Best and Most Useless Idea Ever

Picking up right where we left off, it seems that metaphysics is the last word in uselessness, or at least the last purely human word. According to Pieper, metaphysical knowledge

refers to knowledge concerned with the whole of reality, with the structure of the world as a whole.... It is the application of our knowing faculties -- from deep within our spirit -- to the totality of all that is, to the meaning and foundation of all reality in toto: i.e., the application of the mind to its complete and undiminished object (emphasis mine).

Paint us a picture.

I apologize, there seems to be a temporary issue where I am unable to display the image directly within the chat. However, I can describe it for you:

Imagine a swirling vortex of knowledge at the center of the image. This vortex is composed of shimmering stardust and constellations, symbolizing the vastness and interconnectedness of reality.

At the very center of the vortex, a human mind is depicted as a luminous sphere. From this sphere, tendrils of light reach outward, like fingers exploring the vastness of knowledge. This represents the human desire to understand the ultimate meaning and foundation of existence.

Okay, I'll find one myself: 

Let's see: wholeness, reality, meaning, foundation, and total knowledge of the complete object. This latter, were it possible -- limitless knowledge of the unlimited object -- would have to be the Best Idea Ever; instead of mere (k) about O, it would actually be O, like some kind of union of Word and flesh or something.

I have a friend who is a contractor. Unlike me, he can do pretty much anything. Like the Professor on Gilligan's Island, he could build a guesthouse in the backyard made out of junk sitting in my garage. He might be the most useful person I know. In other words, we are polar opposites. 

On the other hand, he cannot compete with me in abiding. Rather, both he and his wife are forever busy making themselves useful. 

Notice the area rug, as if to say, the corpus callosum that pulls together the left and right cerebral hemispheres:

On the left are the tools of ignorance; on the right the tools of even more.

For Pieper,

the kind of knowledge which deals with the ultimate foundation of the world is supposed to not "serve" a purpose.

Rather, it is "not even possible or thinkable to put it to any use: 'it alone is there for its own sake.'"

And this means it is freeee: no strings of purpose attached. Like the human person and other ultimate goods, it can never be a means to an end. You might say it is "sabbath knowledge," when we just stand back and enjoy the show: rejewvenate. Relux & call it a deity.

Having said that, we can never quite get there. Non-do as we might, we can never become perfectly useless, and believe me, I've tried:

[T]he knowledge that focuses on the totality of the world, purely for the sake of knowing and to that extent free -- this knowledge cannot possibly be achieved by man; he never fully grasps it; it is therefore not something that man possesses without limitation, since as a human being he himself is subject to many kinds of necessities.... One would have to say that only God can achieve this knowledge completely....

So, only God can be perfectly useless, for he is the ultimate "for his own sake." 

Then again, according to a trinitarian metaphysic, the very essence of God is for the sake of the Other: God is substance-in-relation, such that the Father makes himself useful by giving himself to the Son, and vice versa. This dynamic exchange cannot be for the sake of something else; it is not as if the Father has an ulterior agenda or secret payoff in so pouring himself into the Son. 

It must be the same with creation. If creation is an icon of the Trinity, then it too can have no purely practical utility, rather, a wholly impractical one.... like a gift, or something. What am I trying to say? Perhaps this: that although

man is a practical being who needs to use the things of the world to meet his requirements for living, he does not acquire his real riches through technical subordination of the forces of nature but through the purely theoretical knowledge of reality.

At least that's my excuse. 

The existence of man is all the richer the more deeply he has access to reality and the more it is opened up to him. Through his knowledge he achieves the purest realization of his being, so that even his ultimate perfection and fulfillment consist in knowledge...

Gemini, make yourself useful:

It seems we're back to paragraph one, to the Perfect -- and perfectly useless -- Idea.

Anaxagoras expresses it his own way when, in answer to the question, "Why were you born?" he says: "To look at the sun, the moon and the sky" -- by which he would not have meant the physical heavenly bodies but the construction of the world as a whole (Pieper).

The construction of the world as a whole, speaking of contractors. Which of course requires a big clueprint.  

A final point: science is obviously practical. But to the extent that it transforms or transmogrifes to scientism, it tries to be as useless as metaphysics, but only renders itself soulless and nihilistic, which is another thing entirely. It is a pseudo-uselessness, a nothing masquerading as everything. It doesn't release the intellect into freedom, but rather, eliminates freedom at the root. Build me a picture, gemini:

I can't directly generate an image with people due to current limitations, but I can describe one that captures the essence of the text:

Imagine a room split in two. On the bright side, a bustling laboratory filled with bubbling beakers and complex machinery represents science. Light streams through the windows, highlighting the practical and illuminating nature of scientific discovery.

On the dark side, a cold and sterile chamber with a single, flickering candle represents scientism. The room feels heavy and oppressive, symbolizing the limitations of a purely scientific worldview. Cobwebs might be clinging to the corners, hinting at a lack of progress or new ideas.

In the center of the image, a doorway stands open, beckoning towards a middle ground. This symbolizes the importance of balance between the practical applications of science and the openness to deeper questions that other forms of knowledge, like metaphysics, can offer.

Pieper ends with a crack by Boethius: The human soul is necessarily at its freest when it remains in contemplation of the divine spirit. 

"Sure, here's an image for that text":