* Joe Carter has the right term for this: heart-rending.
* Marica Bernstein, Experimental Philosophy Meets Experimental Design: 23 Questions (PDF), critiques the experimental philosophy movement, and along the way gives a summary of the basics of experimental design. But the comments at the Experimental Philosophy blog should be read as well.
* In Rich Little Rich Girl Karen Marie Knapp tells the story of Katherine Marie Drexel.
* New Critique is a nice resource on Herman Dooyeweerd.
* A very interesting post on Christianity and the subjective problem of sin at "21st Century Reformation".
* Auxiliary Bishop Fisher of Australia discusses conscience-based ethics.
* The Citizens' Symposium, spinoff of the Carnival of Citizens, is up and running. The first theme is Free Speech; the deadline is March 24th.
* Currently reading God is Watching You: Supernatural Agent Concepts Increase Prosocial Behavior in an Anonymous Economic Game (PDF). Hat-tip to Chris, who discusses it. The discussion of 'reputational concerns' reminds me a bit, actually, of St. Jeanne Chantal, who somewhere points out that if people took divine omnipresence more seriously than they usually do, they would be much more careful about what they do.
* Currently re-reading: Religion's Evolutionary Landscape: Counterintuition, commitment, compassion, communion (PDF) by Scott Atran and Ara Norenzayan, on various points in the cognitive science of religion.
* TheGodFearinFiddler asks, Is Tradition Reliable? (ht: The Patristics Roundup at "hyperekperissou")
ADDED LATER:
* Interfaith Works, formerly Interfaith Power and Light, helps churches to be more environment-friendly.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
Sigh: On Systemic Problems and Individual Responsibility
I end up sighing a lot here, don't I? In this case it is caused by yet another group of people trying to pass the buck on a systemic problem. Look, if you think that something's being a systemic problem means that personal responsibility is swamped out, you haven't given much thought to what the system is. And for every single systemic problem that arises, people try to do this. Misogyny, for instance, is often a systemic problem. That does not mean that opponents of the mysogyny of the system are excused from personally working against mysogyny in those parts of the system closest to them -- starting with themselves. Slavery is a systemic problem; that doesn't mean it's therefore OK for people to own slaves, or condone practices of slavery, or excuse slavers, as long as they advocate reforming 'the system'. If they really were advocating reforming the system, they would be advocating their own self-reformation as one part of it. Their attitude reminds one of the words of T. S. Eliot:
But, as the next lines say, the man that is always shadows the man that pretends to be. You see, the system in each of these cases is just this: you and me, our typical modes of life, and the customs, conventions, and laws that exert pressure on those modes of life. If a problem is systemic, that means you and I are complicitous in it. It does not necessarily mean that we are culpable -- complicity and culpability do not perfectly overlap, as I've pointed out before -- but it does mean that we have a responsibility with regard to it. That responsibility starts with, and ends with, personal virtue; there are lots of other things between starting and ending that are not straightforward matters of personal virtue, like starting new customs and making new laws. But without personal virtue all the reform goes hollow and collapses.
The question is asked: 'Why should I deny myself comforts when everyone else is doing it anyhow?' Because everyone else is thinking the same thing, and with a systemic problem that's one of the things that needs to be changed. It's perfectly fine to say that we should, and must, try to solve a problem collectively; but let's take seriously what 'collectively' actually means, and not pretend that a problem can be solved collectively while we all do nothing individually. A collective solution is just a bunch of interlocking and mutually supporting individual solutions. People who solve a problem collectively all contribute their individual efforts.
This is true for all systemic problems. I have no notion of whether Gore is being responsible or not; certainly people like Monbiot have argued that carbon offsetting is bad faith, like selling indulgences without regard for penitential restitution. I defer to others on such matters, and leave Gore to his own conscience. But the defense that the problem "has nothing to do with personal virtue and everything to do with collective action" is straightforwardly absurd.
They constantly try to escape
From the darkness outside and within
By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.
But, as the next lines say, the man that is always shadows the man that pretends to be. You see, the system in each of these cases is just this: you and me, our typical modes of life, and the customs, conventions, and laws that exert pressure on those modes of life. If a problem is systemic, that means you and I are complicitous in it. It does not necessarily mean that we are culpable -- complicity and culpability do not perfectly overlap, as I've pointed out before -- but it does mean that we have a responsibility with regard to it. That responsibility starts with, and ends with, personal virtue; there are lots of other things between starting and ending that are not straightforward matters of personal virtue, like starting new customs and making new laws. But without personal virtue all the reform goes hollow and collapses.
The question is asked: 'Why should I deny myself comforts when everyone else is doing it anyhow?' Because everyone else is thinking the same thing, and with a systemic problem that's one of the things that needs to be changed. It's perfectly fine to say that we should, and must, try to solve a problem collectively; but let's take seriously what 'collectively' actually means, and not pretend that a problem can be solved collectively while we all do nothing individually. A collective solution is just a bunch of interlocking and mutually supporting individual solutions. People who solve a problem collectively all contribute their individual efforts.
This is true for all systemic problems. I have no notion of whether Gore is being responsible or not; certainly people like Monbiot have argued that carbon offsetting is bad faith, like selling indulgences without regard for penitential restitution. I defer to others on such matters, and leave Gore to his own conscience. But the defense that the problem "has nothing to do with personal virtue and everything to do with collective action" is straightforwardly absurd.
A Gardener in Karmela
In the middle of the third century a man from Nazareth, known to us by the name of Konon, planted and tended a garden outside of Mandron in the provience Pamphylia, in a place called Karmela. He did very little more than that; he just tended his garden and raised enough vegetables to live on.
As time went on, he began to have a reputation for being a good and simple soul; whenever anyone would greet him, he would greet them heartily in return, with all sincerity and good cheer. News of him came to the governor, who grew curious to see this man who lived so simply and cheerfully; and he sent a messenger asking him to come.
But Konon replied to the messenger, "What does the governor have to do with me? I am a Christian. If he wishes to call anyone, let him call those who believe as he does. I will remain with my garden."
So they tied him up and took him to the governor. Once there, the governor tried to get him to engage in the imperial worship; but he refused, saying he would not do so even if they tortured him.
So they tortured him. In particular, they put nails through his feet and forced him to run in front of the governor's chariot. He did not last long, and thus died Konon the Gardener, saintly martyr.
(It has always struck me, by the way, that if there is anyone fit to be a patron saint for Christians of a libertarian stripe, St. Konon, who just wanted to tend his garden in peace, is the one.)
As time went on, he began to have a reputation for being a good and simple soul; whenever anyone would greet him, he would greet them heartily in return, with all sincerity and good cheer. News of him came to the governor, who grew curious to see this man who lived so simply and cheerfully; and he sent a messenger asking him to come.
But Konon replied to the messenger, "What does the governor have to do with me? I am a Christian. If he wishes to call anyone, let him call those who believe as he does. I will remain with my garden."
So they tied him up and took him to the governor. Once there, the governor tried to get him to engage in the imperial worship; but he refused, saying he would not do so even if they tortured him.
So they tortured him. In particular, they put nails through his feet and forced him to run in front of the governor's chariot. He did not last long, and thus died Konon the Gardener, saintly martyr.
(It has always struck me, by the way, that if there is anyone fit to be a patron saint for Christians of a libertarian stripe, St. Konon, who just wanted to tend his garden in peace, is the one.)
Three New Poem Drafts
Absinthine
Rich with wild wormwood
lightly bitter in my taste
the triune in my body
is deeply interlaced
and I am green as glory
with bewitchment in my soul
waiting in the glass
for the God to make me whole
Wild and unruly
acute but hardly sane
I stand upon the table
waiting for the rain
rain drops down now slowly
sweet and cold as ice
heaven interfuses
and I louche to paradise
Light Is Love
Sing a song and let it soar
before is snapped the silver cord;
bear your burden, had from birth,
but bear it lightly on this earth;
though life be lonely, and living cruel,
yet light is love, and love is true.
Catch the light and let it leap
or fly away on flitted feet;
catch it in a crystal shard
or show it pinned upon your heart;
weave it well upon the loom;
for light is love, and love is true.
Pardes
Tremendous in its power is the breathing of the word
Without it reason falters, speech rots with foul decay
The eyes blind themselves with the brightness of bonfires unleashed
My brother is in the garden cutting up the shoots
My brother is struck with madness, enslaved to a fickle moon
My brother is bound in silence to the graveyards of the dead
For mountains tangible to minds cannot be grasped in hand
But only wholly loved
****
The last of these, by the way, is an allusion to Hagigah 14b, in which four rabbis attain to such mystical heights that they glimpsed paradise: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher, and Akiba. Ben Azzai died; Ben Zoma went insane; Acher 'cut the shoots', i.e., became a heretic; only Akiba departed in peace.
Rich with wild wormwood
lightly bitter in my taste
the triune in my body
is deeply interlaced
and I am green as glory
with bewitchment in my soul
waiting in the glass
for the God to make me whole
Wild and unruly
acute but hardly sane
I stand upon the table
waiting for the rain
rain drops down now slowly
sweet and cold as ice
heaven interfuses
and I louche to paradise
Light Is Love
Sing a song and let it soar
before is snapped the silver cord;
bear your burden, had from birth,
but bear it lightly on this earth;
though life be lonely, and living cruel,
yet light is love, and love is true.
Catch the light and let it leap
or fly away on flitted feet;
catch it in a crystal shard
or show it pinned upon your heart;
weave it well upon the loom;
for light is love, and love is true.
Pardes
Tremendous in its power is the breathing of the word
Without it reason falters, speech rots with foul decay
The eyes blind themselves with the brightness of bonfires unleashed
My brother is in the garden cutting up the shoots
My brother is struck with madness, enslaved to a fickle moon
My brother is bound in silence to the graveyards of the dead
For mountains tangible to minds cannot be grasped in hand
But only wholly loved
****
The last of these, by the way, is an allusion to Hagigah 14b, in which four rabbis attain to such mystical heights that they glimpsed paradise: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher, and Akiba. Ben Azzai died; Ben Zoma went insane; Acher 'cut the shoots', i.e., became a heretic; only Akiba departed in peace.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
War and Casuistry
This is a bit old, but I just came across an interesting piece by Melkite Catholic, Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, on Christian Just War Theory and Moral Laxism, which is a criticism of American Catholics with regard to the Iraq War.
Most articles of this sort, criticizing Christian involvement in matters of war, are rather poorly thought-out, in part because they tend to turn into poorly informed and rather misguided attacks on just war theory. What I like about this article is the recognition that the problem is not just war theory but casuistry, and that this, not just war theory, is the point at which to have a rigorous critique of participation in war. I think this is right. Just war theory, in either of its forms, is a general account of justice in war. Considering particular wars (and what to do about them) is not a matter of just war theory; it's a matter of applying principles to particular cases. In no moral arena do principles automatically apply themselves; in every case we have to exercise good judgment about how to classify particular cases, how certain and universal the principles really are, how strictly or rigorously we are to apply principles to them, how much tolerance for disagreement can be accepted as rational, etc. That's what used to be called casuistry, case-handling, before abuses led to the negative associations the word currently has. What Fr. Emmanuel criticizes is the tendency to laxism when wars are involved, and he's quite right about this. His criticism is therefore excellent food for thought. It isn't clear what system of casuistry he himself prefers, although from points here and there it seems that he is a probabilist.
In any case, it's a good example of the importance of casuistry for robust application of moral philosophy to the world, and it sheds some excellent light on many public disputes relevant to morality, many of which are really casuistical disputes that are not recognized as such. Debates about war are certainly one kind of such dispute.
Most articles of this sort, criticizing Christian involvement in matters of war, are rather poorly thought-out, in part because they tend to turn into poorly informed and rather misguided attacks on just war theory. What I like about this article is the recognition that the problem is not just war theory but casuistry, and that this, not just war theory, is the point at which to have a rigorous critique of participation in war. I think this is right. Just war theory, in either of its forms, is a general account of justice in war. Considering particular wars (and what to do about them) is not a matter of just war theory; it's a matter of applying principles to particular cases. In no moral arena do principles automatically apply themselves; in every case we have to exercise good judgment about how to classify particular cases, how certain and universal the principles really are, how strictly or rigorously we are to apply principles to them, how much tolerance for disagreement can be accepted as rational, etc. That's what used to be called casuistry, case-handling, before abuses led to the negative associations the word currently has. What Fr. Emmanuel criticizes is the tendency to laxism when wars are involved, and he's quite right about this. His criticism is therefore excellent food for thought. It isn't clear what system of casuistry he himself prefers, although from points here and there it seems that he is a probabilist.
In any case, it's a good example of the importance of casuistry for robust application of moral philosophy to the world, and it sheds some excellent light on many public disputes relevant to morality, many of which are really casuistical disputes that are not recognized as such. Debates about war are certainly one kind of such dispute.
Cañizeras on Europe
I have a dabbler's interest in differing conceptions of Europe, so I found this article by Cardinal Cañizeras of Spain very interesting, inasmuch as it lays out particularly clearly one very popular (but also very controversial) conception. My rough translation of part of the essay:
Europe is not a geographical continent, capable of being apprehended with clarity, but a concept, a cultural and historical unity. More than this, it is a "spiritual story". The same could be said of Spain. As a society and social ambience, Europe preexists in advance of the existence of the European nations; and Spain, in advance of the Nation that historically exists. With the words of Benedict XVI this past September in Ratisbonne, the elements that shape both achieve their unity in the encounter between the Greek "logos" and the "Logos" of Christian revelation: that is to say, in Christianity. Europe begins to be born with "the encounter between faith and reason, between authentic enlightenment and religion", which Christianity contains. If it is quite true that Europe and Christianity do not coincide, and have never coincided at all, it is also obviously true that the Christian matrix has been that which has given the European "humanitas" its peculiar impulse. As Europe, so also Spain truly was born Christian and for more than a millenium has existed as such. Contemplating their origins helps us to comprehend them in their historical course and to look to the future. With this sight rises the spontaneous question: Will the Europe of tomorrow, will the Spain of tomorrow, be Christian? They will be to the extent that they maintain their roots. But we are able to question ourselves even more thoroughly: Will Europe exist, will Spain, if they leave off being Christian, if they renounce their roots and Christian fundamentals? They will be some other thing, but not Europe, nor Spain either....The future of Europe cannot be in any way a "culture of nothing", of the void, of liberty without limits and without content, of relativism or of skepticism peddled as intellectual conquest, as seems to be the fundamental attitude of the European peoples. Only, to my understanding, the rediscovery of the Christian story, with all the burden that this carries, as a decided and decisive resurrection of the ancient soul of Europe, can offer the "firm and enduring hope to which we aspire". For the future of Europe, and of Spain, God cannot be relegated to the private sphere; forgetting and leaving behind God turns one against man and oneself. They cannot follow the road of humanism to the marginalizing of God. We can well say that "who fights for Europe fights also for democracy", but let us not forget that it is done under the indissoluble bond of eunomia, of a grounding of rights in unconditional moral norms....
Europe is not a geographical continent, capable of being apprehended with clarity, but a concept, a cultural and historical unity. More than this, it is a "spiritual story". The same could be said of Spain. As a society and social ambience, Europe preexists in advance of the existence of the European nations; and Spain, in advance of the Nation that historically exists. With the words of Benedict XVI this past September in Ratisbonne, the elements that shape both achieve their unity in the encounter between the Greek "logos" and the "Logos" of Christian revelation: that is to say, in Christianity. Europe begins to be born with "the encounter between faith and reason, between authentic enlightenment and religion", which Christianity contains. If it is quite true that Europe and Christianity do not coincide, and have never coincided at all, it is also obviously true that the Christian matrix has been that which has given the European "humanitas" its peculiar impulse. As Europe, so also Spain truly was born Christian and for more than a millenium has existed as such. Contemplating their origins helps us to comprehend them in their historical course and to look to the future. With this sight rises the spontaneous question: Will the Europe of tomorrow, will the Spain of tomorrow, be Christian? They will be to the extent that they maintain their roots. But we are able to question ourselves even more thoroughly: Will Europe exist, will Spain, if they leave off being Christian, if they renounce their roots and Christian fundamentals? They will be some other thing, but not Europe, nor Spain either....The future of Europe cannot be in any way a "culture of nothing", of the void, of liberty without limits and without content, of relativism or of skepticism peddled as intellectual conquest, as seems to be the fundamental attitude of the European peoples. Only, to my understanding, the rediscovery of the Christian story, with all the burden that this carries, as a decided and decisive resurrection of the ancient soul of Europe, can offer the "firm and enduring hope to which we aspire". For the future of Europe, and of Spain, God cannot be relegated to the private sphere; forgetting and leaving behind God turns one against man and oneself. They cannot follow the road of humanism to the marginalizing of God. We can well say that "who fights for Europe fights also for democracy", but let us not forget that it is done under the indissoluble bond of eunomia, of a grounding of rights in unconditional moral norms....
Sunday of Gregory Palamas
Today the Orthodox celebrate the Sunday of Gregory Palamas and the 'Second Triumph of Orthodoxy'. Some reading from the blogosphere for this day:
The Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas at "This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis"
St. Gregory Palamas Sunday at "The Abandoned Mind"
A number of posts at "Wisdom!: Readings from the Fathers of the Church" give selections from a dialogue by him:
St. Gregory Palamas: On the Essential Unity of the Uncreated Divine Natural Attributes with the Divine Nature
St. Gregory Palamas: On Deification
St. Gregory Palamas: On the Uncreated Essence and Uncreated Energies
St. Gregory Palamas: On the Hyperousia of the Divine Nature
St. Gregory Palamas: On the Unity of the Divine Essence and Divine Energies
St. Gregory Palamas: On the Relation Between the Divine Essence and the Divine Energy
St. Gregory Palamas: On the Signification of the Divine Names
St. Gregory Palamas: On Participation in God
St. Gregory Palamas: On the Divine Simplicity
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