Gary R., List: Well said. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Regards, Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USA Professional Engineer, Amateur Philosopher, Lutheran Layman www.LinkedIn.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt - twitter.com/JonAlanSchmidt On Wed, Dec 28, 2016 at 4:00 PM, Gary Richmond <[email protected]> wrote: > List, > > For many scholars, Peirce's metaphysics--perhaps especially his religious > metaphysics and what he sometimes referred to as his pre-scientific > cosmology--has been the most problematic aspect of his philosophy. > Personally, I have never found this to be the case and, indeed, I am quite > aligned with his thinking in those areas while, as I've noted here from > time to time, I arrived at my own not incongruent metaphysical and > religious positions long before I was exposed to Peirce's. > > For the past few years I've been attempting, as a year's end message to > the list, a kind of Peirce-inspired brief counter to such arguments as > Betrand Russell's in his essay, "Why I Am Not a Christian." I've never > succeeded in getting anything into reasonably good enough shape to send to > the list, but this year, encouraged by an email interlocutor, I've finally > decided to risk sending forth this year's attempt (it's the 5th year. and I > don't save drafts of earlier attempts). I suppose I am doing this against > my own better judgment. > > Although Peirce once described his religious views as "buddheo-christian," > I am, for the very limited purposes of this argument, going to use a > principle of at least one school of Zen Buddhism as a foil to Christianity. > I should immediately note that I have great respect for Zen having studied > apsects of it for many years, and continue to find it to be one of the > healthiest psychologies ever invented or discovered (see Alan Watts, > *Psychotherapy > East and West*, 1961). Zen is rich and complex, and my bouncing off this > small piece of it is nothing more than a rhetorical device I'm employing to > make a point. > > The great Zen master, Rinzai (Chinese: Lin Chi), once said "The Buddha > appeared > in the world, turned the wheel of maha-dharma, then entered into nirvana; > yet no trace of his coming and going can be seen." I consider that to be > a rather succinct expression of an important facet of the cosmology of at > least this branch of Zen. > > But if this is a précis of that cosmology (while some scholars would no > doubt argue that it is not and so is misleading), then it is certainly very > far from Peirce's religious cosmology or that of Christianity more > generally. As Peirce and Christianity see it, God didn't merely 'appear' in > the world to then absolutely disengage from it (i.e., enter nirvana), but > rather, He continuously creates it, and eternally loves it. For me the > surest sign of this is *evolution* such as it appears in Peirce's agapism > and writings on evolutionary love. And this is so even if as a race it > would appear that we have sufficient "free will" to impede the fullest > growth of love and thought, the latter considered by Peirce to be one of > the few things in this world still capable of evolving in any significant > sense. From the standpoint of those who are believers in God, some might > say (and even though this is surely not the case for any number of > individuals) that as a race we have turned our backs on God. > > Turning now to Peirce's somewhat idiosyncratic ideas regarding cosmology, > God, and religion, suffice it to say for now that it seems clear enough, at > least to me, that he was indeed a theist, although not a dogmatic or > doctrinaire one. Still, while some have questioned the authenticity of his > religious convictions, it is my view that not only was he a theist, but > that he was as well at least a *kind *of Christian. One could offer many > quotations suggesting this, but here's one I often reflect on: > > I do not believe that man can have the idea of any cause or agency so > stupendous that there is any more adequate way of conceiving it than as > vaguely like a man. Therefore, whoever cannot look at the starry heaven > without thinking that all this universe must have had an adequate cause, > can in my opinion not otherwise think of that cause half so justly than by > thinking it is God (CP 5.536, c. 1905). > > > Yet he also argues that God's Mind is so unlike ours that our minds are as > to His as an insect's is to ours. > > Again, according to the theory being outlined here, God does *not* but > 'turn the wheel of dharma' and enter into some cosmic nirvana leaving us to > struggle on our own in a cold, uncaring universe, but works in each one of > us and in communities of good will to further the growth of love and > intelligence. Indeed, as I now see it, the only hope for our world is > that enough of us come more and more to embrace something like Peirce's > vision of an *Ens Necessarium*, God, truly Creator of all Three Universes > of Experience; and, further, that we find ways to express and share this > vision so that even, and perhaps especially, a scientific mind can affirm > it and guide her life and actions in accordance with it. In truth, it > ought seem sensible to *any* normal mind including those less open to > learning, to trusting, to believing that this world--this* life*--has any > meaning, any purpose beyond what we can as individuals (and corporations) > make of it. > > As I understand it, love--whether one is speaking of our love of God, the > love of another person or community, or that of the earth and the cosmos > itself, the truest love is not a mere evanescent feeling, a mere 1ns, but > rather a commitment, a 3ns, a* habit of acting lovingly, *involving those > 2nses which are our loving actions. Or, as the aforementioned interlocutor > has suggested. this trichotomy might be taken further in characterizing > love "as a habit of thought, action, *and *feeling--the final > interpretant of God's great argument and poem, the entire universe." > > It is conceivable, I believe, for religious and non-religious people to > embrace something of the spirit of the evolutionary love which, while we > Christians say, *surpasses all understanding*, yet is* not* beyond all > reason. In this evolutionary view of creation, it is not only we who need > God's help, but God who needs ours in order to make human life more > reasonable (I'm always thinking something along this line of thought when > in praying the most famous of Christian prayers, The Lord's Prayer, I say, > "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"). While our great > technologies may suggest that we've made the world more rational in some > ways, rationality is not equivalent to reason as Peirce conceived of it. > Reason will require our garnering a richer, much deeper sense of our human > vocation and purpose even in the midst of this tragically fractured world. > > But entertaining for the moment that thought that we may have as a race > decisively turned our backs on God and will not be capable of finding our > way to Him, I would still like to imagine that in the vastness of the > cosmos that there is a small planet revolving around a medium sized star, > and that there the people have embraced the wild beauty of their earth, and > so cherish and serve it and each other, growing ever stronger in the love > of their only home in the cosmos and the sentient beings which inhabit it, > especially all the members of their own race whom they call 'brother' and > 'sister', 'son' and 'daughter'. And I would hope that their faith in God > is such that when one day at last their sun fades and their planet dies (as > all stars and planets will and must), that they will indeed enter something > less like nirvana and more like heaven, not only as individuals, but as a > race, a vast community of those past and present who together have come to > see their human vocation as that of together growing ever more reasonable > and loving in the faith that life is of inestimable and eternal value. > > Winter: Tonight: Sunset > by David Budbill > > Tonight at sunset walking on the snowy road, > > my shoes crunching on the frozen gravel, first > > through the woods, then out into the open fields > > past a couple of trailers and some pickup trucks, I stop > > and look at the sky. Suddenly: orange, red, pink, blue, > > green, purple, yellow, gray, all at once and everywhere. > > I pause in this moment at the beginning of my old age > > and I say a prayer of gratitude for getting to this evening > > a prayer for being here, today, now, alive > > in this life, in this evening, under this sky. > "Winter: Tonight: Sunset" by David Budbill from *While We've Still Got > Feet*. © Copper Canyon Press, 2010. > > > Finally, as Rainer Maria Rilke wrote: "And now let us welcome the new > year, full of things that have never been." > > Best, > > Gary R > > [image: Gary Richmond] > > *Gary Richmond* > *Philosophy and Critical Thinking* > *Communication Studies* > *LaGuardia College of the City University of New York* > *C 745* > *718 482-5690 <(718)%20482-5690>* >
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