deeply concerned with an analysis of the post-Revolutionary period. He decided to tackle the eternal question from the dual perspective of scientist/priest.
He began by adding a rider to the Cartesian statement and, said: . “To think we must eat.” He then went on to say. “That blunt statement expresses a whole economy, and reveals, according to the way we look at it, either the tyranny of matter or its loftiest power.”
The priest was, of course, Teilhard de Chardin, and the statement was made in his completed treatise on “The Phenomenon of Man” which was banned from publication by the Catholic Church until after his death.
As the world shrinks and the pressures grow ever greater, trying to gain a coherent grasp of the link between matter and spirit has become more urgent today than ever before.
Teilhard tried to tackle it as best he could. Though his book made a stir at the height of the Cold War, little in human behavior has subsequently changed. We remain on the edge of the abyss, with nuclear proliferation making the world even more dangerous than before.
Philosophers needs to keep this discussion on the front burner, and I hope many will join in and share their opinions on this matter.
I will begin by quoting a couple or three of opening paragraphs from Teilhard’s work.
SPIRITUAL ENERGY
There is no concept more familiar to us than that of spiritual energy, yet there is none more opaque scientifically. On the one hand the objectivity of physical effort and work is so well established that the whole of ethics rests on it and, on the other hand, the nature of this inner power is so intangible that the whole description of the universe in mechanical terms has had no need to take account of it, but has been successfully completed in deliberate disregard of its reality.
The difficulties we encounter in trying to hold together spirit and matter in a reasonable perspective are nowhere more harshly revealed. Nowhere is the need more urgent of building a bridge between the two banks of our existence – the physical and moral – if we wish the spiritual and material aspects of our activities to be mutually enlivened.
To connect the two energies, of the body and the soul, in a coherent manner, science has provisionally decided to ignore the question, and it would very convenient for us to do the same. Unfortunately, or fortunately, caught up as we are in the logic of a system where the "within" of things has as much or even more value than the "without", we collide with the difficulty head-on. It is impossible to avoid the clash – we must advance…..
Would anybody like to make another advance ?
The modern would might have been an entirely different place today if he had put aside mathematics and concentrated his great mind more on the unifying the distinction between corporeal nature of “I am” and the incorporeal nature of “I think”.
He never did, and so the world went on to dismiss the divine appointment of kings, chop of their heads and adopt man-made constitutions to over-see the government of human behavior. The hollow nature of the Cartesian dictum is clearly evident in the carnage of two world wars and the human condition today, which remains but a button-push away from species extinction.
Back in the 1950’s, a Jesuit priest who had studied to be a scientist, struggled with the obvious conflict of interests between his two callings. It lead him to become deeply concerned with an analysis of the post-Revolutionary period. He decided to tackle the eternal question from the dual perspective of scientist/priest.
He began by adding a rider to the Cartesian statement and, said: . “To think we must eat.” He then went on to say. “That blunt statement expresses a whole economy, and reveals, according to the way we look at it, either the tyranny of matter or its loftiest power.”
The priest was, of course, Teilhard de Chardin, and the statement was made in his completed treatise on “The Phenomenon of Man” which was banned from publication by the Catholic Church until after his death.
As the world shrinks and the pressures grow ever greater, trying to gain a coherent grasp of the link between matter and spirit has become more urgent today than ever before.
Teilhard tried to tackle it as best he could. Though his book made a stir at the height of the Cold War, little in human behavior has subsequently changed. We remain on the edge of the abyss, with nuclear proliferation making the world even more dangerous than before.
Philosophers needs to keep this discussion on the front burner, and I hope many will join in and share their opinions on this matter.
I will begin by quoting a couple or three of opening paragraphs from Teilhard’s work.
SPIRITUAL ENERGY
There is no concept more familiar to us than that of spiritual energy, yet there is none more opaque scientifically. On the one hand the objectivity of physical effort and work is so well established that the whole of ethics rests on it and, on the other hand, the nature of this inner power is so intangible that the whole description of the universe in mechanical terms has had no need to take account of it, but has been successfully completed in deliberate disregard of its reality.
The difficulties we encounter in trying to hold together spirit and matter in a reasonable perspective are nowhere more harshly revealed. Nowhere is the need more urgent of building a bridge between the two banks of our existence – the physical and moral – if we wish the spiritual and material aspects of our activities to be mutually enlivened.
To connect the two energies, of the body and the soul, in a coherent manner, science has provisionally decided to ignore the question, and it would very convenient for us to do the same. Unfortunately, or fortunately, caught up as we are in the logic of a system where the "within" of things has as much or even more value than the "without", we collide with the difficulty head-on. It is impossible to avoid the clash – we must advance…..
Would anybody like to make another advance ?
