KARL JASPERS FORUM

TA60 (Grandpierre)

Commentary 3

( CHARDIN, BERKELEY, AND POPE )
by Glenn C. Wood
26 June 2003, posted 8 July 2003

<1>
Nothing essentially new presented here by Grandpierre. It's reminiscent of Pierre Teilhard De Chardin in general, and comparable to Joseph Johnson's TA in particular.

<2>
In 17th century England, George Berkeley merited the eulogy of Alexander Pope on the issue of natural religion for it was as popular then as attempted now. Berkeley sought a defense of theism in an ideal theory of matter not unlike TA60. Berkeley held that only minds exist and the notion of a hard lump of matter is a figment of fancy. I don't disagree with the flux of stuff, but his idea that the divine mind imparts ideas according to a fixed order and such is clearly seen in the laws of nature is one of those miracles that can be used by an established Church's claims on nature's humankind. That establishment, presumed to be the evolving or unfolding unquestionable nature of things, includes collusion between nature and nature's Church. It corresponds with the idea that religion is a natural and necessary stabilizing force, and the test is the forcefulness of the application of its administration and the execution of its laws.

<3>
Due to the misuse of established Church authority, it easy for me to see the need for a safe standard, and the standard being the Bible, as an undeniable part of an empirically grounded general consciousness. Natural religion then can be entertained if the Bible is the authority and not some organization's traditions so prone to error. HM might adamantly object to this peri-echontology charging it's a dogmatic ontology. But what is preferred as substitute for the stability HM sees as good ? Church Tradition as ultimate authority does what Hume warns against; it creates habits of thinking. When one thing follows another we transfer without warrant the necessity to the things themselves and belief then can become a habitual association of mental states. That's why visual aids and icons are utilized, and why some degree of healthy iconoclasm has existed since Moses. The will of humankind is dissolved by an illusive inference.

<4>
By the way, A. Pope was reared Catholic in an environment which made his parents relocate for Catholics were forbidden from living within ten miles of London or Westminster. His mistreatment at a Catholic school could have contributed toward his tolerance for erroneous treatment and erroneous bishops -- like Berkeley. He wrote "Nor in the Critic let the Man be lost." "To err is human, to forgive, divine ..."

<5>
Those forgetting history are prone to the vain repetition of some of it, and that is unnatural and less than divine. TA60 can be credited for stimulating this response.

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Glenn C. Wood