Philosophy

This matter of philosophy is vital for us, if life is taken to have meaning more than an accident of evolution.  As noted elsewhere in these pages, I hold no offense, as a believer in God, if God chose to achieve the development of nature to the point of forming a thinking animal in which he gave a unique dimension – his own image.  That is acceptable for me.  My concern is not with the past, but with the future.  This is with the understanding that sometimes origins offer keys to understanding.  Where do we go from here?  Of course we gain some clues from the past, but the reality will be future.  The information needed relates to what is currently effective for my life, so to suggest what is waiting yonder.  I am interested in beginnings.  I am more interested in endings.  Where am I going?  I am more interested in solutions than the origins of the problems.  In the issues of life there arises some inevitable philosophy.  It may be simple or complicated.

The eminent French writer, Luc Perry, a philosopher at the Sorbonne, and a consultant to government, authored a book entitled, A Brief History of Thought.  Translated into English from French, the English version was reviewed by Gary Rosen, (WSJ. 12/17/2011 – Pg. A11).  Rosen writes of Perry: Philosophy, he stresses is no mere academic exercise.  It gives us intellectual resources for living in a better and freer way.  What is freedom?  Our answer to the question comprises a philosophy of freedom, and it may be contradictory to the view held by another member of the family.  The view that freedom was the accommodation of the equality of all persons would be a different philosophy from: I am free to do whatever I want to do.  We toss words about that, lacking definitions, may not tell us much.  Perry makes three large brush strokes in his limited treatment of philosophy beginning with Greek thought, moving into the Christian replacement, and finally into humanism which presumably is the current context.  At this point it would be well to read Mortimer Adler’s book on the ten meaningful mistakes of the philosophers so as to gain some balance in determining the philosophy expressing the beliefs and ideals of the reader.

Perry, not a believer, does offer respect to Christian philosophy.  He understands the power of Christian love and humility, and he chides contemporary thinkers who ignore religion, not least because they fail to see the origins of modern ethics in the idea that ‘the moral worth of a person does not lie in his inherited gifts or natural talents, but in the free use he makes of them.’  Perry would embrace modern humanism for philosophy, and urges the people to find new forms of transcendence.  He would find it in humanity.  History informs me that orientation is going to be a lost cause.  Perry would have us give up the otherworldly for self, and find transcendence there. We need God for transcendence, or we need a new and acceptable definition of the word. There are some touches of ecstasy, wonder, beauty, aspiration, vision, even some form of faith in natural life that reflect on the elements of transcendence, but high transcendence is of God.  Its chief factor in the human experience is the hope of immortality.  The end of even the best in natural life is death.  Following the philosophies of the humanists is to march up a box canyon.  The person arrives at the end and discovers that his or her situation is no different than the animals that tagged along in life.  There is life for a few decades and experience ends.  Persons turn to drugs, to whatever will give them a temporary transcendence in temporary life.  Even if the Christian were to be found in error in the ongoing cosmos, the faith related to Jesus Christ is better in the search for meaning and life elevation than anything the humanist has to offer.  Christianity ought to be true.  It is.  The Christian rests it all in that faith.  Humanists tend to orient self to accept death’s darkness.