Jeff The method of thinking proposed by René Descartes is instructive. He proposed intuition and reason (deduction) as the way to wisdom. “Concerning the objects presented to us we should investigate, not what others have thought nor what we ourselves conjecture, but what we can intuit clearly and evidently or deduce with certainty, since knowledge is … Read more
Dostoevsky Aristotle Living at our best, we go forth upon the field of experience, and in various kinds of interaction we cope in a way that is grounded, poised, and intuitive. Aristotle saw that we need a kind of courage to establish intuition (or is there a kind of intuition at the root of courage?): … Read more
Socrates Philosophical decision-making clarifies the truth–or meaning–of the facts and specific value most relevant to the situation. Socrates’ reasoning about whether to escape or to remain in prison is presented in Plato’s dialogue, the Crito. After some preliminaries, Socrates expresses the premise for all that follows, his supreme commitment to goodness. He asks whether what … Read more
In the Louvre hangs a Rembrandt painting titled Philosopher in Meditation. The painting presents an old man, richly illuminated by golden light streaming through the window, in a room dominated by a sturdy and winding staircase leading to the floor above. If we use this 18th century title for this 17th century painting, … Read more
Charles Darwin (1809-82) and his son William in 1842 As a scientist, Darwin developed and exercised virtues that we can apply in daily life. We do not have to be a gifted, trained, and experienced scientist in order to grow in these essential qualities. In Darwin I find, above all, hunger for truth; this dominant … Read more
Prophets, theologians, and secular idealists have proclaimed a glorious destiny for human history; but their visions and hopes seem discredited while we struggle through our logjam of biological, social, economic, and political problems. In order to break up the logjam, we need a world-wide moral and spiritual awakening. The religious reason is that God … Read more
Freud provides another example of keen psychological observations mixed with needlessly anti-religious philosophy. He challenges the religious idea, found in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” While Freud approved of altruism in certain circumstances, he saw the generalized call to “love your neighbor as yourself” as … Read more
William Blake, The Ancient of Days Any fact that science truly discovers may be interpreted by philosophy as harmonious with any truth that religion proclaims. Philosophy can harmonize scientific truth with spiritual truth because all truth is God’s truth. When scientific discovery is mixed with an anti-religious philosophy, we can keep the discovery but abandon … Read more
Charles Darwin, 1869 In the final stage of scientific living we develop a perspective that integrates science with philosophy and religion. This perspective centers on a concept of evolution. The early concept of evolution introduced by Darwin has had difficulty entering the culture, partly because the term “evolution” has often been used to imply … Read more