Friday, May 18, 2018
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
The Uses of Philosophy – The Incompleteness of Science Leszek Figurski
The Uses of Philosophy – The
Incompleteness of Science
To philosophize is to attempt to see in a
coherent and meaningful vision the totality of my whole
existence. It is a renewed effort to see the essential value and direction of
my life. Ultimately to philosophize one must decide for wisdom of life.
Here we face a number of
difficulties.
First a casual look at the
history of Philosophy reveals to us
many and different beliefs, ideologies,
faiths. As already mentioned, it seems that almost everything that has been
believed as true by some thinkers was also denied by others. Philosophers do not
seem to agree on the most vital issues, which perennially confront every
generation of mortals.
Second a casual look at the
contemporary scene, at the world today, seems to suggest the
same. There are so many divergent views, ideologies and mythologies and all have dedicated defenders and followers
sometimes fanatically sold to their visions of what is valuable, true and
meaningful.
This realization may lead to
despair. Is Truth attainable at all? How can I know whether there is
anything worth believing at all? Is not skepticism the most reasonable attitude? Is not
everything relative?
Third the observation of
the great majority of people is not encouraging either. It does not take much
time to see that a great part of
mankind lives without paying much
attention to the crucial questions of human existence.
False notions of security, ignorance deliberately cultivated, thoughtless pleasure-seeking, mad
activism are all glorified and widely
practiced. Preoccupation with senseless trivialities – this is what we see
everywhere, or it seems so.
Not many people like to
think deeply. Many deliberately evade confronting their inner emptiness by
constantly trying to run away from themselves. The society in which we live provides immeasurable ways
for making it easy to plunge into thoughtless spending of time. It
is called entertainment: drugs, alcohol, bought sex,
etc. Many people live this way.
It is enough to reflect on
this all to be tempted very strongly to give up the serious search for a true meaning of our lives. Is there any?
This “temptation to despair” is
nevertheless the result of a superficial and shallow observation. For
philosophy is not a futile quest. Many individuals found deep and rewarding meaning to their lives
in personal search; in Philosophy. The quest itself is certainly difficult and may
last a lifetime. But it is not a futile quest. Gradually light emerges. Many a
truth, a belief acquires through centuries of thinking and rethinking
more validity and more solid justification. Everyone wants to make his or her
life as meaningful as possible. Mankind never gives up this
search for meaning. If it had it would stop existing as mankind. There
would be no humanity, we would not exist. For this search for meaning,
philosophy is the main striving force of one’s existence.
There is no life without it.
The perennial questions
confront in some way every thinking human being, but the horizon of knowledge, the
depth of insight differs from century to
century. All humanity evolves dynamically towards clearer understanding, toward
fuller awareness,
towards simpler vision of meaning of existence.
The differences must be
there, because each culture, each civilization, each
generation (and each individual) has a
perspectival, partial and limited view. Nevertheless the insights, the answers
gained gradually accumulate.
We must not let ourselves
be deceived by the perspectival and limited nature of human knowledge.
Since human beings are limited, so will be their visions, but limited
does not mean non-existent. Since philosophical questions face each one of us,
we are very privileged. We can examine how the greatest minds of mankind struggle with the same problems. We have a
dialogue with the great philosophers
of the past and the present. This itself is a great advantage. By examining
their views, the way they formulated the enduring all-human questions on the
meaning of existence, we
may be spared going into blind alleys of improper ways of questioning. By
examining carefully their answers we may get tremendous insights and depth of
vision, perhaps even true solutions. We
are not alone in this human quest which endures over the ages.
My and your vision is certainly very limited and meager, to say the least, but
in conversing with the great philosophers, the leaders and giants of insight and vision, we can think the thoughts of the
best of all humankind. The great advantage of this fact cannot be overestimated
ever. This is most certainly the most exhilarating experience. It is growing
towards full human stature as a member of the whole family of men. Are we not
contradicting ourselves? First we realized that the philosophical search for meaning must be done by
each one for himself and thus it is a lonely search, and now we are saying that
this search is nevertheless a search together with other thinkers in a kind of enduring search – dialogue over
centuries of time! There is no contradiction here. What is important is our aim, our goal: to shape my
meaning of my existence, for myself. The purpose of philosophy, St.
Thomas Aquinas remarked, is not to know what
others thought, but to attain towards the TRUTH of things. In studying
Philosophy each one must think for himself. Each one is all the time searching and actively
looking for his or her meaning. Philosophizing is a constant determined
reaching towards the vision of TRUTH. Otherwise it would be a meaningless
gathering of scattered information only. So much is always clear.
However, it would be
irrational and unjustifiable to reject a philosophical insight,
which after careful rethinking appears as true and valid, within an important
area of my search simply because it is not my
own, but someone else’s. This point is so obvious that it would be a waste of
time to dwell on it further. There
lies the value and meaning of studying the greatest and the
best in Philosophy.
Some of the modern thinkers are rather skeptical of conclusion,
transcending what they define as human experience. This experience is conceived
by them in a rather narrow sense, called scientific. To those thinkers –
contrary to the Ancient Greek belief and Medieval attitude, philosophy should only be concerned with what is
empirically verifiable. By empirical verification again they mean
sense-verification. This attitude in its extreme form narrows tremendously the
horizon of inquiry to the scientifically demonstrable only. There
are some, who believe that Science so understood, is all we have to our disposal.
Scientific truth – truth obtained by special
sciences – has the redeeming quality of being exact, but is never complete and
never ultimate. It does not suffice unto itself. It needs philosophical, that
is more fundamental, grounding. It originates in many assumptions which are
without much scrutiny accepted as good. Scientific
truth does not stand on its own feet and is not fundamental enough. It must be
integrated and rooted in more complete and final kind of truth, which may be
considered neither “scientific” (in a sense described above) nor directly
demonstrable by senses. No scientific theory is in any way ultimate for
each one can be – and historically often had been – replaced by another one.
Where science ends the problems do not end, neither does the search for meaning. It must be noted
also that special sciences give us only piecemeal insight into very limited a narrowly specified aspects
of the world: by no means exhaustive or complete.
The scientist himself within his field of
specialization, as a human being needs truth which is whole and complete.
Whether he likes it or not, by the very make-up of his human mind, he
must form a total concept of the
universe and find his place in it. The
philosophic truth is more general thus less exact but more basic. It is truth
of higher rank not only because its horizon is broader and deeper, but also as a type of
knowledge. The inexact philosophic truth is true truth and indispensable. A
truth may be very exact and yet very small and almost devoid of deeper meaning
altogether. Special sciences alone cannot ever completely satisfy the
imperative need for a meaning-vision of the totality of human
experience as human. As Sidney Hook remarked, “Philosophy concerns itself with the
place of man in the universe from the point of view of certain -large and
perennial questions which all reflective men at some time or another ask. These
questions are not asked or answered in any of the special sciences, but to
answer them intelligently one must be familiar with the best science and
theology of the day.” Sidney Hook, The Uses of Philosophy).
This then is Philosophy as
the quest for wisdom. Wisdom is concerned with meaning, values and value judgments. It
is knowledge of what is good or better,
bad or worse, what is meaningful and what is not. It is
knowledge which throws in the concreteness of human existence a certain illuminating light at the
questions: Who am I? What is the
universe around me? What can I know?
What I can hope for? What should I do? Does the universe show a design or not?
Is there a God or Friend beyond phenomena or are we alone?
Are human beings destined for immortal
existence or perchance only complicated
sparks of chemical elements?
This of course, is only a
random selection of philosophical problems. There is a host of other problems.
All are interrelated and mutually trigger one another and thus throw light at
one another forming gradually a more meaningful pattern of vision.
We are in the position now
to put together the answer to the question:
Why should we study Philosophy? Philosophy provides
(a) purpose in life. It enables a person to attain a coherent system of ideas and beliefs leading towards a
more satisfactory mode of living;
(b) tremendous enrichment of human knowledge because it organizes the best of sciences and draws conclusions relevant for the search for the meaning of life;
(c) contact with the
greatest minds in the history of mankind. The
problems of Philosophy are by their very nature perennial. Mankind has been
wrestling with these problems through the ages and will continue in future. In each
generation there are geniuses of insight and depth who have left their answers to be
pondered and examined.
(d) a sense of worth and
meaning of life. An unexamined life is not worthy of man. An exclusive
preoccupation with everyday concerns without a more comprehensive view limits
and impoverishes life robbing it almost completely of its value and import;
(e) social evaluation. In
our modern rapidly changing world of mass civilizations a mass
destruction becomes more and more probable. The study of Philosophy helps
towards an intelligent evaluation of the political scene and to constructive
use of one’s freedom for the interests of
civilization. It augments the sense of meaning of each person’s individual existence.
To quote Jacques Maritain,
Philosophy reminds men “of the supreme utility of those things which do not
deal with means, but with ends. For men do not live only by bread, vitamins and
technological discoveries. They live by values and realities which are above
time and are worth knowing for
their own sake.” (Jacques Maritain, On
the Use of Philosophy).
Think For Yourself
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Tuesday, May 15, 2018
The book “Finality and Intelligence” Leszek Figurski
Introductory
The
second edition of the book “Finality and Intelligence” belongs
to the elucidation of the problem and analysis of existence of God.
The fact of writing on God’s existence in our times maybe
surprising to a number of people who are under the spell of the
existential confusion in philosophy, literature and art of our
times. Frankly speaking, very many people, some of them known
scientists in different branches of modern science consider such a
topic simply very much out of date. One can hear from many sources
statements to the effect of complete lack of interest in such
questions. Did not science settle this problem once and for all. Did
not even some existential theologians after Nietzsche, Albert
Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, Arthur Schopenhauer acknowledge the death of
God? Is not the matter settled for good? We also have to mention
here the very aggressive group of scientists who openly stress the
fact that they are scientists but draw conclusions which are
metaphysical in nature. And of course the conclusion whether God
exists or not is metaphysical. Metaphysics is also the generally
accepted way of analysis of the Universe and God’s existence until
the very Modern Times. Philosophy whether for the Ancients or as a
matter of fact any attempt to answer the fundamental origin of
existence is metaphysical in nature. On this level the mind moves
from existence to another existence as the necessary condition
explaining the present observation of the universe and it’s
intrinsic structure. There are some phenomena immediately
experienced, which can only be explained in terms of existence of
God. To such belong (1) the rationality implicit in our experience
of the world . Human rationality discovers the possibility of
knowledge because of the presence of rationality in the structure of
the universe. When it comes to higher levels of phenomena we would
have to mention (2) life, (3) consciousness, (4) conceptual thought,
the power to articulate and understand symbols and meaning of
language, and finally (5) the human self. Some atheists claim the
existence and necessity of so called scientific reductionism, the
evolution of the cosmos, the evolution of life including humans as
“arguments “ against existence of God.
On
the contrary the book is one of some other books to follow about a
serious reconsideration of the problem of God’s existence. No
matter how much progress has been made in many areas of our life and
no matter how scientific investigations modified our view of man’s
position in the cosmos , the nature of the vast immensity of billions
of galaxies forming themselves in the vastness of the surrounding
world, and no matter how the human life and situation has been
apparently dwarfed, the thirst and desire for discovery of some
meaning of life is not only not belittled but in the chaos of
different views and opinions intensified for the average man today.
The problem of God’s existence will be amply analyzed in the
forthcoming book by Leszek Figurski “God or no God”.
The
present book is an evaluation and analysis of the last Way of the
known Five Ways leading the human mind to the existence of God
elaborated by Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Fifth Way will be considered
within general context of Thomistic philosophy. It is not the
intention to analyze all Five Ways of Thomas but center on the
ascent of the mind from the orderliness of the finite beings
observed in this world towards final infinite intelligence of the
First Mover and the First Creative Cause of the world.
The
analysis is done on the metaphysical level; it acknowledges the
right of the human mind to complete intelligibility of being as such
and the power of the mind to answer the ultimate questions to which
of course belongs the problem of the existence of God.
Thomas
Aquinas was not the first to elaborate the argument from finality
and its relationship to the mind, but he developed it and put it on
the strictly ontological level .
All
the Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas have very similar structure of
argumentation. They begin with existing facts which are directly
observable and then they attempt to discover the ultimate
presuppositions of the observable phenomena . This is why Thomas
Aquinas does not use the word arguments or proofs of existence of
God , instead he prefers the word ways of reaching the ultimate
presuppositions of what is already in experience directly given to
man. The Fifth Way is very important for the whole Thomistic
philosophy. It points to personal intelligence as a necessary
presupposition of the orderly activities of finite causes in the
world. The fact that observable entities are goal oriented in their
activity must have some explanation. Thomas does not mean here the
teleological action of say human beings or even the small degree of
teleological behavior of lower forms of life; he is pointing to the
fact that in- animate structured beings because of their
structured natures contain a presupposition in their activity
towards definite goals or ends.
This
is why the universe is telos-oriented, this is why human
rationality meets the cosmic rationality, this is why science and any
kind of knowledge is possible at all , this is why the harmonious
orderly world must be finally grounded
in
some cosmic intelligence. After all the world did not have to be
the way it is ; it could be a forceless chaos, not in any way open to
the human mind ; or perhaps it could consist only of photons and
electrons. But it is not a chaos but an orderly cosmos as the
Greeks noticed and called it at the beginning of philosophical
reflection.
To
the objection of the evolutionists, the scientific reductionism and
some other possible objections Thomas would if he lived in our age
simply answer : “re-think the problem carefully and without
prejudice and you will realize that there is no other valid solution
but mine.” How the argument will be accepted and understood as
valid and sound or not is up to the judgments of the reader.
Irene
Ciszewska Saunder
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Monday, May 14, 2018
Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man
Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man by Johann Tischbein
One of the strangest philosophers ever to live. Diogenes was the epitome of the classical philosopher as a man who practiced what they taught. Diogenes founded the Cynical school of philosophy, a school dedicated to simple living and virtue. Advocating a simple, disciplined, self-sufficient life, Diogenes lived in a large jar and owned nothing but a cloak and staff. He begged for food and avoided luxuries like the plague. He is said to have written a few (lost) essays but is better known for using actions to educate. He would walk down the street backward in an attempt to make people question why they walked forwards and begged from statues to show that he was not concerned with rejection. When he was presented with Zeno’s paradox demonstrating that movement was impossible, he is said to have stood up and walked away.
A famous story relates that Alexander the Great visited him in his pot before setting out to conquer the world. When Alexander asked what the cynic might want from the King of Greece, Diogenes asked him to get out of his sunlight. His teachings would ultimately inspire the Stoic school of philosophy long after the Cynics had vanished.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
The Symposium by Plato - FULL Audio Book - Ancient Greek Philosophy.mp4
The Courage to Think for Yourself
The Search for Truth and the Meaning of Human Life
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