sets foot on a path that in this life will never come to an end. He will always remain "on the way," the question will never receive an answer once and for all, the hope will never find fulfillment.
This doesn't mean life itself is hopeless, only that our hope is misplaced if it is attached to the wrong object. Limiting ourselves to three, Dávila:
Even being an atheist, one would also have to be an idiot to expect that something earthly will fulfill us.
Nothing that satisfies our expectations fulfills our hopes.
He who wishes to avoid grotesque collapses should look for nothing in space or in time that will fulfill him.
I would agree that philosophical man is Homo viator, because the object of his search is not only infinite but Infinitude per se. Indeed, how could a man not know this?
Well, he could switch out the infinite object for an off-the-rack ideology, which man has been doing since crossing the divide between bios and anthropos. Russell Kirk once defined conservatism as the opposite of ideology, which, strictly speaking, is true:
Ideologies were invented so that men who do not think can give opinions.
A "right wing ideologue" is little better than a progressive one, and indeed, will evoke its inverted image. But as Hayek knew, communism and fascism are just two sides of the same deceitful and murderous coin, each being the opposite of conservative liberalism.
Notice too that progressive ideology evokes its opposite even if it is frankly delusional, as in how Brandon and his supporters imagine they are surrounded by dangerous MAGA semi-fascists. This is in the very nature of Democrats, as they were doing it even before they lost their slaves, as noted this morning by Steve Hayward (https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/09/democrats-and-the-f-bomb.php).
Let's get back to our subject, which is to say, our perpetual openness to the infinite object, or engagement with the whole of reality, both horizontal and vertical. The ontological necessity of this space sets us on the path of Homo viator, whether we hike it or not.
In short, to paraphrase Schuon, we are condemned to transcendence, or, to paraphrase the Wanderer himself, I'm never in one place / I read from tome to tome / Yeah I'm the wanderer, yeah the wanderer.
But wandering isn't enough. Rather, it must be accompanied by wondering, which, they say, is both the cause and consequence of the philosophical life. This cause is up at the Other end, which is why
He who speaks of the farthest regions of the soul soon needs a theological vocabulary,
and
As long as we do not arrive at religious categories, our explanations are not founded upon rock.
Best I can do this morning. To be continued...
7 comments:
He who speaks of the farthest regions of the soul soon needs a theological vocabulary,...
While the above is true, unless the speaker is wandering vertically, their use of a theological vocabulary is actually a misuse. Even the left uses a theological vocabulary, nowadays, but only as connotation words, lacking any truthful meaning, in their attempts to sell their utopian visions of equality.
John, interesting observation. We were just having a discussion with the kids this morning about what blasphemy is...
As to being a wanderer, indeed. There is a certain freedom in recognizing that one's real home, purpose and destination is not to be found herebelow.
Every one of those New Atheists horizontalizes the vertical in order to ridicule and dismiss it. As we've said before, there is no religious fundamentalist like an atheist.
Same old hatred with a new name.
Julie, the evidence of successful utilization; granted it is a misuse; of a theological vocabulary by the left can be heard and read in their dialectic. Those who lean left, whether hard or soft, by their words, which seem to indicate a high concern for man, is a hijacked Christian ethic. The left, in its many iterations, does care for man, but their bodies only. Think about the phrasing the left utilizes; "a living wage," "equality," "fiery but mostly peaceful riots," etcetera, etcetera. The left undoubtedly cares for man, but only in a horizontal manner. The left cares for bodies, not for souls, and I do not think those on the left actually believe in their own individual souls.
“This doesn't mean life itself is hopeless, only that our hope is misplaced if it is attached to the wrong object.”
Just as being on the sea or in the air, if your compass is faulty, you’ll find yourself not where you want to be.
The path is straight and narrow.
Living truth every day is not as easy as it sounds. But the reward is definitely worth the struggle.
Anonymous Patriot
Not bad, John Venlet. Unfortunately, while the American left has been hijacked by atheist scientism-tists, the American right has been hijacked by greedy grifters.
I blame Hollywood. The Cecil B. DeMille I grew up with got morphed into Space Oddities.
I was raised with a strong Godfearing Charlton Heston. After he started dancing with apes and screaming about Soylent Green, I became jaded. Sure, Godspell had a few catchy tunes but I found all that fruity wokeness offensive. By the time Charlton tried to rehabilitate his image with his cold dead hands, the damage was done.
Now everything’s all either about the science or the money.
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