Proceedings of the Conferences on the Dialogue between Science and Theology
DIA LOGO Volume 1 Issue 1 November 2014
COSMOLOGY (the origin and evolution of the universe; cosmic coincidences and the anthropic principle; conditions for extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations; Is there anything esle besides this Universe?; the universe has a purpose; the primary condition of the universe; the fabric of the universe; are there other universes?; universe with life or nothing? etc.)
LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE (the origin and evolution of life in the universe —how did life begin?; irreducible complexity and intelligent design; extraterrestrial life — are we alone in the universe?; define „life” in the context of the limits of the substance (matter) and life (energy); What is life made of? etc.)
ANTHROPOLOGY (humankind’s past, present and future; mind and consciousness; free will and human behavior; death and after it; is it possible for the evolution to explain human nature and the moral character of its acts, or is it something else needed, other than science can explain on its own? are `God`, `faith`or conscienceness only a function of your brain or are them something more than that? etc.)
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DIALOGO Proceedings of the Conferences on
the Dialogue between Science and Theology
DIALOGO CONF 2014 The First Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. Cosmology, Life & Anthropology
Organized by the RCDST (The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology)
of Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania held from 6 to 11 November, 2014
at www.dialogo-conf.com
The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of RCDST. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of RCDST concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries.
Disclaimer: All abstracts and titles of presentations were only formatted into the correct font, size and paragraph style and were not language and grammatical edited. The abstracts were reprinted as submitted by their authors. The editors accept no responsibility for any language, grammar or spelling mistake. The authors of individual papers are responsible for technical, content and linguistic correctness.
Publication Series: Description: ISSN (CD-ROM): ISSN (ONLINE): ISSN-L:
Dialogo (Proceedings of the Conferences on the Dialogue between Science and Theology) 2392 – 9928 2393 – 1744 2392 – 9928
Editors: Fr. lecturer Cosmin Tudor Ciocan, PhD (Romania); Ing. Anton Lieskovský, Ph.D.
(Slovak Republic) Series Publisher: RCDST (Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology) Ovidius Univesity of Constanta. Romania 1st Volum Title: The 1st Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. subtitle: ISBN: Published by:
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Dialogo Conf 2014 Cosmology, Life & Anthropology 978-80-554-0960-3 EDIS - Publishing Institution of the University of Zilina Univerzitna 1, 01026 Zilina Slovak Republic 154 100 copies 2014
Year of publication: *All published papers underwent blind peer review. *All published papers are in English language only. Each paper was assigned to 3 reviewers and went through two-level approval process. Open Access Online archive is available at: http://www.dialogo-conf.com/archive (proceedings will be available online one month after the publication release). In case of any questions, notes or complaints, please contact us at: info(at)dialogo-conf.com. Warning:
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Conference Sponsors and Parteners
Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & www.The-Science.com Theology (Slovakia) www.rcdst.ro
Maritime University of “Mircea cel Batran” Naval Constanta Academy (ANMB/Romania) (UMC/Romania) www.anmb.ro www.cmu-edu.eu
Action-research in Contemporary Culture and Education – Practice & Theory (ACCEPT/Poland) www.accept.umk.pl
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The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (UAIC/Romania) www.uaic.ro
“Vasile Goldis” Western University of Arad (UVVG/Romania) www.uvvg.ro/
The Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology (ISCAST/Australia) www.iscast.org
Global Ethics (Geneva/Switzerland) www.globethics.net
Faculty of Educational Sciences (WNP) Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland www.pedagogika.umk.pl
Ovidius University of ConResearch and Science Today stanta (UOC/Romania) www.lsucb.ro/rst www.univ-ovidius.ro
Centre for Research and social, psychological and pedagogical evaluation (CCEPPS/Romania) ccepps.univ-ovidius.ro
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Proceedings of the Conferences on the Dialogue between Science and Theology
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Conference Sponsors and Parteners
Faculty of Theology in UOC, Romania teologie.univ-ovidius.ro/
Faculty of Orthodox Theology in UAIC, Romania www.teologie.uaic.ro
Faculty of Medicine in UOC, Romania www.medcon.ro
Faculty of Theology in UAB, Romania www.fto.ro
Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education in UAIC, Romania www.psih.uaic.ro
Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education in UOC, Romania pse.univ-ovidius.ro
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering in UOC, Romania fcetp.univ-ovidius.ro
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences in UAIC, Romania snsa.univ-ovidius.ro
First Volume published by
RCDST Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology Ovidius University of Constanta Romania The 1st Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology
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Centre of Inter - Religious Research and Christian Psychopedagogy Alba Iulia - Saint Serge (CCIRPC)
EDIS Publishing Institution of the University of Zilina Univerzitna 1 01026 Zilina Slovak Republic
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International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributors Christoph STUECKELBERGER Globethics.net Executive Director and Founder; Prof. PhD. (Switzerland) Anton LIESKOVSKÝ Faculty of Management Science and Informatics Universitatea Tomas Bata din Zilina; Ing. Ph.D. (Slovakia)
IPS Teodosie PETRESCU Archbichop of Tomis disctrict; Faculty of Orthodox Theology; “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Muntean Edward IOAN Faculty of Food Sciences and Technology - University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj–Napoca; Associate Professor PhD. (Romania)
Francesco FIORENTINO Dipartimento di Filosofia, Letteratura e Scienze Sociali; Universita degli Studi di Bari «Aldo Moro»; Researcher in Storia della Filosofia (Italy) Filip NALASKOWSKI Faculty of Educational Sciences - Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun; Dr. (Poland) Panagiotis STEFANIDES Emeritus Honoured Member of the Technical Chamber of Greece HELLENIC AEROSPACE IND. S.A. - Lead engineer; MSc Eur Ing (Greece) Lucian TURCESCU Department of Theological Studies - Concordia University; Professor and Chair (Canada) Wade Clark ROOF J.F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society; Emeritus and Research Professor
Liliana PANAITESCU Faculty of Natural Sciences and Agricultural Sciences “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Assoc. prof. ing. PhD. (Romania) George ENACHE Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology „Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati; Associate professor PhD. (Romania)
Ahed Jumah Mahmoud AL-KHATIB Faculty of Medicine - Department of Neuroscience University of Science and Technology; Researcher PhD (Jordan) Nasili VAKA’UTA Trinity Methodist Theological College University of Auckland; Ranston Lecturer PhD. (New Zealand)
Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life; Director
Adrian NICULCEA Department of Religious Studies - University of California at Santa Barbara (United Faculty of Orthodox Theology - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; DeartStates of America) ment Head and Prof. PhD. (Romania) Maria Isabel Maldonado GARCIA Directorate External Linkages/Institute of Language University of the Punjab; Head of Spanish Dpt. / Assistant Professor (Pakistan) Cristiana OPREA European Physical Society; member Joint Institute for Nuclear Research - Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics; Scientific Project Leader (Russia) Gheorghe ISTODOR Faculty of Orthodox Theology - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Deartment Head and Prof. PhD. (Romania)
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Tarnue Marwolo BONGOLEE Hope for the Future; Executive Director (Liberia) Mihai Valentin VLADIMIRESCU Faculty of Orthodox Theology - University of Craiova; Professor PhD. (Romania) Mohammad Ayaz AHMAD University of Tabuk; Assistant Professor PhD (Saudi Arabia) Akhtar HUSSAIN Department of History, University of Punjab; Associate professor PhD. (Pakistan)
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International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributors Petru BORDEI Faculty of Medicine - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof. PhD. (Romania)
Fermin De La FUENTE-CALVO De La Fuente Consulting (Corporative Intelligence) B.Sc. Physics and Professor PhD. (United States of America)
Richard Willem GIJSBERS The Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology - ISCAST (Australia) Flavius Cristian MARCAU “Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu; Phd. Candidate (Romania)
Kelli COLEMAN MOORE University of California at Santa Barbara (United States of America) Danut ARGINTARU Maritime University of Constanta; Lecturer PhD. (Romania) Osman Murat DENIZ Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi; Associate Professor PhD. (Turkey) Daniel MUNTEANU The International Journal of Orthodox Theology (Canada)
Stanley KRIPPNER
Association for Humanistic Psychology, the Parapsychological Association; President; Prof. PhD. (United States of America) Manisha MATHUR G.N.Khalsa College; University of Mumbai; Assistant Professor (India) Pratibha GRAMANN Saybrook University of San Francisco, California (United States of America) Richard Alan MILLER
Dragos HUTULEAC Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava; Assistant Lecturer, PhD candidate (Romania)
Navy Intel (Seal Corp. and then MRU); Dr. in Alternative Agriculture, Physics, and Metaphysics (United States of America)
Maria CIOCAN Shiva KHALILI “Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy; teacher PhD. (Romania) Faculty of psychology and education - Tehran University; Associate Professor Gheorghe PETRARU PhD. (Iran) Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Iasi; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Mihai HIMCINSKI Mircea MARICA Faculty of Orthodox Theology - „1 December 1918” University of Alba Iulia; Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, Constanta; Assist. Prof. Prof. PhD. (Romania) PhD. (Romania) Mihai GIRTU The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology (RCDST); Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology President (RCDST); Executive Director Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering - “Ovidius” University of ConFaculty of Orthodox Theology - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Lecturer stanta; Prof. PhD. (Romania) PhD. (Romania)
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Organizing Committee Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN - SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME OFFICER RCDST Executive Director and Founder; Lect. ThD. Faculty of orthodox theology, Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania) Mihai GIRTU RCDST President and Founder; Prof. PhD. Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering , Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)
Constantin CUCOS - RESPONSIBLE FOR PEDAGOGY
Petru BORDEI - RESPONSIBLE FOR ANATHOMY RCDST Member and Founder; Prof. PhD. Faculty of Medicine , Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)
Teaching Staff Training Department Director; Prof. PhD. Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (Romania)
Danut ARGINTARU - RESPONSIBLE FOR PHYSICS
RCDST Member and Founder; Lect. PhD. Navigation and Maritime and River Transport Faculty, Maritime University of Constanta (Romania)
Adrian NICULCEA - RESPONSIBLE FOR THEOLOGY RCDST Member and Founder; Prof. ThD. Faculty of orthodox theology , Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)
Alina MARTINESCU - RESPONSIBLE FOR GENETICS RCDST Member and Founder; Lect. PhD. Faculty of Medicine , Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)
Anton LIESKOVSKY - RESPONSIBLE FOR I.T. Faculty of Management Science and Informatics, University of Zilina; Ing. PhD. (Slovakia)
Any AXELERAD-DOCU - RESPONSIBLE FOR NEUROLOGY RCDST Member and Founder; Assoc. Prof . PhD. Faculty of Medicine , Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)
Flavius Cristian MARCAU - RESPONSIBLE FOR PUBLISHING Research and Science Today magazine (RST); PhD. Candidate (Romania)
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Mircea MARICA - RESPONSIBLE FOR ANTHROPOLOGY RCDST Member and Founder; Assist. Prof. PhD. Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education , Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)
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Welcome Address
INTRODUCTION
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we welcome you to the 1st Virtual International Conference on Dialogue between Science and Theology, jointly organized by the Research Centre for Dialogue between Science and Theology (RCDST) and all our partners from 28 academic institutions, faculties and research centers within 8 countries / 4 continents - Romania, Slovak Republic, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, United States of America, and Canada. The annual “DIALOGO” CONFERENCES promote reflection and research on important public issues to which Christian theology can make a constructive contribution and is essential in the relation between science and religion in this era; scientists are also invited to manifest their ideas/theories on the topics in a constructive manner. This virtual conferences series gives you a great new way to participate in the fully fledged, scientific and professional conference without personal participation.
We aim to search for harmony.
In the light of the many challenges that the world is now facing, a broad understanding of modern science is indispensable in today’s society, so that we are both competitive in today’s high-tech job market, and well informed on scientific matters. The methodology of modern science has been remarkably successful in uncovering the working of the Earth and universe for us. Just in the past half-century science has unlocked the code of life and read the DNA of many organisms, traced the history of the known universe and discovered a set of mathematical laws that explain, at a fundamental level, virtually all physical phenomena with remarkable precision. It is increasingly clear that any movement that opposes the progress of modern science is simply digging a pit for itself. On the other hand, religion plays a similarly important foundation in the lives of the vast majority of people worldwide. Religion has indisputably inspired some of the world’s greatest art and literature, as it is evident even from a casual stroll through any of World’s great art museums. Even more importantly, religion has played an enormous role worldwide as a governor of moral and ethical conduct through the ages. Modern science is the most powerful tool known to explore the physical laws and processes that govern the universe. Yet it can say next to nothing about morality, salvation, ethics or the ultimate meaning of life, nor were its methods ever designed to probe such fundamental questions. Similarly, religion through the ages has addressed morality, salvation, the purposes of existence, and is a powerful force for mutual understanding and charity worldwide, but scriptures alone provide no clues as to the mass of the electron or the equations of general relativity, nor were they ever intended to be read in such a technical sense. In general, there is nothing in modern science that is fundamentally anti-religious or in any way negates the many positive aspects of living a moral, charitable, purposeful life; and there is nothing in modern religion that is fundamentally anti-science or should in any way stand in the way of scientific progress.
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Welcome Address
Theologians search for truth in faith; scientists in reason. The first ones believe they possess this truth because they have the possibility to communicate with the divine force that started everything; the others think that their path is superior due to working directly with real matter of all things. No one wants to accept another way but their own; everyone possesses the meaning of life and do not want to listen to another version of it, considering that the truth has no versions. The purpose of the DIALOGO CONFERENCES: Fundamental or experimental research and theoretical papers describing original, previously unpublished work in all the scientific fields that could be involved into the dialogue with theology are solicited. We were honored by receiving top rated papers from distinguished scholars from all over the world. Despite excellent work of scientific committee, not all submitted articles were published. Prospective authors were invited to submit papers in any of the three sections of the conference. Altogether 136 articles were presented by the scientists from 29 countries, but only these 25 papers were accepted after a triple peer review process by the international Reviewers Committee, and precisely checked by the Technical Committee, to maintain the highest standards. The success of the conference is due to the joint efforts of many people. Therefore we would like to thank the Scientific Committee and the Reviewers for their valuable contribution. All accepted paper has been precisely reviewed. Conference DIALOGO 2014 has been supported by Virtual Conferences community, which is located at www.the-science.com. The goal of this community is to organize Virtual Conferences covering quality research and make a closer cooperation between researchers within and between different scientific disciplines. Among all our partneres in organizing this conference a special role was played by Mr. Anton Lieskovský who deserve all the credit of outstanding organizing the virtual conference platform. Last but not least, we are grateful to all the participants for their great and important work prepared for and presented in this conference. See you at DIALOGO 2015 with new, useful topics!
Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN
RCDST Executive Director and Founder (ROMANIA)
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CONFERENCES
Table of Contents Organizing Scientific Committee 6-8 Introduction 9 Table of Content 11 Section 1: COSMOLOGY 1.Francesco FIORENTINO
The image of the universe as cultural choice between science and theology. Probabilism and realism from the Middle Ages to the Modern age. 14 2.Juuso LOIKKANEN
How Can God Act in the World? Modern Science and the Problem of Divine Causation
28
3.Adrian VASILE
The Anthropic Principle from a Theological Perspective
32
4.Chr. Stefanides PANAGIOTIS
Golden Root Geometry Structuring the Polyhedra and other Forms Via Plato’s Triangles. Quadrature of Circle 37 5.Steinar THORVALDSEN
The Unique Hoyle State of the Carbon Atom
43
6.Marcel Smilihon BODEA
Mathematical Language / Scientific Interpretation / Theological Interpretation
47
7.Pratibha GRAMANN
Consciousness, Free Will, and Transformation 52 Section 2: LIFE 8.Mariusz TABACZEK
An Aristotelian Account of Evolution and the Contemporary Philosophy of Biology
57
9.Mihai GIRTU. Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN
Scientific Consensus, Public Perception and Religious Beliefs – A Case Study on Nutrition
70
10.Michael MENSKY
Quantum reality explains mystical powers of consciousness
76
11.Gheorghe ISTODOR
Darwinism in the Light of Orthodoxy: Scientific Transformism Based on Materialism and Naturalism
80
12. Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN. Martinescu Alina
Death gene as it is understood by theology and genetics
83
13.Vasile MIRON
The Sacramental and Moral-Educational Function of the Christian Orthodox Cult
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Table of Contents Section 3: Anthropology 14.Constantin CUCOS
The paradigm of interdisciplinarity and the religious values-centered education
95
15. Ioan-Gheorghe ROTARU
Man – body and soul, as well as the relationship between them in the view of St. Justin the Martyr and Philosopher
100
16.Carmen CIORNEA
Anthropological structures of the religious imaginary in Sandu T
105
17.Florin SPANACHE
The uncreated energies – the spiritual foundation of knowledge
111
18.Mircea Adrian MARICA
On how the Dialogue between Religion and Science is possible
116
19.Sanda Maria DEME. Dana S. Ioncu; Catalin Hreniuc; Simona Dragan; Ani Docu-Axelrad; Daniel Docu-Axelrad; Dragos C. Jianu
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) , “déja vu” phenomenon and religious experiences
120
20.Any DOCU-AXELERAD. Daniel DOCU-AXELERAD
Media and popular culture and controversies in comatose patients
124
21.Miguel ALGRANTI
Post-Pope: A postcolonial approach to religious pluralism in Argentina
129
22.Manisha MATHUR
Study of Impact Of Culture On Women Throughout The World
133
23.Gabriela ANDREI. Ana ION
The value of human life and the attitude towards abortion
137
24.Adrian NICULCEA
Orthodoxy and Science
141
25.Calin SAPLACAN
Conditions for a Possible Dialogue between Theology and Science from the Perspective of the Concept of Frontier
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Cosmology
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The image of the universe as a cultural choice between science and theology Probabilism and Realism from the Middle Ages to Modernity Francesco Fiorentino
Dipartimento di Lettere Lingue Arti. Italianistica e Culture comparate Università degli Studi di Bari ‘Aldo Moro’ (UNIBA) Bari, Italy fiorentino12@libero.it
Abstract: The famous Galilean question was to become the paradigm of the conflict between Nature and Scripture, science and faith, free research of natural reason and authority of the ecclesiastical institution, obscurantism of the medieval period and scientific progress which would illuminate the modern age. It is well known that the stereotype of the pure conflict between scientific thought and religious dogma for long dominated the interpretation of the most profound essence of the Middle Ages, as an obscurantist age in the grip of the universalist political and religious authorities. This image of the Middle Ages was greatly corroborated by the Humanist writers of the Renaissance and enlightenment historiography. This contribution purports to analyse late–medieval science from an olistic methodology based on history of science and philosophy of science, to obtain a big picture in front to Scientific Revolution and to show the cultural roots of the different images of the universe. Keywords: Science, theology, Galileo, Bacon, Newton, Duns Scotus, Ockham, Adam Wodeham, John Mirecourt
I. INTRODUCTION Modern science is not a corpus of common demonstrative knowledge, based on absolutely certain and evident principles, but a specific kind of knowledge that formulates such principles by mediating geometrical and mathematical axioms, using them as tools for measuring physical Nature, taken as the set of quantitatively determinable data rather than as a substance endowed with essences or qualities that justify its purpose. This knowledge allows us to determine, and not just to know, objects in the physical world to which scientific theories refer, and in particular the mechanical relations of material bodies in space and time. It is usual to date the advent of modern science at least as early as Leonardo Da Vinci, the ideal Renaissance man, a great painter, inventor of machines and attentive researcher of physical Nature and the human body. In Leonardo we find most of the requisites for the development of modern science: the empirical observation of Nature, the Reason that demonstrates mathematically what has been observed, and
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the aptitude to reconstruct artificially or assist mechanically in the verification of natural phenomena useful for man. In Leonardo, however, these requisites remain the private property of an individual, albeit a genius, without being shared by a scientific community with standardized methods and processes1. With Francis Bacon and Galileo Galilei the rise of modern science results in the Scientific Revolution, that is, the revolutionary phase of a long process of change in the image of man and the world, a process which began in the late Middle Ages. Man discovers that he is able to affirm a new order in natural reality, rooted in the relation between things manipulated by himself, as their inventor and master, in disregard of Aristotelian natural philosophy, which is supported by the syllogistic method and by recourse to the single, non–systematic experience. Yet it is precisely the role of experience that distinguishes Bacon from Galileo. For Bacon, experience represents a mere inductive inference, alien to any deductive and hypothetic reasoning, but easy to reproduce and control by everyone, thanks to the experiment, that is, the combination of the three Tables with the correct applications that must eliminate every hypothesis2.This elimination links Francis Bacon to Isaac Newton, for whom everything that is not inferred from observed phenomena must be banned from experimental philosophy, which is based on the induction of a limited number of specific cases generalized into universals. Once the sufficient causes have been identified through the principle of economy, and these causes have been associated with the effects of the same kind through the principle of uniformity, the properties that have been demonstrated to be invariable in the experimentation can be considered universals. The simple, uniform and universal character of Nature is assured by the Creator, whose sensory organs are space and time.3 1 Esposito, C. and Porro, P., Moderna. Vol. 2 of Filosofia, Bari: Laterza, 2009, pp. 62–64. 2 Esposito and Porro, Moderna. 74–85. 3 Esposito, and Porro, Moderna, 269–277; Rossi, P. Francesco Bacon. Dalla magia alla scienza, Bologna: il Mulino, 2004. Newton was deeply religious and convinced both with the creation of the universe in seven days of different duration and the apocalypse; see White, M. Newton. L’ultimo mago, Milano: Rizzoli, 2001, pp. 217-222.
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For Galileo, on the other hand, experience translates into systematic experimentation in the laboratory, which serves to verify an existing theoretical hypothesis and provides data that must undergo [definitively] the abstract and mathematical schematization of precisely calculable and quantifiable relations. This schematization allows for the discovery of deterministic and general physical laws that function as postulates and for which the scientist builds deductively a complex and organic edifice. Therefore Physics is not only experimental due to experimentation, but also due to the mathematical code with which the experiments are conducted, exploiting the mathematical order of the Book of Nature. Since it conserves the imprint of its Creator and the Truth is only one, the Book of Nature is more certain than Sacred Scripture, since the latter was only dictated by God with a conventional linguistic code open to interpretation. Therefore, science does not formulate hypotheses in order to conserve observed phenomena, but represents the authentic structure of the physical world. It was precisely this epistemological concept that conflicted with that of the theologians who were critical of Galileo, in particular the Jesuit cardinal Roberto Bellarmino . They sought to confine science to the sphere of philosophical hypotheses alone, since every natural effect could be explained in a different way over the course of the history of science4.While Galileo seeks to interpret Sacred Scripture in the light of the Patristic tradition in order to smooth out the problematic knots, such theologians are used to interpreting Sacred Scripture ad litteram without the mediation of that tradition, and they are reluctant to accept any heterodox interpretation of Sacred Scripture, conscious of the methodological rules of Melchior Cano and the 16th century prohibitions on the individual’s liberty to interpret the Bible, a liberty which lapsed into hermeneutic relativism after the Reformation.5 Bellarmino sustains the absolute infallibility of Sacred Scripture, not only with regard to specific issues of faith and morality, but also, in general, with regard to the facts and opinions of the Church, whether these concern the whole community of the faithful or a specific individual. Not only the sentences, but all the words in Sacred Scripture concern 4 Esposito and Porro, Moderna, 86–100; Giorgio Stabile, “Linguaggio della natura e linguaggio della scrittura in Galilei. Dalla historia sulle macchie solari alle lettere copernicane” [“The Language of nature and the language of Scripture in Galileo. From the historia of the sunspots to the Copernican letters], Nuncius 9 (1994), pp. 38–47 (translation by author). 5 Especially the fifth Lateran Council on 19 December 1516, the Provincial Council of Florence in 1517 and the session of the Council of Trent, which took place on 8 April 1546; see Baldini, Ugo, “L’astronomia del cardinale Bellarmino” in: Galluzzi, P. (ed.), Novità celesti e crisi del sapere. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi galileiani, Florence: Giunti Barbera, 1984, pp. 293–305; Prosperi, Adriano, “L’inquisizione fiorentina al tempo di Galileo” in: Galluzzi, P. (ed.), Novità celesti e crisi del sapere. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi galileiani, Florence: Giunti Barbera, 1984, pp. 315–325; Ponzio, P., Copernicanesimo e teologia : scrittura e natura in Campanella, Bari: Levante, 1998, pp. 27–34; Camerota, M. Galileo Galilei e la cultura scientifica nell’età della Controriforma, Roma: Salerno, 2004, pp. 226230.
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the Faith; no term is superfluous or used incorrectly. In the Copernican Letters, on the other hand, Galileo assigns to Sacred Scripture a value as guide only in matters of faith and morality.6 Thus, it opened the famous Galilean question, which was to become the paradigm of the conflict – never fully resolved – between Nature and Scripture, science and faith, the free research of natural reason and the authority of the ecclesiastical institution, between the obscurantism typical of the medieval period and scientific progress which would illuminate the modern age.7 Indeed, it is well known that the stereotype of the pure conflict between scientific thought and religious dogma for long dominated the interpretation of the most profound essence of the Middle Ages, as an obscurantist age in the grip of the universalist political and religious authorities. This image of the Middle Ages was greatly corroborated by the Humanist writers of the Renaissance, who found nothing better to do than to demolish the recent past in order to exalt the distant past of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome.8 Enlightenment historiography persevered in offering an absolutely negative image of the Middle Ages in antithesis to the Age of Reason.9 In our age, the concept of Christianity as an obstacle to scientific progress was theorized mainly by John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White. While in Europe the neo-scholastic movement took shape and the corpus of Thomas Aquinas’ works began to be critically edited with Pope Leo XIII’s blessing, Draper, professor of chemistry and physiology at New York University, in 1874 published a history of the clash between religion and science that was very critical of Christianity and favourable toward classical culture, which would pollinate Renaissance science. The book was reprinted fifty times and translated into many languages. White, the first dean of Cornell University, in 1896 wrote a history of the conflict between science and Christian theology as distinct from religion. While theology interfered dogmatically with the study of Nature, considering the Bible a scientific text, religion had a universal value, in the order of morality, in the conduct of one’s life. Only religion, as an individual sentiment, could encourage science. Again in 1955 White’s work was praised by George Sarton.10 6 Ponzio, Copernicanesimo e teologia, 43–44; Redondi, P., “Natura e Scrittura” in: Bucciantini, M., Camerota, M. & Giudice, F. (eds), Il Caso Galileo: una rilettura storica, filosofica, teologica, Convegno internazionale di studi, Florence, 26–30 maggio 2009, Florence: Olschki, 2011, PP. 153–162. 7 Garin, Eugenio, “Il ‘caso’ Galileo nella storia della cultura moderna” in: Galluzzi, P. (ed.), Novità celesti e crisi del sapere. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi galileiani, Florence: Giunti Barbera, 1984, pp. 5–14; Vasoli, Cesare, “‘Tradizione’ e ‘Nuova Scienza’. Note alle lettere a Cristina di Lorena e al P. Castelli” in: Galluzzi, P. (ed.), Novità celesti e crisi del sapere, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi galileiani, Florence: Giunti Barbera, 1984, pp. 73–94. 8 Bottin, F., La scienza degli ockhamisti, Rimini: Maggioli, 1982, pp. 277–284. 9 Guerci, L., Note sulla storiografia illuministica, Florence: Olschki, 1979. 10 Lindberg, David C., “Introduction” in: Lindberg, D. C.
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From the 1920s a conciliatory position began to be affirmed in favour of religion as a propulsive factor for science and the idea that the universe was the result of a providential order, decreed by God’s will. This was the case of Arnold N. Whitehead, for example.11 In 1938 Robert K. Merton discriminated between Catholicism and Protestantism: while the Catholicism pervading Latin and Medieval Christianity was ascetic and distrustful of Nature and matter, judged as a source of precariousness, the Puritan ethic stimulated the study of Nature as an act of piety and an attempt to unveil the glory of the Creator through the order and harmony of the created universe, but also as a desire to better the conditions of humanity thanks to the advantages of scientific progress.12 With Pierre Duhem we witness a fundamental change of direction that seeks to overcome the perspective of a mere ideological conflict13. Duhem concentrated on the Middle Ages, inspired by the intuition that a whole millennium couldn’t not contain some element of scientific development. In particular, the Parisian condemnations of 7th March 1277 would begin to destabilize the safe paradigm of Aristotelian physics and trace new paths of research that would lead definitively to the birth of modern science.14 This vision of the Middle Ages in continuity with the Renaissance and the Modern Age rests on the theology of creation, which was not alien to Galileo and Newton, and is the idea that the universe, as created by God, conserves, like a watermark, the imprint of its Creator, exhibiting the features of goodness, order and rationality that underpin the birth of science. Duhem’s thesis was neglected in France, due to the scientific and anti–clerical ambient of the Third Republic, but it met with great success in the USA thanks to George Sarton’s positive review of his most important work ‘Le Système du Monde’15. & Numbers, N. (eds), God and Nature. Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science, Berkley: Berkley University Press, 1986, pp. 1–18; Lindberg, David C., “Science and the Early Church” in: Lindberg, D. C. & Numbers, N. (eds), God and Nature. Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science, Berkley: Berkley University Press, 1986, pp. 19–48. 11 Whitehead, Arnold N., Science and the Modern World, New York: Mentor Book, 1925. 12 Merton, R. K., “Science, Technology and Society in Seventeenth Century England” in: Osiris, vol. IV, A. Rusnoch, (ed.), Chicago: Academic, 1938, pp. 360–632. 13 Murdoch, John E., “Pierre Duhem and the History of Late Medieval Science and Philosophy in the Latin West” in: Imbach, R. & Maierù, A. (eds), Gli studi di filosofia medievale fra Ottocento e Novecento. Contributo a un bilancio storiografico, Rome: Storia e Letteratura, 1991, pp. 253–302; Jaki, Stanley L., An Easy Genius. The Life and Work of Pierre Duhem, The Hague: Nijhofff, 1984. Volumes 2 and 3 of Synthese Review are devoted to Pierre Duhem. 14 Biard, Joel, “Le rôle des condamnations de 1211 dans le développement de la physique selon Pierre Duhem” [The role of the condemnations of 1211 in the development of physics according to Pierre Duhem], Revue des Questions Scientifiques, 75 (2004), pp. 15–35 (translation by author). 15 At the time of Duhem’s death in 1916 many of his manuscripts were unpublished; his daughter Hélène and his students continued the publication of these manuscripts up to 1959; see Jaki, Stanley L., “Science and Censorship:
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This thesis, on the eve of the Scientific Revolution, placing medieval scientific progress at the heart of Christianity, dealt a decisive blow to the stereotypical image of the Middle Ages, and influenced a whole group of post WWII scholars, spearheaded by Anneliese Maier and Alaistair C. Crombie. Maier adopted a strongly ‘continuist’ perspective, taking her cue from the interweaving of science and theology and then focusing her attention on purely scientific writings.16 According to Crombie, the methodology of scientific research that flowed into the Scientific Revolution could be traced to the late Middle Ages.17 Crombie’s position gained wide approval, especially from John Herman Randall, but also severe criticism from Marshall Clagett, James McEvoy, and especially Alexandre Koyré.18 In 1961 Randall, following Ernst Cassirer19, demonstrated that the University of Padua had welcomed a number of scholars, from Peter of Abano to Zabarella and on to Galileo20. Randall’s essay too was criticized, especially in 1963 by Neal Gilbert, who noted that Galileo derived the methodology of the resolutio and compositio from Greek mathematicians rather than from Paduan scholars.21 Clagett and his group marginalized a priori external criteria and enhanced internal criteria, attentive to the content of critical editions of scientific treatises and the technical language of specific sciences.22 This technical approach has recently been endorsed by Fabio Seller, for whom, when the medieval scientist, who is also, indeed principally, a theologian, faces questions of natural philosophy at a high technical level, he is more often thinking like a scientist and not like a theologian or man of faith. This mental habit must be assumed by the contemporary scholar when reading and interpreting the sources in order to follow the patterns of reasoning. “On different occasions we can note that the pattern has nothing to do with religion or theology, but places itself on a level of often disorienting technical skill […] The historian of ancient and medieval philosophy who deals with scientific questions cannot concede himself the privilege of not also being a historian of science.”23 Hence, the autonomy and specialization of late–medieval natural Hélène Duhem and the Publication of the Système du Monde” in Intercollegiate Review, vol. XXI, M. Sprindling (ed.), Wilmington: Academic, 1985–1986, pp. 41–49. 16 Maier, A. Metaphysische Hintergrunde der spaatscholastichen Naturphilosophie, Rome: Storia e Letteratura, 1955. 17 Crombie, A., C. Augustine to Galileo: the History of Science A.D. 400–1650, London: Heinemann, 1957. 18 McEvoy, J., The Philosophy of Robert Grosseteste, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982. 19 Cassirer, E. Das Erkenntnisproblem in der Philosophie und Wissenschaft der neueren Zeit, Berlin: de Gruyter, 1911, 1, pp. 136–143. 20 Randall, J., H., The School of Padua and the Emergence of Modern Science, Padua: Antenore, 1961. 21 N. W. Gilbert, “Galileo and the School of Padua” in: Journal of the History of Philosophy, vol. I, S. Nadler, (ed.) Madison: Academic, 1963, pp. 223–231. 22 Clagett, M. The Science of Mechanics in the Middle Ages, Madison: University of Wisconsin press, 1959. 23 Seller, Fabio, “Temi e problemi per la definizione di un paradigma scientifico medievale” in: D’Onofrio, G. (ed.), The Medieval Paradigm. Religious Thought and Philosophy, Turnhoult: Brepols, 2012, p. 111.
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philosophy, or at least of those who study it.24 In 1956 Koyré sought to prove that most medieval scientific discoveries could not be associated with the Scientific Revolution. The great medieval machines, like clocks, were the causes, and not the effects, of scientific theories. Even the developments of Ockhamism were irrelevant for the birth of modern science25. In 1986 Edward Grant made a distinction between the early and late Middle Ages. While the former was characterized by a scarce scientific level, which was encyclopaedic, confused and uneven, so that it didn’t represent an alternative source of knowledge to Christian doctrine, the rediscovery of Græco– Arabic science in the late Middle Ages was a decisive step toward the modern concept of science.26 In 1974 Grant vindicated the substantial autonomy of late–medieval scientific thought from the religious context surrounding its authors; engaged in commentaries on the works of Aristotle, Galen and Ptolemy, they inevitably ran up against God and the Faith, albeit in a negligible way.27 In 1996 and 1999 Grant identified the prerequisites of the Scientific Revolution in the late Middle Ages, that is, the translations of Græco– Arabic scientific works, which were being taught in the newly founded universities; as well as the multiple skills of university teachers, who were, at one and the same time, philosophers and theologians, transmitting the new fields of knowledge, despite the ecclesiastical condemnations of the 13th century, which had a local and limited importance. The Parisian condemnations of 1277 must be considered as secondary aberrations in the overall history of western Christianity. The prerequisites for the Scientific Revolution must be sought in the role of natural philosophy and of the exact sciences. By virtue of these prerequisites, the reading of books newly acquired by the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Theology stimulated the proposition of many questions of a natural character, which opened the way to original methods and solutions at the foundations of modern science.28 Grant’s concept of the philosopher–theologian was taken up by Edith Sylla in 2003, who underlined the ‘synolon’ of philosophy and theology in their mutual referentiality and interaction,29 while Grant’s main critic
24 Seller, Temi e problemi per la definizione di un paradigma scientifico medievaleI, 113. 25 A. Koyrè, “The Origins of Modern Science: A New Interpretation” in: Diogenes, vol. XVI, M. Aymard & L. M. Scarantino (eds), Medford: Academic, 1956, pp. 14–42 26 Grant, Edward, “Science and Theology in the Middle Ages” in: Lindberg, D. C. & Numbers, N. (eds) God and Nature. Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science, Berkley: Berkley University Press, 1986, pp. 49–75. 27 Grant, E. A Source Book of Medieval Science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974. 28 Grant, E., The foundations of modern science in the Middle Ages: their religious, institutional and intellectual contexts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996; Idem, “God, Science, and Natural Philosophy in the Late Middle Ages” in: Nauta, L. & Vanderjagt, A. (eds), Between Demonstration and Imagination. Essays in the History of Science and Philosophy, Leiden: Brill, 1999, pp. 243–267. 29 Sylla, Edith D., “Interactions of natural philosophy and theology” in: A. S. McGrade (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge
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was Andrew Cunningham, in 1999 and 2000, who accused him of undisguised ‘continuism’: historians of science tend to confound the plane of modern science with that of medieval natural philosophy, which is scientific, but in a peculiar way. For Cunningham, despite the presence of many questions of natural philosophy, any work containing them would be based on an object that went beyond that of a specific enquiry, referring to a universe of theological meaning that was an integral part of scientific production. Metaphysics and theology also composed a “big picture” in which science was seen as historically contingent, that is, limited to and rooted in particular cultures, places and epochs. Seen in this way, the birth of modern science can be dated to between 1760 and 1848.30 The dispute between Grant and Cunningham still echoes among historians of science, divided between an attitude ‘centred on the present’ and a perspective open to cultural, social and political aspects that lay the ground for the emergence of certain speculative problems with the relative proposed solutions. The former sustain a progressive clarification of scientific truth, from the perspective of the contemporary scientist to the detriment of those hypotheses that turn out to be unfounded ex post;31 while the latter refuse to consider science as a transcendental product of thought, introducing external factors, such as the economy, politics and religion.32 David Lindberg has highlighted the role of the Church as the direct or indirect patron of medieval intellectual activity. He states that it would be counter–intuitive to ignore this role in order to approve the autonomous and secular character of science; the ideological factor accompanying this role was physiological and reflected a requisite that was socially and politically integral to intellectual production. Ultimately, Christianity was an omnipresent reality in the Middle Ages, which nevertheless interfered in scientific endeavour in a less intrusive way than is generally believed.33 This contribution purports to analyse late–medieval science from a dual perspective: history of science and philosophy of science. Such a perspective will allow us to obtain a detailed overall picture, which will then be compared University Press, 2003, pp. 187–195. 30 A. Cunningham and P. Williams, “De–Centring the ‘Big Picture’: The Origins of Modern Science and the Modern Origins of Science” in: The British Journal for the History of Science, vol. XXVI, J. Agar, (ed.), Cambridge: Academic, 1993, pp. 407–432; A. Cunningham,, “The Identity of Natural Philosophy. A Response to Edward Grant” in: Early Science and Medicine, vol. v, R. Lüthy (ed.), Leiden: Academic, 2000, pp. 259–278. 31 T. G. Ashplant and A. Wilson, “Present–centred history and the problem of historical knowledge” in: The Historical Journal, vol. XXXI, A. Preston & P. Withington (eds), Cambridge: Academic, 1988, pp. 253–273. 32 Steneck, N., H., Science and Creation in the Middle Ages. Henry of Langenstein (d. 1397) on Genesis, Notre Dame (Ind.): University of Notre Dame Press, 1976; Funkenstein, A., Theology and the Scientific Imagination from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986. 33 D. C. Lindberg, “Medieval Science and its Religious Context” in: Osiris, vol. X, A. Rusnoch, (ed.), Chicago: Academic, 1995, pp. 60–79.
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with modern science and the Scientific Revolution. II. History of science The technical and scientific discoveries that characterize the history of science in the late Middle Ages are indeed many. For example, at the University of Paris, Jean Buridan, Nicole Oresme, Albert of Saxony and Marsilius of Inghen proposed exciting hypotheses on the falling of weights, the motion of bodies in space, the liveableness of the earth, the relative motion and rotation of the earth, the plurality of worlds, the extra–cosmos and the infinite. Buridan, Oresme and Albert of Saxony described many experiments on falling stones, the relative motion of ships and the spheres of the sublunar world.34 Likewise, between the 13th and 14th centuries, a whole series of Greek, Roman and Arabic instruments and techniques were perfected. For example, the improvement of distillation instruments for volatile substances, like alcohol and acid concentrates, which led to the spread of alchemy35, as well as Hindu–Arabic positional algebra, Arabic mensural notation, which gave rise to polyphony, and pictorial perspective. A general process of thematization came to impose itself both at Oxford, with the calculationes , the proportiones and the regulae solvendi sophismata, and at Paris, with the graphic representation of Oresme’s three scales.36 This process may have been inspired by Roger Bacon’s famous hymn to mechanism. He presaged the construction of many machines, such as one for navigation without oarsmen, carts that could move without the use of muscular force and with incredible speed, a flying machine in which one could sit and operate artificial wings, a small machine that could lift, or drop, enormous weights, another with which a man could violently pull 1000 people toward himself, a device for walking on the surface or the bottom of rivers and seas, suspension bridges over water, and other astonishing devices. Bacon’s enthusiasm was sustained by a fair dose of fantasy; however, it was part of a wider social atmosphere in which production was increasingly dominated by machines. For example, the field of mechanics was evolving with the piston rod and crank handle, the water mill, the wind mill (in a small format with vertical wings), the hydraulic saw, the pedal hammer, and the handle drill. The textile industry was not far behind with the spindle and the Egyptian pedal loom, while architecture was progressing with the barrel vault on 34 Bianchi, Luca, “La struttura del cosmo” in: Bianchi, L (ed.), La filosofia nelle università, secoli XIII–XIV, Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1997, pp. 269–302; Biard, Joel, “Le statut du mouvement dans la philosophie naturelle buridanienne” in: Caroti, S. and Souffrin, P. (eds), La nouvelle physique du XIV siécle, Florence: Olschki, 1997, pp. 141–159; Caroti, S.,“Nuovi linguaggi e filosofia della natura: i limiti delle potenze attive in alcuni commenti parigini ad Aristotele” in: Caroti, S. (ed.), Studies in Medieval Natural Philosophy, Florence: Olschki, 1989, pp. 177–226; Grant, E., God and Reason in the Middle Ages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 158–183. 35 Crombie, A., C., Augustine to Galileo: the History of Science A.D. 400–1650, London: Heinemann, 1957, pp. 111–119. 36 Maier, A., On the Threshold of Exact Science, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982, pp. 169–170.
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diagonal arches (rounded and then pointed); navigation, with the Latin sail, a greater number of masts, the hinged rudder, the compass, marine charts, and maps; chemistry, with gunpowder, glass for domestic use, eyeglasses, cloth dyes, glues, siccative, inks, pharmaceutical minerals, and alcohol; and metallurgy, with blast furnaces equipped with hydraulic bellows to produce cast iron and copper and steel wire, tuned bells, fire arms, and large mechanical clocks.37 Paris, in the early 14th century, was the true capital of Europe, and like many other cities on the continent, it was immersed in an “atmosphere of calculation” – as Jacques Le Goff says38 – between mural quadrants, mechanical clocks and equal hours, promissory notes and letters of discount, gold coins and other currencies, double–entry bookkeeping, mensural notation and polyphonic song, perspective painting, marine charts, and maps.39 III. Philosophy of science Various late–medieval authors formalized the inductive method. For example, as I have shown elsewhere40, according to the Franciscan philosopher and theologian, John Duns Scotus, who taught at Oxford and Paris in the early 14th century, contingent propositions, which signify recurrent factors, cannot escape from the vis terminorum, that is, from the immediate comprehension of terminology. Such comprehension is gained through experience, mediated by a sophisticated demonstrative procedure: 1) experience gauges the effective verification of the inherence of the property to the subject of the proposition, and therefore, the verification of the fact that this proposition has meaning in the extra–mental world; 2) this fact is verified in the majority of cases through an inductive method; 3) as a rule, everything that happens in the majority of cases is a natural effect and has an associated natural cause, and so the fact that the proposition has meaning is understood as the natural effect and associated with the relative cause; 4) once cause and effect [NB no definite article] are established, a demonstratio potissima propter quid is constructed, that is, the strongest form of the Aristotelian deductive demonstration, inserting the subject’s definition as the middle term; 5) as a rule, everything that happens in the majority of cases, via a cause that is not free, is the natural effect of that cause, and, as such, the cause is associated with the relative effect. Both these rules serve to generalize, in the majority of cases, the relation between cause and effect; however, the first rule associates effect with cause in an inductive mode, while the second associates cause with effect in a deductive mode. Therefore, the connection between cause and effect is demonstrated in a circular mode. Both these rules can 37 Crombie, Augustine to Galileo, 152–209. 38 Le Goff, J., Your Money or Your Life: Economy and Religion in the Middle Ages, New York, Zone Books, 1988. 39 Crosby, A., W., La misura della realtà. Nascita di un nuovo modello di pensiero in Occidente, Bari: Dedalo, 1998, pp. 59–252. 40 Fiorentino, Francesco, “The theory of scientific knowledge according to John Duns Scotus” in: Honnefelder, L., Mohle, M., Speer, A., Kobusch, T., & Bullido del Bario, S. (eds), John Duns Scotus (1308–2008). Die philosophischen Perspektiven seines Werkes. Proceedings of the Quadruple Congress on John Duns Scotus, Part 3, Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2010, pp. 327–343.
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function only after prior operations, that is, the induction of the effect, in the majority of cases, with regard to the first rule, and the construction of the demostratio potissima (that is, of the most rigorous demonstration, in which the middle term contains the definition of the subject or predicate of the main proposition) with regard to the second. The criterion of ‘majority’ alone is enough to mark the natural character of the effect and the necessary character of the relative cause. The result is a transformation of the role of induction, which goes from being the necessary instrument for extrapolating the universal from the particular, in Aristotelian terms, to the means for verifying and testing the atomic assertions, as premises and conclusions.41 Thus Scotus elaborates scientific knowledge not only from necessary facts, but also from contingent facts42, expanding de facto the dominion of science to Nature, in a way that rests on the theory of the determination of divine will43. In other words, God choses and determines freely and voluntarily just one side of each co–possible pair of contraries, bringing it to be in the created world. This theory renders natural laws absolutely contingent, and contingent facts absolutely necessary, as correlated in the supreme and absolutely necessary Being. The main speculative focus shifts from facts as parts of genera and from their necessary nature, to the laws that make such facts co–possible. As 41 That could bring Scotus close to Bacon’s concept of experimental science; see Lindberg, David C., “Introduction” in: Idem, Roger Bacon and the Origins of Perspective in the Middle Ages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996, p. IV. 42 This concept has already been underlined by Roberto Hoffmeister Pich in Der Begriff der wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnis nach Johannes Duns Scotus (unpublished PhD Dissertation, Bonn 2001, pp. 145–158. 43 Courtenay, William, J., “The dialectic of omnipotence in the High and Late Middle Ages” in: Rudavsky, T. (ed.), Divine Omniscience and Omnipotence in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic, Jewish and Christian Perspectives, Dordrecht: Reidel, 1985, pp. 121–127; B. De la Torre, “Thomas Buckingham and the contingency of futures. The possibility of human freedom” in: Mediaeval Studies, vol. XXV, J. Black (ed.), Toronto: Academic, 1987, pp. 91–101; S. D. Dumont, “The origin of Scotus’ theory of synchronic contingency” in: The Modern Schoolman, vol. LXXII, J. D. Jacobs (ed.), St. Louis: Academic, 1995, pp. 149– 167; F. Fiorentino, “La teoria della determinazione della volontà divina di Duns Scoto e la sua immediata recezione medievale” [The theory of the determination of the divine will in Duns Scotus and its immediate medieval reception], Rome: Antonianum, 80 (2005): 277–318 (translation by author); Idem, “Il rapporto tra la volontà divina e la volontà umana in Francesco di Meyronnes dopo Duns Scoto” [The relationship between the divine will and the human will in Francis of Meyronnes after Duns Scotus] in Franciscan Studies. 63 (2005): 159–214 (translation by author); Idem, Gregorio da Rimini, Il futuro, la contingenza e la scienza nel pensiero tardo–medievale, Rome: Antonianum, 2004; Idem, Francesco di Meyronnes. Libertà e contingenza nel pensiero tardo–medievale, Rome: Antonianum, 2006; Randi, Eugenio, “Onnipotenza divina e futuri contingenti nel XIV secolo” [Divine omnipotence and contingent futures in the 14th century] in Documenti e Studi sulla Tradizione Filosofica Medievale, 1 (1990), pp. 605–630 (translation by author).
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Stephen Marrone notes, this expansion overturns the Aristotelian primacy of necessary truths in favour of contingent truths, which become more perfect than the former in the context of what Marrone calls “experimental science”44. Concluding his article, Marrone states that this conception places Scotus well within the history of the modern theory of science.45 Scotus enters this history with the lesson of the condemnations of the late 13th century, that is, the abandonment of an exasperated recourse to the necessity of natural laws, but without the ultra–contingency– oriented and sceptical deviations of the 14th century.46 In effect, the fact that the laws of Nature, not being free, must always act in a natural and uniform way, sets up the possibility of the regularity of Nature, but without invalidating the contingency of the divine will. On the other hand, the divine will, being capable of impeding the action of every natural cause, does not upset the natural order, which would hinder scientific enquiry. The constancy of Nature does not depend on an objective factor, that is, on Nature itself, which God could always overturn, but on the concrete experience of the invariability of natural laws. That is, on the empirical constatation of the fact that, though capable of doing so, God has not desired to overturn the natural order, so that its laws remain constant; hence the scientist can discover them and they allow him to harmonize contingent events in a single proof. This constatation allows us to limit the role of the exception, which does not invalidate the natural law, since it does not represent proof of the possibility of overturning the natural order, but instead, represents the documentation that this order has not yet been overturned, though it could be in the future. The perennial subsistence of the possibility of a counter–factual course does not limit the role of contingency, which was transformed after the 1277 condemnations. From being the ontological residue of the precariousness of the world, in antithesis to the absolute necessity of God, contingency became the most peculiar expression of God’s infinite omnipotence and freedom. Yet this subsistence limits the role of necessity, which must be relative (secundum quid) or hypothetical (ypothetica) and not absolute, as in the Aristotelian supposition which Scotus criticises.47 44 Marrone, Stephen, P., “Concepts of science among Parisian theologians in the Thirteenth Century” in: Tyorinoja, R. (ed.), Knowledge and the Sciences in Medieval Philosophy, vol. I, Helsinki: Acta Philosophica Fennica, 1990, pp. 131–132. 45 Marrone, Concept of science, 132; Idem, “Scotus at Paris on the criteria for scientific knowledge” in: Brown S. F., Dewender, T. & Kobusch, T. (eds), Philosophical Debates at Paris in the Early Fourteenth Century, Leiden: Brill, 2009, pp. 383–400. 46 W. J. Courtenay, “John of Mirecourt and Gregory of Rimini on whether God Can Undo the Past” in: Recherches de Théologie ancienne et médiévale, vol. XXXIX, G. Guldentops (ed.), Leuven, Academic, 1972, pp. 224–253, vol. XL, 1973, pp. 147–174; Grassi, Onorato, “Probabilismo teologico e certezza filosofica. Pietro Aureoli e il dibattito sulla conoscenza nel ‘300” in: D’Onofrio G. (ed.), Storia della teologia nel Medioevo, vol. III, Casale Monferrato: Piemme, 1996, pp. 515–517. 47 Ioannes Duns Scotus, in Metaphysicam VI, q. 2, ed. G. J. Etzkorn, St. Bonaventure: The Franciscan Institute, 1997, vol. II, pp. 47–48, § 29.
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A few years later the scientia experimentalis reappears in the Franciscan, William of Nottingham, who appeals to extrinsic evidence that relies on induction. In William’s judgement, starting from sensible experience in the memory, both mediated and unmediated, induction allows us to comprehend the universal, which is the premise of syllogistic deduction.48 In this way we obtain what Robert Grosseteste calls principium universale experimentale.49 At the end of the 1410s the Franciscan theologian, John of Reading, replying to his confrere Petrus Aureolus’ opinion on the nature of theology, analysed inductive science transversely, and distinguished three types: 1) ex effectu sensato vel esperimento, 2) ex experientia, 3) ex experientia with the addition of Nature. The first type, which Reading bases, with good reason, on Scotus, resembles the per regressum method of the Paduan School. In it, we proceed from a single, empirically observed fact to its cause. Once it has been observed that the Moon increases in size, we resort to the nominal definition of a circular body in order to return to the circularity of the moon as cause, which acts as the subject in the major premise, from which we deduce a priori the conclusion containing the initially observed effect. So, the effect is not the cause, but only the occasion for investigating the cause of the subject’s property.50 The other two types of inductive science do not make use of a single experiment, but rather a series of experiments, which Reading calls ‘approximatio contingens experimentata’, as if to say that the repetition of the experiment allows us to grasp the connection between effect and cause, which in itself is contingent and so may happen, while it does not happen, and may not happen, while it does happen. Yet this repetition can only be approximate, since it cannot cover all the cases effectively verifiable.51 The second type draws on experience: this entails the repetition of a single experiment and demonstrates the association between effect and cause in a certain frequency of cases. The frequency, which corresponds to a statistical criterion, attenuates the contingency of Nature and becomes the precondition for the application of the propositio quiescens apud intellectum, that is, the a priori mental rule whereby, having established the cause and put aside all the rest, if the effect happens in the majority of cases, then it comes to be associated with that cause. So, there is a principle that does not derive from experience, but that, remaining in the intellect, oversees the interpretation of data obtained through the various repeated experiments. 48 Fiorentino, F., Conoscenza scientifica e teologia fra i secoli XIII e XIV, Bari: Pagina, 2014, pp. 173-186. 49 Crombie, A., C., Robert Grosseteste and the Origins of Experimental Science 1100–1700, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971; Rossi, Pietro, “Robert Grosseteste and the object of scientific knowledge” in: McEvoy, J. (ed.), Robert Grosseteste. New Perspectives on his Thought and Scholarship, Turnhout: Brepols, 1995, pp. 154–187; Serene, F., “Robert Grosseteste on Induction and Demonstrative Science” in: Synthese, vol. XL, O. Bueno, V. F. Hendricks, W. van der Hoek & G. Sher (eds), New York: Academic, 1979, pp. 87–121. 50 Ioannes de Radingia, Scriptum in primum librum Sententiarum, Prologus, q. (=quaestio) 5, a. (=articulus) 2, ed. F. Fiorentino, Paris: Vrin, 2011, p. 347. 51 Ibidem, p. 348.
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The examination of all the cases is not only impossible, but futile, since there is already a rule, which is not deduced from, but only corroborated by experience. This rule suggests the implementation of certain operations with regard to the raw data of experience: 1) the elimination of all the extraneous causes, 2) the verification of the frequent concurrence between setting out the cause and setting out the relative effect. Recognition of the cause triggers the syllogistic deduction, which generates a deductive science. For example, once it is known through experience that a certain illness is frequently cured with a certain herb, we can demonstrate a priori that this herb cures this illness. ‘Concludo sicut sentio’, that is, inductive science and deductive science coincide in a circular fashion in the same epistemic content.52 The third type of inductive science presupposes the second and adds the discovery of the subject’s nature, which is not obtained through the same experiment already employed, but through another experiment, with which another conclusion is reached. For example, suppose that this herb can cure this illness, in virtue of another experiment, we can conclude that the healing power of the herb depends on the fact that it corrupts a cold illness, so it can be deduced that the herb in question has a hot nature. 53 William of Ockham, Reading’s confrere and fellow student at Oxford, seems to favour a purely inductive method, when he affirms, in the first prologue question of his Commentary on Peter Lombard’s Sentences, that the premise “every herb of a certain species is given to the feverish person” cannot be demonstrated with a syllogism, which must begin with a premise that is known in and of itself; instead, it requires one or more intuitive types of knowledge of herbs through various experiments on the individual herb, which point to the direct causation between a given herb and the cure for fever, once every other cause has been removed.54 In the fourth prologue question, Ockham adds that the conclusion “the Moon is lit by the Sun” cannot be demonstrated a priori, but can only be known with evidence gained through experience. However, even Ockham seems to fear an a priori demonstrative procedure: take a name, which denotes the illumination of the Moon and connotes the Sun as the cause of this illumination, remove every other cause, and know that the Sun is a luminous body, which can light up the Moon, and that the Sun is directly opposite the Moon, without the interposition of other planets. So we can obtain the conclusion, without seeing empirically that the Moon is eclipsed by the Sun.55 Thus even Ockham seems to adopt a per regressum method, which utilises the insertion of the subject’s definition in the middle term of the demonstration, following Scotus and Nottingham.56 52 Ibidem, pp. 347, 349. 53 Ibidem, p. 348. 54 Guillelmus de Ockham, Scriptum in primum librum Sententiarum, Prologus, q. 2, a. 1, ed. G. Gál, St. Bonaventure N.Y., The Franciscan Institute, 1967, pp. 86, 17 – 87, 18. 55 Ibidem, q. 4, pp. 155, 25 – 156, 10. 56 Martini, Maria Gabriella, “La verità scientifica negli stoici e in Ockham. Un accostamento possibile” [The scientific truth in the Stoics and Ockham. A possible approach?], Studi francescani, 99 (2002), pp. 237–252 (translation by author).
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In the second prologue question not even tautological propositions – like ‘God is God’ or ‘the white man is the white man’ – can escape experience, with which the subject’s real existence should be verified.57 In substance, whoever intends to use the inductive method – according to Ockham – must accept as evident the premise “this herb cures this fever”, if the effective causal connection between the herb and the fever is verified in Nature. This connection is generalized through an extrinsic rule not existing in the intellect, that is, ‘all individual [herbs] of a certain type cause the same effects in every patient equally disposed’. 58 Once the premise has been demonstrated empirically, the syllogism can be composed, in which the rule becomes the middle term, that is, ‘this herb cures this fever; all the individual [herbs] of a certain type cause the same effects in [all] the patients equally disposed; therefore, every herb of this species cures every fever of this species.’59 This rule rests on the well–known faith Ockham nourished for intuitive knowledge, as well as for its skill in recording exactly the causal connections operating in Nature60; yet, at the same time, it refers to a universality that no intuitive knowledge, no matter how often repeated, can achieve. The analysis of Ockham’s text induces us to say that the singularity or repetition of the experiment can be explained by the subject’s nature in the premise. If that nature is a unique species, then a single experiment is sufficient; if, instead, that nature is common to more than one species, then more than one experiment is needed.61 If one intends to prove a certain nature of an entire genus, then first it must be verified in every single individual, and second in every species. Only at this point can a further rule of generalisation be applied, for which, when something agrees to all that is contained under a certain genus, then it agrees to the whole genus.62 For example, if we wanted to demonstrate the proposition ‘the animal can grow’, we would first have to separate that proposition from the various propositions having as their subjects all the species comprised under the genus ‘animal’, that is, ‘the ox can grow’, ‘the lion can grow’, ‘man can grow’, and so on. These propositions would then be demonstrated, verifying the real connection between growable–ness and each individual of each species above. Only after this operation would it be possible to conclude that the initial proposition was evident.63 Obviously, this operation, though rigorous, is impossible. Hence, Ockham suggests the passage from the singular proposition to the universal one, inserting the middle term ‘if an absolute, or a property that ensues from something absolute, appertains to an individual, then a similar absolute can appertain to any individual of the same nature’ so as to form the demonstrative syllogism ‘this herb is healing; 57 Guillelmus de Ockham, In Sent. I, Prologus, q. 2, a. 3, ed. G. Gál, St. Bonaventure N.Y., The Franciscan Institute, 1967, pp. 112, 9 – 113, 19. 58 Ibidem, a. 1, pp. 86, 17 – 87, 18. 59 Ibidem, a. 2, pp. 91, 16 – 92, 2. 60 J. F. Boler, “Ockham on Evident Cognition” in: Franciscan Studies, vol. XXXVI, J. F. Calogeras (ed.), St. Bonaventure N.Y.: Academic, 1976, pp. 85–98. 61 Guillelmus de Ockham, In Sent. I, Prologus, q. 2, a. 2, ed. G. Gál, St. Bonaventure N.Y., The Franciscan Institute, 1967, pp. 92, 18 – 93, 6. 62 Ibidem, p. 93, 7–19. 63 Ibidem, p. 93, 20–23.
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if an absolute, or a property that ensues from something absolute, appertains to an individual, then a similar absolute can appertain to any individual of the same nature; therefore, every herb of the same species is healing’64. This middle term is equivalent to a rule of approximation, which extends the characteristics of a certain individual to all those similar, thereby avoiding the recourse to experience. As already noted,65 this lack of recourse is justified by the supposition of the constancy of Nature, which nevertheless permeates the conclusions demonstrated empirically with an inevitable probabilistic character and with the ensuing risk of scepticism, which appeared on the intellectual scene in the 14th century. 66 Reading explained to Ockham that the non– demonstrability of some properties with regard to the relative subjects a priori does not depend on the fact that the properties do not inhere in those subjects in a deductive way, but on the concealment of some causes to the human intellect; whereby such causes must be discovered a posteriori per experientiam.67 Both Walter Chatton and Adam Wodeham objected to Ockham that experience and syllogistic demonstration do not produce the same science. Chatton identified experience and demonstration with a priori and a posteriori procedures, which cause different sciences, because they utilise different media. This diversity provokes the duplication of self–evidence and of doubtability as the prerequisite for the demonstration. The immediate principles become demonstrable through experience for two reasons: 1) they are dubitable a posteriori, while they are self–evident a priori; 2) like every other principle, [principio] they must be converted into consequences, whose antecedent signifies the condition of existence of the subject of the consequent. Such evidence must be verified empirically, as Ockham anticipated in his tautological propositions. 68 The science Wodeham had in mind is no longer a habitus, but an actus, that is, an act with which the intellect assents to the proposition, which is evident in that it conforms to the sic esse, that is, to the real state of extra–mental things. Hence, what is known scientifically is not so much the object, but rather the intellectual judgement of the object, that is, a mental state, a second–level epistemic content, which refers to the object in that it is a first–level epistemic content. The verification of the sic esse must be submitted to the syllogistic deduction and the regulae quiescentes in anima, recalling Reading. What is obtained is not knowledge of the existence of the single individual, but knowledge of the possibility, or at least the non–impossibility, of the 64 Ibidem, pp. 94, 20 - 95, 3. 65 Bos, Egdard, P., “A Contribution to the History of Theories of Induction in the Middle Ages” in: Jakobi, K. (ed.), Argumentationstheorie. Scholastische Forschungen zu den logischen und semantischen Regeln korrekten Folgerns, Leiden: Brill, 1993, pp. 553-574; Weiberg, J., Abstraction, Relation and Induction. Three Essays in the History of Thought, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1965, pp. 141-150. 66 Boler, “Ockham on Evident Cognition”, 85-98; Fiorentino, Conoscenza scientifica e teologia fra i secoli XIII e XIV, chpt. 5, section 9.7. 67 Ibidem, chpt. 5, section 6. 68 Ibidem, chpt. 6, section 1.1.
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species’ existence; for the species to be possible, or at least not impossible, its logical non–repugnance is enough, even without the real existence of some of its content. On the one hand, if the proposition is evident, the intellect cannot not assent to it. On the other, it is the intellect that judges whether the proposition is so evident as to merit its assent. The result is that the separation between the mental state and the extra–mental state is cancelled. This cancellation exposes the human mind to the possibility of deception, which God could exercise through His omnipotence, in a Cartesian way. In Wodeham, such a possibility does not destabilize the constancy of Nature, which is assured by God’s ordained potency; but, God’s acting on intellectual judgment deprives all scientific proof of absolute evidence, independently of the source for this evidence. Hence, a new judgment arises: a hypothetical judgment, together with a general probabilism, which is the ultimate effect – albeit not an intentional one – of the Ockhamist discussion of experimental intuitive knowledge. 69 As Maier has observed70, these consequences are so radicated as to elicit reactions against the entire Ockhamist movement.71 Alfonso Maierù has clearly outlined the new season of western thought, which comes to fruition with Pierre d’Ailly, and which is defined by the epistemological fracture between the two types of evidence, distinguished by their capacity to resist, or not, the engulfing role of divine omnipotence. 72 This season is greatly encouraged by John of Mirecourt, who theorized special evidence: it has the merit of remaining indifferent to omnipotence, but its field of application is just as limited, comprehending only the first principle, tautological propositions, the fact that something is, and the mere logical validity of the consequences, whether manifest or concealed under the form of enthymemes. This limitation precludes from special evidence the knowledge of the real world empirically observed in the factual state of things. This is the price that such evidence must pay for reflecting on an abstract, and hence counter–factual, world. Yet, while in Wodeham supernatural intervention acts only on the mental state, instilling systematic doubt in a person’s mind, in Mirecourt such intervention is directed toward the extra–mental state, introducing the possibility of a counter– factual course. In Wodeham, the knowing intellect cannot be sure of what it perceives or knows, while in Mirecourt the known object can be changed and so default on the principle of Nature’s constancy. Hence, in Wodeham the recourse to experience does not serve to banish doubt in the intellect, which does not focus on what can be the object of experience, but on itself. Wodeham must refer to pure logical validity, which transcends such doubt. In Mirecourt, instead, experience is enough to verify whether or not the extra– mental state of things follows an ordinary course, while the criterion of logical validity can play no role in proper 69 Ibidem, chpt. 6, section 3.1. 70 Maier, A., Metaphysische Hintergründe der Spätskolastiken Naturphilosophie, Rome: Storia e Letteratura, 1955, p. 199, note 1. 71 Fiorentino, Conoscenza scientifica e teologia fra i secoli XIII e XIV, chpt. 6, section 5. 72 Maierù, Alfonso, “Logique et théologie trinitaire. Pierre d’Ailly” in: Kaluza, Z. & Vignaux, P. (eds), Preuve et raison à l’université de Paris. Logique, ontologie et théologie au XIV siècle, Paris: Vrin, 1984, pp. 253-268.
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science, because it is based on pure logical correctness, rather than on the verification of the effective state of things, signified by the proposition. Such signification is not proved through syllogistic demonstration, which is confined to the level of pure formal correctness, but through the inductive procedure. This procedure provokes once again an inevitable probabilistic character, which becomes fused with the supposition of Nature’s regularity. This character is the counterbalance to the limitation of special evidence.73 And Mirecourt extends it to many propositions in the natural sciences, to the principle of causality and to the infinite sequence of trials. The profound devaluation of the principle of causality and of the infinite sequence of trials seriously undermines all proofs of the existence of God. But, in general, it is theology and natural science that [definitively] undergo a robust re–dimensioning, in spite of the philosophi and the Aristotelian system of Nature and science, as George Tessier has underlined.74 Mirecourt invalidates the principle of causality, not only on a supernatural plane, but also on a natural one, affirming that the identification of the appropriate cause does not exclude the existence of another, concurrent and unknown, natural cause. This affirmation corrodes inductive science from within and foils Buridan’s attempt to stem Nicholas Autrécourt’s reductionism.75 IV. Conclusion As we can see, the combination of history of science and philosophy of science is very fruitful, since it provides a complete yet detailed picture of late–medieval science, in which we glimpse two phenomena typical of the 14th century: a general process of mathematization, calculation and mechanisation, and a keen interest in the inductive method and experimental science, which cannot be confined to Ockham – as André Goddu76 has continued to maintain – but which begins at least with Scotus. Indeed, we can observe, in the Franciscan tradition at the intersection between Scotism and Ockhamism, the predilection for a circular method that combines induction and deduction. This development is not obstructed, but instead favoured, by the ecclesiastical condemnations of 1277, which had the effect of destabilising the Aristotelian epistemic model, founded on a purely deductive method and on the necessity of the object, with the consequent enhancement of the contingency of Nature, and the omnipotence and freedom of God. 73 Fiorentino, Conoscenza scientifica e teologia fra i secoli XIII e XIV, , chpt. 8, section 4. 74 Tessier, Gerard, “Jean de Mirecourt philosophe et théologien” [John of Mirecourt philosopher and theologian], Revue d’histoire littéraire de la France, 40 (1974): 1-52, in particular 48 (translation by author). 75 John Buridan recognises that it is impossible to know if and when God intervenes in the effective course of Nature; SEE Southern, Ri. Robert Grosseteste. The Growth of an English Mind in Medieval Europe, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988, pp. 195-201. 76 Goddu, Andrew, “Medieval Natural Philosophy and Modern Science. Continuity or Revolution” in: Emery, K., Friedman, L. R. & Speer, A. (eds), Philosophy and Theology in the long Middle Ages: a Tribute to Stephen F. Brown, Leiden: Brill, 2011, pp. 214-233, in particular 230-233.
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Initially, in Scotus, the centrality of omnipotence and the new concept of contingency render necessary the recourse to experience, which has the task of verifying the real course of Nature, which God could always overturn. The focus on experience as an instrument of certification for the ordinary course of Nature induces theologians, like Reading and Ockham, to concentrate on the inductive method. For Reading, the recourse to empirical induction is provoked by the concealment of causal connections from the intellect, which is too weak to deduce all the properties of a certain subject; while Ockham believes that the properties themselves are not inherent in their subjects in a deductive way. Both Reading and Ockham trust in the repeated experiment in order to discover the appropriate cause and eliminate any other, as Newton would reiterate. Mirecourt, instead, warns that identification of the appropriate cause does not exclude the existence of hidden and concurrent causes. Reading’s third type of science is not limited to establishing mere causal connections, but presses on to understand the property of the subject that presides over such a connection. Nevertheless, starting with Ockham, the inevitable application of generalising mental or extrinsic rules assures the supposition of Nature’s constancy, but at the price of the hypothetical and probabilistic character of inductive science. For Wodeham, while God guarantees such constancy in the ordinary course of Nature, what man knows scientifically is a mental state with which only the logical possibility of the existence of species can be discovered through a hypothetical judgement; it remains permanently bound to the inductive method, for Mirecourt and Ailly, who confine the most rigorous evidence to the purely logical sphere, with the serious compromise of Aristotelian physics and of the deterministic relations between cause and effect. So why don’t the mathematisation and mechanisation of Nature, on the one hand, and the theologians’ inductive method, on the other, merge to give rise to a scientific revolution already in the 14th century? Indeed, while various mechanical instruments were invented in or imported to Europe, and while there was a new trend in calculations of various kinds, the practice of science was starkly disjointed from the theory of science. The experiments described in the 14th century on falling rocks and relative motion remained purely mental, because there was a complete separation between the craftsman, who built mechanical instruments through trial and error, and the university master, who imagined carrying out certain experiments without the minimum intention of going to a laboratory or observing Nature directly, like Leonardo da Vinci; between the ‘engineer’ and the ‘epistemologist’ or ‘philosopher of science’ (as we would call them today); between the surgeon, who learnt how to operate on the human body by first imitating his master, and the doctor, who commented on texts by Aristotle and Galen in a university context; between the alchemist and the natural philosopher. Theory and practice remained separate without generating any constructive knowledge as in Francis Bacon. In the theory proposed by Koyré77, the egg, represented 77 Koyré, A., Dal mondo chiuso all’universo infinito, Milan: Feltrinelli, 1979, pp. 10-12.
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by the Aristotelian–Ptolemaic system, swells to the point of bursting. For example, Ptolemaic cosmology underwent so many adjustments that it became too complex and therefore unsustainable, compared with the Copernican system.78 For John Weisheipl, while “John Buridan was concerned with new problems of ‘impetus’ and the via moderna in its widest application, the Physics of Aristotle remained the cornerstone of medieval natural philosophy.”79 Guido AllineyGuido Alliney80 and Bernard Cohen81 have objected that Copernicus’ results did not present fewer errors than the Ptolemaic system and that his calculations were not much simpler; indeed, Copernicus used the epicycles and the same experimental data as the Ptolemaic tradition. Moreover, Aristotle no longer represented an indisputable authority. For example, Pierre Jean Olivi complained that Aristotle was held to be the regula infallibilis veritatis, and that one had to submit to him tamquam Deo.82 Francis of Meyronnes gave to Aristotle the title pessimus metaphisicus without mincing his words. Durand of Saint Pourçain recalls Aristotle’s human nature and consequently his possible fallibility. Many commentators83, like Ockham and Oresme, detected point by point Aristotle’s inaccuracies.84 Gregory of Rimini thought that Aristotle was wrong with regard to the indeterminate logical value of statements de futuro contingente, and that he made other serious errors, while Wodeham asserts that such a value is so absurd that it may not have been authentically held by Aristotle.85 For Jurgen Sarnowsky, medieval thinkers used the
78 Grant, E., Planets, stars & orbs. The Medieval Cosmos, 1200-1687, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 675-679. 79 Weisheipl, John, “The interpretation of Aristotle’s Physics and the Science of Motion” in: Kretzmann, N., Kenny A. & Pinborg J. (eds), The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982, p. 523. 80 Alliney, Guido, “L’evoluzione scientifica nella filosofia della natura medievale. Attualità dell’inattuale” in: Martello, C. (ed.), Cosmogonie e cosmologie nel Medioevo. Atti del Convegno della Società Italiana per lo Studio del Pensiero Medievale (SISPM), Catania 22-24 September 2006, Louvain la Neuve, FIDEM, 2008, pp. 1-18, in particular 11. 81 Cohen, B., J., La rivoluzione della scienza, Milan: Longanesi, 1988, pp. 123-140. 82 Bettini, Orazio, “Olivi di fronte ad Aristotele. Divergenze e consonanze nella dottrina dei due pensatori” [Olivi in comparison to Aristotle. Divergences and consonances in the doctrine of the two thinkers], Studi francescani, 40 (1958): 176-197 (translation by author). 83 Durandus de S. Porciano, In Petri Lombardi Sententias theologicas commentarium, liber II, quaestio 12, ed. Venetiis 1571, ex Typographia Guerraea, vol. II, f. (=folium) 162v 84 Bianchi, Luca, “Aristotele fu un uomo e poté errare. Sulle origini medievali della critica al principio di autorità” in: Bianchi, L. (ed.), Filosofia e teologia nel Trecento. Studi in memoria di Eugenio Randi, Louvain la Neuve: Fidem, 1994, pp. 509-533. 85 Fiorentino, Francesco, “Adamo di Wodeham e Gregorio da Rimini a confronto sulla prescienza divina e sui futuri contingenti” [Adam of Wodeham and Gregory of Rimini in comparison on divine foreknowledge and contingent futures], Analecta Augustiniana, 67 (2004): 53-84 (translation by author).
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experimental method in a less orderly way than modern researchers: “Thus, they developed a new concept of nature, which was an important step towards the abstraction from day–to– day experience in modern physics. Starting from the logical possibilities, some elements of the natural phenomena were singled out and discussed per se. But, as Amos Furkenstein remarked, the medieval philosophers did not use this method systematically, as did the founders of modern science in the 17th century. Therefore the departure from Aristotle was at first only taken with small steps. Nevertheless, these steps make up at least part of the special character of the “New Physics” of the 14th century.”86 So late–medieval scientists seem to have come close to the ideal of modern science, but not in a very orderly way, and only gradually. Nevertheless, it is as difficult to identify the correct level of orderliness in superstring theory today, as it was in the mechanism of eccentrics and epicycles yesterday.87 The validation of experience is not assured in many theories of contemporary science. For example: the theory of the potential existence of electrons before they are observed (J. Wheeler); pilot wave theory and quantum decoherence theory (D. Bohm); the wormhole as a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime (H. Weyl); the baby universe (L. Smolin); warp drive (M.A. Moya); black holes (S. Hawking); cosmic inflation (A. Guth and A. Linde); fractal cosmology (A. Linde); steady state theory (F. Hoyle)88; punctuated equilibrium (S.J. Gould)89; the theory of neuronal group selection (G. Edelman); neural dualism (J. Eccles); consciousness as the result of quantum gravity effects in microtubules (R. Penrose)90; catastrophe theory (R. Thom)91; and omega point theory (F. Tipler)92. As Tullio Regge writes: “Without an experimental validation, Physics, like all the natural sciences, is destined to hole up in a sterile and exasperated introspection that could last for centuries.93 This evidence demonstrates that the answer to the above question cannot reside in a mere question of the quantity of experimentation, as if late–medieval scientists should be considered beginners with respect to the masters of modern science. We must recognise, along with Cunningham, that 14th century authors were not forerunners or precursors to Bacon, Galileo and Newton. Late–medieval theologians were also philosophers – as they are described by Grant and Sylla – and possessed their own refined epistemology, which was structurally incompatible with the mechanism typical of modern science. So we must separate the plane 86 Sarnowsky, John, “God’s Absolute Power, Thought Experiments, and the Concept of Nature in the “New Physics” of the XIVth Century” in: Caroti, S. & Souffrin, P. (eds), La nouvelle physique du XIVe siècle, Florence: Olschki, 1997, p. 179. 87 Horgan, J., La fine della scienza, Milan: Adelphi, 1998, pp. 101-147. 88 Ibidem, pp. 149-180. 89 Ibidem, pp. 191-222 90 Ibidem, pp. 247-292. 91 Ibidem, pp. 293-394. 92 Ibidem, pp. 373-392. 93 Regge, T., Infinito: Viaggio ai limiti dell’universo, Milan: Mondadori, 1994, p. 295.
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of late–medieval science from the modern one. There is not just one science that develops slowly between the 14th and 17th centuries, but various sciences, amongst which we can find zones of contiguity, intersection and superimposition, like Leonardo da Vinci and the Paduan School. Instead of mechanism, in late–medieval science we find the hypothesis, which requires at least three elements, as we know94: the arbitrary use of God’s absolute power, the study of imaginary cases that derive from this, and the inductive method. Indeed, given His omnipotence, one could ponder both the ordinary course and the extraordinary course of Nature, that is, the course God wants from eternity as absolute sovereign, who institutes the laws of the universe, and the course God can always overturn, violating the laws that govern the created but not the Creator. As a consequence, on the one hand, Nature can be studied in an inductive way, deriving laws, which nevertheless must remain probable in order to safeguard divine omnipotence; on the other, it becomes possible to suspend the laws of Nature temporarily de potentia Dei absoluta, without any rational motive, and image whole counter–factual scenes, which nevertheless do not have the pretence of reality, and are destined [always] to be considered hypothetically. This double face of late–medieval science was not obstructed, but favoured, by the religious or theological factor, to which a just weight must be assigned, as Duhem has done, unlike Grant and Lindberg. Indeed, the ecclesiastical condemnations of 1277 caused a crisis in Græco–Arabic natural determinism and opened the way for the enhancement of contingency and omnipotence. Instead, the thematisation and mechanism of modern science leads to the exaltation of the determinism of natural laws, which inspired Galileo to study in a realistic, and not hypothetical or probabilistic, way the Book of Nature, as created by God. A theological conception of creation persists in Galileo and Newton, but the extraordinary course of Nature is cancelled and God himself becomes a kind of constitutional monarch, that is, He must recognise the laws that He himself has instituted for the created. Creator and created obey the same normative constitution of the universe in a sort of egalitarianism. Galileo’s naturalistic realism can be contrasted with Bellarmino’s scriptural realism, which conceded nothing to the individual liberty to interpret Sacred Scripture, after the Tridentine reforms. The sacred text must be held to 94 Bottin, F., La scienza degli occamisti, Rimini: Maggioli, 1982; Caroti, Stefano “Nuovi linguaggi e filosofia della natura: i limiti delle potenze attive in alcuni commenti parigini ad Aristotele” in Caroti, S. (ed.), Studies in Medieval Natural Philosophy, Florence: Olschki, 1989, pp. 177-226; Hugonnard Roche, Henri, “Analyse sémantique et analyse secundum imaginationem dans la physique parisienne au XIVe siècle” in: Caroti, S. (ed.), Studies in Medieval Natural Philosophy, Florence: Olschki, 1989, pp. 133-157; Idem, “L’hypothétique et la nature dans la physique parisienne du XIVe siècle” in: Caroti, S. & Souffrin, P. (eds), La nouvelle physique du XIVe siècle, Florence: Olschki, 1997, pp. 161177; Randi, Eugenio, , “Talpe ed extraterrestri: un inedito di Agostino Trionfo sulla pluralità dei mondi” [Moles and extra–terrestrials: an unpublished work by Agostino Trionfo on the plurality of worlds], Rivista di Storia della Filosofia, 44/2 (1989): 311-326 (translation by author).
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be absolutely true in every aspect, to the detriment of the truth of science, of which Bellarmino’s conception remains late–medieval, that is, hypothetical and probabilistic. What man knows scientifically is not absolutely true, but changes continually, depending on philosophical hypotheses; these, unlike Sacred Scripture, are subjected to hermeneutical criteria. So the conflict between Galileo and Bellarmino is not merely scientific, but primarily ideological and cultural: each, in his own social role, adheres to different cultural options, which are incompatible because of their shared realism. Galileo is realistic on a scientific level and reductionist on a scriptural level, in the sense that he reduces the authority of Sacred Scripture to the sphere of faith and morality, while Bellarmino is realistic on a scriptural level and probabilistic on a scientific level.95 In a scientific context, Galilean realism runs counter to the probabilism of late–medieval science, which instead Bellarmino shares. But even Galileo seeks to justify his theories in the light of the theology of creation. In this sense, the case of Galileo is a paradigm of the clash between two scientific cultures, both in need of a religious or theological basis. For Galileo, God is not hidden from man, who uses mathematics as a form of communication with the divine, and so can discover the deepest imprint of the Creator in the created; while for late–medieval theologians, and also for Bellarmino, science is not the key to access absolute truth, but just a better way with which man explains to himself external Nature without understanding its deepest essence. This essence must remain inaccessible, since it is God himself who wants to remain hidden in His mystery and transcendence, free from every constraint and every law. This does not imply hindering science, but being aware that scientific discoveries, as one by one they are achieved by man, are human conventions and not divine laws. Late–medieval science was not, nor did it seek to be, either empirical or experimental, since it did not carry out experiments either directly or indirectly, but was simply a mental science. Ockham and Mirecourt did not even accede to the experimentum crucis, because they realised that the accumulation of experience was not an infinite process. In this sense, Ockham and Mirecourt would never have risked compiling three tables, like Francis Bacon, since they would have judged them to be inexhaustible. Mirecourt would not have been content to find the cause of heat, because he understood that the discovery of a cause does not imply automatically the inexistence of other, concurrent and unknown, causes. In other words, he understood that Nature remains indeterminate and incommensurable, that the Book of Nature can never be completely opened. Man dare not read the Book of Nature or speak the same mathematical language as God, who in his freedom and contingency, both lays the foundations for the conditions of science de potentia ordinata – as Scouts indicates – and permanently destabilises the laws of Nature de potentia absoluta, even without producing a pure miracle – as we read in Wodeham 95 Newton in his Essay on the apocalypse formalizes various rules of interpretation of the sacred text which has a purely hypothetical value; see Mamiani, Maurizio, “Introduzione”, in Newton, I., Trattato sull’Apocalisse, translation by M. Mamiani, Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1994, pp. I-XLIV.
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and Mirecourt. But already with Mirecourt, man discovers, on a methodological level, that the recourse to experience limits the human claim to know the truth, by doubting the principle itself of causality, as in David Hume. A sort of ‘Galileo Case’ did not explode in the 14th century, since the theologians’ scientific probabilism – and not realism – was accompanied by the free interpretation of the Bible, according to the criterion of accomodatio. For example, Augustine explains that the terminology of the sacred text which indicates visible things is adequate to the comprehension of the dim–witted person (tardiores); the material writers of Sacred Scripture knew the truth of the representation in the sky, but the Holy Spirit did not want to teach men this knowledge, which was not useful for their salvation. In the Summa theologiae, Thomas Aquinas observes that Scripture speaks in conformity with popular opinion and that Moses proposed to his people only what they could understand with their senses. In De caelo et mundo, Nicholas Oresme confirms that the biblical passages which exclude terrestrial movement, do so in order to support the common language of men96. References [1] Alliney, Guido, “L’evoluzione scientifica nella filosofia della natura medievale. Attualità dell’inattuale” in: Martello, C. (ed.), Cosmogonie e cosmologie nel Medioevo. Atti del Convegno della Società Italiana per lo Studio del Pensiero Medievale (SISPM), Catania 22-24 September 2006, Louvain la Neuve, FIDEM, 2008, pp. 1-18 [2] T. G. Ashplant and A. Wilson, “Present–centred history and the problem of historical knowledge” in: The Historical Journal, vol. XXXI, A. Preston & P. Withington (eds), Cambridge: Academic, 1988, pp. 253–273 [3] Baldini, Ugo, “L’astronomia del cardinale Bellarmino” in: Galluzzi, P. (ed.), Novità celesti e crisi del sapere. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi galileiani, Florence: Giunti Barbera, 1984, pp. 293–305 [4] Biard, Joel, “Le rôle des condamnations de 1211 dans le développement de la physique selon Pierre Duhem” [The role of the condemnations of 1211 in the development of physics according to Pierre Duhem], Revue des Questions Scientifiques, 75 (2004), pp. 15–35 (translation by author) [5] Biard, Joel, “Le statut du mouvement dans la philosophie naturelle buridanienne” in: Caroti, S. and Souffrin, P. (eds), La nouvelle physique du XIV siécle, Florence: Olschki, 1997, pp. 141–159 [6] Bianchi, Luca, “Aristotele fu un uomo e poté errare. Sulle origini medievali della critica al principio di autorità” in: Bianchi, L. (ed.), Filosofia e teologia nel Trecento. Studi in memoria di Eugenio Randi, Louvain la Neuve: Fidem, 1994, pp. 509-533 [7] Bianchi, Luca, “La struttura del cosmo” in: Bianchi, L (ed.), La filosofia nelle università, secoli XIII–XIV, Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1997, pp. 269–302 [8] Bettini, Orazio, “Olivi di fronte ad Aristotele. Divergenze e consonanze nella dottrina dei due pensatori” [Olivi in comparison to Aristotle. Divergences and consonances in the doctrine of the two thinkers], Studi francescani, 40 (1958): 176-197 (translation by
96 Camerota, Michele, “Galileo e l’accomodatio copernicana” in: Bucciantini, M. Camerota, M. & Giudice, F. (eds), Il caso Galileo: una rilettura storica, filosofica, teologica: convegno internazionale di studi: Florence, 2630 May 2009, Florence: Olschki, 2011, pp. 129-151, in particular 133-134.
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author) [9] J. F. Boler, “Ockham on Evident Cognition” in: Franciscan Studies, vol. XXXVI, J. F. Calogeras (ed.), St. Bonaventure N.Y.: Academic, 1976, pp. 85–98 [10] Bos, Egdard, P., “A Contribution to the History of Theories of Induction in the Middle Ages” in: Jakobi, K. (ed.), Argumentationstheorie. Scholastische Forschungen zu den logischen und semantischen Regeln korrekten Folgerns, Leiden: Brill, 1993, pp. 553-574 [11] Bottin, F., La scienza degli ockhamisti, Rimini: Maggioli, 1982 [12] Camerota, M. Galileo Galilei e la cultura scientifica nell’età della Controriforma, Roma: Salerno, 2004 [13] Camerota, Michele, “Galileo e l’accomodatio copernicana” in: Bucciantini, M. Camerota, M. & Giudice, F. (eds), Il caso Galileo: una rilettura storica, filosofica, teologica: convegno internazionale di studi: Florence, 26-30 May 2009, Florence: Olschki, 2011, pp. 129-151 [14] Caroti, S.,“Nuovi linguaggi e filosofia della natura: i limiti delle potenze attive in alcuni commenti parigini ad Aristotele” in: Caroti, S. (ed.), Studies in Medieval Natural Philosophy, Florence: Olschki, 1989, pp. 177–226 [15] Cassirer, E. Das Erkenntnisproblem in der Philosophie und Wissenschaft der neueren Zeit, Berlin: de Gruyter, 1911 [16] Clagett, M. The Science of Mechanics in the Middle Ages, Madison: University of Wisconsin press, 1959 [17] Cohen, B., J., La rivoluzione della scienza, Milan: Longanesi, 1988, pp. 123-140 [18] W. J. Courtenay, “John of Mirecourt and Gregory of Rimini on whether God Can Undo the Past” in: Recherches de Théologie ancienne et médiévale, vol. XXXIX, G. Guldentops (ed.), Leuven, Academic, 1972, pp. 224–253, vol. XL, 1973, pp. 147–174; Grassi, Onorato, “Probabilismo teologico e certezza filosofica. Pietro Aureoli e il dibattito sulla conoscenza nel ‘300” in: D’Onofrio G. (ed.), Storia della teologia nel Medioevo, vol. III, Casale Monferrato: Piemme, 1996, pp. 515–517 [19] Courtenay, William, J., “The dialectic of omnipotence in the High and Late Middle Ages” in: Rudavsky, T. (ed.), Divine Omniscience and Omnipotence in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic, Jewish and Christian Perspectives, Dordrecht: Reidel, 1985, pp. 121–127 [20] Crombie, A., C. Augustine to Galileo: the History of Science A.D. 400–1650, London: Heinemann, 1957 [21] Crombie, A., C., Robert Grosseteste and the Origins of Experimental Science 1100–1700, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971 [22] Crosby, A., W., La misura della realtà. Nascita di un nuovo modello di pensiero in Occidente, Bari: Dedalo, 1998 [23] B. De la Torre, “Thomas Buckingham and the contingency of futures. The possibility of human freedom” in: Mediaeval Studies, vol. XXV, J. Black (ed.), Toronto: Academic, 1987, pp. 91–101 [24] S. D. Dumont, “The origin of Scotus’ theory of synchronic contingency” in: The Modern Schoolman, vol. LXXII, J. D. Jacobs (ed.), St. Louis: Academic, 1995, pp. 149–167 [25] Durandus de S. Porciano, In Petri Lombardi Sententias theologicas commentarium, ed. Venetiis 1571, ex Typographia Guerraea [26] Esposito, C. and Porro, P., Moderna. Vol. 2 of Filosofia, Bari: Laterza, 2009 [27] Fiorentino, Francesco, “Adamo di Wodeham e Gregorio da Rimini a confronto sulla prescienza divina e sui futuri contingenti” [Adam of Wodeham and Gregory of Rimini in comparison on divine foreknowledge and contingent futures], Analecta Augustiniana, 67 (2004): 53-84 (translation by author) [28] Fiorentino, F., Conoscenza scientifica e teologia fra i secoli XIII e XIV, Bari: Pagina, 2014 [29] Fiorentino,, F., Francesco di Meyronnes. Libertà e contingenza nel pensiero tardo–medievale, Rome: Antonianum, 2006; Randi, Eugenio, “Onnipotenza divina e futuri contingenti nel XIV secolo” [Divine omnipotence and contingent futures in the 14th century] in
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[49] Ioannes de Radingia, Scriptum in primum librum Sententiarum, Prologus, qq. 1-5, ed. F. Fiorentino, Paris: Vrin, 2011 [50] Ioannes Duns Scotus, in Metaphysicam, ed. G. J. Etzkorn, St. Bonaventure: The Franciscan Institute, 1997, vol. II [51] Jaki, Stanley L., An Easy Genius. The Life and Work of Pierre Duhem, The Hague: Nijhofff, 1984 [52] Jaki, Stanley L., “Science and Censorship: Hélène Duhem and the Publication of the Système du Monde” in Intercollegiate Review, vol. XXI, M. Sprindling (ed.), Wilmington: Academic, 1985–1986, pp. 41–49 [53] Koyré, A., Dal mondo chiuso all’universo infinito, Milan: Feltrinelli, 1979 [54] A. Koyrè, “The Origins of Modern Science: A New Interpretation” in: Diogenes, vol. XVI, M. Aymard & L. M. Scarantino (eds), Medford: Academic, 1956, pp. 14–42 [55] A. Cunningham,, “The Identity of Natural Philosophy. A Response to Edward Grant” in: Early Science and Medicine, vol. v, R. Lüthy (ed.), Leiden: Academic, 2000, pp. 259–278 [56] A. Cunningham and P. Williams, “De–Centring the ‘Big Picture’: The Origins of Modern Science and the Modern Origins of Science” in: The British Journal for the History of Science, vol. XXVI, J. Agar, (ed.), Cambridge: Academic, 1993, pp. 407–432 [57] Le Goff, J., Your Money or Your Life: Economy and Religion in the Middle Ages, New York, Zone Books, 1988 [58] Lindberg, David C., “Introduction” in: Lindberg, D. C. & Numbers, N. (eds), God and Nature. Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science, Berkley: Berkley University Press, 1986, pp. 1–18 [59] D. C. Lindberg, “Medieval Science and its Religious Context” in: Osiris, vol. X, A. Rusnoch, (ed.), Chicago: Academic, 1995, pp. 60–79 [60] Lindberg, David C., “Science and the Early Church” in: Lindberg, D. C. & Numbers, N. (eds), God and Nature. Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science, Berkley: Berkley University Press, 1986, pp. 19–48 [61] Lindberg, David C., Roger Bacon and the Origins of Perspective in the Middle Ages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996 [62] Guerci, L., Note sulla storiografia illuministica, Florence: Olschki, 1979 [63] Maier, A. Metaphysische Hintergrunde der spaatscholastichen Naturphilosophie, Rome: Storia e Letteratura, 1955 [64] Maier, A., On the Threshold of Exact Science, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982 [65] Maierù, Alfonso, “Logique et théologie trinitaire. Pierre d’Ailly” in: Kaluza, Z. & Vignaux, P. (eds), Preuve et raison à l’université de Paris. Logique, ontologie et théologie au XIV siècle, Paris: Vrin, 1984, pp. 253-268 [66] Marrone, Stephen, P., “Concepts of science among Parisian theologians in the Thirteenth Century” in: Tyorinoja, R. (ed.), Knowledge and the Sciences in Medieval Philosophy, vol. I, Helsinki: Acta Philosophica Fennica, 1990, pp. 131–132 [67] Marrone, Stephen, P., “Scotus at Paris on the criteria for scientific knowledge” in: Brown S. F., Dewender, T. & Kobusch, T. (eds), Philosophical Debates at Paris in the Early Fourteenth Century, Leiden: Brill, 2009, pp. 383–400. [68] Martini, Maria Gabriella, “La verità scientifica negli stoici e in Ockham. Un accostamento possibile” [The scientific truth in the Stoics and Ockham. A possible approach?], Studi francescani, 99 (2002), pp. 237–252 (translation by author) [69] McEvoy, J., The Philosophy of Robert Grosseteste, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982 [70] Merton, R. K., “Science, Technology and Society in Seventeenth Century England” in: Osiris, vol. IV, A. Rusnoch, (ed.), Chicago: Academic, 1938 [71] Murdoch, John E., “Pierre Duhem and the History of Late Medieval
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How Does God Act in the World? Modern Science and the Problem of Divine Causation Juuso Loikkanen
School of Theology University of Eastern Finland Joensuu, Finland
Abstract: The belief that God actively acts in the world has been fundamental to orthodox Christian theology throughout the history of Christianity. Since the rise of modern science, however, this traditional understanding of God’s actions has attracted more and more critique. Firstly, it has been argued God cannot act in the world without violating the allegedly all-encompassing laws of nature, and, consequently, because the laws of nature cannot presumably ever be broken, it is considered totally impossible for God to influence the physical world in any way. Secondly, it is claimed that even if breaking the laws of nature was not, in theory, impossible, it would still be, in practice, impossible for an immaterial entity such as God to influence the material world. In this article, I argue that the first objection, i.e., that God cannot act in the world, holds partly true. I maintain that God cannot act without interfering with the processes of nature (although some recent attempts of building noninterventionist theories of God’ actions have been made). Nevertheless, I do not see how God’s intervention would constitute a problem for modern physics, as has often been proposed. Moreover, the second claim, i.e., that immaterial entities cannot affect material entities, is not based on evidence but on an unfounded assumption that because we do not know the mechanism of causation between immaterial and material entities, this causation is not possible. Keywords- God; causality; divine action; divine intervention; divine causation
I. Introduction The belief that God actively acts in the world, “sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Heb. 1:3), has been fundamental to orthodox Christian theology throughout the entire 2000-year history of Christianity. Christians of all denominations have regarded their God as a loving and caring being who engages in personal relationships with his creatures, a being who answers petitionary prayers and brings about miracles in order to steer our lives to the direction he decides to.
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Also today, Christian churches all over the world declare that God is present, moment by moment, in all of our lives. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, for example, teaches as follows: “God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end.” [1] The catechism of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, in turn, puts it like this: “God is not merely some remote initial cause or non-personal force, but he works in creation and history, encountering us personally.” [2] Indeed, worshipping some deistic God who would choose not to – or, in the worst case, was not even able to – interact with the creation and with humans would certainly be a distortion of real Christianity. It would merely be “watered-down theism”, as Richard Dawkins has fittingly described. [3] But how exactly does God act in the world? What is the mechanism through which God influences the events occurring in the universe? II.
Divine Action
A. Divine Action and the Laws of Nature In the discussion between science and theology, it has been long customary to assume that in order for God to affect what happens in the world and to make “miracles” (or any non-natural events) happen, he needs to be able to interfere with the processes of nature. Already in the eighteenth century, David Hume declared that “a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature” [4], and this still appears to be the consensus view. If God wishes to act in the world, he needs to intervene, to override the existing natural laws in some supernatural way. This understanding is largely based on the widely held perception of modern physicists and philosophers of science that the laws of physics provide all-encompassing deterministic rules for what goes on in the universe. The course of nature is seen to be completely regular and exceptions to the natural order are regarded as impossible without an intervention of a supernatural agent. This supernatural agent is, of course, usually identified as God.
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In fact, many philosophers (and even many theologians) have come to an even stronger conclusion – the conclusion that exceptions to the natural order are not only impossible in an absence of a supernatural interventionist being, but that they are altogether impossible. Consequently, they maintain that it is simply not possible that God would be able to act in the world. Some go even further, deducing that since God cannot act in the world, there is no reason to entertain the idea that God even exists. Instead, all that we should be concerned with is the physical universe. Many agree with astronomer Carl Sagan’s opinion that “the Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be”. [5] Of course, if we take for granted the claim that “breaking” or overriding the laws of nature is completely impossible, it is a natural conclusion that it is impossible also for God. But are there really good reasons for accepting such a claim – from the point of view of Christian theology, at least? If we base our worldview on the Christian understanding of the world, why should we think that God, who – allegedly – is omnipotent and the creator of the whole cosmos, could not intervene with his creation and the natural order in any way he wishes to? I argue that that the belief that God actively acts in the universe does not need to contradict the current theories of physics. I will return to this question later. Before that, I will briefly examine another modern strategy of reconciling God’s actions with the laws of nature. B. Non-interventionist Theories of Divine Action Not all scholars (especially those who are trained in both physics and theology) are willing to accept the idea that God has no room to act in the world. Instead, they have made some serious attempts of accommodating God’s actions with the theories of science in a non-interventionist way. In my opinion, two of the most credible contemporary approaches are concerned with chaos theory and quantum physics. Both of these theories deal with random events and suggest that the laws of nature might not be completely deterministic after all. It is claimed that, at the fundamental level, nature is indeterministic, thus offering God “gaps” in which he can act without violating the laws of physics. In chaos theory, certain physical systems (non-linear dynamical systems) are described by functions that are extremely sensitive to initial conditions, which usually makes the behaviour of these systems impossible to predict. It has been proposed, however, that although it is impossible for human observes to perceive any predictability in chaotic systems, God still holds all strings in his hands, adjusting the initial conditions appropriately to yield significant effects on a wider scale. This line of thinking has been promoted most famously by John Polkingthorne. [6] Robert Russell [7] and Nancey Murphy [8], among others, have advocated the so-called quantum divine action theory, according to which God controls a multitude of seemingly insignificant and indeterministic quantum events and this way brings about desired large-scale effects. This theory is based on the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, which asserts that the state of a physical system cannot be predicted in advance by humans; there exists numerous possible physical states of which only one, an arbitrary one, actualizes. God, however, might be able to steer the course of history through deciding in a hidden way
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which one of the possible states gets actualized. C. Plausibility of the Non-interventionist Theories of Divine Action Nicholas Saunders (who, just like Polkingthorne and Russell, is a physicist and a theologian), has questioned both chaotic systems and quantum events of their ability to actually produce the alleged large-scale effects. According to Saunders, in the real world, phenomena are not as chaotic as they are thought to be in mathematical models. Chaos is merely “a minor background phenomenon and in no way implies whole-scale disorder.” In the case of quantum theory, the situation is even more problematic. Saunders notes that “on the terms of our current understanding of quantum theory, incompatibilist non-interventionist quantum SDA [special divine action] is not theoretically possible.” [9] So, in practice – to cite philosopher Jeffrey Koperski – it appears that “God can alter the arrangement of bubbles in the crest of a tsunami but not redirect its course.” [10] I find Saunders’ arguments extremely convincing – or, in any case, much more credible than the opposing views. The randomness and indeterminacy present in chaos theory and quantum physics just seem not to be enough to accommodate the actions of God. In addition to the two approaches mentioned above, no other credible noninterventionist theories of combining divine action with the theories of modern science have been presented. (Of course, if the progress of science in the future offered new theories that could be reconciled better with non-interventionist actions of God, such theories should be considered carefully.) Therefore, it must be deduced that in order to make room for God’s actions in the world – actions that can really make a difference and change the course of history – we need to accept the view that God is able to intervene with the processes of nature. In other words, divine action necessarily requires divine intervention. But how could this happen in practice? If God is the cause and some particular event occurring in the world is the effect, what is actual the mechanism of causation? III. Divine Causation A. Material and Immaterial Entities and the Problem of Causation One of the most convincing (and, historically, certainly one of the most enduring) arguments against divine intervention is based on the deep-rooted perception that the material world and the immaterial world are completely different and completely separate and cannot affect each other in any way. This, of course, can be seen as one of the various versions of the classical problem of substance dualism (or, mind-body dualism). As David Corner writes, “if the realm of supernatural becomes radically different from that of nature, the supernaturalist encounters a problem similar to that encountered by substance dualism; it becomes difficult to say how there can be any causal interaction between nature and the supernatural.” [11] One of the most prominent figures in twentieth century dialogue between science and religion, Arthur Peacocke, formulates the problem as follows: “It is indeed difficult to
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imagine how God might be an agent in a world conceived of as ruled by deterministic laws at all levels when the only analogy for such agency has itself been formulated in dualistic terms that involve a gap dividing action in the ‘body’, and so in the natural world, from intentions and other acts of the ‘mind’. This is an ontological gap between two kinds of entities across which it is difficult to see how in principle a bridge could be constructed.” [12] B. Mechanism of Causation To be sure, it is quite difficult to imagine the exact mechanism through which immaterial entities could affect material entities. However, when one comes to really think about it, is it not just as difficult to imagine the mechanism through which a material entity could affect another material entity (or, how an immaterial entity could affect another immaterial entity; this seems even more difficult to grasp)? Logically speaking, if we deny the possibility of divine causation because we cannot see the mechanism behind this causation, we should also deny the possibility of “natural” (material) causation because we cannot see the underlying mechanism there, either. Surely, not many of us are willing to go that far and abandon the entire concept of causation. I think that this issue has not received nearly as much attention in the literature as it deserves. Naturally, we can – and do, with good reason – talk all the time about the causality present in the world at many levels. We do know, for instance, that the strong nuclear force causes quarks to hold together so that hadrons are formed. Still, at the most fundamental level, we do not really know what constitutes this or any other form of causality. There is always something that is so elementary that it cannot be characterized by its being a part of a causal structure. Of course, regarding the previous example, it has been established that the strong nuclear force is “carried” by gluons, but it is unclear what actually initiates or terminates this process of “carrying”. The deepest core of causation always remains out of our reach. Brian Ellis notes, rightly, that “sooner or later, in the process of ontological reduction, we must come to events and processes that are not themselves structures of constituent causal processes.” Ellis goes on explaining that “the identities of the basic causal interactions that initiate and terminate elementary causal processes, and the energy transmission processes that connect them, cannot depend in turn on their causal structures. For, by hypothesis, they have no causal structures.” [13] To sum up, the mechanism of causation is no more a problem for divine causation than it is for “natural” causation. In both cases, the fundamental mechanism of causation is unknown, and we are willing to accept that causal relations exist, we simply have to accept this without knowing all the details. IV. Divine Intervention Based on what I have discussed above, it is rather obvious that I am heading towards an interventionist view of God’s actions. This view, however, has been rejected by the majority of contemporary scientists and philosophers, mainly because God’s interventionist acts would allegedly
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distort the course of nature. It is argued that the laws of nature need to be all-encompassing and unbreakable, or else we would lose all predictability in science, and in everyday life, too. No “divine” or other kinds of interventions can be allowed. But why, I ask again, should we accept such a picture of nature? In my opinion, there is no compelling logical reason why we could not adopt the opposing view. Indeed, I am inclined to regard the theory of God’s miraculous actions proposed by C. S. Lewis as far more appealing. Lewis states the matter rather eloquently as follows: “If God annihilates or creates or deflects a unit of matter, He has created a new situation at that point. Immediately all Nature domiciles this new situation, makes it at home with in her realm, adapts all other events to it. It finds itself conforming to all the laws. (…) If events ever come from beyond Nature altogether, she will be no more incommoded by them. Be sure she will rush to the point where she is invaded, as the defensive forces rush to a cut in our finger, and there hasten to accommodate the newcomer. The moment it enters her realm it obeys all her laws.” [14] Regardless whether we choose the option that God cannot act in the world because the laws of nature cannot be broken, or the option that he can “create new events” in the universe which are then immediately accommodated by the laws of nature, we cannot prove our view to be correct (or the opposing view to be incorrect) by scientific means. It is always a metaphysical stance that we have to take. As far as Christian theology is concerned, I hold that the view of God’s actions proposed by Lewis, is much more credible than the (naturalistic) alternative. V. Conclusion In this article, I have examined how it is possible for God to act in the world. I have argued, firstly, that if we take the theories of modern science seriously, we necessarily come to the conclusion that God cannot act to any significant extent in the world without interfering with the processes of nature. The most promising non-interventionist theories of divine actions, based on quantum physics and chaos theory, are, in their current form, not quite convincing enough. They can only lead to a conception of a God who “can alter the arrangement of bubbles in the crest of a tsunami but not redirect its course.” Secondly, I have argued that it is quite possible to develop a credible theory of divine action based on divine intervention. This is possible because the idea of divine causation is no more problematic than the idea of “ordinary” causation, and because the view that God can act in the world by “creating new situations” which are then instantly accommodated by the processes of nature is at least plausible as the view that cannot act at all – at least in the context of Christian theology. I think that this kind of perspective might offer a fruitful ground to more balanced theories of divine action in the future. References [1] Catechism of the Catholic Church. Citta del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993. English Translation available at http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_ INDEX.HTM, at October 7th, 2014.
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[2] Catechism. Christian Doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran
[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Church of Finland. Helsinki: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Church Council, 2000. English Translation available at http://www.evl.fi/english/catechism.pdf, at October 7th, 2014. R. Dawkins, God Delusion, London: Bantam Press, 2006. D. Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, ed. T. L. Beauchamp. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000 [1748]. C. Sagan, Cosmos. New York: Random House, 1980. J. Polkingthorne, Reason and Reality. The Relationship Between Science and Theology Philadelphia, Trinity Press International, 1991. R. J. Russell, “Divine Action and Quantum Mechanics: A Fresh Assessment”. In: R. J. Russell, P. Clayton, K. WegterMcNelly & J. Polkinghorne, J. (eds.), Quantum Mechanics. Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action. Vatican City & Berkeley: Vatican Observatory & The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 2001.
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[8] N. C. Murphy, “Divine Action in the Natural Order:
Buridan’s Ass and Schrödinger’s Cat”. In: F. L. Shults & N. C. Murphy & R. J. Russell (eds.), Philosophy, Science and Divine Action, Leiden: Brill, 2009, pp. 325 –357. [9] N. Saunders, Divine Action and Modern Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. [10] J. Koperski, “God, Chaos and the Quantum Dice”. In: Zygon 35 (3), 2000, pp. 545–559. [11] D. Corner, Acts of God: An Essay on Miracles. Dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara. 2006. [12] A. Peacocke, Theology for a Scientific Age: Being and Becoming – Natural, Divine and Human. London: SCM Press, 1990. [13] B. Ellis, Scientific Essentialism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. [14] C. S. Lewis, Miracles: A Preliminary Study. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1947.
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The Anthropic Principle from a Theological Perspective Fr. Lect. Adrian Vasile, PhD Department of Theology Ovidius University 900527 Constanta, Romania preotadrian@yahoo.com
Abstract: Through its initiative to make thought efficient for a more secure investigation of nature, modernity will mark a methodology revolutionary step, leading among others to defining and pointing out the coordinates of scientific research, more than any other form of knowledge. This is how the scientific method of knowledge comes into brining. Modernity is what makes an obvious separation of science and theology, as two specific fields of human knowledge. A new paradigm of knowledge is fundamental, as well as the double quality of the philosopher – theologian and scientific, valid today and in the Middle Ages, they are as outdated. Science and theology, as different fields of human knowledge have in their being different objects and methodologies. The object of knowledge in science is the world, whereas in theology it is God, and then world. So that in modern science the anthropic principle was adopted. Keywords- anthropic principle, science, theology, Universe, creation, anthropogeny, God, Revelation
I. Introduction The anthropic principle states that the organization, the configuration and the phenomena in the Universe must meet certain requirements so that life (and implicitly its intelligence) can develop in such a way as to have at a certain point certain structures to ask questions about the composition of the Universe they belong to. Among the many conditions postulated by the anthropic principle there is that according to which real physical space has got three dimensions since otherwise in it the array of phenomena, starting with the first moments of the Big Bang that led to the apparition of human intelligence could not have occurred. The supporters of this idea claim the fact that, initially, it is possible for the Universe to have had more dimensions but they came down to three – at a certain point – thus accomplishing one of the conditions that had to coincide to make man’s apparition possible. We must say that the inter-disciplinary effort within science made it possible for the anthropic principle not only to be formulated, but also to impose a different type of
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scientific debate. Thus, biochemistry has fully contributed to the later formulation of the principle. Since 1952 when the American Stanley Miller did his experiment, we have known that the main components of the primitive terrestrial atmosphere (methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water) are susceptible, under the action of the storms, to give birth to complex chemical compounds. The very recent “exo-biology”, in its turn, proved the existence of organic molecules in the interstellar atmosphere and, all of a sudden, the examination of micro-meteorites became extremely interesting. II.
THE THEOLOGICAL DIMENSION OF THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE The contemporary theological environment knows little about the anthropic principle and the theological vision on this principle is even less known. It is Saint Maximus the Confessor and his great commentator Father Dumitru Stăniloae who introduced this principle which was later formulated to the theological world. Saint Maximus the Confessor valued both the man’s position in the universe and the man’s relation to the whole creation. They showed the orthodox point of view as a result of inter and transdisciplinary study and the consequences of this approach both for the orthodox theology and for its dialogue with contemporary science. According to Father Răzvan Ionescu and to Professor Adrian Lemeni, a theological interpretation of the anthropic principle shows that the connection between the theological and the scientific perspectives does not end at the borders of exclusively natural order: „The theological connection between the universe and humanity as an event is not entirely natural. When we speak about the plan of saving mankind, we assume that this plan is made for contingent creation [...] The challenge for science is to identify the presence of contingency in scientific theory that cannot be exclusively explained by science. Further on, theological methodology can offer an approach able to have a dialogue with science [...] The presence of the human phenomenon in the universe, seen in the context of anthropic arguments in cosmology, is in
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fact contingent and limited, being able to explain only by appealing to the theology of creation. The assertions on the weak of strong forms of the anthropic principle can be interpreted as indications of the fundamental contingency existing in cosmological theories open towards a fuller understanding from theological perspective”[1]. Or, the anthropic principle puts forward an image of the world which is surprisingly familiar to Eastern Church theology. The history of the universe, just as it is conditioned by human existence, is an open history, a becoming into something, not just movement: a transparent history towards the future and the cautious language of the cosmologists must be more boldly translated – towards God, a way from “heaven and earth” to “new heaven and new earth”. According to A. Kastler, if the organ reveals the function at the biological level, here arises the question on the function of the evolution at the universal level (a cosmological extension of Lamark’s idea on selection). Anthropology and cosmology explain each other. [2] From the conjugated perspective of patristic conception and anthropic principle, the biblical reference to creation (Genesis, 1 and 2) becomes amazingly clear to contemporary man’s consciousness. The premises for those seen and those unseen is the fact that they are created by God, so that nothing can be contemplated without the theological dimension. Nothing occurs except through the synergy of the Holy Spirit with the “waters” of cosmic nature: only in this way creation follows its path, entirely revealed in the first (textually the unique) day / phase of the world, towards the eighth “day”, the ultimate form, the path from possibility (darkness) to reality (light). But this only means that the current state of the world is nothing but an aspect in the life of the universe, whose mystery is still hidden – to paraphrase Saint Paul – with Christ, in God – the Holy Trinity. [3] Translated at human level, it is in fact a dynamic, not an evolutional, anthropogenesis whose steps and landmarks are given as a pre-temporal divine project, as rationality or sense (“let us make man according to our image, for resemblance”), aiming farther than the current state – to transfiguration, spiritual metabolism. We must say that, maybe to some people’s discontent, the biblical text never truly speaks about what we call the physical beginning of the human species. [4] Anselm of Canterbury claims that God created perfect people to replace the fallen angels. This opinion goes beyond the biblical Cosmo-anthropogenesis context, by considering that man was not part of the creation plan forever. In this way, the anthropic principle of cosmology and especially the possibility of the creation to take part in and through the human body to the mystery of divinity are difficult to support. Anyway, imposing itself as a long term mentality, the anselmian theme can be looked upon as the cause of the later separation between human beings and “natural” beings. [5] With all its openings, the anthropic principle also allows interpretations that do not take God into account, by giving the universe a certain conscience or intelligence, going back to animist or pantheist images in the context of many cosmologists being fond of oriental mysticism. In this way, from the idea of a God who was absent for his creation it
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seems they go again to the ancient confusion between divine essence and the last layers of microcosmic (subatomic) reality. In this case as well, the patristic solution of the distinction between ineffable transcendental essence and godly energies imposes itself as superior and balanced, by claiming at the same time the difference and the relations between the uncreated and creation (through this it appears in the infrastructure of the synergy principle). Secondly, theorists and supporters of the cosmologic anthropic principle often limit themselves to the perspective that the principle opens for the understanding of the universe and discuss little on the active role that the human person can have in the universe. No other form of the principle takes into account the enrichment, the multiplication of the universe through human deed, an implication of the action, of the human deed for now and for the future, by studying only the impact of the fact that we exist and only for the initial conditions and the parameters of the universe. In this context, no discussion is possible on the cosmic consequences of man’s fall, of the salvation in and by Christ, and even less on the divinity into Christ. St. Maximus’ perspective offers the most important arguments to describe the physical relation between man and the universe, and, contrary to the superstitions of last century’s positivist science, even of the implications of the human existence for the area of the initial conditions and of the current parameters of the world. Yet, it is extremely obvious that St. Maximus’ perspective on the cosmos engaged in becoming what is called the anthropocosmic way is difficult (if not impossible) to support based on the anthropic principle. The only opening towards St. Maximus’ perspective registers only in the idea of a local microcosm limited to the circum-terrestrial space. We shall get back to this point later. Thirdly, the principle does not seem able to take into account the implications of the fact that humanity is a group of people, interpersonal relations being in fact the space where the relations between mankind and the surrounding world take place. P. Teilhard de Chardin’s conception is an exception to this. He believes that interpersonal relations and the relations between humanity and God generate the “phychic” condition (relational, community aspect) that he calls “the Omega Point”; he says that mankind reaches the point when thought is through mankind, by waiting “for us to re-think to complete Nature’s instinctive endeavors. [6] The anthropic principle allows to envisage, on the one hand, a theological anthropology able to lead scientific (biological) anthropology towards a familiar vision for the religious conscience, and, on the other hand, by reciprocity, the possibility of a theological cosmology. But, since it does not appeal to the experience of the saints, it cannot make any serious supposition on the ultimate implications of the convergence between man and the world; in other words, it cannot describe a transfigured form of the world (especially since the idea of an entropic universe ready to dissolve itself, threatened, according to certain cosmological patterns, by a great final implosion still lingers on). According the Eastern theology (this image has a lot in common with the anthropomorphic conception of the Vedic philosophy for which the ideal man expands in the form of the universe), man is a mystic prototype of the whole creation , a pattern to be found in every part of the universe. Also, a hologram of the whole history of the universe from one end to the other,
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revealing in its own existence destiny, the ultimate form of faith and acting towards accomplishing it.
life, even on earth, if they are overcome by reasoning and virtue”. [8]
Science helps us today to seize the fundamental unity of the cosmos but it does not allow us to understand its meaning. The saint, through his divine power of love is the one who experiences not only the unity, but also the sense of the whole seen creation. This means that, before any cosmic exploration into theology, the saint has already unified the earth and the starry sky managing to train its senses to look at and saintly depict the seen world and everything in it and to reveal the greatness of the reasons in it to the soul. He gracefully discovered (κατα χάριν: together with God, theologically) “the wisdom within beings”, by understanding through contemplation (δια της φυσικης θεωρίας) the way of being of the unseen things (την φυσιν των ορατων).
An idea about the “humanization” of the world in traditional Christian mysticism (clear in Pateric and Filocalie testimonies of the saints’ experience) is given by Father Jean Kovalevsky: man is called upon to humanize animals, humanized animals are called upon to animalize plants, animalized plants are called upon to make minerals vegetal, minerals are called upon to pacify fundamental elements, so that minerals can become vegetal, plants can become animal, animals can become human (by acquiring human language as a reflex at Adams’ settling of numbers) and people can become divine. “the inferior regnum is determined by the superior one. God becomes human so that the human can become God. The evolution of the universe depends entirely on the human. Only the divine human can make beast human”. [9]
Saint Maximus has perfectly sensed man’s symmetry with the world, their unity of being and sense. We present here an excerpt of his ecclesiological treaty, Mystagogia, which is relevant in this respect: “the entire cosmos of the things that are seen and unseen, is man. And man, which is body and soul, is cosmos. For the unseen have [at cosmic level] the role of the soul, just as the soul has [at human level] a similar role to the intangibles. And the seen things are [cosmologically speaking] the image of the body, just as the body [anthropologically speaking] is to the sensitive things. [At a cosmic level] the intangible things are the soul of the tangible ones, whereas the tangibles are the body of the intangibles. Just as the soul exist within the body. It is similar when it comes to tangible and intangible cosmos. Also, tangible cosmos is kept in coherence with the intangible one, just as the body is kept by the soul, the two of them generating a single cosmos, just as man is generated by body and soul […]”.[7] Dense and rich, the text emphasizes the divine plan and the holy power to make possible the conformity between man and the cosmos, their correlation. Well defined alterities, man and cosmos indicate each other, man discovers at high speed the nature and the sense of the cosmos, and the cosmos exemplifies at low speed what goes on at the human level. The image corresponds to a contemporary mathematical pattern: man is within the universe the face of fractal, that structure that is endlessly replicated in everything, to be searched for and found in everything and efficient (as selective principle) in everything. At divine level, man is the paradigm, the model and the energy of the ultimate form of the world, through which God himself takes action. Panayotis Christou points out that the theme of man’s infinitization is depicted by Saint Maximus both from the perspective of the divine becoming (by participating in God, man endows himself with uncreated qualities) and from the tropic perspective (by living like God, man surpasses time and is therefore without a beginning and without an end). The choice for the timeless things brings the infusion of another life, whose content is God, and this experience is possible hic et nunc; in this way, Maximus’ eschatology does not belong to the future first of all, but to the participation of the created one in the uncreated, a participation that goes beyond time and space: “the transition to eternity is not just an eschatological issue, it depends on the sphere of the spiritual action, which is independent of the time conditions. Time and space can be abolished at any point in human
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The image is similar to the areopagitic one of the processes in the unseen world – the solidarity of angelic hierarchies as a pressing of the superior upon the inferior ones through which the latter participate in the former’s experience – though transposed to the seen world; at the same time, an interesting suggestion for what the anthropic principle means in the end. The description of a world dedicated to intensifying the human being. Human love or human unification are the earthly paradise we have been looking for. It has been set up by Christ and is actually created within Christ’s Church (vide infra). This love ids the principle of the second mediation that man was called into Christ: between the terrestrial paradise (divine mankind) and οικουμενη (the whole inhabited and civilized planet) otr the unity of the earth. Saint Maximus discusses this second phase starting with the cosmic consequences of man’s fall. If God’s life creating power was meant to expand in the οικουμενηin the entire creation through the human body, this world down here, the state in which the first human beings fell into from paradise has become the cause of sin in the world of death and decay. Thus, instead of expanding paradise, man closed it for himself as well, and separated it from the inhabited world (one of his own accomplishments; artificial) since he moved into this as a result of his unsteadiness. He killed the world just as he died in sin. Now Christ has got to resurrect himself through virtue and contemplation, restoring paradise itself, to extend it into οικουμενη, and to transform the world (the given one and the artificial one) into a revival paradise through transfiguration. The destiny of the world always goes along man’s destiny; the world is metamorphic, its structure is rational and the anthropic pattern allows it to always be like man. Saint Maximus uses the αρχη – μεσότης – τέλος scheme, a trilogy that describes the aspects and the phases of the beings’ existence. Having their origin in God, more precisely in his pre-elaborated pattern, the being exists as an expression of divine love. In λόγος, it is postulated the “tropic” modality of its being and the sense of this being both as direction (towards God) and as result (the perfect form). Epistemologically speaking, any limitation to μεσότης and any investigation of the μεσότης from the perspective of the natural-supernatural separation mean missing the chance to really know the being. At human level, the “tropic”
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possibilities require that the μεσότης not just be becoming, but good becoming so that τέλος could be perfectly and forever in shape to become by ascesis, contemplation and divinity, perceiving man as the true accelerator of cosmic becoming”. The saint sees in the success of a godly man a step forward for creation towards its ultimate form. From Saint Maximus’ perspective, man has got a central place – as long as he keeps the community with the divine Logos and presents itself as a different logo – as the accelerator of divine creation. The saint shows that man has got the physical possibility to be in a relationship that includes all reality’s aspects, the power / possibility to unify all the dimensions of the world. Moreover, through this vocation it is completed the way different beings are differently created. Man has the duty to manifest in advance in himself and in his way of life the perfect / eternal form, “the great mystery of the divine aim”: the harmonious unification of creatures, an ascendant and successive unification whose last step in God, the generalization of the theandric way established by Christ. As opposed to the origenized attitude of many theologians today, who do not accept to discuss human success in cosmological key, Saint Maximus’ perspective is strictly based in the incarnation realism of the primary Christianity, that did not suffer from the complex of the world though it delineated itself from “this world”. Using Saint Maximus’ perspective, the orthodox theologian JeanClaude Larchet shows that since the world is integrated within man, the whole creation becomes divine in and through man. [10] Actually, this is Father Stăniloae’s main thesis (on the stated topic), also supported by references to the new scientific cosmology. III. CONCLUSIONS Living in a civilization of transformations, in a time and rhythm of crisis, of reassessing all premises, we notice today how most of our previous ideas, of the beginnings of modernity, tend to be replaced by new thoughts and perceptions. Even the terrible conflict between secular conscience and theological one seems to become dull, at least in a certain mental zone of the contemporary world to which the cosmologic anthropic principle belongs as well. By drawing a new face of the universe and a new anthropology, the anthropic principle makes it possible to surpass the gap between the human and the cosmic domains, and correlatively between natural science and mystic theology, discovering the fact that the problems of the beginning and of morphology are no longer essential except as revelation of the road to something, a higher state that makes the things that exist now to be mere shadows. As states by theology, it is a state lived by man and cosmos in the context of divine ambiance, a state we decipher, now and here, in Christ, the one transfigured on Tabor and the one resurrected as well as in the saints, who – according to God’s word – shine like the sun in the Father’s kingdom. From this point onward, the discussion ceases to be accessible for somebody, just like me, who describes the experiences of the others related to man’s life in Christ and the world of the values that become one with the human
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being, thus permanent. The eschatological perspective in the theology of creation rooted in the orthodox tradition shows that the destiny of the cosmos is fulfilled in Christ. Humanity is simply a purpose of the universe, as suggested by the anthropic principle. This can only be understood in the context of God’s promise to transfigure the entire creation. This means that the purpose of the universe is not man in his natural state, but godly logos in which the entire creation and God become one. The anthropic principle leads to an intensification of the dialogue between theology and science, a dialogue that means opening, knowledge and mutual respect, it leads to a convergence between this two fields. Moreover, the anthropic principle can be used as an argument against all ideologies that have been living like a parasite on science. The convergence between the anthropic principle formulated by science and the theological discourse is also important from the perspective of man’s valorization – in relation with the universe, but also with God – despite ideologically reducing it to a mere “cosmic accident”, to a mere “outcome of hazard” or to a creature adapted to the fight for survival. This valorization does not mean autonomy or self-sufficiency, but on the contrary, it opens the perspective of a new responsible and competent approach both of the theologians and of the scientists. The anthropic principle is extremely important to the dialogue between science and theology, for it presents man – especially with the help of theology – as in a direct link to the rest of creation; also it presents man as called upon – by God, of course – to be not just responsible with the universe (God’s creation), but more as the one who must transfigure and redeem it. Man’s self-sufficiency – by God’s will – can be fought by means of the anthropic principle and this can lead to a real change of mentalities in man’s dealing with creation. The anthropic principle brings not only convergence in the science-theology dialogue but also complementarity. Though they are different fields, the theological and the scientific discourses complete one other, starting from the anthropic principle. This relation between the two discourses should by no means translate into confusion, into interpreting the specific plans of the two fields or into scientific and theological syncretism; the two coming together and completing one another must translate into reducing and eliminating divergences or the existing (and fueled) antagonism between them. The scientific and religious observation and reasoning – extremely seriously used – to which is added the fundamentally theological element that is divine revelation lead to a complementarity, to a common approach, to a common aim; the relation between Revelation and reasoning must enlighten man and enrich him by the things he discovers up and around him. The anthropic principle is without any doubt one of the important convergence points between the orthodox theological perspective and the secular scientific one. Yet, orthodox theology, beyond this “revelation” of science that it can only appreciate, must remain cautious not only when formulating the principle itself, but especially in the context of its occurrence. Orthodox theology must carefully
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analyze the axiological system of different scientists who enunciate the principle. Even though their endeavor is laudable and really seems to be a major change of paradigm within postmodern scientific approach, the Church must take into account the danger of the exclusively naturalistic education of such innovators (for example, Michael Denton is a naturalist, a status that is against the status of being a Christian theorist and practitioner). The Church must take into account these nuances for it knows very well the major differences between Revelation and reasoning; these differences exist even when it comes to reasoning enlightened by faith, not to mention the one darkened by lack of faith. For the Church, the anthropic principle can be turned into a “theological” argument by the fact that it shows the reality of creation which has man at its center. It is an argument against impersonal and disintegrative emanationism, be it humanist, pantheist or panentheist, all of them having their roots in the pseudo-religious pagan Orient. This is an important thing for the theology, the life and the mission of the contemporary Orthodox Church. As far as the contribution of the authors is concerned, we must admit, on the one hand, the obvious challenge of such a topic, and, on the other hand, we must admit the limits of our inter and trans-disciplinary research. For theologians, the anthropic principle is the fulfillment of the millenary theological and religious intuition, a highlight upon the revealed teachings on man and the universe; for the scientist, the anthropic principle can mean an explanation, the base of the scientific approach, he cannot be insensitive when faced with the “amazing coincidences”. The inter-disciplinary approach within science is felt through extraordinary results, multiple scientific disciplines playing an extraordinary role in the enunciation of the anthropic principle through dialogue. We talk about astro-physics, biochemistry, chemistry-physics and the more recent exo-biology. All these must be put to work towards our education, our accomplishment and our delivery, regardless of the fact that we are theologians or scientists.
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References [1] R. Ionescu and A. Lemeni, Teologie ortodoxă şi ştiinţă,
Bucureşti: Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al BOR, 2006, pp. 395-396 [2] A. Kastler, Această stranie materie, Bucuresti: Editura Politică, 1982, pp. 147-151 [3] D. Costache, „Paradigma taborică. Implicaţii ale principiului antropic pentru abordarea ştiinţifică şi teologică a sensului creaţiei”, în Ştiinţă şi teologie, Bucureşti” Editura XXI: Eonul dogmatic, 2001, pp. 149-150 [4] D. Popescu and D.Costache, Introducere în dogmatica ortodoxă, Editura Libra, Bucureşti, 1997, p. 116 [5] Anselm of Canterbury, Complete Philosophical and Theological Treatises, Pleasant Hill: Arthur J. Banning Press, 2000, p. 327 [6] P.T. Chardin, Le phenomene humain, Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1970, p. 285 [7] St. Maximus the Confessor, The Mystagogia, Shimla: St Bede’s Publications. 1982, p. 156 [8] P. Christou, “Maximos Confessor on the infînity of man”, în Maxinus Confessor. Actes du Symposium sur Maxime Confessor, Fribourg (2 – 5 septembre 1980), edites par Felix Heinzer et Christoph Schonborn, Editions Universitaires Fribourg Suisse, 1982, pp.269-271 [9] Jean Kovalevski, Taina originilor,Bucureşti, Anastasia, 1996, p. 57 [10] J.C. Larchet, La divinisation de l ‘homme selon Saint Maxime le Confesseur, Paris: Cert, 1996, p 107
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Golden Root Geometry Structuring the Polyhedra and Other Forms Via Plato’s Triangles Quadrature of Circle Eur Ing Panagiotis Chr. Stefanides BSc(Eng)Lon(Hons) MSc(Eng)NTUA TCG CEng MIET Hellenic Aerospace Industry [ex] R&D, Aircraft Engines’ Manufacturing Engineering Methods, Engineering Quality and Reliability, EMC Kifissia, Athens-GR 14562 e-mail:panamars@otenet.gr URL: http://www.stefanides.gr
Abstract: Under Golden Root Geometry Structuring the Polyhedra and other Forms Via Plato’s Triangles, we refer to the basic geometric configurations which, as this theory contemplates, are necessary for the progressive mode of formation of the five polyhedral and the geometries involved in their sections and related circles and further to logarithms, via lines, areas and volumes. Basis of all these structures is a very special Scalene Orthogonal Triangle “Plato’s Most Beautiful” [F25], together with his Orthogonal Isosceles one. Structural Forms are identified bearing in common these triangular identities. The particular angle of the Scalene Orthogonal is that whose ArcTan[Θ]=Τ and T = SQR ((SQR. (5) + 1)/2). Keywords: The Most Beautiful Triangle, Orthogonal Scalene Triangle, Orthogonal Isosceles Triangle, Somatoides tetrahedral Structure, Great Pyramid Model, Polyhedra, Circles Quadrature, Spirals, Sprialogarithm.
I. Introduction By “Golden Root Geometry” we refer to two configurations of triangles. A Special one, the Quadrature Scalene Orthogonal Triangle [Author’s interpretation of the Timaeic “Most Beautiful Triangle”] with sides [T^3], [T^2] and [T^1] in geometric ratio T, which is the square root of the golden ratio[ Φ], and the Isosceles Orthogonal Triangle, with its equal sides [T]. The surface areas of these triangles are taken perpendicular to each other and in such, naturally, defining an X, Y, and Z system of coordinate axes. In so, the coordinates of the first are [0,0,0,], [0,0,T^2], [T,0,0] in the X-Z plane, and those of the second are [0,0,0,], [T,0,0], [0,T,0] in the X-Y plane. A line from [0,T,0] to [0,0,T^2], creates the same Scalene Triangle in the Y, Z plane. ArcTan [T] is the Scalene angle [Θ] of the Special Triangle with the property that the product of its small side by its hypotenuse is equal to the square of its bigger side: [T^1]*[T^3] equal [T^2]^2 [Quadrature].
Using a pair of the Special Scalene Triangle, and a pair of a Similar Kind of Triangle [Constituent of the Special] with sides 1,T and T^2 [Kepler/(Magirus) Triangle with
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sides 1, sqrt(Φ), and Φ] a Tetrahedron [dicta Form 1- F4, Somatoides] is obtained, by appropriately joining the edges of the four triangles [ F4], with coordinates: [0,0,0,], [0,0,T^2], [T,0,0] and [0, 1/T, 1/T^2]
F1 [Lines]
F2 [Areas- Triangles]
F3 [Volume-3D Space]
F4 [Form 1- red]
F5 [Form 2 - blue]
F6 [Form 3 - yellow] By joining, a line, from point [0,T,0] to point [T,0,0], a Second Tetrahedron [dicta Form 2 – F5] is obtained [ as a natural extension of Form 1], with co-ordinates: [0,0,0,],
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[T,0,0],[0,T,0] and [0,1/T, 1/T^2], having as base, on the X-Y plane, the Isosceles Orthogonal Triangle mentioned above, with coordinates[0,0,0], [T,0,0] and [0,T,0]. Doubling this triangle, in the X-Y plane, a square is obtained of side [T], with coordinates [T,T,0], [T,0,0], [0,0,0], and [0,T,0]. By connecting a line from point [T,T,0] to point [0,0,T^2] a third Tetrahedron [dicta Form 3 – F6] is obtained with coordinates:[T,T,0],[T,0,0], [0,T,0] and [0,0,T^2], having also as base, the Isosceles Orthogonal Triangle with same dimensions [mirror image] as that of [Form 2 – F5]. The three Forms are wedged firmly together, leaving no empty space between them. Their volume ratios Form 3: Form 1: Form 2 equal to [1/6]*[T*T*T^2]: [1/6]*[1*T*T]: [1/6]*[T*T*(1/T^2)] is the golden ratio [T^2], and the sum of volumes of Form 1 and Form 2 equals to [1/6]*[1*T*T ] + [1/6]*[T*T*(1/T^2)] equals to [1/6]*[T^2+1] equal [1/6]*T^4[SINCE T^4-T^2-1=0], the volume of Form 3.The volumes of the three Forms sum up to [(2/6)T^4 equal to (1/3)T^4]. Two of the four bases of Form 3, are symmetrical orthogonal triangles, with coordinates [T,0,0], [T,T,0], [0,0,T^2] and [T,T,0], [0,T,0], [0,0,T^2], each of which has an angle [ φ], equal to arctan[T^2]. Two such triangles joined in a coplanar manner, and symmetrically along their bigger vertical sides, create one of the four triangular faces of a great pyramid model with coordinates [T,T,0], [0,0,T^2] and [T,(-T),0]. The Structure of the Three Forms bound together [dicta Form 4 –F7] with Volume [1/3]*T^4 is one quarter of the volume of a great pyramid model [F8], which has a square base of side 2T, height T^2 and Volume [4/3]*T^4. Splitting one of this model’s triangular face into two orthogonal coplanar triangles to form a parallelogramme [with sides T^1 and T^3], we have constructed the basic skeleton of the Icosahedron [F12], since three such parallgrammes, orthogonal to each other, determine its twenty equilateral triangle bases, by joining adjacent corners in groups of three, by lines. Similarly, we proceed to the construction of the dodecahedron, the tetrahedron, the octahedron and the cube, together with their related forms such as squares, circles, triangles, circumscribed circles to the parallelogrammes of the polyhedra skeletons, circumscribed spheres and logarithmic spirals[F14 ], [ F15].[F16],[F17], [F20]. Reversing the whole process, the volumes decompose to the areas of the triangle surfaces structuring them which, in turn, resolve to four line traces harmonically codified in space [F19].
F8
F9
F10 [Back of F10]
F11 [ Back of F9]
F12 [Icosahedron]
F13 [Dodecahedron]
F14 [Polyhedra]
F15 [Water Section]
F16 [Nautilus]
F17 [Spiralogarithms]
F7 [F4+F5+F6] F18 [Volume 3D Space]
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B. Proposed New Interpretation: F19 II.
Platonic Timaeus Triangles
The work as described above follows, according to my interpretation of Plato’s Timaeus description of “The Most Beautiful Triangle” and further, basing on this, the structure of his “world” of his Polyhedra. Lines of triangles represent elements [combinations of the 4 philosophical ones: Fire, Air, Earth and Water].Solods created bear the same names, but include a further solid the “Fifth Consistency” according to Plato’s word, for the Dodecahedron [ Aether]. A. Sections 53-54 of Timaeus According to Plato’s Timaeus, ….The conditions prevailed before the world was created, while all elements [FIRE, AIR, EARTH and WATER] were “WITHOUT PROPORTION” [alogos] and “WITHOUT MEASURE” [ametros], and only “TRACES” of them existed, as all things, naturally exist in God’s absence. God, under these conditions, transformed them via “IDEAS” and “NUMBERS”, for them to become “MOST BEAUTIFUL” and “BEST” as possible, contrary to their previous state... …Πρώτον μεν δη πυρ και γη και ύδωρ και αήρ, ότι σώματά εστί... τρίγωνα πάντα εκ δυοίν άρχεται τριγώνοιν... προαιρετέον ούν αύ των απείρων το καλλιστον... τριπλην κατα δυναμιν εχον της ελαττονος την μειζω πλευραν αεi»... In sections 53-54, of Plato’s “Timaeus”, Plato speaks about the triangular shapes of the Four Elements [ traces existed in disorder –matter- before their harmonization by God], of their kinds and their combinations: These Bodies are the Fire (Tetrahedron) the Earth (Cube), the Water (Icosahedron), and the Air (Octahedron). These are bodies and have depth. The depth necessarily, contains the flat surface and the perpendicular to this surface is a side of a triangle and all the triangles are generated by two kinds of orthogonal triangles: the “Isosceles” Orthogonal and the “Scalene” Orthogonal. From the two kinds of triangles the “Isosceles” Orthogonal has one nature. (i.e. one rectangular angle and two acute angles of 45 degrees), whereas the “scalene” has infinite (i.e. it has one rectangular angle and two acute angles of variable values having, these two acute angles, the sum of 90 degrees). From these infinite natures we choose one triangle “The Most Beautiful”. Thus, from the many triangles, we accept that there is one of them “The Most Beautiful”. Let us choose then, two triangles, which are the basis of constructing the Fire and the other Bodies : “Το μεν ισοσκελές,το δε τριπλήν κατά δύναμιν έχον της ελάττονος την μείζω πλευράν αεί.”
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One of these two is the “Isosceles” Orthogonal Triangle, the other is the “Scalene” Orthogonal Triangle, its hypotenuse having a value equal to the “Cube” of the value of its horizontal smaller side and having its vertical bigger side the value of the “Square” of its smaller horizontal side. The value of the smaller horizontal side is equal to the square root of the Golden Number, the ratio of the sides is equal, again, to the Square Root of the Golden Number (geometrical ratio) and the Tangent of the angle between the hypotenuse and the smaller horizontal side is also equal to the Square Root of the Golden Number (Θ =51 49-38-15-917-19-54-37-26-24-0 degrees). The product of the smaller horizontal side and that of the hypotenuse is equal to the “SQUARE” of the bigger vertical side, and the following equation holds: T^4-T^2-1=0 , T = SQRT [(SQRT(5) + 1)/2]. The Kepler [ Magirus] Triangle is a similar one but not the same. By “THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TRIANGLE”, Plato correlates the four elements (UNIFIED THEORY) through the General Analogies of their sides (Fire, Air, Earth and Water), i.e. Fire/Air is equal to Air/Water is equal to Water/ Earth, to T, where T is equal to the SQUARE ROOT of the GOLDEN NUMBER: T = SQR ((SQR.(5) + 1)/2) (ό τι περ πύρ προς αέρα, τούτο αέρα προς ύδωρ, και ό τι αήρ προς ύδωρ, ύδωρ προς γήν, ξυνέδησε............... ουρανόν, Plato’s Timaeus section 32). C. Section 37 - 39 of Timaeus According to Plato [Timaeus 37 -39] : ...He planned to make a movable image of Eternity, He made an eternal image, moving according to number, even that which we have named Time.... He contrived the production of days and nights and months and years ...And these are all portions of Time; as “Was” and “Shall be” are generated forms of Time...Time, then, came into existence along with Heaven, to the end that having been generated together they might also be dissolved together... this reasoning and design...with a view to the generation of Time, the sun and moon....and the other stars,....”planets”, came into existence for the determining and preserving of the numbers of Time..... [Loeb]. Trying to understand the way possible for elements [according to Plato: traces - i.e. matter] to be joined together so that they compose matter, according to the geometry presented in this paper, we come to the following, possible, scenario: In a static, but vibrating, field [Aether- Plato’s reference to a Fifth Consistency, which God used up entirely to “colorfully paint“ everything i.e. means by which matter is illuminated reflecting light from source ( Fire) - electromagnetic medium], conductive [ massive - “ traces” of] elemental lines with alternating bipolar charges moving in it by the action of the field ,
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should result into alternating currents running within them. Two such lines could be contacted electrically at the ends of each line, via their + and - charges, and similarly three lines [in the harmonically correct lengths] could form triangles [ orthogonal according to my theory], and in such forming a surface. Similarly by joining two pairs of such triangular forms [elecromagnetically attracted by the currents running within them] could create materialistic volumes [ tetrahedra]. Continuing, by these similar actions of electromagnetic forces, the joining of these materialistic volumes [tetrahedra] could result into further building blocks of matter. According to my geometric theory [pure classical geometry, based on the Square Root of the Golden Section] such materialistic volumes [tetrahedra] build a Great Pyramid Model via which the structure of the world of the 5 Platonic [or Eucleidean] solids. We note that Plato states that everything that is born, it is born by necessity due to a cause, because it is impossible for it to be born without a cause. With respect to world’s creation, Plato states that, according to his thinking after having performed some assumptions, that three things exist before Heaven’s coming into creation: Being, Place and Becoming.
F20
III. Circle’s Quadrature [F19, F20, F21] Structures built upon the form of the two Orthogonal Triangles, as described in this paper, have common relationships i.e. triangles, parallelograms, spirals,logarithms, squares, circles. The main classical problem concerning circle relationships with the other geometric figures was that of its quadrature [conditions finding for its area to be equal to that of a square and its circumference equal to the perimeter of another square]. Plato’s Scalene Orthogonal Triangle after lengthy elaboration, worked catalytically for forming a novel concept, for achieving the challenge of solving the “ insoluble” problem of “quadrature of circle” [F21, F22, F23, ], proving that the value of Pi should be quantized : Pi =4/[SQRT(Phi)], i.e Pi equals 4 divided by the Square Root of the Golden Section [ = 3.14460551…..]. Further a [ PCST] Point on the Circle, the Square ,the Triangle - Maximum Symmetry Point [F24 ], was conceived for demonstration that the value of Pi should be quantized to the value of : 4/[SQRT(Phi)], as achieved ,also, by ruler and compass [ F21, F22 ]. This serves as a gauge for estimating errors [shifts from PCST] of Pi values, used diachronically. { [F26] is the ruler and compass construction of angle Θ, via φ and Φ}.
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F21
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F23
F24
F22
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F26 IV.
Via the Golden Root Geometry we get relationships of Geometric structures, Logarithms and Spirals.It is concluded that by “THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TRIANGLE”, Plato correlates the elements (Unified Theory) through the general analogies of their sides i.e. Fire/Air is equal to Air/Water is equal to Water/Earth, is equal to T the Golden Root.
F25
----------------------------------------------------------------[F21 , F22, F23, F24] AutoCAD Drawings Vector Definition and Geometry Design by Panagiotis Stefanides, Computerized AutoCAD by Dr. John Candylas ----------------------------------------------------------------
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Conclusions
Finally, we realize Plato’s statement that all triangles derive from two Orthogonal Triangles the Isosceles and the Scalene - “The Most Beautiful”. References Panagiotis Stefanides “ The Most Beautiful Triangle”[Greek], Mathematical Society 2-4 Mart 1989,National Research Institution of Greece, Athens. Conference “ History and Philosophy of the Classical Greek Mathematics. [2] Paper Presentation and Proceedings Publication, “Golden Root Symmetries of Geometric Forms” The journal of the Symmetry: Culture and Science,Volume 17,Numbers 1-2, 2006, pp 97-111. Editor: Gyorgy Darvas. Conference: Symmetry Festival 2006, Budapest Hungary. [1]
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The Unique Hoyle State of the Carbon Atom
Steinar THORVALDSEN
Dept. of Education University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway steinar.thorvaldsen@uit.no
Abstract: The famous astronomer Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) started his research career as an atheist. Hoyle’s most important contribution to astrophysics is the theory of nucleosynthesis, i.e. the idea that chemical elements such as carbon can form in stars on the basis of hydrogen and helium. Essentially here was his prediction that the carbon core has a state with a specific energy which is precisely adapted to the basic fusion process. This result was one of the most important breakthroughs in modern astrophysics, and the so called Hoyle state has become a cornerstone for state-ofthe-art nuclear theory. The calculations he made, eventually revealed a fine-tuning of the universe. Hoyle’s work in this area supported the anthropic principle that the universe was fine-tuned so that intelligent life would be possible. It is said that what really made him conclude that creation demanded intelligence, were his calculations of the special properties of the carbon atom. This shook his atheism fundamentally [1, p. 57]. In this paper we describe this discovery. Keywords: Nucleosynthesis; Anthropic principle
Figure 1. First part of the periodic table of the chemical elements.
I. Introduction The universe is made up of a variety of chemical elements such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and iron (Fig. 1). A chemical element is a substance in which all atoms have the same number of protons in the nucleus. In addition, any neutrons determine the isotope of the element we are dealing with. If we change the number of protons, we get a completely different chemical element, but if we change the neutrons we obtain another variant (isotope) of the same element. The classical Big-Bang model explained prevalence of the light elements hydrogen and helium in the universe, but not the incidence of heavier atoms. In this context helium cores are often called alpha particles (α). For a long time science lacked a mechanism that could form anything but the very light chemical elements. This was one of cosmology’s puzzles. Hoyle’s important contribution to astrophysics was achieved in this area, and it is often called the nucleosynthesis, i.e. the theory of how chemical elements such as carbon can form
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in stars on the basis of hydrogen and helium. Crucial in his prediction was the existence of a new state in the carbon atom with a specific energy that is precisely adapted to the basic fusion processes of the nuclei. This process is essential because it links to the carbon in the universe, which is a prerequisite for the existence of all carbon based life. Hoyle predicted that the nuclear reactions that could produce carbon in sufficient quantities required a specific and statistically improbable energy level in the carbon nucleus. He inferred that the so-called triple-alpha reaction had to work through an unknown process.
II. Tripple- Alpha The common carbon consists of 6 protons and 6 neutrons, and helium has two of each. One might imagine that three helium nuclei could collide simultaneously, and form a carbon core. But this is impossible in practice, the probability that three helium nuclei would be in exactly the same place at the same time, while moving in exactly the right speed to merge, is vanishingly small. Another possibility is that two helium particles at very high temperatures melt into one beryllium atom, which in turn merges with a third helium nucleus to form carbon (see Fig. 2). This will give a total of 12 core particles. The first problem here is that beryllium core will be extremely unstable and typically cleave again almost instantly. It would barely be conceivable that a new helium nucleus may be combined with beryllium during its brief existence. Moreover, there is another major obstacle: The sum of the masses of helium and beryllium nucleus
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is in fact larger than the mass of the carbon nucleus. The total energy of the whole particle would be higher than the ground state of carbon. So if helium and beryllium merged together and formed carbon, the mass difference has to be emitted in the form of energy, because energy and mass are equivalent (E = mc2). This takes extra time, precisely what initially was lacking. Consequently, it is highly unlikely that a new particle is formed in this way, in the same way as two plus two does not make three. In physics a system (atom, molecule, core) is called excited if it interacts with other particles or electromagnetic radiation (photons) and is brought from its usual lowest energy state (ground state) into a state with higher energy. The excited system will return to the ground state by emitting energy in the form of photons. If the system is supplied with enough energy, it may also be broken to pieces.
Hoyle’s theoretical predictions were later confirmed by laboratory tests. This is considered one of the greatest scientific triumphs of the 1950s, and the paper which he wrote together with Geoffrey & Margaret Burbidge and Fowler is just called the B2FH article by the authors’ initials [3; 4]. In practice, the Hoyle state nuclei almost always decay back into beryllium and a helium particle. But in around 0.04 percent of the cases, these inflated carbons relax into their stable, ground state configuration, giving off the extra energy as an emission of gamma rays as shown in Fig. 3. The new carbon-12 nuclei that are formed subsequently populate the periodic table. Some stay as they are, while others merge with another helium particle to become oxygen. A fraction of the oxygen nuclei are stripped of a proton, transforming into nitrogen, and so on. The internal energy levels that exist for carbon nuclei are very interesting. The excited state is what we call a resonance, and it is precisely so that it supports the process that gives ordinary carbon as its result! A resonance means that the particles vibrate in phase towards and out from the center of the nucleus. When beryllium and helium then collide, they will hang together a while before they fly apart again. While hanging together they will with a certain probability emit energy in the form of radiation, while the carbon goes down to the stable ground state. If the excited state had not been like this, the reaction Be + He => C + energy had to be made in one step, without the ability to “rest” in the resonance condition. This would have made production of carbon highly unlikely. In order to achieve the stable ground state, there must be such a resonance. The probabilities for these conditions to be so that stable carbon was not possible are infinitely greater.
Figure 2. The triple-alpha reaction, where three helium nuclei (He) forms carbon (C), is hiding a big secret. Gamma (γ) means emission of energy. Illustration from Epelbaum, et al. [6].
III. Triple- marvel At this point Hoyle made a bold prediction. To solve the problem he assumed that carbon can exist in a new energy state (excited state), which until then was unknown. His prediction was that there had to be an energy state with mass exactly equal to the sum of the masses of beryllium and helium. This condition would be a new carbon state making it possible to form carbon within the short time window. The carbon could then transform to its normal ground state. The energy sent out by the internal transition was estimated at 7.65 million electron volts (MeV). From this he calculated the required values for the energy levels of the carbon nucleus. Hoyle described his ideas like this: Salpeter’s publication [in 1952] of the 3α process freed me to take a fresh look at the carbon production problem. I found difficulty in generating enough carbon, because the carbon kept slipping away into oxygen as it was produced. A theoretically possible way around this difficulty was greatly to speed-up the carbon synthesis by a rather precisely tuned resonance which would need to be about 7.65MeV above ground-level in the carbon-12 nucleus. [2, p. 449]
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Figure 3. The triple-alpha process. Two helium nuclei (α-particles) fuse together and form a beryllium atom, and then a third α-particle merge rapidly to create what equals the Hoyle state of the carbon nucleus, where a certain amount is proceeding to stable carbon in its ground state. In the right part of the figure the three states of the carbon atom are represented, where the Hoyle state and the ground state has spin 0. The spin is conserved in this type of reactions, so the state in the middle does not matter as it has spin 2. This process marks the start of the generation of the basic atoms necessary in biology.
IV. Bent arm formation The unstable state of the carbon atom is now called the Hoyle state, and proved to be a natural so called eigenstate of the carbon atom, with virtually the exactly same energy as the combined mass of beryllium and helium. The special properties of the Hoyle state (both its energy level and resonance) allow it to function as a helping hand in the production of stable carbon. The process works through this
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gateway. Several research groups are currently at work to determine the detailed picture of the carbon nucleus. Both the ground state of carbon, and the excited Hoyle state, are highly complex 12-body problems to determine the motion of these 12 core particles that mutually affect each other. This is difficult to calculate even with today’s supercomputers. Recently a German/American research team has announced calculations revealing the configuration of these two important conditions, as shown in Fig. 4 [5; 6]. The ground state has a compact triangular formation of the helium nuclei, while the Hoyle state shows the three helium nuclei in the form of a “bent arm”. The results are still uncertain, and others [7] have found solutions similar to an oblate (flattened sphere). The calculations which the supercomputers had to perform, would typically have taken more than 200 years on a regular laptop. Next to carbon, oxygen plays a vital role for life on earth, and similar internal details of the oxygen nucleus play a critical role. Oxygen has 16 core particles and may be formed by combining carbon and helium nuclei. If the resonance level of the carbon atom was 4 percent lower (a few hundred keV) [8], there would be essentially no carbon. Was that level in the oxygen atom only 0.5 percent higher, virtually all of the carbon would have been converted to oxygen. These are quite small margins, as also pointed out by Hoyle in 1965 [9, p. 160]. Moreover, some of the oxygen nuclei may be stripped of a proton and converted to nitrogen. Without carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, the carbon based life characterizing our planet was not possible. The Hoyle state is the bridge that opens up the way to life giving chemical elements, and the carbon atom is very special since it can form a variety of chemical compounds, particular within organic chemistry. The Hoyle state also enables the creation of matter in the universe to take place in one initial act. This is well known from the biblical account of creation in which the creation of matter is described by one phrase.
Figure 4. The Hoyle state (left) of carbon shows three helium clusters distributed as a “bent arm” [6]. It is energetic with about 7.65 million electron volts extra energy, but emits energy in the form of radiation when it goes to the ground state. The ground state (right) of carbon shows a configuration with three helium clusters distributed on the vertices of a compact triangle shape. The isosceles right triangle, rather than an equilateral triangle, is just an artifact of the lattice spacing used in the paper. The protons are blue and neutrons are yellow. Research is still going on how the carbon nuclei may be configured.
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V. Hoyle’s design inference The unique energy levels required to produce carbon and oxygen, are, as we have seen, statistically highly unlikely. In 1959 Hoyle addressed the remarkable discovery in the University Church, Cambridge: I do not believe that any scientist who examined the evidence would fail to draw the inference that the laws of nuclear physics have been deliberately designed with regard to the consequences they produce inside the stars. If this is so, then my apparently random quirks have become part of a deep-laid scheme. If not then we are back again at a monstrous sequence of accidents [10, p.57-58]. Some years later Hoyle restated and fortified the conclusion: Would you not say to yourself, “Some super-calculating intellect must have designed the properties of the carbon atom, otherwise the chance of my finding such an atom through the blind forces of nature would be utterly minuscule… The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me to so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question” [11, p.16]. He estimated the chance of things coming out appropriately at about 1 part in 1000 [12, p. 140], and compared it with tuning a radio: Oxygen and carbon are like two radio receivers, each tuned to a particular wavelength. Unless the receivers are right, with the two dials set at the appropriate wavelengths, far more oxygen are produced than carbon. But, as it happens, the tunings are indeed correct, so that oxygen and carbon atoms are produced in the Universe in appropriate balanced amounts. The problem is to decide whether these apparently coincidental tunings are really accidental or not, and therefore whether or not life is accidental. No scientist likes to ask such a question, but it has to be asked for all that. Could it be that the tunings are intelligently deliberate? [13, p. 218219]. VI. Discussion and Conclusion Carbon is the fourth most common atom in our galaxy, after hydrogen, helium and oxygen. There are few nuclei that have captured human imagination more than carbon-12. Its synthesis is a key to the origins of organic life and the organic chemistry. The gateway through which carbon synthesis proceeds is dominated by the presence of the excited Hoyle state at 7.65MeV. Hoyle’s argument for the existence of a resonance state in carbon-12, at this specific energy level, was a brilliant prediction based on astrophysical reasoning, and one that deserves a prominent place in the history of astrophysics [14, 15]. In a bright moment he saw that carbon production was just possible because there was an enhancement effect in the form of a resonance at just the right energy level to permit what would otherwise have been a forbidden process. If the nuclear forces had been only a little different, there would have been no proper resonance and no carbon-based life. Hoyle described the energy levels of both carbon-12 and oxygen-16 as a “put-up job” apparently designed to produce the two elements in the right ratio:
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A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. [11, p. 16] The overall configuration of quantitative properties of these elements is so unlikely that it made Hoyle to expect “a supercalculating Intellect.” For Hoyle the figures spoke so clear that this conclusion was virtually self-evident. His work in this area supported what in the 1970s was called the “anthropic principle” [16] that our universe was and is finely tuned to make intelligent life possible. Hoyle also spoke of the prediction as “an early application of what is known nowadays as the anthropic principle” [17, p. 266]. While Hoyle did not think anthropically when he made his discovery in the 1950s, his writings 30 years later showed him looking in the rear-view mirror to understand it as an anticipation of the anthropic principle. The question as to if Hoyle in any way applied the anthropic principle or not in relation to his original prediction, has been the subject of some recent study [15]. Some measurements published in 1940 indicated the existence of an exited state of the carbon atom, although subsequent measurements had failed to confirm its existence. However, nothing indicates that Hoyle was aware of these earlier measurements when making his prediction and discovery.
[9] Fred Hoyle, Galaxies, nuclei, and quasars. New York: Harper & Row, 1965.
[10] Arthur Mervyn Stockwood (ed.), Religion and the Scientists. Addresses Delivered in the University Church, Cambridge. London: SCM Press, 1959. [11] Fred Hoyle, “The universe: Past and present reflections”. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 20: 1–35, 1982. [12] Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe, Evolution from Space. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1981. [13] Fred Hoyle, The Intelligent Universe. London: Michael Joseph, 1983. [14] John Polkinghorne, “The Universe as Creation”, pp. 166– 178 in Robert B. Stewart, ed., Intelligent Design. Fortress Press, 2007. [15] Helge Kragh, “An anthropic myth: Fred Hoyle’s carbon-12 resonance level”. Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. Vol 64:721–751, 2010 [16] Brandon Carter, “Large number coincidences and the anthropic principle in cosmology”, pp. 291–298 in Malcolm S. Longair, ed., Confrontation of Cosmological Theories with Observational Data. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1974. [17] Fred Hoyle, Home is where the wind blows: Chapters from a cosmologist’s life. Mill Valley: University Science Books, 1994.
And even if the existence of the Hoyle-state was not predicted anthropically, the existence of such a state at the right energy (within a few hundred keV), and with the right properties, is really amazing. This fact may just be a happy accident of nature, or it may carry a deeper meaning of intelligence and design. Hoyle himself was clearly in favor of the second position. Acknowledgment A special thanks to my son Andreas J. Thorvaldsen for valuable discussion and input in connection with this paper. References [1] Owen Gingerich. God’s Univers. Harvard University Press, 2006.
[2] Fred Hoyle, “Personal comments on the history of nuclear [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
astrophysics”. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 27: 445–453, 1986. E. M. Burbidge, G. R. Burbidge, W. A. Fowler, and F. Hoyle, “Synthesis of the Elements in Stars”. Reviews of Modern Physics 29 (4): 547-650, 1957. G. R. Burbidge, “Hoyle’s role in B2FH”. Science 319: 1484, 2008. Evgeny Epelbaum et. al. “Ab Initio Calculation of the Hoyle State”. Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 192501, 2011. Evgeny Epelbaum et al. “Structure and rotations of the Hoyle state”. Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 252501, 2012. W. R. Zimmerman et al. “Unambiguous Identification of the Second 2+ State in 12C and the Structure of the Hoyle State”. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 152502, 2013. M. Freera and H.O.U. Fynbo, “The Hoyle state in 12C”. Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics. 78, 1–23, 2014
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Mathematical Language / Scientific Interpretation / Theological Interpretation Marcel Bodea
Department of Philosophy, ”Babeș-Bolyai” University ”Babeș-Bolyai” University Cluj-Napoca, Romania bodeamarcel@hotmail.com
Abstract. The specific languages referred to in this presentation are: scientific language, mathematical language, theological language and philosophical language. Cosmological, scientific or theological models understood as distinct interpretations of a common symbolic language do not ensure, by such a common basis, a possible or legitimate correspondence of certain units of meaning. Mathematics understood as a symbolic language used in scientific and theological interpretation does not bridge between science and theology. Instead, it only allows the assertion of a rational-mathematical unity in expression. In this perspective, theology is nothing less rational than science. The activity of interpretation has an interdisciplinary character, it is a necessary condition of dialogue. We cannot speak about dialogue without communication between various fields, without passing from one specialized language to another specialized language. The present paper proposes to suggest this aspect. Keywords: mathematical propositions; propositions of empirical sciences; theological propositions; scientific interpretation; theological interpretation; necessary condition; factual necessity; mathematical necessity; theological necessity.
”In life it is never a mathematical proposition which we need, but we use mathematical propositions only in order to infer from propositions which do not belong to mathematics to others which equally do not belong to mathematics.”1 (Wittgenstein) In the analytical context of this paper, “interpretation” will be the term used, conventionally, for the loading of various symbols (signs) of mathematical propositions with scientific (empirical, factual) and theological significances or senses. The scientific propositions treated here belong to empirical sciences. 1 Wittgenstein, Ludwig, ”Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus”, Project Gutenberg, 2010 [EBook #5740], http://www. gutenberg.org, P. 6.211.
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I. The Transcendental Dimension Of Mathematical Propositions: Possibility Conditions Of Scientific Propositions On the one hand, mathematical propositions are necessary conditions for the description of the world of facts, but on the other hand, these propositions are not at the same time also sufficient conditions to describe this world of facts. For instance, a mathematical proposition is purely formal, but by “loading” mathematical symbols with empirical (physical, biological, economic) significance, the proposition becomes such that only ”speaks” about facts in this way. The possibility of factual significance of mathematical symbols makes possible for a formal mathematical proposition to become a scientific proposition about facts. This way mathematics is a necessary condition, but not also a sufficient condition of scientific propositions. Scientific propositions are those which speak about facts. Their truth or falseness depends on their correspondence with reality. II.
How Can Mathematical Propositions Become Propositions Of Empirical Sciences?
How can science speak about the world with the help of mathematical propositions? Mathematical modelling means, in principle, the construction of a model of reality with scientific significance, based on a skeleton of mathematical propositions. The examination of this model shows how things are from a mathematical perspective if the scientific propositions are “true on a factual level” (epistemologically speaking, it is a “correspondence truth”). The transcendental character of the logical-mathematical construction of the world must be emphasized. Interpreting the form of an equation, for instance, in the sense of a mathematical description of facts represents the possibility that things in reality may relate to each other the same way as symbols correlate mathematically in an equation. Thus one or another mathematical formalism, in other words: mathematics may offer alternative scientific
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descriptions of the same facts. The mathematical relation of representation lies in the mathematical correlation of symbols that project correlations of facts in a transcendental sense. It is a transcendental form, a “net” thrown to catch a certain scientific reality. It must be mentioned that it is not an “ontological” projection on the existence of the fact as such, as it cannot be done from inside mathematics, but one taken in a transcendental sense. Mathematics precedes any experience of facts, of a “something” that is in a way or another. Mathematical modelling is only applied to the realities that can be modelled mathematically. Take physics as an example of empirical science for the clarity of exposition. A “physical equation” can or cannot be concordant with a certain physical reality, can or cannot be adequate to the description of reality, can be true or false in relation to the state of fact of reality. A physical equation represents a physical fact by its specific form of representation, and this form does not depend on the truth or falseness of the physical equation placed in correspondence with the represented fact. For example, a physical equation can be linear (with the form y = ax) and be false in relation to the physical reality of reference. Its “empirical” falseness can be due to multiple causes. One cause may be incorrect empirical measurement. Another cause may be that the physical phenomenon is not (mathematically) linear and in this case the equation y = ax is not adequate with its representation (for instance, it could be y = ax2 corresponding to a non-linear physical phenomenon.) Physical equation represents for physics its physical sense. The correspondence theory of truth is what makes in physics the correspondence between the physical equation and the physical facts. The truth or falseness of a physical equation is established by scientific protocols, consisting in its comparison with reality. In physics, and empirical sciences in general, there are no physical equations which can be true through a meaning independent of any correspondence with facts. The application of mathematics decides what kind of physical-mathematical equations and what kind of propositions of physics can be formulated. Mathematics cannot anticipate a relationship between certain of its results and the physical realities to which they are adequate. It is necessary that mathematics must not get in conflict with its application in physics, in science. Mathematics must be a necessary condition for the description of facts by equation, but mathematics and its application, in other words mathematics and physics, must not overlap. From inside mathematics, nothing can be asserted about the ontology of the world, the existence or inexistence of certain facts, or their properties. III. Mathematical Propositions / Scientific Interpretation Mathematics in themselves say nothing about facts. They say nothing about the object of sciences. Example. Take the mathematical proposition y = kx, where k is a constant. This proposition says nothing about anything in the world of empirical facts, sends to no fact of, for instance, the physical world. Its use in mechanics, rewritten for the sake of familiarity of notation as s = vt, where
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the symbols have the following physical significance: s -space, v - velocity (constant), t -time, means as a scientific proposition: ”the low of uniformly rectilinear motion (uniform linear motion with constant velocity)”.2 The use of the mathematical proposition y = kx in electricity, rewritten as U = RI, where the physical significance of the symbols is: U -electrical voltage; R - electrical resistance of the conductor (constant); I -the intensity of the current flowing through the conductor, means as a scientific proposition Ohm’s law in a ideal conductor.3 The thermodynamic use of the mathematical proposition y = kx rewritten as p = kT, where the symbols mean in physics: p -pressure of a gas, T -temperature of the gas; k -a physical constant, means as a scientific proposition: the pressure of a gas rises or falls with the rise or fall of temperature.4 These examples from various fields illustrate the following important aspect: the factual meaning of mathematical propositions can be said to be situated outside them. From the point of view of factual relevance, all mathematical propositions have equal value. The conclusions of the illustration of how mathematical propositions, neuter to factual meanings, can be loaded with exterior factual meanings that are alien to their formal content is also relevant for the analysis of how, in their turn, scientific propositions with a factual meaning, neuter to value meanings (ethical, aesthetic, existential-theological) can be loaded with such kinds of meanings, alien to their proper factual content. This latter aspect, which is important for the analysis of the relationship of science and theology, is not discussed here, it has only been signalled. In what follows, by analogy of mathematical propositions and scientific propositions, the relationship of mathematical propositions and theological propositions will be discussed, with reference to a case study: Cantor and the community of Catholic theologians of the time of Pope Leo XIII.5 IV. Scientific Propositions / Theological Propositions ”We feel that even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all. [...]”6 (Wittgenstein) The scientific languages are those which try to speak about facts as neutre as possible, charged with no 2 A simple formulation, in natural language, of this law is: “A body in rectilinear motion with constant velocity passes equal space in equal time intervals”. 3 A simple formulation of this law: ”Ohm's Law deals with the relationship between voltage and current in an ideal conductor. This relationship states that: The potential difference (voltage) across an ideal conductor is proportional to the current flowing through it. The constant of proportionality is called: the resistance R.” 4 ”For a fixed mass of gas, at a constant volume V, the pressure p is directly proportional to the absolute temperature T.” (Amontons' Law of Pressure-Temperature) 5 As a mathematician, in his dialogue with the community of mathematicians on the subject of infinity, Cantor never made reference to theology.. 6 Wittgenstein, ”Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus”, P 6.52.
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subjectivity, and without value significance on the human level of facts, without the attribution of existential sense etc. The discourses over and not about the facts of the world are external to scientific ones. There are languages on the sense of the facts of the world, such as theological language. Compared to propositions about facts (particularly scientific), there is a “meaning” in theological propositions which goes beyond facts, beyond their factual-empirical significance. In other words, the moral values, existential values, or generally speaking the senses of facts placed in a theological horizon cannot be found as such in the scientific fact. Thus, in a theological horizon the presence and intervention of God in the world, for instance, cannot be reduced to the strict level of facts. It is an intervention revealed on the level of specific theological meanings, the transcendent-divine meanings of the facts that theology expresses through its propositions. In what regards the formal propositions of mathematics, the -scientific or theological interpretation- is situated in both cases in an environment which is exterior to mathematics. It must be emphasized, as it was shown in the example above, that the same mathematical proposition can have multiple scientific interpretations, without any correspondence between the scientific significance of the symbols. What kind of relation is there between space and electrical tension, between velocity and electrical resistance, between time and electrical intensity? This observation suggests that any connection of scientific significance and theological significance through the “common denominator” of the same mathematical proposition is all the more arbitrary, and any attempt to this end must, if not rejected, then at least seen with much reservation, and a great dose of scepticism. In a theological background, the presence and intervention of God in the world, for example, cannot be reduced to the strict level of facts. It is an intervention revealed on the level of specific theological meanings, the transcendent-divine meanings of the facts that theology expresses through its propositions. From the point of view of analytical philosophy discussed here, a summarizing and clarifying reference will be made to the philosophical concept of “necessity” in order to differentiate between scientific, mathematical and theological propositions: factual necessity is problematic, everything that is external, contingent, or variable pertains to the facts of the world which are described by scientific propositions; mathematical necessity is internaltranscendental, of a logical nature, present in the form of mathematical propositions; theological necessity is externaltranscendental, absolute, ensured by Divinity. On the level of mathematical language and scientific / theological interpretation, one can say: mathematical language is a necessary condition of scientific language (the great book of nature is written in a mathematical language [Galilei]), but it is only an optional alternative for theological language.
V. Mathematical Propositions / Theological Interpretation Mathematics in themselves say nothing about senses and values. They say nothing about faith, about God, about the good, the beautiful. How can religious subjects be expressed in mathematical language? How do mathematical problems and mathematical solutions get to be formulated and become religiously significant through the mediation of language? This is a philosophical-analytical context of passage from mathematical language to religious language. The explication and the interpretation of mathematical symbols play an important role. The philosophical interpretation cannot be so free as to be arbitrary about the theological significance of the ”mathematical object” of explication and interpretation. There is, as it will be illustrated below, the possibility to find some suggestive analogies of language between theology and mathematics, which, on the one hand, do not break ”the laws of rationality”, and on the other hand, exploit by interpretation purely mathematical results. In other words, mathematics can be a point of reference on language level, a source of analogy in theological expression. The sketch of a painting. The painting attempts at grasping a historical instance at the end of the 19th century with regard to the image of God (theological proposition) as the theological significance of mathematical propositions. The protagonist of this painting is German mathematician Georg Cantor. “He [Cantor] was also keenly aware of the ways in which his work might in turn aid and improve both philosophy and theology. Prompted by a strong belief in the role set theory could play in helping the Roman Catholic Church to avoid misinterpreting the nature of infinity, he undertook an extensive correspondence with Catholic theologians, and even addressed one letter and a number of his pamphlets directly to Pope Leo XIII.”7 The cantorian perspective means in this context that it starts from mathematics – here, from the mathematical existence of the infinite in the form of “infinite numbers” (transfinite) – towards the transcendent world of God. In the case of theological propositions with mathematical form, as are the theological propositions about God suggested here, mathematics is used in a relation of theological projection; that is, a mathematical theory is projected on God. This is obviously done without the violation of correctness, rationality, and mathematical language. The characteristics of the image lie mainly in the “loading with theological significance” of infinite sets and some of their properties, for example their association with God or attributes of God: “[…] Cantor believed that the real existence of the Transfinitum further reflected the infinite nature of God’s existence.”8 Philosophically speaking, however, it must be emphasized that the existence of infinite mathematical sets is not an ontological argument, it does not mean that God exists, that God is infinite, that God’s attributes are infinite, etc. A mathematical proposition is not in itself the image of 7 Joseph W. Dauben, ”Georg Cantor and Pope Leo XIII: Mathematics, Theology and the Infinite”, Journal of the History of Ideas, vol 38, No. 1, 1977, p. 85. 8 Dauben, ”Georg Cantor and Pope Leo XIII”, p. 103.
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anything theological (as also it is not the image of anything scientific).9 Nevertheless, the language of mathematical signs understood as theologically significant symbols can send to a theological image, to a theological meaning that these symbols might suggest. Any such assertion about God does not pertain to mathematics proper. The fact that God is infinite in one way or another, that he has no beginning and no end, etc. is not legitimated by mathematics. What pertains to mathematics is only a matter of language, the interpretation of a language in the meaning horizon of another language. When we speak about God in this way, we project mathematical forms [infinite set, for instance] into a theological language. The resulting propositions are theological propositions, but they are mathematically rational. Mathematics may project through interpretation its own symbolic forms into another language – of science, of theology, of art –, arriving thus to scientific, theological or artistic propositions which are mathematically rational. A mathematically “articulated” horizon of faith opens a rationally founded way to the theological “perception” of the being of God, his absoluteness, his infinity, etc. Once again, the content, significance and meaning of any such propositions (theological; scientific) do not originate in mathematics, but are only based on a logical-mathematical form of bringing into language. Such mathematical objects and forms are not foundations neither for the existence of God, or for the faith in God, nor for any images or theological attributes of God. These are nothing more than forms of language, only forms that make possible a rational discourse about God. Mathematics does not prove anything from a theological point of view. It is only a set of forms of language which allow for a rational theological discourse. The sketch of this painting has illustrated, in completion of those presented above, an attempt of the end of the 19th century for the theological interpretation of a mathematical theory, in an age when science thrived with such interpretations: for example, Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism. Conclusions on the philosophical significations of relation: mathematical language /
the
Scientific interpretation / theological interpretation”10 9 Let me illustrate in this context, in the modern spirit of analytical philosophy referred to in this paper, Cantor’s position on “the propositions of mathematics”: “Because of this extraordinary position which distinguishes mathematics from all other sciences, and which produces an explanation for the relatively free and easy way of pursuing it, it especially deserves the name of free mathematics, a designation which I, if I had the choice, would prefer to the now customary "pure" mathematics.” Mathematics was therefore absolutely free in its development, and bound only to the requirement that its concepts permit no internal contradiction, but that they follow in definite relation to previously given definitions, axioms, and theorems.” - Dauben, ”Georg Cantor and Pope Leo XIII”, pp. 92-93. 10 Marcel S. Bodea, The explication of religious Knowledge From religious Language to secular Language, pp. 531-544 in vol. Lintner M. Martin (Ed.), God in Question -Religious Language and Secular Languages [Proceedings of the ESCT
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The article is only an analytical view on the level of languages. The mathematical language can be correlated with the world of facts. The theological propositions are rational propositions of theology because they show something about theological world on the basis of mathematical propositions with theological significance. The analogies of mathematical and theological language are the interpretations of mathematical language in theological language. Both mathematical language and religious language are, beyond their linguistic form, autonomous on their significant level and they remain independent in their mutual relationship. This is particularly important: there is a possibility to speak about the world of science and about the world of theology in a rationally identical way. The discourses over and not about the facts of the world are external to scientific ones. The discourses about and not over the facts of the world are external to theologic ones. It must be accepted that the life of man in his world is not divided this way, there is no perception of a hardly surmountable abyss between facts and values. We accept that mathematics does not have for theology the importance it has for science. The question is: ”Can mathematical language be a useful instrument for rational theological discourse?”. From a philosophical-analytical point of view, the answer is clear: mathematical language (and logical language) is not a necessary condition for theological language. This article has tried to suggest a complementary answer: there is a rational theological language for which the mathematical language is a ”possible condition” for new theological interpretations. How is it possible in this philosophical-analytical context -chosen as a point of reference- to speak about scientific reality? The bridge connecting scientific language and scientific reality is the mathematical form. The philosophical presuposition is: the structure of the scientific world and the structure of the scientific language share a common mathematical form which allows one to speak about the scientific facts of the world. But if the world is created for man and man is created in the image and likeness of God, it can be assumed (a theological assumption) that human language shares a common rational form not only with the facts of the world, with this world, but with any possible world, real or transcendent (for example: ”the scientific world” and ”the theological world: The Kingdom of God”). Even if the world of theology is not a scientific world, we can still speak about it, starting from our own world, by applying the same logical/mathematical form. Certainly, this is the case of rational theological discourses, the ones in which the bridge between theological language and transcendent reality is build of rationals forms. In science, these rational forms determine the form that the facts of the world take on in scientific language. This is not an ”ontological form”, but a form of language for the subject that describes the facts. Similarly, in a rational theological language the theological interpretations project logical and mathematical forms on the discourses of theology. Congress 2013 Brixen/Bressanone], Verlang A. Weger, Brixen/ Bressanone, 2014
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References [1] Wittgenstein, Ludwig, ”Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus”,
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5] [6] [7]
Project Gutenberg, 2010 [EBook #5740], http://www. gutenberg.org J. W. Dauben, ”Georg Cantor and Pope Leo XIII: Mathematics, Theology and the Infinite”, in Journal of the History of Ideas, vol 38, No. 1, 1977, pp. 85-108. Galilei, Galileo, ”Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico e copernicano”,http://www.liberliber. it;http://dialogoconf.com/uploads/artfiles/1392156303Dialogo_di_Galileo_Galilei_.pdf Westman, Robert, God and Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science, University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1986. Stanley L. Jaki, The Road of Science and the Ways of God, University of Chicago Press, 1978. Wright, Larry, Theological Explanation, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1976. Crisp D. Oliver, Rea C. Michael (Edited by), Analytic Theology -New Essays in the Phlosophy of Theology, Oxford University Press Inc., New York, 2009
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Proceedings of the Conferences on the Dialogue between Science and Theology
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November, 6 - 11 2014
Consciousness, Free Will, and Transformation Science and Ancient Samkhya Pratibha Gramann Ph.D.
Takshila University Santa Clara, CA USA contactdrpratibha@gmail.com
Abstract: The existence of free will has been discovered by neurological studies. However there is a lack of research in what initiates the firing of free will within the nerve endings. This paper addresses that issue using ancient knowledge about consciousness, three energies that characterize matter, prana, and transformation. The premise made is that regular pranayam breath practices are a key-method to initiate the firing of nerve synapse in the brain to develop free will and transformation Keywords-- consciousness; matter; Samkhya; free will; energetics; transformation)
I. Introduction Some people claim that there is no free will in life. For those persons, there probably is no free will, choice, opportunity, or transformation. It can be a depressing situation. Samkhya philosophy offers a new opportunity of investigation for the modern mind. Samkhya was written by Kapila more than 2500 hundred years ago, prior to the era of Buddha. It is atheistic and dualistic. It gives a complete explanation of creation, the life principle, the principle of matter composed of three energies, the makeup and functioning of the mind, the factors that lead to a person’s transformation away from mental suffering and painfulness, and the concept of a final liberation [2]. II. Debate: Science and Consciousness Science has yet to solve the mystery of consciousness. By that is meant: Is consciousness a separate principle or an integrated component of matter or nature. Neuroscience seems to be closing in on discovering the type of relationship that links consciousness and matter. Studies that track the brain’s neural activity and the synaptic jump between nerve endings suggest clues. Studies about the brain conducted by Peter Tse at Dartmouth opens up the question about the root of the firing of neurons. What is the process that initiates the firing, or synaptic jump between nerve endings? Professor Tse argues that free will can be pinpointed by the microscopic workings, the firings found within the nerves.
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He finds philosophical roots to affirm the human free will in psychologist William James and in Charles Darwin [6]. If free will exists, what is the root of the free will that is observed in the brain? What enlivens the firing of the nerve endings? III. Consciousness, Matter, and Breath Two separate, eternal principles characterize Samkhya. These are consciousness purusha and matter prakriti, also referred to as nature. The two principles are described as ever existing in proximity of each other, though they do not interact. Each is eternal and separate and they have a relationship. Matter works because it is in the proximity of consciousness. Consciousness enlivens the otherwise inert matter. Consciousness is like an inspiration that ignites matter to express its potential. Relative to the premise of this paper, nerve endings are enlivened by the consciousness within prana and pranayam breath practices [4]. Consciousness is transported within human form and all organisms by way of prana. Breath plus consciousness equals prana. Breath is related to air and wind, and these carry what is in their vicinity [4]. This is the path by which consciousness pervades the body and the mind. It is carried to every corner and space from large to small, including minute tissues and unseen nerve endings where synapse occurs. The relationship between consciousness and matter is the same as the relationship between a living and dead body. At the time of death, the breath and consciousness leave the body. Consciousness: The characteristic of consciousness is to pervade, and it is the principle of illumination, unseen. Perhaps it is like the unseen principle of electricity that is behind light. Consciousness remains an undivided principle of oneness, no matter how many forms it enters. Consciousness within is no different than the consciousness of the macrocosm. Consciousness within is like a magnet around which matter accumulates [5]. Internally, consciousness brings awareness to the mind,
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to the intellect, thought, feeling, and sense of self. It acts like a mirror, reflecting what is presented to it. The mirror never changes, though one might experience a change as a result of observing one’s reflection. Reflections bring an increase in awareness. The sun could be compared to consciousness because its light brings objects into awareness. However the sun has form, and consciousness has no form. Rather, consciousness is the illumination that enlivens the sun’s characteristic of light. Matter, Tangible and Subtle: The principle of matter prakriti is the opposite of consciousness. It is composed of innumerable combinations of three energies gunas: light sattwa motion rajas, and dullness tamas. In Samkhya, these three energies do all the work and activity in everything, even the unseen [7]. Working consciously with these energies, a person can bring about change and free will. Breath falls within the domain of matter. In this situation, consciousness and breath are attached as the breath carries consciousness throughout the organism. Every tissue, space and barely discernible nerve ending is enlivened. Light and knowledge in combination contain the largest amount of consciousness. It is the energy of light combined with intelligence that brings the will to desire change. The thoughts of having more choices and freedom from mental pain become the desire for free will. The question then becomes how to develop free will. IV. BRAIN, ENERGETICS, AND PRANAYAMA Science is confirming a location of free will in the brain, and the firing of synapse demonstrates this process [6]. Could the actions of light, motion, and dullness be responsible for the firing? Can the movement of prana influence the movement in the brain of these three energies? Ancient breath practices pranayam are a key method to activate the flow of prana. Pranayam knits the breath with the nerves. In turn the processes of the body and mind are initiated. This includes activation of brain cells. It is entirely possible that pranayam helps the nervous system and brain to develop qualities. Will power is a quality associated with one-pointedness and firmness. If free will develops, choice, and opportunities are natural outcomes. Pranayam is a two-part word. In Sanskrit, prana means life, and yama means death. Together pranayam means giving life to protect from death. This includes prevention of decay of the physical and mental. At different stages of life, there is a gradual change that lessens the mind’s concentration power [5]. Regular pranayam can keep this force intact. It also reduces the need for physical exercise. V. EFFECTS OF REGULAR PRANAYAM A study was carried out to investigate the effects of pranayam on long time regular practitioners of pranayam. The mixed-methods study examined the perspectives and experiences of long time practitioners regarding their daily pranayam breath practice. The aim was to explore the influence of pranaayam on focus and attention, and its collateral effects on everyday life, especially work and
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relationships [3]. Nine subjects working in different professions were interviewed. Then they responded to twelve statements using Likert Scales. The interview data was analyzed for themes, while the mean, median, and mode was calculated for the Likert Scale data. The qualitative and quantitative data were then compared to each other. The analysis of the interview transcripts revealed 7 themes: pranayam procedures, focus and concentration, influence on work performance, influence on relationships, health and diet, spiritual views, and the single most salient influence of pranayam on everyday life. The analysis of the Likert Scale showed high levels of agreement with the interview data in the areas of focus and attention span; clarity; ability to overcome feelings of suffering and grief; physical and mental stamina; ability to experience kindness and compassion; discipline or self-regulation; quality of relationships; preparation for deeper levels of meditation; enhanced performance for the rest of the day; ability to experience deeper insights; ability to make changes; and agreement that sitting in quiet meditation after pranayam increased its influence.
Resp A Resp B Resp C Resp D Resp E Resp F Resp G Resp H Resp I
1
2
Q 3
U 4
E 5
S 6
T 7
I 8
O 9
N 10
11
12
4 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5
4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 4
4 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 5
4 4 4 5 3 5 5 5 5
4 3 3 5 4 5 4 5 4
4 4 4 5 3 4 5 5 4
4 3 4 5 4 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 4
4 4 3 5 4 5 4 5 4
4 4 4 5 3 5 4 5 4
4 4 3 3 4 5 4 5 4
5 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 4
MEAN 4.78 4.56 4.56 4.44 4.11 4.22 4.44 4.78 4.22 4.22 4.00 4.56 MEDIAN 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 5 MODE Table 1. Likert Scale: Graph of Mean, Median, Mode
Quantitative Findings of the Likert Scale Below is a description of the essential themes that were assessed in the 12-statement Likert Scale, Table 1. Nearly all the responses were in the range of Strongly Agree or Agree at the top of the five-point scale. There were a few responses of Neither Agree or Disagree. There were no responses at all in the lowest two categories of Disagree or Strongly Disagree. A description of the 12 themes on which the participants marked their degree of agreement or disagreement follows: 1) increase of attention and concentration 1) increase of clarity 1) helps to overcome feelings of suffering and sorrow 1) stamina to work longer without tiring 1) enables increased ability for kindness and compassion 1) helps increased discipline or self-regulation 1) improves quality of relationships
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1) prepares one for deeper levels of meditation 1) influences performance for the rest of the day 1) leads to deeper insights about life 1) helpful to make a change in one’s life 1) silent sitting meditation enhances the influence of breath practices. The Likert Scale in Table 1 is read from a vertical position starting with the statements at the top. The value assigned to each response is: Strongly agree, 5; Agree, 4; Neither agree nor disagree, 3; Disagree, 2; Strongly disagree, 1. The statistical result of each statement’s mean, median, and mode fell in the range between 5 and 4. MEAN = Arithmetic average of set. MEDIAN = Middle number in set arranged from lowest value to highest. MODE = Number that occurs most frequently in a set. Results of 5 and 4 indicate a high correspondence of agreement that a regular pranayam breath practice influences the participant’s mental, psychological, and other aspects of daily life. The main implication of this study is that a regular practice of pranayam breath procedures can be beneficial. The most provocative result was the influence of pranayam on the ability to direct attention. Examples included enhancement of focus on a work task, improved interactions, holding a conversation without interruption of extraneous thoughts, a good sense of self, less reactive irritable responses, mindfulness and increased awareness, the state of presence, and peacefulness in everyday life [3].
feelings about self and life, a transformation. Summary of Results: It is a novel result to come up with parallel findings between science and ancient knowledge. If both describe a similar or same situation, then it a breakthrough for knowledge. It is entirely plausible that regular pranayam breath practice affects the nervous system and influences the firing of neurons, giving rise to more consciousness, free will, and transformation. In future studies, it would be interesting to investigate whether the character of firing neurons differs in states of free will and in states of addiction. Additional studies that investigate the triple operation of light, motion, and dullness would also be interesting. Author’s Bio: Dr. Pratibha Gramann received her doctorate in psychology, consciousness and spirituality from Saybrook University, a transpersonal psychology graduate school in San Francisco. Dr. Gramann is a consultant. Dr. Gramann gives trainings in pranayam breath practices, mindfulness, and lifestyle. She is a lecturer in psychology, ancient philosophy, and Ayurvedic medicine. REFERENCES [1] Aranya,
[2]
[3]
VI. MIND, ADDICTIONS, FREE WILL Free will is a mental quality that operates in the psychophysiological. Consider the mind as an operation of the senses, the intellect, and the ego [1]. This is a general view of the mind both in western psychology and in ancient Samkhya. Imagine the addictions of excessive alcohol, sex, overeating, drugs, also post trauma stress disorders. The senses collect data from the environment and from memory. This data travels to the intellect where it is identified and analyzed. The ego performs the role of acceptance or rejection, and it forms a relationship toward the object of addiction. If the mind feels that it has no choice or options, it submits to the object of addiction. In turn, grasping desires overtake the psycho-physiological.
[4]
[5] [6] [7]
Hariharananda Sw., Samkhya-yogacharya., Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali. (4th ed.) New York: State University of New York, 1983. Chakravarti, Pulinbihari, Origin and Development of the Samkhya System of Thought. (2nd ed.) New Delhi: Munishiram Manoharlal, 1975 Gramann, Pratibha, An exploration of the effects of pranayam breath procedures on work, relationships, health, and spirituality. United States, California: Ann Arbor; Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, 2013. Online document. [dissertation]. http://gradworks.umi. com/35/63/3563528.html Larson, G. James and Bhattacharya, Ram Shankar, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, vol.4, Samkhya A Dualist Tradition in Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987. Rao, K. Ramakrishna, Consciousness Studies: Cross Cultural Perspectives. North Carolina: McFarland, 2002. Tse, Peter, The Neural Basis of Free Will: Criterial Causation. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2013. Virupakshananda, Swami, Samkhya Karika of Isvara Krsna. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2006.
What is carrying the data, the analysis, and the emotional grasping? It is the breath that carries everything within the psycho-physiological [4]. If the breath is not under ones’ control, then it is difficult to have options. One feels more like a victim. On the other hand, if the prana is directed to unite with the nervous system, an inner strength develops that stabilizes the nerves and the emotions. Grasping falls away. Free will increases, and choice and options become forefront. The mind becomes sattvic, more focused, intelligent, selfregulated and interested in a lifestyle that leads to wholesome
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Proceedings of the Conferences on the Dialogue between Science and Theology
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November, 6 - 11 2014
1) prepares one for deeper levels of meditation 1) influences performance for the rest of the day 1) leads to deeper insights about life 1) helpful to make a change in one’s life 1) silent sitting meditation enhances the influence of breath practices. The Likert Scale in Table 1 is read from a vertical position starting with the statements at the top. The value assigned to each response is: Strongly agree, 5; Agree, 4; Neither agree nor disagree, 3; Disagree, 2; Strongly disagree, 1. The statistical result of each statement’s mean, median, and mode fell in the range between 5 and 4. MEAN = Arithmetic average of set. MEDIAN = Middle number in set arranged from lowest value to highest. MODE = Number that occurs most frequently in a set. Results of 5 and 4 indicate a high correspondence of agreement that a regular pranayam breath practice influences the participant’s mental, psychological, and other aspects of daily life. The main implication of this study is that a regular practice of pranayam breath procedures can be beneficial. The most provocative result was the influence of pranayam on the ability to direct attention. Examples included enhancement of focus on a work task, improved interactions, holding a conversation without interruption of extraneous thoughts, a good sense of self, less reactive irritable responses, mindfulness and increased awareness, the state of presence, and peacefulness in everyday life [3]. I.
feelings about self and life, a transformation. Summary of Results: It is a novel result to come up with parallel findings between science and ancient knowledge. If both describe a similar or same situation, then it a breakthrough for knowledge. It is entirely plausible that regular pranayam breath practice affects the nervous system and influences the firing of neurons, giving rise to more consciousness, free will, and transformation. In future studies, it would be interesting to investigate whether the character of firing neurons differs in states of free will and in states of addiction. Additional studies that investigate the triple operation of light, motion, and dullness would also be interesting. Author’s Bio: Dr. Pratibha Gramann received her doctorate in psychology, consciousness and spirituality from Saybrook University, a transpersonal psychology graduate school in San Francisco. Dr. Gramann is a consultant. Dr. Gramann gives trainings in pranayam breath practices, mindfulness, and lifestyle. She is a lecturer in psychology, ancient philosophy, and Ayurvedic medicine. REFERENCES [1] Aranya,
[2]
[3]
MIND, ADDICTIONS, FREE WILL
Free will is a mental quality that operates in the psychophysiological. Consider the mind as an operation of the senses, the intellect, and the ego [1]. This is a general view of the mind both in western psychology and in ancient Samkhya. Imagine the addictions of excessive alcohol, sex, overeating, drugs, also post trauma stress disorders. The senses collect data from the environment and from memory. This data travels to the intellect where it is identified and analyzed. The ego performs the role of acceptance or rejection, and it forms a relationship toward the object of addiction. If the mind feels that it has no choice or options, it submits to the object of addiction. In turn, grasping desires overtake the psycho-physiological.
[4]
[5] [6] [7]
Hariharananda Sw., Samkhya-yogacharya., Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali. (4th ed.) New York: State University of New York, 1983. Chakravarti, Pulinbihari, Origin and Development of the Samkhya System of Thought. (2nd ed.) New Delhi: Munishiram Manoharlal, 1975 Gramann, Pratibha, An exploration of the effects of pranayam breath procedures on work, relationships, health, and spirituality. United States, California: Ann Arbor; Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, 2013. Online document. [dissertation]. http://gradworks.umi. com/35/63/3563528.html Larson, G. James and Bhattacharya, Ram Shankar, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, vol.4, Samkhya A Dualist Tradition in Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987. Rao, K. Ramakrishna, Consciousness Studies: Cross Cultural Perspectives. North Carolina: McFarland, 2002. Tse, Peter, The Neural Basis of Free Will: Criterial Causation. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2013. Virupakshananda, Swami, Samkhya Karika of Isvara Krsna. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2006.
What is carrying the data, the analysis, and the emotional grasping? It is the breath that carries everything within the psycho-physiological [4]. If the breath is not under ones’ control, then it is difficult to have options. One feels more like a victim. On the other hand, if the prana is directed to unite with the nervous system, an inner strength develops that stabilizes the nerves and the emotions. Grasping falls away. Free will increases, and choice and options become forefront. The mind becomes sattvic, more focused, intelligent, selfregulated and interested in a lifestyle that leads to wholesome
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Life
Proceedings of the Conferences on the Dialogue between Science and Theology
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An Aristotelian Account of Evolution and the Contemporary Philosophy of Biology Mariusz Tabaczek, O.P. Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, California, USA mtabaczek@gmail.com
Abstract: The anti-reductionist character of the recent philosophy of biology and the dynamic development of the science of emergent properties prove that the time is ripe to reintroduce the thought of Aristotle, the first advocate of a “top-down” approach in life-sciences, back into the science/philosophy debate. His philosophy of nature provides profound insights particularly in the context of the contemporary science of evolution, which is still struggling with the questions of form (species), teleology, and the role of chance in evolutionary processes. However, although Aristotle is referenced in the evolutionary debate, a thorough analysis of his theory of hylomorphism and the classical principle of causality which he proposes is still needed in this exchange. Such is the main concern of the first part of the present article which shows Aristotle’s metaphysics of substance as an open system, ready to incorporate new hypothesis of modern and contemporary science. The second part begins with the historical exploration of the trajectory from Darwin to Darwinism regarded as a metaphysical position. This exploration leads to an inquiry into the central topics of the present debate in the philosophy of evolutionary biology. It shows that Aristotle’s understanding of species, teleology, and chance – in the context of his fourfold notion of causality – has a considerable explanatory power which may enhance our understanding of the nature of evolutionary processes. This fact may inspire, in turn, a retrieval of the classical theology of divine action, based on Aristotelian metaphysics, in the science/theology dialogue. The aim of the present article is to prepare a philosophical ground for such project. Keywords: Aristotle; Darwin; evolution; natural selection; hylomorphism; principle of causation; teleology; chance; essentialism Motto: Everything is mechanical in a machine, except the idea to construct it, which has dictated the plan of it. One hardly dares to touch the luminous, translucent page wherein Creative Evolution develops perfectly self-assured views, nourished by truths of every sort, and nevertheless dominated by a kind of metaphysical
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Manicheanism in which intelligence, dragging finality with it, is condemned to dwell in the house of geometry and evil. (Étienne Gilson, From Aristotle to Darwin and Back Again)
I. Introduction Any attempt at a reliable dialogue between theology and science requires from us, at first, a careful analysis of the philosophical aspects concerning scientific theories, as well as the philosophical presuppositions and language grounding theological reflection. Thus, philosophy of science, philosophy of nature, and metaphysics become a bridge between science and theology, protecting both sides from misunderstanding and confusion. The aim of this article is to bring the contemporary philosophy of biological evolution and Aristotle’s theory of hylomorphism, teleology and chance, into a conversation, which may further serve as a background for a theological reflection on divine action in evolution, rooted in Aristotelian/Thomistic tradition. One of the major advances of the contemporary philosophy of biology is its criticism of the predominant reductionist dogma and the “bottom-up” approach in lifesciences. In the context of this methodological change, Aristotle – the first and one of the greatest philosophers of biology – reenters science/philosophy debate, presenting a position which cannot be neglected. While the predecessors of his philosophical reflection on nature found it necessary to specify the most basic and enduring entities, and define the principles of the compositional explanation of everything else, Aristotle opted for a “top-down” approach in lifesciences. As the first anti-reductionist, he argued that natural objects owe their characteristic modes of being and acting to their formal natures. Aristotle’s way of doing biology reflected the basic principles of his substance metaphysics, founded on the concepts of hylomorphism (material and formal composition of entities), teleology, essence, chance and necessity, and thus remained in opposition to materialistic and reductionist explanations found among Pre-Socratics. Although some of the affinities between Aristotle’s biology and the contemporary anti-reductionism of the science
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of emergent properties seem to be apparent and undeniable for certain participants of the science/philosophy debate,1 other scientists and philosophers do not hesitate to notice and emphasize deep and far-reaching differences between these two traditions. Aristotle is accused of presenting too static an explanation of nature. His metaphysics of substances is opposed to the process understanding of the most basic levels of the fabric of the cosmos. His definition of species as fixed and enduring essences seems to remain in radical opposition to evolutionary theory, and his concept of teleology (final causation) appears to many as based on an unacceptable idea of backward causality of future goals on the present state of affairs.2 Nevertheless, I believe that many of these difficulties can be resolved as the basic assumptions of the Aristotle’s philosophical system prove flexible enough to respond to current issues debated in science and philosophy of science. I claim that we find a particular example of this actuality of Aristotle’s natural philosophy in the context of the contemporary science of evolution, which returns to the questions of understanding of forms (species), teleology, and the role of chance in evolutionary processes. Moreover, I think that the Aristotelian tradition successfully refutes the metaphysical claims of naïve mechanicism, and reductionism, presented in the past by some radical NeoDarwinists. In the first part of this article I will discuss metaphysical aspects of the theory of evolution in its encounter with hylomorphism and the classical principle of causation which says that higher effects cannot have lower causes. This consideration will serve as a necessary background for the second section. This second section will first begin with a historical inquiry exploring the transition from Darwin to Darwinism as a metaphysical position. Next, I will concentrate on philosophical aspects of species, natural selection, teleology, and chance in the theory of evolution. I will try to show that the Aristotelian philosophical tradition remains relevant with regard to some issues discussed recently among philosophers of biology. II. METAPHYSICS OF EVOLUTION If there exists a metaphysical foundation for the theory of evolution one would not expect to find it in the substance metaphysics of Aristotle and his followers. Juxtaposing 1 See for instance Philip Clayton, “Conceptual Foundations of Emergence
Theory,” in The Re-Emergence of Emergence, edited by Philip Clayton, and Paul Davies (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 4-5; Terrence Deacon, Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011), 34-7, 2304; Claus Emmeche, Simo Køppe, and Frederic Stjernfeld, “Levels, Emergence, and Three Versions of Downward Causation,” in Downward Causation. Mind, Bodies and Matter, edited by Peter Bøgh Andersen, Claus Emmeche, Niels O. Finnemann, and Peder Voetmann Christiansen (Aarhus, Oxford: Aarhus University Press, 2000), 13-34; Alvaro Moreno, and Jon Umerez, “Downward Causation at the Core of Living Organization,” in Downward Causation. Mind, Bodies and Matter, edited by Peter Bøgh Andersen, Claus Emmeche, Niels O. Finnemann, and Peder Voetmann Christiansen (Aarhus, Oxford: Aarhus University Press, 2000), 99-116. 2 See for instance Mark H. Bickhard and Donald T. Campbell, Emergence, http://www.lehigh.edu/~mhb0/emergence.html (accessed 26 September, 2014); Menno Hulswit, “How Causal is Downward Causation?,” Journal for General Philosophy of Science vol. 36, no. 2, p. 276, 2005.
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Aristotle with Darwin seems like an oxymoron in the context of the general opinion that the latter ultimately proved the inadequacy of the biology of the former. A radical discrepancy between the evolution of species and a metaphysics of substances that excludes any notion of change or transformation of species seems evident and undeniable. However, although Aristotle seems to explicitly reject evolution, a careful study of his thought shows that he was concerned with the dynamics of change in nature, and that the basic categories of his metaphysics, such as hylomorphism, principles of causation, account of chance, and even the problem of species, do not rule out the concept of evolution. Quite the opposite, Aristotle’s metaphysics proves to be an open system, ready to incorporate new hypothesis of modern and contemporary science. I will now discuss to a greater extent a possible response of Aristotle to the theory of evolution. A. The Concept of Hylomorphism and Evolution In order to understand better the process of generation, change, corruption, and decay, and give a proper description of both changing and persistent aspects of nature, Aristotle introduces the categories of mater and form. The first one refers not only to the stuff out of which things are made.3 The idea of ‘primary matter’ (prōtē hulē) is the principle of potentiality, something that persists through all changes that a given substance can be exposed to, something that constitutes the very possibility of being a substance at all: The matter comes to be and ceases to be in one sense, while in another it does not. As that which contains the privation, it ceases to be in its own nature, for what ceases to be – the privation – is contained within it. But as potentiality it does not cease to be in its own nature, but is necessarily outside the sphere of becoming and ceasing to be. (…) For my definition of matter is just this – the primary substratum of each thing, from which it comes to be without qualification, and which persists in the result.4
Form, on the other hand, is not only an organizing principle arranging the geometrical structure and shape of the constituent parts of an entity (substance).5 It is an 3 “[T]hat out of which a thing comes to be and which persists, is called
‘cause’, e.g. the bronze of the statue, the silver of the bowl, and the genera of which the bronze and the silver are species” (Aristotle, Physics in The Basic Works of Aristotle, edited by Richard McKeon [New York: The Modern Library, 2001], II, 3 [194b 24-25], from now on Phys.). See also Aristotle, Metaphysics, in The Basic Works of Aristotle, edited by Richard McKeon (New York: The Modern Library, 2001), V, 2 (1013a 24-25), from now on Meta. 4 Aristotle, Phys. I, 9 (192a 25-33). See also Phys. I, 7 (191a 8-12); II, 7 (198a 21-22); Meta. VII, 3 (1029a 20-21); VIII, 4 (1044a 15-23); IX, 7 (1049a 19-22, 24). 5 “’Cause’ means (…) (2) The form or pattern, i.e. the definition of the essence, and the classes which include this (e.g. the ratio 2:1 and number in general are causes of the octave), and the parts included in the definition” (Aristotle, Meta. V, 2 [1013a 27-28]). See also Phys. II, 3 (194b 26-27). In both definitions of formal causation Aristotle uses the term “ὁ λόγος τοῦ τί ἦν εἶναι,” which Gaye translates as “the statement of the essence,” and Ross as “the definition of the essence.” However, Aristotle uses also two other terms: μορφή and εἴδος which translate as “shape” or “appearance.” These may bring a confusion and a reduction of form to a geometrical shape, which flattens out Aristotle’s original
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informing principle of actuality, that, by which a thing is what it is; an intrinsic, determining principle that actualizes primary matter and thus constitutes an individual being. The meaning of form is easier to grasp in the context of Aristotle’s account of accidental and substantial change: [T]here is ‘alteration’ when the substratum is perceptible and persists, but changes in its own properties, the properties in question being opposed to one another either as contraries or as intermediates. The body, e.g. although persisting as the same body, is now healthy and now ill; and the bronze is now spherical and at another time angular, and yet remains the same bronze. But when nothing perceptible persists in its identity as a substratum, and the thing changes as a whole (when e.g. the seed as a whole is converted into blood, or water into air, or air as a whole into water), such an occurrence is no longer ‘alteration’. It is a coming-to-be of one substance and a passing-away of the other-especially if the change proceeds from an imperceptible something to something perceptible (either to touch or to all the senses). 6
The form of an entity body is therefore more than just a shape. As an intrinsic and constitutive principle of the essence of its being, substantial form persists through accidental changes. However, Aristotle notes that a thing can change as a whole in a way which brings not only an alteration of an existent being, but the coming-to-be of a new substance. Matter and form are intrinsically related for Aristotle. They cannot exist separately. In other words, we know form only as realized in primary matter, and we know primary matter only as in-formed; there is no place for Platonic dualism here. Aristotle observes a substantial unity of being at first, and introduces a distinction between primary matter and substantial form to explain this unity and the fact that things can change. In the book VIII of the Metaphysics we read: What then, is it that makes man one; why is he one and not many? (...) [I]f, as we say, one element is matter and another is form, and one is potentially and the other actually, the question will no longer be thought a difficulty. (...) The difficulty disappears, because the one is matter, the other form. (...) [T]he proximate matter and the form are one and the same thing, the one potentially, and the other actually. (...) Therefore there is no other cause here unless there is something which caused the movement from potency into actuality.7 idea. Aristotle uses one more term: ἐντελέχεια, which relates formal to final causation and denotes form as actualized in the final state of a being.
6 Aristotle, On the Generation of Animals, in The Basic Works of Aristotle, vol. 5, edited by J. A. Smith and W. D. Ross (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912), I, 4 (319b 10-18), from now on On Gen. See also Aristotle On Generation and Corruption, in The Basic Works of Aristotle, edited by Richard McKeon (New York: The Modern Library, 2001), I, 4 (319b 1018). 7 Aristotle, Meta. VIII, 4 (1045a 14, 21-25, 29-30; 1045b 1819, 21-2). We find a similar argumentation in On the Soul: “That is why we can wholly dismiss as unnecessary the question whether the soul and
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This hylomorphic doctrine of Aristotle’s metaphysics proves to be of special importance for the theory of evolution. Both matter and form, refer to the principles of persistence and change. Aristotle claims, “The matter comes to be and ceases to be in one sense, while in another it does not.” By saying this, he emphasizes that, when in-formed, primary matter as the subject of the privation of form, somehow “ceases to be.” But on the other hand, its potentiality is never lost. Because of this, primary matter is “outside the sphere of becoming and ceasing to be”, and “persists in the result.”8 When speaking about form, Aristotle argues that although the substantial forms of living and non-living beings are fixed, nevertheless, substances may be altered with respect to their accidental forms (e.g. green apple changing its color from green to red when ripe). What is more, when the primary matter of an already existing being is properly disposed, it may receive a new substantial form in a process of the coming-to-be of a new substance, that is ‘generation’ or ‘corruption.’9 The idea of the disposition of matter is related to a natural tendency of matter to be in-formed by more perfect forms. Aristotle recognizes an ascent of perfection of the beings in nature. On his scala naturae we can observe a gradual crescendo from non-living, through plant and animal, to human forms: Nature proceeds little by little from things lifeless to animal life in such a way that it is impossible to determine the exact line of demarcation, nor on which side thereof an intermediate form should lie.10 the body are one: it is as meaningless as to ask whether the wax and the shape given to it by the stamp are one, or generally the matter of a thing and that of which it is the matter. Unity has many senses (as many as ‘is’ has), but the most proper and fundamental sense of both is the relation of an actuality to that of which it is the actuality” (Aristotle, On the Soul, in The Basic Works of Aristotle, edited by Richard McKeon [New York: The Modern Library, 2001], II, 1 [412a 6-9]). See also Aristotle, On the Parts of Animals, in The Basic Works of Aristotle, vol. 5, edited by J. A. Smith and W. D. Ross (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912), I, 1 (640b 22-29), from now on Part. An.
8 9
Aristotle, Phys. I, 9 (192a 25-33).
The need for proportion between form and matter (act and potency) is emphasized by Aristotle in Meta. VIII, 4 (1044a 15-23), and even more explicitly by Aquinas in his Commentary on Metaphysics: “From the things which are said here then it is evident that there is one first matter for all generable and corruptible things, but different proper matters for different things” (Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on The Metaphysics of Aristotle. 2 Vols. Translated by John Rowan [Chicago: Regnery Press, 1961], VIII, lect. 4 [§1730], from now on In meta.). In Summa contra gentiles he adds: “Thus, form and matter must always be mutually proportioned and, as it were, naturally adapted, because the proper act is produced in its proper matter. That is why matter and form must always agree with one another in respect to multiplicity and unity” (Thomas Aquinas, On the Truth of the Catholic Faith: Summa Contra Gentiles. 4 Vols., translated by Anton C. Pegis et al. [Garden City, New York: Image Books, 1955-1957], II, 81, no. 7, from now on SCG). 10 Aristotle, The History of Animals, in The Basic Works of Aristotle, vol. 4, edited by J. A. Smith and W. D. Ross (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910), VIII, 1 (588b 4-6), from now on Hist. An. Aristotle gives at this point an example of the ascent of nature from plants to animals: “[T]here is observed in plants a continuous scale of ascent towards the animal. So, in the sea, there are certain objects concerning which one would be at a loss to determine whether they be animal or vegetable”
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[N]ature passes from lifeless objects to animals in such unbroken sequence, interposing between them beings which live and yet are not animals, that scarcely any difference seems to exist between two neighbouring groups owing to their close proximity.11 There is a good deal of overlapping between the various classes.12
Similar is the position of Aquinas, one of the most prominent commentators of Aristotle, who also notices a tendency of nature towards superior forms in the process of generation and corruption. In his Summa contra gentiles we find an important reflection on the hierarchy of degrees in substantial transformation, which I should quote extensively: [T]he more posterior and more perfect an act is, the more fundamentally is the inclination of matter directed toward it. Hence in regard to the last and most perfect act that matter can attain, the inclination of matter whereby it desires form must be inclined as toward the ultimate end of generation. Now, among the acts pertaining to forms, certain gradations are found. Thus, primary matter is in potency, first of all, to the form of an element. When it is existing under the form of an element it is in potency to the form of a mixed body; that is why the elements are matter for the mixed body. Considered under the form of a mixed body, it is in potency to a vegetative soul, for this sort of soul is the act of a body. In turn, the vegetative soul is in potency to a sensitive soul, and a sensitive one to an intellectual one. (...) So, elements exist for the sake of mixed bodies; these latter exist for the sake of living bodies, among which plants exist for animals, and animals for men. Therefore, man is the end of the whole order of generation.13
Our reflection on hylomorphism, substantial and accidental change, the disposition of matter and its tendency (Hist. An. 588b 11-13). With the advance of modern science we find it easier to define taxon-specific characteristics. 11 Aristotle, On the Parts of Animals, in The Basic Works of Aristotle, vol. 5, edited by J. A. Smith and W. D. Ross (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912), IV, 5 (681a 12-15), from now on Par. An. Aristotle gives an example of the sponge which here he classifies as a plant: “A sponge, then, as already said, in these respects completely resembles a plant, that throughout its life it is attached to a rock, and that when separated from this it dies” (Par. An. 681a 15-17), whereas in History of Animals he compares it to animals, due to its sensation: “Stationary animals are found in water, but no such creature is found on dry land. In the water are many creatures that live in close adhesion to an external object, as is the case with several kinds of oyster. And, by the way, the sponge appears to be endowed with a certain sensibility” (Hist. An. I, 1 [487b 9-10]). 12 Aristotle, Gen. An. II, 1 (732b 15). See also Fran O’Rourke, “Aristotle and the Metaphysics of Evolution,” The Review of Metaphysics no. 58, pp. 39-40, Sept., 2004. He claims that “Without exaggerating its importance, Aristotle recognizes man’s link to the primates: the ape, the monkey, and the baboon, he states, dualize in their nature with man and the quadrupeds” (Hist. An. II, 8 [502a 16-18], transl. A. L. Peck). In Par. An. IV, 10 (689b 31-33) Aristotle adds that: “The ape is, in form, intermediate between man and quadruped, and belongs to neither, or to both.” 13 SCG, III, 22, 7. See also Antonio Moreno, “Some Philosophical Considerations on Biological Evolution,” The Thomist no. 37, pp. 44041, July, 1973.
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to be in-formed by more perfect forms, helps us to think about metaphysical aspects of the mechanism of evolution. Evolution can be understood, according to Moreno and O’Rourke, as a series of accidental changes in the structure of genetic material (DNA), effecting the disposition of primary matter, and leading to a precise instant at which the primary matter of the egg and sperm, when joined, is not disposed to the old substantial form (F1) of the parents, but to a new substantial form (F2), constituting a new species. It takes many mutations (outcomes of which are regulated by natural selection) to produce such an effect, and its actual occurrence may be extremely difficult to capture. But this does not exclude the possibility of its occurring, especially in a situation where members of a species migrate to a new environment and can be modified gradually in subsequent generations, to the point where they cannot mate with the descendants of their ancestors any more. Thus it becomes clear that, even if Aristotle’s biological research was far from discovering the possibility of the transformation of species, his metaphysics left much room for such a possibility.14 B. Causation Principle and Evolution An Aristotelian response to the theory of evolution faces another important metaphysical problem. It seems to violate the basic philosophical principle of causation, which says that the higher cannot come from the lower.15 To deal with this difficulty we should first notice a fundamental difference between the metaphysical order of various degrees of perfection of different ‘essences,’ and the biological order of different forms of life which is based on a historical and phenomenological analysis. Metaphysical categories of ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ should not be equated with biological concepts describing organisms as ‘more complex’ and ‘better adapted.’ In other words, ‘more complex’ and ‘better adapted’ do not presuppose a higher perfection of ‘essence.’ Insects, for instance, are certainly not the highest organisms in terms of the metaphysical perfection of their ‘essence,’ but they can be regarded as a culmination of an evolutionary line in terms of adaptation to their environmental niche. That is why, when biology speaks of different species, it does not mean to speak of different ‘essences,’ as it is not interested in levels of ontological perfection. Moreover, the mechanism of biological evolution does not coincide with the philosophical notion of efficient causality. To ‘descend from,’ or to ‘be produced out of’ differs in meaning from the philosophical notion of being ‘caused’ or ‘produced by.’ In addition, the emphasis on the historical aspect of the development of various species helps us to see it as a complex result of many causal influences. The mechanism of evolution would then seem to involve 14
Moreno, “Some Philosophical Considerations,” 429-31; O’Rourke, “Aristotle,” 26-7: “If Aristotle’s metaphysical analysis of growth and change is correct, the principles of form and the affirmation of potency will hold a fortiori for the evolutionary process” (O’Rourke, “Aristotle,” 27). 15 “[T]he begetter is of the same kind as the begotten” (Meta. VII, 8 [1033b 30]). “[N]o effect exceeds its cause” (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica. 5 Vols., translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province [Scotts Valley, CA: NovAntiqua, 2008], II-II, 32, 4, obj. 1, from now on ST). “[E]very agent produces its like” (SCG II, 21, no. 9). “[T]he order of causes necessarily corresponds to the order of effects, since effects are commensurate with their causes” (SCG II, 15, no. 4). “[E]very agent acts according as it is in act” (SCG II, 6, no. 4).
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a matrix of various causes. But can this matrix of causes or any one of them individually be considered the efficient cause of the eventual product of evolution? As Aristotle conceives, an efficient cause always acts for a particular end. But none of the factors involved in evolution is understood as intending its eventual product. That is why we may conclude by emphasizing one more time that the proportionate cause of the emergence of the new species is not a single law or force, but a concurrence of many causal influences constitutive for an evolutionary event, or rather a history of evolutionary changes.16 III. Philosophical Problems of Darwin and Darwinism The fact that the Aristotelian tradition is ready to accommodate the principles of evolution does not mean that it will do so uncritically. This tradition’s careful analysis allows us to distinguish between evolutionary science and the philosophical conclusions drawn from it. It also proves to be an important voice in the discussion of species, natural selection, teleology, and the role of chance in nature. I will refer to all of these problems in what follows. A. Darwin Was Not an Evolutionist As Étienne Gilson shows in his excellent study From Aristotle to Darwin and Back Again, in Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species the word “evolution” appears only once, in the last of the six editions of the book published during his lifetime. We can name at least two reasons for which Darwin wanted to avoid using this term in his synthesis. First of all, it was already in use by a tradition which had assigned to it a meaning radically opposite to what he himself discovered. St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, and Malebranche, wanting to emphasize that after creation nothing has been added to the world, claimed that everything originally contained in nature in the form of seminal notions (rationes seminales) gradually ‘e-volves,’ ‘un-folds,’ or ‘en-velops’ in time. The most representative advocate of this position in the 18th century was Charles Bonnet of Geneva, who would place his own ideas of preformation and evolution in opposition to the doctrine of epigenesis (growth by the successive acquisition and formation of new parts). It is clear that this definition of evolution remained in radical opposition to what Darwin was suggesting in his On the Origin of Species.17 Darwin was also familiar with the work of Herbert Spencer, a philosopher who regarded himself as a father of the doctrine of evolution, which he defined as “an integration of matter and dissipation of motion”. For a biologist such as Darwin, assertions of this kind were simply pointless. But he must have been familiar with Spencer’s biological views supporting Lamarckism, which he radically rejected, after he had developed his idea of natural selection. Spencer would agree with Lamarck saying that variations in the surrounding environment force organisms to modify 16
Benedict Ashley, “Causality and Evolution,” The Thomist no. 36, p. 215, Apr., 1972; Norbert Luyten, “Philosophical Implications of Evolution,” New Scholasticism vol. 25, pp. 300-302, July, 1951; Leo J. Elders, “The Philosophical and Religious Background of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution,” Doctor Communis vol. 37, p. 56, 1984. 17 Étienne Gilson, From Aristotle to Darwin and Back Again. A Journey in Final Causality, Species, and Evolution (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009), 59-61.
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themselves. For Darwin the principle of change was natural selection. For this reason he did not want to be associated with the position of Spencer.18 The capital truth of Darwin’s position was trifold: 1) That species are groups of individuals that vary slightly from one another, and have a tendency to increase their number over generations in a process which is constrained by a struggle for existence, due to limited resources, diseases, and predators.19 2) That favorable variations in species are preferred in virtue of a general phenomenon which Darwin called ‘natural selection.’ 3) That over time this process brings changes in descendant populations of an ancestor species that differentiate them enough so that they can be classified as different species.20 Darwin wanted to stay away from the philosophical baggage of the term ‘evolution’ used by Spencer. He referred rather to the idea of ‘transmutation of species’ or ‘change of species by descent,’ which better described his position. Knowing that his theory was in opposition to the literal reading of the Bible, he argued against a naïve creationism and the notion of miraculous divine intervention in the coming-to-be of new species, which he thought was incompatible with the scientific spirit.21 But other than this, Darwin did not want to engage himself in philosophical or theological debates. He was and wanted to remain a scientist. However, that history wrote its own scenario which made Darwin a herald of the new science and philosophy of evolution, is now undeniable. Reflecting on this fact Gilson says: It is popularly asked who, Lamarck or Darwin, is the first inventor of the doctrine of evolution, although neither of them may have claimed the paternity of the discovery, 18
In his Autobiography Darwin says: “I am not conscious of having profited in my work by Spencer’s writings. His deductive manner of treating every subject is wholly opposed to my frame of mind. (…) His fundamental generalizations (…) which I daresay may be very valuable under a philosophical point of view, are of such a nature that they do not seem to me to be of any strictly scientific use” (The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809-1882, ed. Nora Barlow [London: Collins, 1958], 108-9). Spencer, on the other hand, defending his position says that “[J] ust as the theory of the Solar System, held up to the time of Newton, would have continued outstanding had Newton’s generalization been disproved, so, were the theory of natural selection disproved, the theory of organic evolution would remain. (…) The theory of natural selection is wrongly supposed to be identical with the theory of organic evolution; and the theory of organic evolution is wrongly supposed to be identical with the theory of evolution et large” (Herbert Spencer, “Lord Salisbury on Evolution, Inaugural Address to the British Association, 1894,” in The Nineteenth Century [November 1895], 740-1, 757). 19 Darwin adopted the idea of struggle for existence from Rev. T. Malthus, who was concerned with social and political issues. Coming from a naturalist point of view he claimed that nature necessarily eliminates most of what she produces, due to the limited resources sustaining populations. He applied this rule to human population as well suggesting that the Poor Law should be abolished because it perpetuates and multiplies the ill-adapted. Darwin used political and economic views of Malthus in his biological explanation of nature. See Gilson, From Aristotle, 88-95. 20 James G. Lennox, “Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism,” in A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology, ed. Sahotra Sarkar and Anya Plutynski (Oxford: Blackwell, 2011), 80. 21 Darwin’s view of philosophical theology and his image of God were rather superficial, which triggered criticism of his work in theological circles.
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while no one would dream of attributing it to Spencer, who claims it with good reason. This new unicorn, evolutionismus darwinianus, gives proof of a remarkable vitality. It owes this, no doubt, to its peculiar nature as a hybrid of a philosophic doctrine and a scientific law. Having the generality of the one and the demonstrative certitude of the other, it is virtually indestructible.22
Despite Spencer’s protests, the doctrine of evolution was attributed to Darwin, who had changed his mind noticeably with the publication of the Descent of Man, in which he spoke of evolution as a ‘great principle.’ This must have been a surprise for those who knew that thirteen years before he had written the Origin without even mentioning such a term. Nevertheless, Darwin was already regarded as an apostle of evolution. Moreover, the term itself, which had had philosophical roots and connotations in Spencer, remained a philosophical doctrine in Darwin as well. The popular understanding of the Neo-Darwinian synthesis, which has been developed on the basis of Darwinism, laboratory genetics, and the mathematical theory of population genetics, is praised by many as a purely scientific theory: [T]here is a profound truth in the claim that ‘the Evolutionary Synthesis’ is, at its core, a brilliant integration. Experimental and mathematical genetics are wedded to those subjects that dominate On the Origin of Species: natural selection acting on chance variation as the principal mechanism of evolutionary change; the fossil record as the principal historical evidence of the evolutionary process; and biogeographic distribution providing overwhelming evidence that current populations are the products of an evolutionary process.23
However, this optimism seems to be somewhat exaggerated if not unjustified. Experimental and mathematical genetics do not answer all the questions concerning concrete examples of species and their evolutionary traits. The fossil record, although much more advanced and complete than in the times of Darwin, still has many substantial gaps.24 But most importantly, the theory of evolution is by no means purely scientific, which is sometimes neglected in scientific circles. In its NeoDarwinian version it introduces significant philosophical claims and raises many philosophical questions concerning species, the nature of selection, the problem of teleology, and the nature and role of chance as a factor in evolutionary changes. Some of these problems are a subject of an intriguing discussion among philosophers of biology. I shall now try to introduce the Aristotelian tradition into this debate
22
Gilson, From Aristotle, 83. Lennox, Darwinism, 84. It seems that what Darwin says in the Origin is still relevant: “Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record” (Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life [London: John Murray, 1859], http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species_(1859) [accessed 26 September, 2014], 280).
23 24
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B. The Problem of Species The fact that the very term ‘evolution’ is not found in the book heralded as the foundation of the theory named after it, is itself a striking paradox; yet this paradox is followed by another. The title of Darwin’s work is, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. However, as Gilson notices, similar to Buffon and Lamarck, Darwin actually criticizes the very idea of species, taking a nominalist position in the dispute over universals. In the oftcited passage from the Origin Darwin states: I look at the term species as one arbitrarily given, for the sake of convenience, to a set of individuals closely resembling each other, (…) [I]t does not essentially differ from the term variety, which is given to less distinct and more fluctuating forms. The term variety, again, in comparison with mere individual differences, is also applied arbitrarily, for convenience’s sake.25
Of course, the question remains of whether Darwin is truly denying the objective reality of species. Some say that he is merely pointing towards the problem that goes back to Aristotle, who, as we have seen, also had difficulties distinguishing between non-living and living beings, plants and animals, and neighbouring groups of animals, and saw “a good deal of overlapping between the various classes.”26 But I think that it is undeniable that Darwin, even if he does not reject the concept of species as such, dissolves it into an endless variety of individuals. Even if he cannot help using the term ‘species’ from time to time, his transformism happens rather on the level of individuals. And here comes the problem. If species are only constructs of our mind, then evolution also exists merely on the level of the abstraction of human reason. But this then questions the very credibility of evolution as an empirical scientific theory. That is why in the Neo-Darwinian synthesis species are making their comeback. Ernst Mayer, one of the leading evolutionary biologists of the 20th century, says that: [W]hoever, like Darwin, denies that species are nonarbitrarily defined units of nature not only evades the issue but fails to find and solve the most interesting problems of biology.”27 Without speciation there would be no diversification of the organic world, no adaptive radiation, and very little evolutionary progress. The species, then, is the keystone of evolution.28
But the debate and search for a precise definition of a species based on objective scientific facts has not brought a satisfactory solution to the problem yet. At the foundation of the Neo-Darwinist approach, both Mayer and Dobzhansky were looking for a middle way between essentialism and nominalism. Mayer proposed the Biological Species Concept (BSC), which was based on the observation of the reproductive processes operating at the base of generation 25 26 27
Darwin, On the Origin, 52. See above, point I A. Ernst Mayer, Animal Species and Evolution (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963), 29. 28 Mayr, Animal, 621.
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and maintenance of species. He defines species in a following way: Species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups. (…) Isolating mechanisms are biological properties of individuals which prevent the interbreeding of populations that are actually or potentially sympatric.29
This definition emphasizes the relational aspect of members of a species which are related to one another by causal and historical situations, rather than a shared relation to a common type. However, although it seems to describe properly epistemological aspect of the differentiation of species, I think that Mayer’s definition is not quite successful in answering ontological questions. Applying the criterion of interbreeding we may conclude epistemologically that two populations are different species. But the question remains of what makes them to be various kinds ontologically? Others criticize Mayer’s proposition and the whole variety of other definitions which have it as their base, such as recognition, genetic, agamo, and ecological species concepts,30 pointing to the difficulty in determining the potential for interbreeding in the case of groups of organisms that do not overlap or interact due to geographic separation? The critique of this commonly accepted Neo-Darwinist theory of species brought a shift towards more operational concepts based on morphological and genetic similarity. We classify in this group morphological, phenetic, polythetic, genotypic cluster, and genealogical concordance species concepts.31 Although they refer mainly to some observable traits, regardless of their phylogeny or evolutionary relation, their proponents distance themselves from the essentialist language of intrinsic properties and substantial form. These theories were criticized for various reasons. It is difficult to find a common similarity algorithm and clustering approach. Some similarities seem to be more important than others. Moreover, similarity based concepts do not distinguish between polymorphisms in populations and differences across genera, between similarities due to common ancestry and homologies, and those due to parallel evolution. Another attempt in defining species emphasized the historical dimension of an ancestral-descendent sequence of populations evolving separately from the others, and having its own tendencies. This historical turn finds its expression in the evolutionary species concept (ESC), successional, paleospecies, and chronospecies concepts.32 Because of the problem of drawing borders on the way of the transformation of lineages, some evolutionists concentrate on phylogenetic branching as a way to demarcate the 29
Ernst Mayer, The Growth of Biological Thought (Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1976), 273-4. 30 For definitions of all these species concepts see Appendix. See also Richard A. Richards, “Species and Taxonomy,” in The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology, ed. Michael Ruse (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 177-8. 31 See Appendix; Richards, “Species,” 178-9. 32 See Appendix. ESC identifies species as a “single lineage of ancestor-descendent populations which maintains its identity from other such lineages and which has its own evolutionary tendencies and historical fate” (Richard L. Mayden, “A Hierarchy of Species Concepts: The Denouement in the Saga of the Species Problem,” in Species: The Units of Biodiversity, ed. M. F. Claridge, H. A. Dawah, and M. R. Wilson [London: Chapman and Hall, 1997], 419).
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beginnings and endings of species (cladistics, composite, intermodal, and phylogenetic species concepts).33 Others opt for the idea of species-as-individuals. Still others want to save essentialism by either conceiving species not in terms of intrinsic but rather extrinsic, relational properties (Grene and Depew), or by defining them as homeostatic property cluster kinds with an ability of some of their properties to change, which will still save the idea that they have essences in a weaker sense (Boy, Griffiths, Wilson).34 Because this debate seems to multiply definitions of species, some thinkers suggest that instead of looking for a consensus we should rather accept the plurality of species concepts. In its pragmatic version, pluralism simply approves the idea of choosing different species concepts regarding the interests guiding the classification. Ontological pluralism goes further and claims that there is no essence to the species concept and that the species category is heterogeneous. The consilience position accepts pluralism but at the same time remains optimistic about the possibility of finding a single, monistic species concept in the future. The fourth, hierarchical pluralism distinguishes between theoretical and operational species concepts and brings the idea of a division-of-labor solution (e.g. the ESC serves as a primary, unifying theoretical concept, while other concepts have an operational function in the identification and individuation of species).35 The whole debate regarding the problem of species leaves no doubt that contemporary evolutionary biology recognizes and acknowledges the need for a definition of species. Various attempts to formulate a single, objective definition of species based on the data of empirical science, such as reproductive processes or morphological and genetic similarities, prove that science is tending towards a realist position in the dispute over universals. Strict scientific nominalism would question evolution, which is in fact observable at the level of populations. However, our analysis shows that while science tends to provide an adequate account of individual organisms, it seems less capable of specifying universal traits, traits that are essential to a definition of species. Given this difficulty it may be helpful to refer to the philosophy of nature. Here we find the classical Aristotelian concept of species as essences that is presented in his metaphysical and biological works. Essentialism is generally associated with Plato, Aristotle, and Christian creationism. It is oftentimes misunderstood and dismissed for presenting the idea of species defined as eternal, immutable, determined by God, and discrete.36 Essentialism is also rejected due to the fact that its definition of species is based on the idea of internal and intrinsic properties of organisms.37 However, what needs to 33 34 35
See Appendix. See Richards, “Species,” 179-81. See Richards, “Species,” 181-5. Richards himself believes in the possibility of finding “a single, primary concept that colligates facts via a set of correspondence rules (not concepts) that serve to bridge the theoretical concept to the observable data” (ibid., 185). He finds the ESC concept proposed by Mayden as promising as any other. The debate is thus still open. On the problem of species see also Marc Ereshefsky, “Systematics and Taxonomy,” in A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology, ed. Sahotra Sarkar and Anya Plutynski (Oxford: Blackwell, 2011), 100-4; Marc Ereshefsky, “Species, Taxonomy, and Systematics,” in Philosophy of Biology. An Anthology, ed. Alex Rosenberg, and Robert Arp (Oxford, Blackwell, 2010), 255-61. 36 See for instance Richards, “Species,” 174-6. 37 I have mentioned above about the attempt to save essentialism at the cost of defining it in terms of external and relational, rather than intrinsic properties. It shows that the central idea of essentialism is still
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be emphasized is that the static Platonic concept of species conceived as immutable forms, separated from matter and existing in the realm of eternal ideas, has little to do with the dynamic Aristotelian understanding of species which forges a middle path between the absolute realism of Plato and pure nominalism. For Aristotle, species are real, immutable and eternal in the sense that each one of them involves a form which causes a species to be what it is and to exhibit fixed and permanent traits. But at the same time, every species exists only as realized in concrete, temporal, individual, and contingent organisms. Thus the essential intrinsic traits of the species are immutable, but not their existential realization in nature. Aristotle argues that all representatives of a species have a ‘common nature’ (substantial form), which finds its expression in the variety of inter-actions and inter-relations between unique individuals. In other words, species are forms which cannot exist apart from realization in concrete substances. In the first part of this article I showed that the concept of evolution can be explained as a series of existential realizations of forms in nature, carried out through the process in which primary matter becomes properly disposed to be informed by new substantial forms. Species can thus be said to gradually change (evolve) in time, but not without a qualification. What needs to be clarified is the fact that what actually changes is accidental traits and properties of concrete organisms, which brings in turn an alteration of the disposition of primary matter, preparing it to receive the form of a new species. Therefore, strictly speaking, what the complex nexus of evolutionary processes brings about, from the Aristotelian point of view, is an existential realization of species as forms, educed from the potency of primary matter. Such an understanding of species puts an emphasis on its historical dimension and thus resonates with the ESC. Its main advantage is that it brings together both the individual and universal traits of an organism. Its philosophical character can be easily distinguished from its theological implications which renders the concept available to be used in the context of contemporary science.38 This is why I am of the opinion that Aristotle’s concept of species understood as an intrinsic substantial form individually possessed by the whole group of organisms (whether the group is defined in terms of genotype, phenotype, morphogenetic field) should be brought back into discussion as an important philosophical principle, complementary rather than competitive with scientific views. This opinion is all the more reasonable given the growing interest among natural scientists in philosophy of nature and philosophical aspects of various scientific disciplines, including biology.39 received with skepticism. See Ashley, “Causality,” 221-6; Elders, “Philosophical,” 50-3; Moreno, “Some Philosophical Considerations,” 425-7. 39 I side here with Travis Dumsday, who, accepting the pluralism of species concepts, in the conclusion to his article about the scholastic ontology of species says: “What I hope to have shown however is that an essentialist mode of classification is just as legitimate as any other. Of course, from a Scholastic perspective there is a privileged goal in taxonomy, namely, definition in accordance with real essence as opposed to accidental division by relational or other criteria. If one’s chief concern is fundamental ontology, this is clearly the way to go; but biologists are not necessarily concerned with fundamental ontology, and we should hardly be surprised that alternative modes of classification are employed by them.” See Travis Dumsday, “Is There Still Hope For a Scholastic Ontology of Biological Species?,” The Thomist vol. 76, p. 394, July,
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C. Natural Selection, Teleology, and Chance Among the philosophical aspects of evolution, there are other important issues concerning natural selection (NS), teleology, and chance. Yet, an attempt to analyze them brings about another paradox. In his article on Darwin published in 1874, Asa Gray said: “We recognize the great service rendered by Darwin to natural science by restoring teleology to it, so that instead of having morphology against teleology, we shall have henceforth morphology married to teleology.” To this Darwin replied saying: “What you say about teleology pleases me especially, and I do not think anyone else has ever noticed the point.” Similar was the opinion of his son Francis, the editor of Darwin’s Autobiography: “One of the greatest services rendered by my father to the study of Natural History is the revival of Teleology. The evolutionist studies the purpose or meaning of organs with the zeal of the older Teleologist, but with far wider and more coherent purpose.”40 But as I have mentioned above, Darwin was first and foremost a scientist, not a philosopher. In his correspondence with William Graham, the author of The Creed of Science, Darwin acknowledged that he had no practice in abstract reasoning. We find a proof for that in the same letter to Graham in which he first denies that the existence of natural laws implies purpose, but then assures him that Graham’s belief that the universe is not the result of chance is his inward conviction.41 This ambiguity makes it difficult to specify the exact position of Darwin in the philosophical dispute between Descartes, Bacon, and Spinoza, who rejected final causes calling them “barren virgins dedicated to God” (Bacon),42 and Leibniz and Kant, who tried to defend the concept of final causality arguing that we must acknowledge that organisms are ‘natural purposes.’43 The course taken by 2012. On a retrieval of essentialism in species concept see also Michael Devitt, “Resurrecting Biological Essentialism,” Philosophy of Science vol. 75, pp. 344-82, 2008. 40 Asa Gray, “Charles Darwin,” Nature, June 4, 1874; Darwin, Autobiography, 308, 316. Huxley's opinion, which Francis Darwin used to support his thesis, was the same: “Perhaps the most remarkable service to the philosophy of biology rendered by Mr. Darwin is the reconciliation of Teleology and Morphology, and the explanation of the facts of both, which his views offer” (Thomas Huxley, “Genealogy of Animals,” The Academy [1869]). 41 Darwin, Autobiography, 68. 42 Francis Bacon, The Dignity and Advancement of Learning (London/New York: The Colonial Press, 1900), 99. In his Letter to Mersenne Descartes writes: “The number and the orderly arrangements of the nerves, veins, bones, and other parts of an animal do not show that nature is insufficient to form them, provided you suppose that in everything nature acts in accordance with the laws of mechanics (quoted in Denis Walsh, “Teleology,” in The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology, ed. Michael Ruse [Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008], 114). Spinoza in Appendix 1 to his Ethics says this about teleology: “That which is really a cause it considers as an effect, and vice versa: it makes that which is by nature to be the last, and that which is highest and most perfect to be most imperfect” (Benedict Spinoza, “Ethics,” in The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza. Vol. 2, tr. R. H. M. Elwes [New York: Dover Publications, 1951], 77). 43 Leibniz defends the idea of final and formal cause. The internal forces of his monads can be identified with substantial form (according to the principle of the identity of indiscernibles). When conceived as appetites, they also have a teleological character. However, although in his system efficient and final causality are complementary, Leibniz does not escape entirely the problem of determinism, which in his philosophy
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Neo-Darwinism, however, is clear and transparent. The line of reasoning that had its foundation in 1869 in Von Helmholtz’s praise for Darwin for bringing the study of biological form under the ambit mechanism (1869), found its culmination a hundred years later in 1969, in the position of David Hull who declared: “From the point of view of contemporary biology, both vitalism and teleology are stone-cold dead.”44 Despite Quine’s philosophical objections to this reductionist dogma,45 teleology retained its bad reputation in the second half the 20th century, among many philosophers and scientists, who are willing to replace with chance. Driven to the extreme, this position led Richard Dawkins to formulate his famous metaphysical manifesto in which he declares: “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”46 That this position is highly problematic, however, has become evident for many. The first signs of the rehabilitation of teleology in biology came with the work of three important evolutionary biologists: Dobzhansky, Mayr, and Ayala. The first one simply notices that “mutation alone, uncontrolled by natural selection, would result in the breakdown and eventual extinction of life, not in the adaptive or progressive evolution.”47 Similar is the position of Francisco Ayala, who strives in addition to explain in more detail the nature of NS. Defined as differential reproduction, dependent on differential survival, mating success, fecundity, and survival of offspring, NS is determined by the environment. However, Ayala emphasizes that NS is not only a purely negative mechanistic end-directed process that promotes the useful and gets rid of harmful mutants increasing thus reproductive efficiency, but also: is able to generate novelty by increasing the probability of otherwise extremely improbable genetic combinations. Natural selection is creative in a way. It does not ‘create’ the genetic entities upon which it operates, but it produces adaptive genetic combinations which would not have existed otherwise. (…) Natural selection is teleological in the sense that it produces and maintains end-directed organs and processes, when the function or end-state served by the organ or process contributes to the reproductive fitness of the organisms.48 takes the form of a pre-established harmony. David Hull, “What Philosophy of Biology Is Not,” Journal of the History of Biology vol. 2, p. 249, 1969. 45 Willard van Orman Quine, “Two Dogmas of Empiricism,” in From a Logical Point of View (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953), 20-46. 46 Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (New York: Basic books/Harper Collins, 1995), 132-3. 47 Theodosius Dobzhansky, Genetics of the Evolutionary Process (New York: Columbia University Press, 1970), 65. 48 Francisco J. Ayala, “Teleological Explanations in Evolutionary Biology,” in Nature’s Purposes. Analyses of Function and Design in Biology, ed. Colin Allen, Marc Bekoff, and George Lauder (Cambridge, MA/London: A Bradford Book/The MIT Press, 1998), 35, 41. Ayala distinguishes between ‘internal’ (natural end-directedness) and ‘external’ (product of purposeful activity) teleology. He also talks about ‘determinate’ (end-state reached in spite of environmental fluctuations, e.g. physiological or developmental homeostasis), and ‘indeterminate’ (end-state as a result of a selection of one from among several
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This attempt to legitimize teleology was criticized by Mayr, for whom teleology is equivalent to goaldirectedness and implies a causal activity of a future goal on the present situation, which he thinks is not acceptable in Neo-Darwinism. For this reason he suggests replacing ‘teleological’ with ‘teleonomic’ and ‘teleomatic.’ He defines the first term as a process or behavior “that owes its goal directedness to the operation of a program.” The other one refers in his view to “processes that reach an end-state caused by natural laws.”49 But this explanation is problematic and reveals Mayr’s misunderstanding of Aristotle and his definition of teleology. For who is the author of a ‘program’ operating towards goal-directedness? As Terrence Deacon notices “The major problem with the term teleonomy is its implicit agnosticism with respect to the nature of the mechanism that exhibits this property.”50 The question of the source of teleology is simply replaced by the one concerning the source of a ‘program.’ Moreover, Mayr’s objection about the alleged causal activity of future goals with reference to the present is simply an outcome of a flattened-out understanding of causality, that he accepts after Pittendrigh, who coined the term ‘teleonomy.’ In his letter to Mayr, Pittendrigh says: “Teleology in its Aristotelian form has, of course, the end as immediate, ‘efficient,’ cause. And this is precisely what the biologist (…) cannot accept.”51 What we find here is an example of a reduction of multiple kinds of causality to the efficient cause alone. If an endstate operated simply as an efficient cause, we would have no reason to speak about final causality at all. It seems that even Ayala succumbs to this type of reductionism at one point, when following Nagel he says that “Teleological explanations can be reformulated, without loss of explicit content, to take the form of nonteleological ones.”52 Nonetheless, among some philosophers of biology, there is a growing awareness of the limits of this kind of reductionism. The budding interest in the classical plural account of causality, offered by Aristotle, brings about a new understanding of teleology. We find an example of this turn in the article by Denis Walsh answering to the three alternatives) teleology. See Ayala, “Theological,” 43; Francisco J. Ayala, “Teleological Explanations,” in Philosophy of Biology, ed. Michael Ruse (New York, MacMillan Publishing Company, 1989), 190. 49 Ernst Mayr, “Teleological and Teleonomic: A New Analysis,” in Evolution and the Diversity of Life. Selected Essays (Cambridge, MA/ London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1976), 387-90, 403. Mayr also compares his idea of operational program in nature with a computer program: “The purposive action of an individual, insofar as it is based on the properties of its genetic code, therefore is no more nor less purposive than the actions of a computer that has been programmed to respond appropriately to various inputs. It is, if I may say so, a purely mechanistic purposiveness.” Again, Mayr seems to forget about the fact that the computer program has its conscious designer. His analogy begs a question of the source of the properties of the genetic code. Ernst Mayr, Toward a New Philosophy of Biology. Observations of an Evolutionist (Cambridge, MA/London: Harvard University Press, 1988), 31. 50 Deacon, Incomplete, 121. 51 Mayr, “Teleological,” 392n1. 52 Ayala, “Teleological,” 43. He follows Nagel who claims that “teleological explanations are fully compatible with causal accounts. (…) Indeed, a teleological explanation can always be transformed into a causal one.” By “causal explanation” he means an explanation in terms of efficient causes. Ernst Nagel, “Types of Causal Explanation in Science,” in Cause and Effect, ed. D. Lerner (New York: Free Press, 1965), 24-5. See the criticism of Ayala in Walsh, “Teleology,” 123.
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standard objections concerning teleological explanations: 1. To the argument of the backward causation of nonfactual future states of affairs, he answers that it is goal-directedness, as an intrinsic property of a system, and not unactualized goals, that explains the presence of traits in an organism. 2. To the argument that all teleological explanation require intentionality, he answers that, for Aristotle, teleology is present in both non-rational and rational nature. Intentionality is not necessary to apply a teleological explanation: “It is absurd to suppose that purpose is not present because we do not observe the agent deliberating.”53 3. To the argument that all teleological explanation appears to have normative import, he answers that “Teleology does not require a category of value-bearing goal states; it only requires goaldirectedness.”54 Walsh recognizes the immanent character of Aristotle’s teleology (in opposition to its transcendent Platonic version). He finds an irreducible example of this immanence in the adaptiveness and phenotypic plasticity of organisms which is manifested in their self-organizing goal-directedness and capacity to make compensatory changes to form or physiology during their lifetime (e.g. acclimatization or immune response). On the level of evolutionary changes, lineages undergo selection to thus become ever more suited to the conditions of their environment. Walsh shows that the Darwinian process of iterated mutations and selection does not provide a satisfactory explanation for adaptive evolution. A careful observer notices that the explanatory role of phenotypic plasticity brings back a genuine Aristotelian teleology.55 It gives a reason why organisms of the one species resemble one another, despite genetic variations and environmental influences. It also illuminates Aristotle’s idea of hypothetical necessity, by showing that alterations to development are hypothetically necessary for the continued existence of an organism in its environment.56 Regarding this approach to teleology, Walsh is by no means an isolated thinker. Mark Perlman in his article entitled “The Modern Philosophical Resurrection of Teleology,” presents a very clear and systematic description of the actual views on teleology in evolutionary biology, and the philosophy of biology. He distinguishes between nonnaturalistic, quasi-naturalistic, and naturalistic explanations of finality in nature. He categorizes both Aristotle’s teleological explanation and teleological explanations proposed by the science of emergent properties as quasinaturalistic. In opposition to these quasi-naturalistic theories, he classifies naturalistic theories as those that strive 53
Aristotle, Phys. II, 8 (199b 27). In his Modeling of Nature, William Wallace distinguishes three meanings of teleology: terminus of an action, perfection of nature of a thing or being, and intention of cognitive agents. See, William A. Wallace, The Modeling of Nature. Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Nature in Synthesis. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1996, 17. 54 Wash, Teleology, 116-21. 55 To find more about Aristotle’s final cause in the context of other types of causality see Allan Gotthelf, “Aristotle’s Concept of Final Causality,” The Review of Metaphysics vol. 30, pp. 226-54, 1976. 56 Walsh, “Teleology,” 128-32. For Aristotle on hypothetical necessity see Part. An., I, 1 (639b 23-6); IV, 2, (677a 15-19); Gen. An., IV, 8 (776b 31-3).
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to reduce teleology to a present, past, or future functional analysis.57 Thus we can see that both authors acknowledge the significance of the rehabilitation of the classical notion of teleology in science. As Walsh explains: The ‘Aristotelian purge’ was seen as a pivotal achievement of early modern science. As a consequence of the scientific revolution, the natural sciences learned to live without teleology. Current evolutionary biology, I contend, demonstrates that quite the opposite lesson needs now to be learned. The understanding of how evolution can be adaptive requires us to incorporate teleology – issuing from the goal-directed, adaptive plasticity of organisms – as a legitimate scientific form of explanation. The natural sciences must, once again, learn to live with teleology.58
The question of teleology and the character of NS is usually accompanied by the further question concerning the role and nature of chance in evolutionary processes. In the light of what I have already said about teleology and NS, it becomes clear that evolution cannot be attributed to blind chance, which is actually a pure absence of explanation. What chance tells us is that a referred-to event does not have a per se efficient cause. It does not occur for a purpose and is inherently unpredictable. But Aristotle reminds us that chance, as an accidental cause, occurs always in reference to a per se, or proper cause. It does not happen in a void. Quite the contrary: it takes place in the world of regularity and predictability. Thus although mutations, which are regarded as the necessary condition for the possibility of natural selection, are truly unpredictable and occur by chance, they have an accidental character in reference to the per se cause of living beings that strive to survive and produce offspring. The acceptance of the plural notion of causality helps us understand that the absence of a direct efficient cause of mutations does not exclude other kinds of causality from being active. Aristotle’s philosophy of nature reminds us to take formal and final causality into account in our attempt to explain the nature of an evolutionary change.59 From what I have said in this section we can see that the contemporary philosophy of biology finds its way back to the Aristotelian philosophy of nature. Scientists have begun to slowly acknowledge that the well-established and highly effective method of empirical science does not provide answers to all relevant questions. Moreover, they have begun to understand that an openness towards philosophy of nature and metaphysics does not require that they abandon their science. Quite the contrary. Philosophical questions 57
Perlman ascribes to Aristotle’s teleology a quasi-naturalistic character due to some commentators (e.g. Aquinas, ST, I, 6, 1, ad 2) who would say that acting for an end means achieving the ‘good.’ For someone who does not acknowledge the existence of natural values, this statement may seem to have a normative character. See Mark Perlman, “The Modern Philosophical Resurrection of Teleology,” in Philosophy of Biology. An Anthology, ed. Alex Rosenberg and Robert Arp (Oxford: Blackwell, 2010), 149-63. 58 Walsh, “Teleology,” 133. See also an interesting defense of teleology which takes on account major skeptical arguments coming from science in Robert M. Augros, “Nature Acts for an End,” The Thomist vol. 66, pp. 535-75, 2002. 59 See Aristotle, Phys. II, 4-6 (195b 31-198a 13); John Dudley, Aristotle’s Concept of Chance. Accidents, Cause, Necessity, and Determinism (New York: Sunny Press, 2012), 334-54.
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not only arise out of empirical observation of the universe, but also remain thoroughly grounded in this observation. A plain fact of history that serves as a great testament to this truth is that so many prominent philosophers throughout the ages were also engaged in rigorous observation of the natural world. Without doubt, Aristotle and his followers are among them. For these reasons, the recent revival of Aristotle’s thought, in both the philosophical and scientific circles, bears potential to thrust both disciplines unto a new horizon of cooperation. IV. Conclusion I hope to have proved, through the course of this article, that, despite a still present skepticism towards classical philosophy, the longstanding legacy of the Aristotelian tradition is all the more ready to enter into a fruitful conversation with contemporary science and philosophy of science. What we find in Aristotle’s natural philosophy and metaphysics is a system of thought that is not only coherent and consistent, but also flexible and open to the new data and current ways of understanding of the universe, its structures and processes. When introduced to the evolution debate in particular, the Aristotelian tradition presents itself, not as an aged doctrine that is limited to humble listening and adjusting of its principles to the new scientific theories, but, quite to the contrary, as an interlocutor that has much to offer. In the debate on the concepts of species, natural selection, teleology, and the role of chance in evolutionary processes, the Aristotelian tradition brings an essential contribution to the results achieved by science; a contribution that is highly influential, and has a considerable explanatory power which must not be neglected. I believe that this conversation sets up a stage for a fruitful dialogue between science and theological account of evolution rooted in Aristotelian/Thomistic tradition. V. Appendix: Definitions of Species Concepts60 Agamospecies Concept – A variation of the Genetic Species Concept applied for all taxa that are uniparental and asexual, represented typically as a collection of clones. Examples include many bacteria and some plants and fungi. The boundaries of agamospecies are often hard to define. Biological Species Concept – Species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups. (…) Isolating mechanisms are biological properties of individuals which prevent the interbreeding of populations that are actually or potentially sympatric. Cladistic Species Concept – Species are lineages of populations between two phylogenetic branch points (or speciation events). The cladistic concept recognizes species by branch points, despite of how much change occurs between them. Composite Species Concept – A variation of the Cladistic Species Concept. A species is defined, in reference to the fossil record, as a segment of a lineage in which a new character state becomes fixed. It continues from the point where it arises (by cladogenesis) to the point where a new 60 For a more detailed analysis of the definition of species see
Mayden, “A Hierarchy;” Richards, “Species;” George G. Simpson, Principles of Animal Taxonomy (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961).
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lineage (in which another character state becomes fixed) emerges by cladogenesis. Ecological Species Concept – Species is a lineage (or closely related lineages) which occupies an adaptive zone minimally different from that of any other lineages in its range. Evolutionary Species Concept – Species is a single lineage of ancestor-descendent populations which maintains its identity from other such lineages and which has its own evolutionary tendencies and historical fate. Genealogical Concordance Concept – Population subdivisions concordantly identified by multiple independent genetic traits constitute the population units worthy of recognition as phylogenetic taxa. Genetic Species Concept – Species is the largest and most inclusive reproductive community of sexual and crossfertilizing individuals which share a common gene pool. Genotypic Cluster Concept – Species are clusters of monotypic or polytypic biological entities, identified using morphology or genetics, forming groups of individuals that have few or no intermediates when in contact. Internodal Species Concept – Related to Cladistic Species Concept, the notion that a species exists between two branching points in a fossil lineage. It is based on a fictional presupposition, that a species ceases to exist as soon as it branches into two daughter species. Morphological Species Concept – Organisms are classified in the same species if they appear identical by morphological (anatomical) criteria. Paleospecies Concept – The term refers to temporally successive species in a single lineage. It is also identified as Chronospecies, Successional Species, or Allochronic Species Concept. Phenetic Species Concept – Also known as taximetrics, is an attempt to classify organisms based on overall similarity, usually in morphology or other observable traits, regardless of their phylogeny or evolutionary relation. It is closely related to numerical taxonomy which is concerned with the use of numerical methods for taxonomic classification. Phylogenetic Species Concept – The concept of a species as an irreducible group whose members are descended from a common ancestor and who all possess a combination of certain defining, or derived, traits. Hence, this concept defines a species as a group having a shared and unique evolutionary history. It is less restrictive than the biological species concept, in that breeding between members of different species does not pose a problem. Also, it permits successive species to be defined even if they have evolved in an unbroken line of descent, with continuity of sexual fertility. However, because slight differences can be found among virtually any group of organisms, the concept tends to encourage extreme division of species into ever-smaller groups. Polythetic Species Concept – A cluster concept that defines species in terms of significant statistical covariance of characters. Recognition Species Concept – The recognition species concept is a concept of species, according to which a species is a set of organisms that recognize one another as potential mates.
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Process. New York: Columbia University Press, 1970. Aristotle’s Concept of Chance. Accidents, Cause, Necessity, and determinism. New York: Sunny Press, 2012. [25] Dumsday, Travis. “Is There Still Hope For a Scholastic Ontology of Biological Species?” The Thomist vol. 76, pp. 371-95, July, 2012. [26] Elders, Leo J. “The Philosophical and Religious Background of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.” Doctor Communis vol. 37, pp. 32-67. [27] Emmeche, Claus, Simo Køppe, and Frederic Stjernfeld. “Levels, Emergence, and Three Versions of Downward Causation.” In Downward Causation. Mind, Bodies and Matter, edited by Peter Bøgh Andersen, Claus Emmeche, Niels O. Finnemann, and Peder Voetmann Christiansen, pp. 13-34. Aarhus, Oxford: Aarhus University Press, 2000. [28] Ereshefsky, Mark “Species, Taxonomy, and Systematics.” In Philosophy of Biology. An Anthology, ed. Alex Rosenberg, and Robert Arp, pp. 255-71. Oxford, Blackwell, 2010. [29] Ereshefsky, Marc. “Systematics and Taxonomy.” In A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology, ed. Sahotra Sarkar and Anya Plutynski, pp. 99-118. Oxford: Blackwell, 2011. [30] Gilson, Étienne. From Aristotle to Darwin and Back Again. A Journey in Final Causality, Species, and Evolution. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009. [31] Gotthelf, Allan. “Aristotle’s Concept of Final Causality.” The Review of Metaphysics vol. 30, pp. 226-54, 1976. [32] Gray, Asa. “Charles Darwin” Nature, pp. 79-81, June 4, 1874. [33] Hull, David. “What Philosophy of Biology Is Not.” Journal of the History of Biology vol. 2, pp. 241-68, 1969. [34] Hulswit, Menno. “How Causal is Downward Causation?” Journal for General Philosophy of Science vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 261-87, 2005. [35] Lennox, James G. “Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism.” In A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology, ed. Sahotra Sarkar and Anya Plutynski, pp. 77-98. Oxford: Blackwell, 2011. [36] Logan, Paul Gage. „Can a Thomist be a Darwinist?” In God and Evolution. Protestants, Catholics, and Jews Explore Darwin’s Challenge to Faith, ed. Jay W. Richards, pp. 187202. Seatle: Discovery Institute Press, 2010. [37] Luyten, Norbert. “Philosophical Implications of Evolution.” New Scholasticism vol. 25, pp. 290-312, July, 1951. [38] Mayden, Richard L. “A Hierarchy of Species Concepts: The Denouement in the Saga of the Species Problem.” In Species: The Units of Biodiversity, ed. M. F. Claridge, H. A. Dawah, and M. R. Wilson, pp. 381-424. London: Chapman and Hall, 1997. [39] Mayr, Ernst. Animal Species and Evolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963. [24] Dudley, John.
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[40] Mayr, Ernst. “Teleological and Teleonomic: A New
Analysis.” In Evolution and the Diversity of Life. Selected Essays, pp. 383-404. Cambridge, MA/London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1976. [41] Mayr, Ernst. The Growth of Biological Thought. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1976. [42] Mayr, Ernst. Toward a New Philosophy of Biology. Observations of an Evolutionist. Cambridge, MA/London: Harvard University Press, 1988. [43] Moreno, Antonio. “Some Philosophical Considerations on Biological Evolution.” The Thomist vol. 37, pp. 417-54, July, 1973. [44] Nagel, Ernst. “Types of Causal Explanation in Science.” In Cause and Effect, ed. D. Lerner, pp. 11-32. New York: Free Press, 1965. [45] O’Rourke, Fran. “Aristotle and the Metaphysics of Evolution.” The Review of Metaphysics vol. 58, pp. 3-59, Sep., 2004. [46] Perlman, Mark. “The Modern Philosophical Resurrection of Teleology.” In Philosophy of Biology. An Anthology, ed. Alex Rosenberg and Robert Arp, pp. 149-63. Oxford: Blackwell, 2010. [47] Quine, Willard van Orman. “Two Dogmas of Empiricism.” In From a Logical Point of View, pp. 20-46. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953. [48] Simpson, George G. Principles of Animal Taxonomy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961. [49] Spencer, Herbert. “Lord Salisbury on Evolution, Inaugural Address to the British Association, 1894.” In The Nineteenth Century, November 1895. [50] Spinoza, Benedict. “Ethics.” In The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza. Vol. 2, tr. R. H. M. Elwes, pp. 45-271. New York: Dover Publications, 1951. [51] Wallace William A. The Modeling of Nature. Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Nature in Synthesis. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1996. [52] Walsh, Denis. “Teleology.” In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology, ed. Michael Ruse, pp. 113-37. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
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Scientific Consensus, Public Perception and Religious Beliefs A Case Study on Nutrition 1. Prof. Mihai A. GÎRŢU, PhD
2. Fr. Lecturer Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN, PhD
Department of Theology Ovidius University of Constanta Constanţa-900527, Romania mihai.girtu@univ-ovidius.ro
Department of Theology Ovidius University of Constanta Constanţa-900527, Romania ctc@rcdst.ro
Abstract: Starting from the recent public debate over global warming we discuss the scientific consensus and public perception on climate issues. We then turn to the ongoing debate on diets and nutrition, comparing scientific perspectives, public views and religious standpoints. Keywords: scientific consensus, public perception, religious beliefs, nutrition, fasting
I. Introduction Dialogo, the virtual conference on the dialogue between science and theology, is posing an unusual challenge to a scientist and a theologian, two friends with very different backgrounds, using distinct methods to search for truth. Can they find some common ground? Can they follow the motto of the conference and work together in harmony? To date, there are numerous topics where science and religion engage in dialogue, starting from cosmology, with questions regarding the origin of the universe, continuing with biology and issues related to the origin of life and ending with psychology and anthropology with queries about the origin of conscience. However, for most of these topics, the dialogue may end in anything but peace and harmony [1]. Accepting the advice stated in words of wisdom such as: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” [Matt. 22:21] we can think in similar terms: “Render unto science the things which are scientific; and unto religion the things that are religious” [2]. Then, is there a common ground? We attempt to respond positively by discussing how diet impacts on health, as a case study of a wider debate on scientific consensus, public perceptions and religious beliefs. We start by reviewing the relation between scientific consensus and public perception on global warming and the health risks associated with the use of mobile phones. We than turn to the ongoing debate on diets and nutrition, comparing scientific perspectives, public views and religious standpoints.
II.
Scientific consensus and public perception
A. - Global warming A recent study quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature between 1991 and 2011 [3] demonstrated that out of 4000 published scientific papers that state a position on the cause of climate change, over 97% agree that climate change is driven by human activity. However a poll by the Pew Research Centre in the USA [4]showed that that more than half of Americans either disagree, or are unaware, that scientists overwhelmingly agree that the Earth is warming because of human activity. More recently, a probabilistic analysis of human influence on recent record global mean temperature changes [5] indicated that December 2013 was the 346th consecutive month where global land and ocean average surface temperature exceeded the 20th century monthly average. Furthermore, the study suggests that it is highly likely (99.999%) that the 304 consecutive months of anomalously warm global temperatures to June 2010 is directly attributable to the accumulation of global greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In other words, there is less than one chance in 100,000 that global average temperature over the past 60 years would have been as high without humancaused greenhouse gas emissions. However, despite these and other extraordinary statistics [6], public acceptance of human induced climate change and confidence in the supporting science has declined since 2007 [7]. The question that arises is what are the causes of this gap between the opinions of the scientists and those of the wider public? One of the possible explanations regards the media coverage of the topics, as public perception and attitudes with regard to those domains are significantly influenced by representations of scientific knowledge conveyed by the press and other mass means of communication [8,9]. Science is reconstructed and not merely mirrored in the media. The discursive (re)construction of scientific claims in the media is strongly entangled with ideological standpoints [9,10]. Despite strong scientific consensus that global climate disruption is real and due in significant part to human
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activities, stories in the U.S. mass media often still present the opposite view, characterizing the issue as being “in dispute” [11,12,13]. The media devote significant attention to small numbers of denialists, who claim that scientific consensus assessments, such as those by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [6], are exaggerated and political [11,14]. Rather than being a reflection of legitimate scientific disagreement, the intense criticisms of climate science may reflect a predictable pattern that grows out of “the politics of doubt”: If enough doubt can be raised about the relevant scientific findings, regulation can be avoided or delayed for years or even decades [9]. What skeptics believe is an important question, because their voices are heard in governments, editors’ offices, boardrooms, and – most importantly – the street [15,16]. For skeptics, climate science may become entangled with climate politics [17], mixing together scientific truth, with beliefs and trust [18]. Beliefs that a global climate change is not occurring and that it is not caused by people have been associated with environmental apathy and a perception that individual action has no significant effect on the large-scale outcome. On the other hand, trust in political actors, defining political trust as a confidence that political institutions are able to function well, is currently diminishing in the wealthy countries [18]. B. Health risks due to mobile phones What the public thinks has become increasingly important for regulatory and decision-making institutions not just in the field of climate change but also when addressing the health risks due to mobile phones [19]. Traditional mechanisms developed with the aim of unearthing public opinion, using such techniques as surveys, focus groups, or opinion polls, are frequently “reified into an imagined ‘public opinion’ reported as reality in press, read by market analysts and politicians and acted upon” [20]. The public controversy around mobile phone risks was borne from what was considered an anecdote [21]. The first claim of damage from a mobile phone which received global attention was the trial in USA in 1992 in which a man decided to sue a mobile phone company, blaming his wife’s brain tumor on her exposure to mobile phone radiation. The publicity granted to the story caused a significant plunge in the stock market value of mobile phone companies. In 1995, a federal judge had ruled that the evidence submitted in the case was not scientifically valid [21,22], however, by that time, the controversy was well under way and reached the entire world. Newspaper reports warning of mobile phone risks tended to focus on new studies which revealed worrying effects, supported by stories of individuals who attributed their symptoms to their mobile phone use. Many times, such stories received more attention than reassurances from scientists or industry representatives that the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence supported the regulatory position that current exposure guidelines prevented any risk to health [21,23]. Concepts such as anecdotal evidence, lay knowledge, and expertise draw on a distinction between what is internal and external to science. Controversies over science and technology can be said to reveal a tension between the
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scientific search for universal, generalizable knowledge, and more localized forms of understanding, which are rooted in individual experience [21]. Anecdotal evidence is a contact point between individuals, expert institutions, and policy decisions, and displays flexibility between epistemological and political domains that can offer opportunities for participation and engagement, as well as exclusion and alienation. At some stage, experts and decision-makers must manage the claims made by nonscientists in public controversies. The flexibility of the term anecdotal evidence, at the boundary between science and its publics, was proposed to offer new possibilities for addressing epistemic and political claims, both of which are vital for the responsible management of public controversies over science and technology [21]. Due to scientific uncertainties and ambiguities surrounding novel industrial technologies, the regulatory process is often problematic [24]. An examination of the literature on mobile phone technology in the UK shows that whilst government and the telecommunications industry research has not found any clear evidence of ill effects on human health, other studies conducted more or less independently show a more mixed picture [25]. Therefore, a more open-ended regulatory process was advocated when investigating issues that exhibit scientific uncertainty. This process encompasses the views of a wider body of experts and lay persons [25]. III.
Scientific perspectives and public views on nutrition and health
A recent article published in one of the most prestigious scientific journals states [26]: “A new theory about the foods that can extend life is taking shape, and it’s sure to be a controversial one.” Two separate studies, one in mice and the other primarily in people, suggested that eating relatively little protein and lots of carbohydrates – the opposite of what’s urged by many human diet plans, including the popular Atkins Diet – extends life and fortifies health. The research challenges other common wisdom, as it indicates that a drastic diet that helps mice and other species live much longer than normal, may work not because it slashes calorie intake, but mostly because it cuts down on protein. Such studies are not singular. An article that analyzed the incidence of cancer in a cohort of over 60,000 people showed that in that British population, the risk of some cancers is lower in fish eaters and vegetarians than in meat eaters [27]. A similar study, part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) [28,29] showed that consuming a vegetarian diet was associated with lower ischemic heart disease risks [30]. The publication trends of vegetarian nutrition articles in biomedical literature between 1966 and 1995 using the National Institutes of Health MEDLINE bibliographic database demonstrated [31] that the publication rate of vegetarian articles increased steadily during those 3 decades, from an average of less than 10 per year in the late 1960s to 76 per year in the early 1990s. Already at the end of the 1990s experts in nutrition were aware that populations of vegetarians living in affluent countries appear to enjoy unusually good health,
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characterized by low rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and total mortality [32]. Evidence accumulated in decades of research emphasizes the importance of adequate consumption of beneficial dietary factors—rather than just the avoidance of harmful factors—including an abundance of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains and regular consumption of vegetable oils, including those from nuts. As a consequence of piling evidence, in 2009 the American Dietetic Association issued a position statement [33] which affirms that “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Wellplanned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.” A vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease, as vegetarians appear to have lower cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians [34]. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates [33]. Despite the increasing number of studies showing the benefits for health of lowering the intake of animal-based food, one cannot speak of a scientific consensus on this topic, likely because this evidence severely challenges some very deep-seated beliefs and corporate practices that constitute the status quo. A concerned scientist writes [35]: “This problem of misrepresentation of information in the name of science has consequences. If not resolved, it will reduce the evidence favoring whole, plant-based foods to public babble not to be taken seriously. This would be tragic because these findings have the capability to make a major contribution to the human condition and to the betterment of our society and our planet. We must therefore strive for excellence of message, one that adheres to the ideals of good science.” The author continues [35]: “From my reading of this history, the problem of scientific abuse has always been present, as if it is part of human nature. In previous times, though, it was individuals who sold snake oil. But, during these more recent times, the causes of abuse are different. We now have to contend with very powerful, impersonal, corporate power that largely controls what many individuals are allowed to say. From this perspective of personal experience, I am quite certain that this problem of science abuse has become worse, much worse.” The public perception is strongly influenced by ongoing debates regarding nutrition. The problem of good science may arise from the dependence even of distinguished researchers and prestigious universities on the financial support of funding agencies and corporate sponsors of research. Funding agencies are indebted to the political whims of governmental funding, which are mostly controlled by corporations who favor pills and procedures instead of diet and lifestyle as a means to human health. IV. Religious standpoints on diet and fasting When the information coming from Academia seems
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contradicting, when the media devote significant attention to a small numbers of denialists, the public may return to common sense and tradition, to the people they trust and, sometimes to the old teachings of religious practice. In terms of nutrition, traditions in many religions advise or even require periods of fasting. The practice of fasting goes back in ancient times, as more than two thousand years ago it was advocated as a cure by the school of the natural philosopher Asclepiades [36]. Also, Plutarch is quoted as saying [36]: ‘’Instead of using medicines, rather fast a day.” Fasting has been recently rediscovered in the US [37,38] or simply reinvented [39]. For instance, Dr. Alan Goldhamer, claims that [38]: „Fasting allows you to reboot your system and get off the addictions of the Standard American Diet that is full of processed, high fat, high sugar, high salt foods.” Before returning to this modern approach, in the following, we will discuss the traditional fasting, as it is recommended by the major religions. A. Fasting for Christians According to Christian tradition fasting addresses both the body and the soul. It is meant to clean the mind of evil thoughts and the body of unhealthy food residues. For Christians fasting is an exercise of restraining from the passions of the body and of strengthening the will [Mattew 17:21]. From the physical point of view, fasting strengthens the body [Isaiah 58, Sirach 37:29-31] “…do not give yourself up to food for overeating brings sickness, and gluttony leads to nausea. Many have died of gluttony, but he who is careful to avoid it prolongs his life.” The Catholic Church distinguishes between fasting and abstinence: fasting is the reduction of one’s intake of food, while abstinence refers to refraining from meat (or other type of food) [40]. Abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, milk products or condiments made of animal fat. Abstinence does not include meat juices and liquid foods made from meat. Thus, such foods as chicken broth, consommé, soups cooked or flavored with meat, meat gravies or sauces, as well as seasonings or condiments made from animal fat are not forbidden. So it is permissible to use margarine and lard. Even bacon drippings which contain little bits of meat may be poured over lettuce as seasoning. [41]. The Orthodox Church requires four fasting seasons, which include Great Lent (40 days), Holy Week (7 days), Nativity Fast (40 days), Apostles’ Fast (variable length), Dormition Fast (2 weeks), plus Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year [42]. During fasting, the diet consists of vegetarian food; meat, eggs and diary are forbidden, fish being allowed only on some exceptional days. The very young as well as those for whom fasting could endanger their health can be exempt from the strictest fasting rules. B. Fasting for Muslims In Islam, fasting for a month is a mandatory practice during the holy month of Ramadan, from dawn until sunset. Muslims are prohibited from eating and drinking (including water). They are also encouraged to temper negative emotions such as anger and addiction [43].
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For Muslims fasting is more than abstaining from food and drink. It also includes abstaining from any falsehood in speech and action, from arguing, fighting, and having lustful thoughts. Therefore, fasting strengthens control of impulses and helps develop good behavior [42]. C. Fasting in Hinduism Hinduism promotes natural, simple living as a path to physical and spiritual purity. The Hindu diet varies by region – some adherents are strict vegetarians, while others eat some kinds of meat [44,45]. In the Hindu religion Tamasic foods such as meat and fermented foods (including alcohol) promote dullness and inertia. Rajasic foods, including onions, garlic, hot spices, stimulants, fish, eggs and salt, are thought to excite intellect and passion which interfere with meditation. Sattvic foods, including fruits, vegetables and grains are thought to promote transcendence, sublimity and orderliness [46]. According to ancient Hinduism tradition, one should fast once a week by remaining on empty stomach from sunrise to sunset, being allowed only to drink water [47]. Eating nonvegeterian food is not allowed on the day of fasting [46]. D. Fasting in Judaism Fasting for Jews means completely abstaining from food and drink, including water. Traditionally observant Jews fast six days of the year [48]. With the exception of Yom Kippur, fasting is never permitted on Shabbat, for the commandment of keeping Shabbat is biblically ordained and overrides the later rabbinically instituted fast days E. Fasting in Buddhism For a Buddhist monk or a nun food is to be regarded as medicine and not as a pleasure. Commonly they are not allowed to eat after the midday meal [49]. There are very few dietary restrictions and these rule out the consumption of certain animals’ flesh. V. Discussion We have looked through the literature on global warming and its causes, on the health risks of mobile phones and on the effects on health of a plant-based diet and found some common ground. First, we noticed that Academia (including under this name universities and research institutes, funding agencies, professional societies, and policy agencies) are sometimes busy defending the status quo. Many very large and long-standing industries have been working very hard to infiltrate Academia and have succeeded [35]. The scientific method requires that hypotheses be tested in controlled conditions, which can be reproduced by others. By imposing experimental control and reproducibility the scientific method can minimize bias. If a hypothesis is to be confirmed, we should expect the same results when experiments are repeated. Also, hypotheses must be falsifiable: statements of belief for which there is no way to disprove them should not be allowed [50]. In contrast to the requirement for scientific knowledge to correspond to objective fact, poorly attested beliefs can be believed and
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acted upon irrespective of truth. The problem of abusing the concept of science takes several forms and involves a variety of people and institutions, both inside and outside of Academia. When academic institutions become dependent on external funding to do research, they become tempted to protect their source of funding, thus defending the status quo, at the risks of compromising scientific integrity, whether it is about climatic change, health risks of mobile phones, food that makes people sick or new expensive drugs that are less efficient than natural products. Defending the status quo (job creation and security, investment return, etc.), regardless of whether this may be beneficial for human health, is not just unethical but also dangerous. What can we learn from the history of our contemporary problems of misusing science? What should the public do under such circumstances? Knowing the origin of important ideas is quite informative, regardless of the field. To start, one needs to consider the source of the information. We should take with caution reports in a newspaper or news magazine, discussions on a television or radio program, news from an Internet site etc. We could search for the actual source and check whether the study is published in a well-known, respected, peer-reviewed medical journal. Finally, when the information coming from Academia seems contradicting, the public may return to common sense and tradition. When the conclusions of scientific endeavors are not yet clear, public perceptions are based on beliefs, relying on the opinions of trustworthy people and, sometimes, to the old teachings of religious practice. If scientific evidence is not convincing and common sense does not tell us that we should protect the Earth by cutting down on the production of greenhouse gases and that we should protect ourselves by lowering our consumption of animal-based food, then maybe we should turn to tradition. Dr. Alan Goldhamer recently rediscovered that what some religious traditions perfected over thousands of years for their believers was in fact very effective for their bodies, so it must be applied “today with the modern techniques of monitoring so that they can do this safely and effectively” [39]. Moreover, “fasting lets the body to do what it knows to do the best and that is healing itself. We have to step away and allow the body to resolve these conditions mostly that we caused, to correct the wrong we made, because of the dietary excess and the choices we made” [39]. We could also learn from the lifestyle of healthier communities [51] that exercise, diet and the sense of purpose in taking care of their grandchildren are key to a lifestyle conducive to longevity. And when turning to the sense of purpose, we could think that perhaps faith may also play a role. In any case, all religions that promote fasting encourage the physical and spiritual cleansing to go together. It is interesting that several cliniques in US replicate methods of fasting for people with various nutrition related diseases. If they get inspiration from the physical side of the exercise, than why not trying also the spiritual side? Wouldn’t it be conceivable that the sick people trying the diet could also benefit from the meditation or prayer which
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the believers add to their physical fasting? Healing the body might go hand in hand with healing the soul. VI. Conclusion We started this paper with a paraphrase: “Render unto science the things which are scientific; and unto religion the things that are religious”. By looking at the literature about scientific consensus and public perception on global warming, health risks related to mobile phones and protein-rich diets we showed that science must be objective, transparent, open-minded and self-correcting via professional oversight. Science must be in search for the truth, without being abridged when uncomfortable discoveries are being revealed. Moreover, when, for various reasons, modern science is not able to provide the information the public needs maybe returning to faith could provide a source of purpose and a sense of fulfillment. Scriptures provide no clues as to the cause of global warming or to the effects of electromagnetic radiation but they do encourage people to live a meaningful, well accomplished life. Healing the body might go hand in hand with healing the soul. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared no conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article. References [1] E. Howard Ecklund, Science vs. Religion: What Scientists
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Technology, & Human Values 35 (2010) 783-811. [25] C. McLean, A. Patterson, “The regulation of risk: Mobile
phones and the siting of phone masts - the UK experience” Science and Public Policy 39 (2012) 827–836. [26] J. Couzin-Frankel, Diet Studies Challenge Thinking on Proteins Versus Carbs, Science 343 (214) 1068. [27] T.J. Key, P.N. Appleby, F.L. Crowe, K.E. Bradbury, J.A. Schmidt, R.C. Travis, Cancer in British vegetarians: updated analyses of 4998 incident cancers in a cohort of 32,491 meat eaters, 8612 fish eaters, 18,298 vegetarians, and 2246 vegans, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. (2014) doi: 10.3945/ ajcn.113.071266. [28] E. Riboli, K.J. Hunt, N. Slimani, P. Ferrari, T. Norat, M. Fahey, U.R. Charrondiere, B. Hemon, C. Casagrande, J. Vignat, K. Overvad, A. Tjønneland, F. Clavel-Chapelon, A. Thiebaut, J. Wahrendorf, H. Boeing, D. Trichopoulos, A. Trichopoulou, P. Vineis, D. Palli, H.B. Bueno-de-Mesquita, P.H.M. Peeters, E. Lund, D. Engeset, C.A. Gonzalez, A. Barricarte, G. Berglund, G. Hallmans, N.E. Day, T.J. Key, R. Kaaks, R. Saracci, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): study populations and data collection, Public Health Nutrition 5 (2002) 1113–1124. [29] C.A. Gonzalez, The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), Public Health Nutrition: 9 (2006) 124–126 [30] F.L. Crowe, P.N. Appleby, R.C. Travis, T.J. Key, Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 97 (2013) 597–603. [31] J. Sabaté, A. Duk, C.L. Lee, Publication trends of vegetarian nutrition articles in biomedical literature, 1966–1995, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 70 (1999) 601S–7S. [32] W.C. Willett, Convergence of philosophy and science: the Third International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition, Am J Clin Nutr 70 (1999) 434S–8S. [33] Position of the American Dietetic Association: Vegetarian Diets J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 109 (2009) 1266-1282. [34] W.J. Craig, Nutrition Concerns and Health Effects of Vegetarian Diets, Nutr. Clin. Pract.25 (2010) 613-620. [35] T.C. Campbell, Musing About Science, (2014). Available at http://nutritionstudies.org/musings-about-science/ [36] H. Carrington, Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition. A physiological study of the curative power of fasting, together with a new theory of the relation of food to human vitality. New York: Redman Company, 1908, p. 91. [37] American Cancer Society, Fasting (2012). Available at: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/ complementaryandalternativemedicine/dietandnutrition/ fasting [38] F.M. Safdie, T. Dorff, D. Quinn, L. Fontana, M. Wei, C. Lee, P. Cohen, V.D. Longoet al. Fasting and cancer treatment in humans: A case series report., Aging (Albany NY) 1 (2009) 988-1007. [39] Center for Nutrition Studies, Fasting for your Health, Lifestyle Magazine interview A. Goldhamer and J. McDougall, June 25th 2014. Available at: http://nutritionstudies.org/fastingfor-your-health/. [40] Code of Canon Law, Can. 1249-1253, vatican (1983). Available at: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__
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P4O.HTM [41] American catholic: What is the Church’s official position
concerning penance and abstinence from meat during Lent? Available at: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/lent/ lentrules.aspx. [42] Bishop Kallistos, The Orthodox Church, Penguin Books, London (1964), pp. 75-77. [43] ‘Allamah Muhammad Jawad Maghniyya, Fasting According to Five Islamic Schools of Law, Translated from the Arabic by Mujahid Husayn. Available at: http://www.al-islam.org/ shiite-encyclopedia-ahlul-bayt-dilp-team/fasting-accordingfive-islamic-schools-law. [44] A. Brady, The Hindu Diet. Live Strong (2014). Available at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/509567-the-hindu-diet/. [45] G. ElGindy, Hindu Dietary Practices: Feeding the Body, Mind and Soul, Minority Nurse (2005). Available at: http:// www.minoritynurse.com/article/hindu-dietary-practicesfeeding-body-mind-and-soul. [46] A. Grygus, Hindu Dietary Customs, CloveGarden (2007). Available at: http://www.clovegarden.com/diet/hindu.html. [47] Hinduism Facts, Fasting in Hinduism. Available at: http:// hinduismfacts.org/fasting-in-hinduism/. [48] Rabbi Yehudah Prero, The Fast of the Tenth of Teves, Asara B’Teves, Project Genesis. Available at: http://www.torah. org/learning/yomtov/asarabteves/vol1no63.html. [49] B. Khantipalo, The Buddhist Monk’s Discipline - Some Points Explained for Laypeople (2006). Available at: http:// www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khantipalo/wheel130. html#food. [50] K. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Taylor & Francis, London (2005) p. 17. [51] S. Boseley, Japan’s life expectancy ‘down to equality and public health measures’, The Guardian, 30 August 2011. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/ aug/30/japan-life-expectancy-factors
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Quantum reality explains mystical powers of consciousness Michael B. Mensky
Theoretical physics division P.N.Lebedev Physics Institute Moscow, Russia mensky@lpi.ru
Abstract: Mystical powers of consciousness, including the direct vision of truth and management a reality, are believed to exist. Various directions of spiritual knowledge, including world religions, deal with these phenomena. Many people are persuaded that mystical events cannot be explained by scientific methods, that they contradict to science. Suggested by the present author Quantum Concept of Consciousness, or Extended Everett Concept, proves that mystical powers have their origin from what is known in quantum mechanics as quantum reality, and therefore are inherent part of science. Therefore, the “mystical” aspect in the sphere of consciousness is a common part of science and spiritual knowledge. Keywords: mystical powers; super-consciousness; superintuition; quantum reality; science and spiritual knowledge
I. Introduction The experience of mankind, that is expressed particularly in religious believes, showed that strange “mystical” events sometimes happen. This means that consciousness of people (probably not of all of them) possesses mystical powers. This may reveal itself as ability of direct vision of truth or even management of reality. This is why every religion or, more widely, spiritual knowledge, includes a mystical kernel. As a rule, this is belief in miracles and in strength of a pray. Most often, existence of miracles or other mystical events is thought to contradict science. But is this contradiction really exists? This is undoubtedly valid for most of branches of science. However, there is a wonderful branch of science, namely quantum mechanics, which may be an exclusion from this general rule. Conceptual problems appeared in quantum mechanics from the very beginning, and they cannot be considered completely solved up to nowadays. This is why quantum mechanics, although verified by millions of experiments, remains “incomprehensible” in its basics. Most simple formulation of what remains unclear is following. We know which equations must be solved to predict results of an arbitrary experiment, i.e. to predict what
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our measurement devices will show. However, we do not understand quite clearly “what happens really”. Questions of this type cannot arise in classical (non-quantum) science, because it is accepted in this area of science that measuring devices directly show what really exists. This is of course in full agreement with our intuition. But this is not valid in quantum theory. Therefore, quantum concept of reality differs from the concept of reality in classical physics or in our everyday life. Special features of quantum reality opens the door for strange happenings that can be interpreted as mystical phenomena. The main difference of quantum reality is that what is measured by material devices is not identical to what really exists. The logical consequence of this is a specific interpretation of quantum mechanics proposed by Everett [1,2] which is often called many-world interpretation. According to it, quantum reality is adequately presented by a set of classical realities which are incompatible with each other from classical point of view. Briefly one may say that the state of the quantum world is presented by a set of classical realities which distinct from each other. These distinct classical realities coexist in a single quantum reality. It is not easy to reconcile the concept of quantum reality (coexistence of distinct classical realities) with our intuition. In the Extended Everett Concept (EEC) suggested by the present author [3-8] it is shown that Everett interpretation makes possible mystical abilities of consciousness. This means that science does not contradict to spiritual knowledge (particularly, to religions). The sphere of consciousness becomes a bridge between materialistic science and spiritual knowledge. II. Why different classical realities coexist Mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics is confirmed by many experiments, so that there is no reason to doubt its validity. One of the specific features of this formalism is that the states of any quantum system form a linear space. This means that the states (more precisely, state vectors) of the given system may be summed with each other. The resulting state vector is called superposition of the previous vectors. It may be interpreted as describing
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coexistence of the states that are summed up. For example, we can consider two states of a point particle, one state corresponding to localization of this particle in point A and another state for localization in point B. Then the sum of these two states describes coexistence of the two states, one localized in A and another localized in B. This is impossible for a point particle in classical physics, but such strange coexistence is proved possible by many experiments with microscopic (quantum) point particles. This strange feature of quantum systems was astonishing for pioneers of quantum mechanics, but the experiments forced them to accept this feature for microscopic systems (for example, elementary particles or atoms). However, it was hard to agree that coexistence of macroscopically distinct states is possible for macroscopic systems. However, the logic of quantum-mechanical formalism shows that coexistence (superposition) of classically distinct realities is also inevitable. The reason is that measurement of microscopic systems by macroscopic measuring devices inevitably leads to such superpositions. Let for example the system under measurement is a point particle. If it is in the state localized in point A (correspondingly in point B), then interaction with the measuring device will bring the measuring device into the state D(A) pointing out that the particle is in point A (correspondingly D(B) pointing out onto point B). The rules of quantum mechanics (linearity of time evolution) requires then that measuring of the particle in the superposition of the states in points A and B should result in the superposition (particle in A, device in D(A)) + (particle in B, device in D(B)) Because of macroscopic character of the device, this state is a superposition (therefore, coexistence) of macroscopically distinct states of a macroscopic system (particle and device). Many people tried to somehow overcome this strange conclusion, but Everett, on the contrary, took it as a basis for his new interpretation of quantum mechanics [1]. We shall formulate the main proposition of this interpretation as possibility of quantum reality to be superposition of a family of classically distinct classical realities. III. Everett interpretation and consciousness Traditionally Everett interpretation (EI) is formulated as coexistence of many classical worlds. This however is misleading since evokes image of many material universes existing alongside of each other. We prefer to formulate EI as coexistence (quantum superposition) of different classical realities which in their totality form the quantum reality of a single (quantum) material world. This provides a direct way to understanding consciousness including its mystical properties [6]. Thus, according to EI, reality of our (quantum) world is adequately presented by a set of coexisting classical realities. These realities may be called alternative realities, or, for the sake of brevity, simply alternatives, because they exclude each other from the point of view of classical physics or everyday intuition.
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Why then we see only a single classical reality around us? According to EI (in our formulation), we perceive all coexisting alternatives (alternative classical realities), but our consciousness perceive them separately from each other, so that perception of an arbitrary alternative reality excludes perceiving the others. Extended Everett Concept (EEC) proposed in [3-8] differs by an additional step in the latter formulation. Instead “consciousness perceives alternatives separately” we say in EEC that “consciousness is separation of alternatives” (from each other). This definition has logical advantage because we have a single concept, consciousness, or separation of alternatives, instead of two primary (irreducible to simpler) concepts. Besides, this single concept is relevant to two different spheres, mind and quantum mechanics, therefore it may be understood much better. Yet the main advantage of this formulation is in that it immediately leads to explaining much more deep (actually mystical) phenomena in the sphere of consciousness. Indeed, if consciousness is separation of alternatives, then turning off the consciousness is nothing else than removal of the separation, i.e. ability to (somehow) perceive all alternatives in their totality. In other words, turning off the consciousness (in sleeping, trance etc.) may open access to much more rich picture of quantum reality, consisting of all its classical projections (alternatives). This ability can be called super-consciousness. It leads to those phenomena that are usually classified as mystical. Thus, mystical features of the sphere of consciousness not only do not contradict science but actually follow from it, if EEC is accepted as interpretation of quantum physics. IV. Capabilities of super-consciousness Super-consciousness has access to all alternative classical realities. Moreover, it has access to all alternative realities in all times. The latter follows from the formalism of quantum mechanics. Namely, from the fact that superposition of all alternative realities form the state vector of the whole world. This vector evolves in time according to reversible linear law. If such a vector is given in a certain time moment, it is determined also in any other time moment. All time moments are essentially the same for superconsciousness, there is no “present”, “past” and “future” for it. These concepts appear only for ordinary consciousness. It is only in perceiving the world by ordinary consciousness, that the phenomenon of the stream of time makes sense. Access to all alternatives in all times means access to enormous information, in fact to everything that may be known about the state of our quantum world. Briefly, superconsciousness knows everything. Returning to ordinary consciousness, a person may at least partly make use of this enormous information. This originates such abilities as •
super-intuition, or direct vision of truth [4,6];
•
choice of the alternatives that should lead to the preferable (according to certain criteria) state
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of the world in the future [6,7]. Of course, degree of abilities of this type varies for different people, but it is important that these abilities (usually treated as mystical and contradicting to science) follows from the specific features of quantum reality. Amazing events of scientific breakthroughs or discoveries of new paradigms are examples of superintuition, since they are actually achieved despite that they cannot be logically derived from everything that the scientist knows or can find out by rational methods. Besides, the generally known events of sudden revelations in ordinary life are also may be examples of super-intuition. The characteristic feature of all cases of super-intuition is 1) complete confidence in what is found in this way, even if there is no rational arguments in favor of it, 2) confirmation of its validity in the future, and 3) strong positive emotion accompanying the happening (it can be called cognitive euphoria [8]). V. Generalization for all living beings The above conclusions may be naturally generalized for perceiving quantum world not necessarily by humans, but also by any living beings. Of course, instead of the term “consciousness” we have in this case make use of more general term, for example, “perceiving in the classical form”. Instead of super-consciousness we have to speak of “access to the whole quantum reality” (of course, better terms may be found). A. Jumps of evolution One may suggest that such analogue of superconsciousness, i.e. access to quantum reality, have been exploited in the evolution of life. Particularly, this ability may help to explain jumps in evolution, i.e. transition directly to species of essentially larger complexities, that hardly may be explained by random changes and subsequent natural selection. The choice of the preferable alternatives is mathematically formalized as operation of postcorrection [7]. In the course of postcorrection the present state of the world is projected in such a way that the alternatives leading in the future to undesirable states be removed. It is clear that this projection can be exploited by living beings in their evolution. B. Definition of life in terms of Everett’s scenarios The mathematical operation of postcorrection may be considered to be a local form of the law leading to preferable (say according to criterion of better surviving) variant of further evolution. Besides this, such task-oriented evolution may be described globally, in terms of Everett’s scenarios. Let us choose a certain alternative for each time moment. This chain of alternatives may be called Everett’s scenario. Action of postcorrection at each time moment (locally in time) provides selection of such scenarios which are preferable as a whole. It is evident then that the phenomenon of life may be defined as a subset of preferable Everett’s scenarios in the
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set of all possible scenarios. According to this definition, there is no need to prove that life is possible. The subset of preferable scenarios exists anyway. Life exists by definition. Moreover, different types of life should exist in quantum world, due to enormous variety of possible scenarios in this world. VI. EEC as a bridge between science and religion Parallels between the unconsciousness of humans and quantum mechanics have been long time ago observed by the great psychologist Carl Gustav Jung in collaboration with great physicist Wolfgang Pauli, see very good analysis given in [9]. On the basis of these observations Jung concluded that the relation between spheres of science and spiritual knowledge are similar to cones with common vertex. In the light of EEC, these spheres are connected not in a single point but along the smooth corridor belonging to both cones. Each point of this region, which is common for two spheres, belongs to both of them, i.e. to scientific and spiritual spheres simultaneously. These points correspond to such phenomena that each of them may be considered as a mystical event (impossible in classical science but acceptable in spiritual knowledge, for example in religion) or as an event which may be explained by science in case if the features of quantum reality are taken into account. VII. Conclusion The specific features of quantum reality was the main problem for many generations of physicists. With the development of quantum mechanics, the wonderful concept of quantum reality obtained various illustrations and formulations. One of them (perhaps the best) is Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics. One of the very important advantages of this interpretation is that (after being reformulated in EEC in terms of many classical realities in a single quantum reality) it allows one to explain the phenomenon of consciousness and derive the phenomenon of super-consciousness. The latter refutes the imaginary incompatibility of scientific and spiritual forms of knowledge and explains “mystical” powers of consciousness as existing due to the specific character of quantum reality. The task of unification of science and religion was attacked from various points of view. Previously this attack was attempted mostly in context of philosophy. In the last decades various authors tried to achieve this unification on the basis of quantum mechanics, and this direction nowadays becomes very popular. In our opinion this points out that the quantum mechanics itself, in the course of exploration of its conceptual structure, moved to a new level. The result of this is a tendency towards comprehension of the deep unity of different ways of knowledge, specifically scientific and spiritual knowledge. The above said shows that Everett interpretation, together with its formulation in terms of alternative realities, is the simplest way to achieve this goal.
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Acknowledgment I am deeply indebted to Nobel Prize winner Vitaly Ginzburg, who invited me to publish in Physics-Uspekhi my reflections on new tendencies in quantum mechanics. The very concept EEC hardly could be created without this kind invitation and many discussions with Ginzburg who had very deep intuition and always looked for growth points in physics. References [1] H. Everett III, “‘Relative state’ formulation of quantum
[2] [3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
mechanics”, Rev. Mod. Phys., vol. 29, pp.454–462, 1957. Reprinted in [2]. Wheeler, J. A. & Zurek, W. H., editors. Quantum Theory and Measurement. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983,. M. B. Mensky, “Quantum mechanics: New experiments, new applications and new formulations of old questions”, Physics-Uspekhi, vol. 43pp. 585–600, 2000. M. B. Mensky, “Concept of consciousness in the context of quantum mechanics”, Physics-Uspekhi, vol. 48, pp.389– 409, 2005. Menskii, M. B., “Quantum measurements, the phenomenon of life, and time arrow: three great problems of physics (in Ginzburg’s terminology) and their interrelation”, PhysicsUspekhi, vol. 50, pp.397–407, 2007. Mensky, M. B., Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics: Life in Parallel Worlds (Miracles of Consciousness from Quantum Mechanics), World Scientific, 2010. M. B. Mensky, “Postcorrection and mathematical model of life in Extended Everett’s concept”, NeuroQuantology, vol. 5, pp. 363–376, 2007. M. B. Mensky, “Super-intuition and correlations with the future in Quantum Consciousness”, Cosmology, vol. 18, pp. 263-282, 2014, http://cosmology.com/ MenskyConsciousTime.pdf. F. Martin, F. Carminati and G. Galli Carminati, “Quantum information, oscillations and the Psyche”, Physics of Particles and Nuclei, vol. 41, pp. 425-451, May 2010.
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Darwinism in the Light of Orthodoxy: Scientific Transformism Based on Materialism and Naturalism prof. Gheorghe Istodor, PhD Faculty of Theology “Ovidius” University Contanta - Romania pr_george_istodor@yahoo.com
Abstract: Darwin and his transformism is the most serious challenge to the religious faith of the Church, initial being challenged the presence and God’s creative work in the living universe of the nature, and finally to challenge the existence of God as the Creator, being replaced by an eternal matters and by a blind and random natural process called natural selection. Darwinian theory proposes a dangerous road that starts from deism – with Anglican theistic accents – accepted in his time to an agnosticism and an atheism worst to strike materialism that have an ideological origins placing the foundations of ateization process of many generations starting with modernism, postmodernism and until today. Keywords – Darwin, transformism, random mutation, natural selection, theism, deism, agnosticism, materialism, atheism
I. Introduction When we talk about Darwinism, from the beginning we must say that we deal with an approach that denies the existence of God, both as Creator and Redeemer, and as Sanctifier and Providential God. Thus, the distant origins of Darwinism are not related to science but philosophy in its materialist appearance (we refer to philosophical concepts as the eternity of matter or spontaneous life then taken by modern science to a point, and to the system of Leucippus and Democritus). Then appear theories which claim to be scientific but impregnated with philosophy, such as a theory of pre-formation which still appealed to God and His creation of Benoit Maillet (1656-1738) for the theory of spontaneous generation to return forcefully thanks a Catholic priest, John Turberville Needham (1713-1781), who concluded that the organic matter would have in it a “plastic force” capable of self-generating, meaning to be able to give rise to organized corpuscles. Interestingly, this revival of the theory of spontaneous generation was harshly criticized by Voltaire who could see it directly leading to atheism. This revival has made materialism to take off in its radical form by Buffon, Diderot and Maupertuis paving the way for philosophical vitalism and then to Darwinian Transformism. [1] The fact is that a fierce battle between materialism and deism was
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given in time, deism as a concept that recognized God in His quality as Creator was adopted by all major modern philosophers (Descartes, Voltaire, Rousseau). [2] In this confrontation, we have the Cartesian rationalism which not only inclined the balance in favor of materialism and naturalism, but facilitated the replacement of God’s revelation (revelation of God as active involvement in human life was excluded) with philosophical metaphysics, opening the doors for ideologies that will paralyze and overwhelm the science of yesterday and today. II. Darwinism.Theological Review When referring to Charles Darwin, we can not overlook the young theologian conquered by the theistic system of William Paley, who was “converted” to the natural sciences, came to be the deciding factor for many generations atheisation. [3] We must acknowledge an involution regarding Darwin, from the gentle Anglican theism to deism philosophical accepted in the era, then to the philosophical agnosticism identified with atheism. [4] His “scientific” system is based on observation and reasoning –fundamental elements in philosophy - not the experiment which exclusively belongs to science. He starts from the observation of horrors in the world that could not be the work of God, but certainly and justifiably deficiencies of a purely natural evolutionary process. Here we see clearly that Darwin’s theological training was poor either due to Anglicanism, either do to incomplete studies because the horrors could easily be understood through which theology teaches about the original sin [5] generator of illness, suffering, violence, excessive sexuality and death. Darwin focuses its system on three elements: chance, struggle and natural selection. [6] Regarding the hazard should be noted that variations allowing gene mutation and lead to the formation of new species are strictly random; regarding the struggle, is about the struggle for survival and the struggle for existence; here is brought to light the adaptation as intrinsic factor of evolution, better adapted species become stronger and defeat in this battle; finally, natural selection is presented - especially by the yesterday and today`s Neo-Darwinists - as a strong mechanism of
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evolution, its driving engine, funny is that all advocates of Darwin and evolution endow it with qualities and features alike God, thus we speak of a true naturalist object of worship, in the naturalist universe, too. [7] When evaluating Darwinism and evolution as a natural process in the attempt to provide an alternative to genuine theological thinking, we can not go around crude forgeries in the attempt to “prove” the existence of evolution. In the attempt to prove the existence of a common ancestor for both humans as well as monkeys, it has tried to find ramifications towards human. This ramification could be australopithecines, namely “Australopithecus Afarensis”, which famous skeleton named “Lucy”belongs to. It turned out that it looks more like the orangutan and not human, thanks to researches of great and appreciated anthropologist Zuckerman Lord. But evolutionists have not given up, entering the stage “Homo Habilis” leading to “Homo Erectus” with its subdivisions (Pithecanthrope- man on Jawa) and Synanthropic (man from Beijing). Then is introduced the “Homo Heidelbergensis” found ever since 1856 or the Cro-Magnon Man found in 1868. Humanization of monkeys would include an extensive process with genetic factors (mutations, migrations, etc.), anatomical and physiological factors (biped gait and semi-vertical position highlighting the work with hands), cerebralization(stimulated by labor and creative activity), reproduction throughout the entire year would have favored the multiplication of population, feeding with meat created the necessary energetic availabilities, environmental factors (leaving the life in trees and getting out of savanna) and, finally, the social factors (living and working in the community have promoted articulated language). Moreover, human evolution has not ended, given the potentiality of the human brain, the fact that we use very small part of our brains would enhance future evolution of man. This entire scheme is a scientifically unproven one, gaps in the fossil treasure is likely to shatter these assumptions. But there were forgeries from amateur anthropologists as Dawson (1953) who produced the false “Piltdown Man”, consisting of a human skull and an ape jaw. Then the “Jawa Man” produced by Dubois (1891-1892) who destroyed before his death the gibbon skull cap and the femur of a man found 15 km from it and retracted everything. Then the skull of “Peking Man” artificially inflated to human skull capacity was lost in the moment of its discovery made by Theillard of Chardin,also involved in the false “Piltdown man”. Althoughthe “JawaMan” was recognized as false by its discoverer, however, 30 years later, evolutionary geneticist Lewontin still refers to it as a “fact of evolution”. In addition, there have been attempts of composition of hominids (of which we come!) based on only a piece of the skull, a jaw, dispersed bone fragments or even a single bone (the “Nebraska Man`s tooth “- 1922 which proved to be of a peccary pig). [8] We note that current ideologies have replaced actual data, in these conditions we are able to talk about a philosophy of science or even an ideology. As philosophy of science, due to lack of experimental evidence, the evolutionism found its arguments in all areas of science, so it is that rejection of evolutionism and of natural evolution is similar to the rejection of all modern science. As ideology, evolutionism was assimilated by all radical atheistic systems with huge
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impact on man and society: systems of Marx, Nietzsche, Freud to give just three examples. III. Instead of conclusions I noticed that the ground was prepared for the appearance of Darwinism: by eternity of matter and the spontaneous appearance of life from non-life, we have Carl Linnaeus’s classification. [9] On the basis solely morphological, Linnéever since 1735 had placed human in “Sistema Naturae” among mammals, alongside primates. The opposability of thumb, a pair of udders and the dental formula 2.1.2.3 have been the arguments for this positioning. More specifically, the man is placed in the subdivision of Catarrhines, alongside monkeys which do not have prehensile tail and claws replaced by nails, then in the Anthropomorphic subfamily, man being the sole representative of the family of Hominids, big apes like gorilla, chimpanzee and orangutan, though lost their tail, they have the same blood types and the same period of the menstrual cycle, plus they can move biped (in a half upright position) belong to the family Pongidae . Here it must be said that the similarities - which are less than the differences - may rather lead to the idea of a common Creator, not of a common ancestor. However, Linné did not suggest the origin of man from the ape, but paved the way of Transformism, 100 years later Darwin had the conviction of this origin, not in “The Origin of Species” (1859) - in which he speaks about anything but the origin of species – but in “The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection” (1871). However, we must emphasize the emergence and development of anti-Darwinian thoughts in contemporary Biology. First we must say that there is a huge gap of several hundred years in the research between so-called “Sciences of Matter” and “Life Sciences” where Biology is falling, too. Also today, classical, materialist ideological, naturalistic or atheistic concepts - already removed from “Sciences of Matter” - are still the basis of Biology. Thus, those anti-Darwinists thoughts have the importance of a true Copernican revolution [10] in the field of modern Biology. It is about contemporary biologists like Christian de Duve or Michael Denton [11] who opposed to Wilson, Monod or Dawkins [12] – who believed that evolution according to Darwinism is a blind process, with no sense, not being thevector of any project, life being a “cosmic accident” believes that life is an inevitable phenomenon written in the laws of the universe, a “cosmic imperative” as de Duve said. They evaluate the Darwinian thesis in the light of new scientific, biologic findings and practical certify the restrains and suspicions of many creationist scientists regarding the non-existence of scientific character of Darwinism. Unfortunately, even if they operate fundamental paradigmatic changes within the biological sciences, the two great biologists essentially remain still naturalists, namely under the control of ideological naturalism and still supporters of evolution which means the ideological”bondage” is far from being eliminated soon. In this respect, we must say that after the rejection of Darwinism, evolution is unanimously affirmed by the scientific community within a new theory: the synthetic theory of evolution promoted by a materialist biologist, Ernst Myer. [13] Reviewing all these stages of imposing Darwinism and natural evolution without divine intervention, we understand
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why God became by turn,for the contemporary post-modern man, obstacle to human freedom, useless hypothesis in the postmodern cosmology (see the dialogue between Napoleon the IIIrd a materialistic astronomer Francois Laplace) and not finally the number one enemy of contemporary atheist and sinful man. Even worse is that there are theologians - even Orthodox - who creates confusion in the mind of modern man, by promoting a scientific and religious syncretism of the type of theistic evolutionism, which is even more dangerous than Darwinian evolutionism.
Bucharest: Curtea Veche, 2012 [13] G. Istodor, The dialogue between theology and science in
terms of the Church’s mission, p. 57 [14] In this regard see A. Nesteruk, The Universe as Communion: Towards a Neo-Patristic Synthesis of Theology and Science, Buchaerst: Curtea Veche, 2009.
In conclusion, two aspects should make us consider: If in the name of science, from evolutionist perspective,man and woman become male and female, having their origin and becoming only in materialistic dimension of existence,then why should we wonder that contemporary man behaves - despite his laws and standards of civilization –as a genuine animal. In the light of revelation, theology teaches us that man is the special creation of God and is called to participate forever and ever to communion with the Holy Trinity, he does not evolve, he is intended becoming, videlicet similarity to God – his Creator. [14] It’s bizarre and painful that after 2000 years from the incarnation of the Son of God for our salvation a significant part of mankind, led by some scholars of today prefer to resemble monkeys and not to God, making this choice a priority of their lives, trying to forcefully impose their views to today believer. References [1] About this problem you see T. Lepeltier, Darwin Heretics,
Bucharest: Rosetti Educational, 2009, pp. 33-55
[2] Ibidem [3] G. Istodor, The dialogue between theology and science in
terms of the Church’s mission, Bucharest: Do minor, 2010, p. 37 [4] Ibidem, p. 99 [5] Its Attempting to reconcile evolution with original sin. See D. Alexander, Creation or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose?, Bucharest: Curtea Veche, 2010, pp. 256-311 [6] To these elements we add the speciation, the fossil, DNA problem and evolutionary gene and reproductive success [7] J.F. Haught, Science & Religion: From Conflict to Conversation, Bucharest: XXI: Eonul Dogmatic, 2008, pp. 69-102 [8] See G. Sandu, The Evolution to creator, Craiova: Mitropolia of Oltenia, 2003, pp. 218-223; idem, Science and belief, Craiova: Mitropolia of Oltenia, 2007, pp. 173-179 [9] Ibidem, pp. 216-217 [10] References to the Copernican revolution that imposed in the Alistarh his heliocentrism in astronomy, and improved third century BC Ptolemaic system See J.P. Lonchamp, Science and belief, Bucharest: XXI: Eonul Dogmatic, 2004, pp.61-65 [11] See J. Staune, Science and the Search for Meaning: The meeting of the new knowledge with the intuition millennial, in Science and religion – antagonism or complementarity, Bucharest: XXI: Eonul Dogmatic, pp. 189-204 [12] A clear example of atheist ideology and not scientific approach we have in R. Dawkins, The God delusion,
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Death gene as it is understood by theology and genetics 1. Fr. Lecturer CIOCAN Tudor Cosmin, PhD Department of Theology Ovidius University of Constanta Constanţa -900527, Romania E-mail: ctc@rcdst.ro
2. Lecturer MARTINESCU Alina, PhD Department of Medicine Ovidius University of Constanta Constanţa -900527, Romania E-mail: alinamartinescu@yahoo.co.uk
Abstract: This paper is trying to put together two different researches, from theology and from genetics, about a general and undetermined topic, death. It is undetermined because no one can say something demonstrable and unequivocal about it, since no person alive can cross over the edge of life and come back from the domain of death with information about it. But we can discuss nevertheless things that are obvious and possible to be reasonably inferred about death even by livings. In this regard Theology will provide the mainline of what is to be known as death for religion in general, while Genetics will try to come with its research to sustain or contradict the general premise: death is not an ontological behavior of living matter, but an imposed attribute after the sin occurred into the world.
Creator`s plan.
Keywords: life span, consequence, imprinting, telomeres, senescence, Immortality, death.
Between these two beacons of the Christian interpretation of death, it receives different interpretations and approaches. E.g. It appears as divine punishment occurred from the sin of Adam and directed both against Adam who committed this sin and somehow, against all his descendants; for this imputation directed to the whole human race there are lots of theories that attempt to explain reasonably this imputation without exhausting the resources to answer all the theological or emerging issues. And although there is often this acceptation of death, the Bible says bluntly that “For God made not death: Neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living” (The Book of Wisdom 1.13), and the reason is very plausible and fall very well with the divine plan of creation … “For He created all things, that they might have their being: and the generations of the world were healthful” (vs. 14). Beside punishment, death is also a redemption method and not a vengeance of God as St. Irenaeus said [1].
I. Introduction (Heading 1) The present issue is usual regarded with fear or at least respect due to the fact that nothing over the edge of it is possible to be known or demonstrate. As a mater a fact we cannot ‘know’ for sure anything about it since we do not possess the ability to be / see on the other side of life. The reason for taking this topic under a dual perspective, genetic and theological, is because both have something to say about this unseen reality that nobody knows anything about it and, in the same time everyone fears it unequally. We believe that, if we raise the right questions in this mater, we might get the correct attention over death from our readers. The theological perspective approach death with interest on questions like what is death?, how could the living matter to change into dead matter?, it is death a permanent or a reversible stage? Death – a quality of living matter or an accident that will pass away? Do we really want death to be removed? Trying to answer to this questions our material aim to create a logical explanation for the reason of death to exist, and, perhaps, the most important thing said here is that death has a purpose, as everything else does in the
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II.
Death from a theological point of view
A. Introducing the “theology of death” For the Christian theology death is always in connection with two fundamental aspects: Fall of Adam and the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Only in the context of these two historical-biblical moments death can be explained, interpreted and conceived; more than that, those two events are always taken together as a whole, being regarded as a hole: Christ’s death is a consequence of Adam’s sin and the resurrection undo the effects of the sin done by Adam, without which the resurrection would not have been necessary.
Another relevant explanation is that death was brought by God in human nature because of sin for it does not lasts (a preventive measure) to be contained and to receive a determination temporal-spatial beyond which it cannot pass [2]. This explanation is most often found to Christian the theologians, it has a profound scriptural justification: An interesting laid down in the Bible referring to death is located in the Book of Revelation, 9.6, “During those
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days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them”. It is a unique text, without any other correspondent Bible, which shows that the death penalty is not imposed forever, with no possibility of escape from it.
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it’, cursed is the ground because of you” (Gen 3.17). That means that death is the penalty of death” (Romans 6.23).
In another vein, death is a psycho-pedagogical approach of God for man’s disobedience and transgression of the divine command. Without smuggle the penalty of sin - “For the wages of sin is death ...” (Romans 6.23) - it is often interpreted by the Fathers of Holly Church as a result of God’s nurturing and as a measure for straightening the humankind, goal that is in fact in everything God does by and for the man after original sin, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33.11). We are told that “death is at work in us” (2 Corinthians 4.12), so it must be something specific, like a being, not an attribute, death is another-thing relative to living matter, because the image created around it gives to the death this posture.
Demarcation between life and death is categorical, without exception; all man are subjects of death. What appears to be an exception, the case of Enoch, the seventh man, as well as Elijah - both caught up to heaven before death holds any effect on them - are no exceptions at all, because the Bible picks up their life from where their left (Genesis 5.24, 2 Kings 2) and finishes it in the same manner as any other human life: with a physical death (Revelation 11.7). In other words, death is inexorable, no one can escape; is therefore a sine qua non condition of life. It cannot be deceived, planned or deferred; because of this almost everyone is inclined to say that “you can`t cheat death”, meaning that the death is the natural end of any biological existence, more or less predictable. However “everything longs for permanent existence” [3].
Can we segregate a gene of death by the living nature? If “death is at work” it can only means that it is something that performs a function, either biological, or pedagogical, or both. In this case death is “alive” and this interpretation has gained anthropomorphic significance from ancient times just because this understanding of death as something alive exists everywhere, as something that works, something that fulfills a function, transforms, consumes living matter etc. According to most religious traditions, death is not an object or just a state of life, but a subject that can talk, negotiate and so on. But the vitality of death means probably the biological binder, with living matter, binder through which it could influence it after the program he has. In this sense death can be understood as a biological virus that is reprogramming the information of living cell, and this because, observing the natural evolution of a cell compared with one attacked by death viruses (eg cancer), cell information changes in the sense that the “normal” life span shortens dramatically. We can extrapolate in this sense that there is a gene of death virally forwarded to the whole creation and that rescheduled the information of living matter. B. Casework of death An appropriation of death emerging from all theological writings that approach this matter is its universality; there is no one and nothing (among living) which can escape from the incidence of death. It cannot be known the exact method by which, because of Adam’s sin, death spread virally upon all mankind (“so death passed onto all men, for all have sinned” Romans 5.12), to the whole nature. But how it this transmission of the death has occurred? How could death enter onto living matter? The Bible says that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men” (Romans 5.12). If everything was created to live, was possible that all what was alive to receive the stigma of death? Many theologians suggest that the figure of the heavenly fruit is a figurative one and that, even if there was a physical fruit, death has not come because of it. There are other theologians who distrust the spiritual command of God, and propose that God`s words are more as a warning given to man, not to touch a fruit able to give death. But this assumption is rejected by Lord`s words occurring after man’s disobedience and says bluntly
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Predictability of death is only effective under “abnormal conditions” when the death can be diagnosed, but even then the percentage of occurrence of the death is not 100% sure, sometimes being encountered exceptions due to “miraculous” and especially unexpected healing. Generally it operates with approximations to decades and that shows the age limit to which can a certain organism reach (e.g. for human max. age is 122 years, for cats 38, for dogs 29, 62 for horses, elephant 86, Koi fish + 200, or for the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica, aka Ming) a marine bivalve mollusk for 500 years). Maximum life span is a measure of the maximum amount of time on one or more members of a population has been observed to survive between birth and death. For this definition are not taken into account accidents, occurred in most cases of death of all living beings. From theological point of view the irreversibility of death is not a feature of it, although for all scientists this dimension of death is naturally impregnated to all living things; it is an impregnable reality to which any living being obeys unconditionally. Nevertheless, for the theological world the picture has a completely different manner. We do not approach here the issue of reincarnation because it does not regard directly the reversibility of biological death, of living matter, but it is a theory that relates exclusively to the soul, not the body. The presumption of universal resurrection, stemming from historical and religious reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is a direct and unequivocal reference of the reversibility of the biological death. „The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them” (Revelation 20.13). The abolition of death is a natural consequence, both for the Christian theology - entitled to regard this as an undeniable reality, because it is based on the reality of death and resurrection of Christ, Who, by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2.9) - as well as for many other theologies, and this universal aspect of belief of resurrection also of the body along with the spirit, is closely related to the logic and the rationality of creation which, with in the perspective of permanent death, there would has no teleology. More than that, as I showed in the beginning of this text, we can probably conclude our presentation
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saying that death has a reason to exist, and, perhaps, the most important thing we can say here is that death has a purpose, as everything else does in the Creator`s plan; “by death we are recalled from exile to inhabit our native country, a heavenly country” [4]. There is no sick, perverse or insane statement that we wish for death to come, we embrace death for it will reunite us with the Lord and not because we want to give up this life and ask for a sooner, irrational or self-inflicted death (cf. 2 Timothy 4.18; Titus 2.13).
so-called theologoumena1 debating, but do not define this aspect) – to descendants of Adam and Eve until today and beyond. Words said to Adam, “the day you eat you will die” (Gen. 2.17), did not suggest an instant death, but the loss of innocence and of the state of no- death; man becomes the subject of death, because Adam lived for 930 years. On the other hand the Christian Church condemned Pelagius who claimed that Adam, even if he had not sinned, he was dead in its natural condition [6].
About this irreversibility of death many theologians have written and they have based their writings starting from promise “the Lord Almighty…will swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25.6, 8). Every author talking about this issue tells us not only will God relieve the hurt caused by life`s suffering (‘wipe away tears’, cf. Mt. 5.4), but He will remove those factors which brought about the suffering. By John`s day the abolition of death in the new age was a fairly standard feature of Jewish and Christian eschatology, with Isaiah 25.8 forming the central proof text” [5].
That would somehow mean that there is, on the one hand, in the genetic code of living matter the information that the degradation and death, finally, are correct, efficient and ultimately natural. The first conclusion that follows from the fact that now, after the original sin, this is the definitive state of living matter; because of the sin, but that’s it! We do not have access to a primordial genetic code, a pre-sin one, a Adamic or heavenly one and therefore our inherited legacy now includes imprinted the death.
We talked until now about biological death occurred by the degradation of the living cell, by achieving the final threshold of genetic information. The same logical argument can be said and speculated about the accidents that interrupts life without a prior genetic programming (suicide, homicide)? Perhaps the case of suicide could be caught in this genetic program, if we say that our behavior is included in our genetic material, and in that case we can extrapolate that the failure of personality and the tendency of suicide are all printed and determined as genetic information. But if so, then the problem of determinism would suppress any chance of man’s free choice. Then what happens with accidents and the death caused not by aging, but in various circumstances? But this dilemma is not the subject of our research, it exceeded the area of genetics, and any solution we would provide, I don`t think it would be contrary to the information gathered in the dialogue with genetics. A. The theological problematization of immanence of death Can genetics understand, starting from a primordial, edenic genetic code, before sin, whether our hereditary legacy encompasses or not imprinted death? From the religious perspective, man was created by God in a indefinite state (not final) – in regards of the end of the body (death). He was quoting from St. Augustine, “posse non peccari et mori” (you are able not to sin or die) and not “non posse mori”, namely he may not die, but not that he could not die. In this case we need to understand that the disease, death, the disintegration of matter in general was not, according to the theological teachings (at least after the three monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity, Islam), an attribute, a constitutive acquiring of the flesh (human, in particular). Secondly, after the original sin, committed by Adam and Eve, man receives provisional a final state of decay, death being included as the final stage of bodily degradation. Moreover, this original sin, with all its effects and consequences, is transmitted – we don`t know for sure and absolutely how (there are only theological theories
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What are the genetic implications of this problem so far?
On the other hand, this could also mean that the pattern of death is not written in the genetic code of any creature - human or bacteria - and that this imprinting would have followed to be made post-creationist - a) by the direct work of the Creator, although not a single word of Genesis would make us take this imprinting with the death gene (of bodily degradation) as the “act of God”: cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field... cursed is the ground because of you” (Gen. 3.14, 17); b) or by the will of Creator and His indirect work, like a trigger set as a backup in the genetics of living matter, since the creation of it and which it may be triggered by the sin in the event that this was obviously triggered; if it was not triggered, the genetic trigger of death remained passive, and the state of non-death may have perpetuated equal as natural as death, now, aftersin. This explanation may be based on scriptural statement made to Adam by the Creator: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30. 19) Jean Calvin says that “death was inflicted for the very thing which deserved the highest praise” [7], letting us know that the other part of Christianity also believe in the accidentally of death. A first conclusion would be drawn here is that the attempt of scientists to seek removal of the death in the genetic code, finding of a concrete solution, achievable, the “youth without old age and life without death” becomes 1 Theologoumena exist on different teachings (e.g. the “nature” of evil, the relationship between the many demons and the one devil, the way in which demons tempt man, the “abode” of the demons, their situation at the Last Judgment, the question of the relationship between individual man and the tempter, compared with the individual guardian angel, the way original sin is transmitted to all and every human being and so on) which have been unable to go beyond this stage of development because there is no strict theological point of departure for this further development. Karl Rahner (editor), Encyclopedia of Theology: A Concise Sacramentum Mundi. Mumbai, India: Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., 2004, P. 334.
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appropriate. There can only be meaningful such an attempt like that as long as we believe it is valid the earlier inference: death is not natural, but a genetic mutation occurred in the process. Vice versa, if the natural death is a link of the chain genetic, whether is passive, then, along with the triggering / activation of it, it cannot be torn away from the genetic chain of living matter without destroying it. In this case death occurred not naturally, but artificially, before the natural stop of the biological clock, and therefore useless. What would be, in this regard, the intervention of geneticists and the conclusions reached by their research? Other scholars or researchers may intervene at any time and to clarify this issue.
Telomeres appear to protect and stabilize the chromosome ends, like the tabs on the end of shoe laces which prevent them fraying. Without telomeres, the main part of the chromosome — the part with genes essential for life — would get shorter each time a cell divides. So telomeres allow cells to divide without losing genes. Almost 40 years ago, Leonard Hayflick discovered that cultured normal human cells have limited capacity to divide, after which they become senescent — a phenomenon now known as the ‘Hayflick limit’ [8].
III. Genetics approach of death in general A. What is life span? In Greek myth, the amount of time a person spent on earth was determined at birth by the length of a thread spun and cut by the Fates. Modern genetics suggests the Greeks had the right idea—particular DNA threads called telomeres have been linked to life expectancy. But new experiments are unraveling old ideas about fate. What are the telomeres? A telomere is a repeating DNA sequence (for example, TTAGGG) at the end of the body’s chromosomes. The telomere can reach a length of 15,000 base pairs. Telomeres function by preventing chromosomes from losing base pair sequences at their ends. They also stop chromosomes from fusing to each other. However, each time a cell divides, some of the telomere is lost (usually 25-200 base pairs per division).
Figure 2. Leonard Hayflick in 1988. (Photograph: Peter Argentine.)
The Hayflick limit (or Hayflick phenomenon) is the number of times a normal human cell population will divide until cell division stops. Empirical evidence shows that the telomeres associated with each cell’s DNA will get slightly shorter with each new cell division until they shorten to a critical length and can no longer replicate. This means that a cell becomes “old” and dies by a process called apoptosis. Telomere activity is controlled by two mechanisms: erosion and addition. Erosion, as mentioned, occurs each time a cell divides. Addition is determined by the activity of telomerase. What is telomerase? Telomerase, also called ‘telomere terminal transfers’, is an enzyme made of protein and RNA subunits that elongates chromosomes by adding TTAGGG sequences to the end of existing chromosomes. Telomerase is found in fetal tissues, adult germ cells, and also tumor cells. Telomerase activity is regulated during development and has a very low, almost undetectable activity in somatic cells. Because these somatic cells do not regularly use telomerase, they age. The result of aging cells is an aging body. If telomerase is activated in a cell, the cell will continue to grow and divide. This “immortal cell” theory is important in two areas of research: aging and cancer.
Figure 1.
Relation between telomeres and DNA
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A. Immortality If telomerase makes cancer cells immortal, could it prevent normal cells from aging? Could we extend lifespan by preserving or restoring the length of telomeres with
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telomerase? If so, would that increase our risk of getting cancer? Scientists are not yet sure. But they have been able to use telomerase in the lab to keep human cells dividing far beyond their normal limit, and the cells do not become cancerous. If we used telomerase to “immortalize” human cells, we may be able to mass produce cells for transplantation, including insulin-producing cells to cure diabetes, muscle cells for treating muscular dystrophy, cartilage cells for certain kinds of arthritis, and skin cells for healing severe burns and wounds. An unlimited supply of normal human cells grown in the laboratory. A. Senescence Senescence is considered the last step of the complex process of development of all organisms. This refers to a series of changes resulting in decreased body homeostasis and increased vulnerability. Although cellular senescence can be induced by various causes, senescent cells display a number of characteristics that allow their identification both in vitro and in vivo. [9] Some of these biomarkers reflect the activation of mechanisms contributing to cellular senescence program: telomere shortening and cell cycle arrest, increased oxidative stress, chromatin remodeling, products secreted by senescent cells, autophagy activation and morphological changes. There is ample evidence that the maximum duration of survival of each species is under genetic control. However, the heritability does not exceed 35%. Despite the relatively low levels of genetic factors, a number of mutations can dramatically affect the senescence. [10] Average lifespan has increased at a steady pace of almost 3 months per year in both males and females since 1840 [11] Centenarians now constitute the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, increasing in number from 3,700 in 1940 to roughly 61,000 in 2006 [12]. Finding differences in genes between centenarians and average-aged individuals may point to molecular pathways important in the aging process. Yet, little is known about specific genes that affect the rate of aging or human lifespan. [13] The only two genes associated with human longevity that have been replicated in multiple populations are FOXO3A and APOE [14-21]. The effect sizes of these two genes for longevity are small with odds ratios of 1.26 and 1.45 for survival to age 100 in replicate studies for FOXO3A and APOE, respectively [19]. These genes account for only a small portion of the genetic contribution to longevity measured through family heritability studies [22, 23]. Therefore, much of the heritability of lifespan remains to be explained.
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Conclusions Death is the termination of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. So any factor, genetically or not, that disrupts these functions is causing death. There is no “death gene”, but cells have a limited number of divisions by the repetitive DNA sequences of telomeres, so it can multiply indefinitely. The absence of cell division will lead to cell death, thus unable to renew tissues and aging, as an irreversible process. Obviously, when cell division could be controlled “in vivo” only then we can ask whether, death is reversible? The application of new human genetics technologies to the study of ageing has just begun and may lead to additional breakthroughs in human ageing in the near future. The proposal of theology about death is that this is not an ontological attribute of living matter, but an immanent accident of it, that was established over all creation as a result of disobedience of “the crown of creation”, man, but it is also to be removed by the One Who established it as a temporary law of living matter. For the foundation of this we have plastic assertions, that “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20.14), and also clear, direct and unequivocal expressions, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15.26). We thus learn that death will eventually be abolished, because its nature is immanent provisional until some point. The approach of this issue seems to be useless as long as the specifications formulated both theological and of genetics are identical and lead to the same conclusion: death is relentless, universal, and no one can escape it, and more than that the existence of an after-life is not something that can be certified by anything concrete and tangible. Death ends, beyond the control of anyone, any lifetime and cannot be determined or stopped by anyone. However our conclusion is one able to give us hope of the fulfillment of words like “death will be destroyed”. Knowing that death was not a plan into our gene or in any living material from the beginning, which leaves us with an uncertain hope that death is merely a stage, a provisory and accidental ‘gift’ that might be, someday, taken back. We might not have said all things about death, even some important information as there is something more badly than death; spiritual death; there is something called undead etc., but we considered that, due to the mutual approach, what was said is more important than other knowledge about it. We come with a theological assertion that death has a purpose to exist, therefor death has a purpose to exist in man’s life in particular because of this. What is it than, because, as science can say about it, death has no meaning for us to end other than to become part of “food chain”, a meaning that has no power to convince us to live as we do and, in the same time, to live with this idea that we are merely food for something else like a fish, insects or worse! “Death is not something which happens to a man alongside much else. Death is the event in which the very man himself becomes his definitive self” [24]. In other words only in the light of death we can understand and cherish life itself, and through the “eyes” of death we can consider ourselves in a realistic evaluation, how much we really value; “Come, brethren, to the pit to see the dust and the dirt from which we were built. Where are we going
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now? What we have done? Who is poor or rich? Who is the master? Who is free? They are not all the dust? The beauty of face had rotted and the flower of youth had withered by death” (Song from orthodox funeral). On the other hand, scientifically speaking, if somehow we could solve the problem of death and come to a solution to eliminate from the equation of life, we would really want to live forever in these conditions that we have built? Judging by the wrong that humankind has done, would we really want to preserve this for eternity, or are we ourselves the mere judges of life and we would want to put an end of it eventually? You are now free to imagine any scenario with us being immortals on this world with this kind of life we have built! References [1] M. L’abbé Migne. Encyclopédie théologique ou, Série de
dictionnaires sur toutes les parties de la science religeuse. Paris: Migne au Petit-Montrouge, vol. 3, p. 929. [2] Ibidem. [3] John Calvin. Institutes of The Christian Religion, Book III, Chapters VI – X: On The Christian Life. USA: SAGE Software Albany, 1995, p. 40. [4] Calvin. Institutes of the…, p. 40. [5] Jan Fekkes, Isaiah and Prophetic Traditions in the Book of Revelation: Visionary Antecedents and their Development. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994, p. 254. [6] M. L’abbé Migne. Encyclopédie théologique ou…, p. 928. [7] John Calvin. Institutes of The Christian Religion, Four Volumes In One Digital Library Volume. USA: SAGE Software Albany, 1996, p. 33. [8] Jerry W. Shay and Woodring E.Wright,” Hayflick, his limit, and cellular ageing”- www.nature.com. [9] Thomas Kuilman, Chrysiis Michaloglou, Wolter J. Mooi, et al. “The essence of senescence” Genes Dev. 2010 24: 24632479 [10] Mircea Covic, Dragos Stefanescu, Ionel Sandovici, “Genetica medicala” Edit. Polirom 2011 [11] Oeppen J, Vaupel JW. Demography. Broken limits to life expectancy. Science.2002 May 10;296(5570):1029-31. [12] Sonnega A. The future of human life expectancy: have we reached the ceiling oris the sky the limit? Research Highlights in the Demography and Economics of Aging. 2006 March 2006;8. [13] Heather E. Wheeler and Stuart K. Kim, Genetics and genomics of human ageing, review 2010.
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[14] Corder EH, Saunders AM, Strittmatter WJ, Schmechel DE,
Gaskell PC, Small GW, et al. Gene dose of apolipoprotein E type 4 allele and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in late onset families. Science. 1993 Aug 13;261(5123):921-3. [15] Kervinen K, Savolainen MJ, Salokannel J, Hynninen A, Heikkinen J, Ehnholm C, et al. Apolipoprotein E and B polymorphisms--longevity factors assessed in nonagenarians. Atherosclerosis. 1994 Jan;105(1):89-95. [16] Schachter F, Faure-Delanef L, Guenot F, Rouger H, Froguel P, Lesueur-Ginot L, et al. Genetic associations with human longevity at the APOE and ACE loci. Nat Genet.1994 Jan;6(1):29-32. [17] Willcox BJ, Donlon TA, He Q, Chen R, Grove JS, Yano K, et al. FOXO3A genotype is strongly associated with human longevity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008Sep 16;105(37):13987-92. [18] Anselmi CV, Malovini A, Roncarati R, Novelli V, Villa F, Condorelli G, et al. Association of the FOXO3A locus with extreme longevity in a southern Italian centenarian study. Rejuvenation Res. 2009 Apr;12(2):95-104. [19] Flachsbart F, Caliebe A, Kleindorp R, Blanche H, von Eller-Eberstein H, Nikolaus S, et al. Association of FOXO3A variation with human longevity confirmed in German centenarians. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Feb 24;106(8):2700-5. [20] Li Y, Wang WJ, Cao H, Lu J, Wu C, Hu FY, et al. Genetic association of FOXO1A and FOXO3A with longevity trait in Han Chinese populations. Hum Mol Genet. 2009 Sep 29. [21] Pawlikowska L, Hu D, Huntsman S, Sung A, Chu C, Chen J, et al. Association of common genetic variation in the insulin/ IGF1 signaling pathway with human longevity.Aging Cell. 2009 May 31. [22] Herskind AM, McGue M, Holm NV, Sorensen TI, Harvald B, Vaupel JW. The heritability of human longevity: a population-based study of 2872 Danish twin pairs born 1870-1900. Hum Genet. 1996 Mar;97(3):319-23. [23] McGue M, Vaupel JW, Holm N, Harvald B. Longevity is moderately heritable in a sample of Danish twins born 18701880. J Gerontol. 1993Nov;48(6):B237-44. [24] Karl Rahner, Encyclopedia…, p. 329.days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them”. It is a unique text, without any other correspondent Bible, which shows that the death penalty is not imposed forever, with no possibility of escape from it.
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The Sacramental and Moral-Educational Function of the Christian Orthodox Cult Archimandrite Associate Professor Vasile Miron, PhD. Department of Theology Ovidius University Constanta, Romania
Abstract: The Christian Orthodox Cult intervenes for our
Salvation and blessing, gives us the possibility to cherish God and to offer Him our gratitude for the bounties we receive through religious services. This divine Cult helps us stay in touch with Him, deepen our faith, clean our sense, enlighten our mind, become stronger in our decision of doing good deeds and live like brothers in the spirit of the Christian love. Keywords: Christian Orthodox Cult, Holiness giving way, moral-educational factor
I. Introduction In the religious life and activity of every Church, the biggest weight have the factors that promote the spiritual climbing, the moral-religious progress and, in consequence, and the Salvation of the Christians’ soul. These factors, even though they vary sometimes from Church to Church, from confession to confession, still, they follow the same purpose in the entire Christian cult, namely, the evolution of the spiritual life and the redemption of the Christians. This ideal can be achieved through different ways and different levels in Church, but what we are really interested in and is the central theme of the present work is the public divine Orthodox Cult, looked at through the Practical Theology, just like the way it is presented and interpreted by the Liturgics study. Orthodoxy has Its own history, its own grandeur, its heroism and sufferings, its past – sometimes triumphal, sometimes shattered and, all these realities have forced it to focus on its faith and purpose into this world, in order to find suited ways and methods, right and efficient means to lead the believers to Redemption. These ways and principles of Christian life are faithfully mirrored into its divine cult. Our Orthodoxy is defined through its sublime, fascinating and solemn cult. This cult represents the living tradition of the Church itself, raised and lived under the shadow of the life giving power of the Holy Spirit. Through divine Christian cult it is understood in the Orthodoxy the sum of ritualistic deeds and shapes established by our God Jesus Christ and by the Church,
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through which the religious life is displayed, meaning t the inner feelings of the believers. Through the divine cult are expressed, in words, in prayers, in songs, in symbols and liturgical acts or acts of cult, our feelings of adoration towards God, the Creator, the Savior of the entire world and the feelings of cherishing the Saints, of these heroes of the Christian cult. The divine Orthodox Christian cult can be defined as a drama of the Christian virtues on its triumphal roads, because “the entire Godish service penetrates us, it makes us understand that we all have a Father, that we are all sons of This Father, that we all need His help, that without the help of The Highest One we are powerless and that only through common prayers and songs we find comfort, we become stronger, we are easily heard and we receive unnatural gifts that we can achieve only through the intervention of Church”.[1] Through its cult, the Church does nothing but wake up the soul of the sinner, spurring him on the way of repenting himself, in order to make him able to communicate with God and able to receive the saving gift. In the ritual of our religious services there are various examples of soul building Christian moral life and full of ideas and Christian virtues. Thus, the struggle of chasing the evil thoughts, the practice of virtues, God living in the heart of the believer, the inner Rebirth, work together at the man’s transformation, his transfiguration and his relation with God. This way, the orthodox public divine cult is no longer a simple formality in the life of the pious man, but an essential existence for him, a river of inspiration and religious life, an insatiable source of the Saints’ gift and a living religious learning that can be understood by everyone. “All liturgical texts and the cult books are written documents of authentic Christian doctrine.”[2] The public divine Orthodox cult is also a creative factor of solidarity of human knowledge. “It deepens the religious consciousness and it extends it in a religious experience. Once established, the religious consciousness becomes a solid base of the cult and the cult continues to strengthen the religious consciousness.”[3] 1 Juvenal Stefanelli, Liturgica Bisericii Ortodoxe-Catolice, Bucureşti, 1886, p. 25. 2 Pr. Prof. Ion Bria, Liturghie după Liturghie, Bucureşti, 1996, p. 51. 3 Robert Will, Le culte, étude D'Histoire et de Philosophie
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In the Orthodox cult, the vision of the spiritual beauty unites with the vision of the world’s beauty. It is the manifestation of the fullness of the spiritual world.”[4] Through all its brightness, especially through the God given religious ceremonies from morning and evening, the divine cult of the Orthodox Church is formed in such a manner that it shows the vital connection between the Earthly Church and the Heavenly one… This cult is a living embodiment of Christianity together with its Almighty Head, Jesus Christ”.4 The beauty element, as an expression of God’s glory, glory that fills the Church, has a very well established place in the Orthodox mass, besides prayer and religious learning. This cult, through its richness, drama, poetry, music and variety, is a mystery throughout the world, it has the gift and the power to influence the human soul and, at the same time, the destiny to lead towards Salvation and to spiritually lift the believers. “In the divine cult of our Orthodox Church, in totality and in its every piece, there is enough food for soul, mind and heart and for the lucrative powers; Its prayers and songs, the readings from the Old and New Testament are an undying treasure for a high mind, an open, energetic and lucrative heart. These litanies are God given, inspired by God; there is a pure love breathing inside them, a bright love, a Godlike ration; they contain all our real needs, all our requests for all and for everything.”[5] The entire divine cult reproduces in a symbolic and sacramental way the mystery of life and the rewarding activity of our Lord Jesus Christ. This cult is “ the continuation of Christ’s life in the Church to save the humanity. He is forever alive in His Church and He continues to live for everybody, in order to make everyone live for the ones around them and for the One that died and resurrected in the third day.”[6] Through its divine cult, the Church updates and prolongs in time the life and activity of Jesus Christ to save us. In this way, “the divine service of the Church is amongst the highest ministry of our Savior Jesus Christ, or, in some other words, a continuation of His Saint work for our salvation.”[7] Through this cult, the Savior is always present in His Church and He continues working in order to be Life for everyone, so all men alive may have a piece from the Heavenly treasure obtained for us by the One that died and resurrected in the third day (2 Corinthians, 5, 15). This thing is achieved by the Church through the cult. “Through Its divine service, the Church sanctifies all the important parts of the day and brings to memory the most important events from the history of the Christian Church.”[8] This way, the life of Jesus Christ, renewed in spirit along the church year, must become an example for the Christian, and this one, at his turn, has the supreme duty of matching religieuses, tome I, Strasbourg, 1925, p. 23. 4 Sf. Ioan din Kronștadt, Liturghia: cerul pe pământ, trad. în rom. de Boris Buzilă, Ed. Deisis, Sibiu, 1996, p. 182-183. 5 Ibidem, p. 187. 6 Prof. Dr. Vasile Mitrofanovici, Prof. Dr. Teodor Tarnavschi, Arhiepiscop şi Mitropolit Dr. Nectarie Cotlarciuc, Liturgica Bisericii Ortodoxe, cursuri universitare, Cernăuţi, 1929, p. 107. 7 Arhimandrit Melchisedec Ștefănescu, Manual de Liturgică sau servirea de Dumnezeu a Bisericii Ortodoxe, București, 1862, p. 11. 8 Petru Lebedew, Liturgica sau explicarea serviciului divin, trad. și prelucrare de Iconomul Nicolae Filip, București, 1899, p. 224-225.
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his life with the one of Jesus Christ, holly and pure. By taking part at the divine cult, the Church offers the believers the possibility to become part of Christ’s life and holiness and, maybe, live this life since “living in God and for God doesn’t mean going out in the world and protest against it, but transfiguring it through the spirituality and holiness that your person accumulates from the intimate and permanent contact with God.”[9] Through the cult, the Orthodox Church has established an admirable moral-religious instruction of the believers and cherish of God. It has put at their disposal an entire theology populated under the shape of hymns and prayers with the purpose of spreading and defending the Orthodox belief against sextant propaganda. “The big ideas of our cult, are borrowed from the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ; and they are covered in the cult like a beautiful and fruitful germen, with a special blanket, set on top, by the greatest teachers of Christianity. Even the prayers and the liturgical blessings with the content of the Saint Liturgy; in their totality, they are built on the stone of the messianic learning.”[10] The strict respect of the regulations and traditional forms of cult has been a mean of defense and protection of the Orthodox doctrine. Thus, the attachment of the believers to the shapes of the Orthodox cult has always represented the symbol of belonging somewhere and the symbol of undeterred willingness for the unity of the Orthodoxy and, at the same time, the supreme way of manifesting their resistance in front of the menaces came from other confessions and religions. Through Its divine service, our Holly Church has cultivated the idea and sense of closeness between people, of brotherhood beyond the walls of the Church, in the social relationships as tendencies towards unity, solidarity and mutual help. We are all called to take part at the spiritual life of the Church, and, this is why, the liturgical prayer is conceived in a communitarian spirit, since, if we all made ourselves participants at the death of Jesus Christ and at His Resurrection (Romans, 6, 8-10; Colossian 2, 12-13), we all must pray one for another and love each other, “so we can all confess Father, Son and The Holy Spirit, Trinity one being and undivided.” Through the harmony, the poetic beauty and the depth of dogmatic and moral teachings of the hymns and prayers that form it, the public Orthodox divine cult has a moraleducative and teaching role, helping the ones that take part at it to grow spiritually and strengthens them in their work towards perfection. “The Orthodox cult recommends the defeating of the heart, the right teaching, self humility, love of people and good deeds.”[11] Especially, the Holy Liturgy, the heart of the public Orthodox divine cult, “tends to develop in the hearts the life of Christ.”12 Actually, “through all the sacramental means, the formulas and the liturgical rites, Church wants to show the Christian that 9 Pr. Prof. Grigore Cristescu, Supremația idealului creștin în viața socială, Sibiu, 1928, p. 56. 10 Prof. Dr. Badea Cireşeanu, Tezaurul liturgic, tomul III, Bucureşti, 1910, p. 14. 11 Ibidem, p. 14. 12 Dom. M. Festugiere, Qu'est ce que la Liturgie?, Paris, 1914, p. 81.
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he has to shape his life after the one of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”[13] In the public divine service, the Holy Spirit fulfills His secret work of transforming and renewing the souls of the believers, by sharing with them the fruits of our Saviors’ Sacrifice, updated in the Holy Liturgy. This religious service is the center of the entire divine Orthodox cult, “because it renders the Sacrifice Itself or the death on the Cross, through which it was plentifully fulfilled the price of the ransom of the human kind from sin.”[14] The Liturgy is the sacramental way of individual appliance of the universal Sacrifice’s fruits on Golgotha. “It is the Cross of Christ, let at the disposal of the souls from everywhere and from every century”[15], because the price of forgiveness and our ransom from the sin, won through Sacrifice by the Savior on the Cross, is renewed and continued every time we fulfill the Eucharistic bounty of the Body and Blood of our Lord in the Holy Liturgy. “In Liturgy, we bring to God as a gift, everything we hold precious, meaning, our earthly and passing life itself, symbolized in the gifts of bread and wine, and He gives us in return His divine and eternal life, meaning the Body and the Blood of His Son Himself, in which these gifts turn to.”[16] More, Liturgy realizes and proclaims the Gospel. The Gospel is made known through Liturgy, as bread and wine proclaim the God as Creator, whereas the blessing and the breakage confess that He bought back the world and that everything finds its meaning, sense and unity in His death and resurrection that have transfigured the entire creation. Liturgy and the entire Church cult is the doctrine itself, put into prayer and songs and preaching. “It is nothing else but truth dressed up in the cloak of prayer.”[17] Believers express their belief through the cult under the shape of a doxology. Thus, the cult is a doxology pointed towards God. Widely, Orthodoxy is doxological because it represents our consciousness about God and about His redeeming work turned into prayer, in straight thinking towards God, in the content of our dialogue with God. On the other hand, believers communicate with God through the Holy Secrets and through all the acts and shapes of cult. “Due to the Holy Secrets – that announce the death and burial of the Lord- we to are born to the spiritual life, we grow in it with their help and we get to unite in such a wonderful way with our Savior, Himself. Through these Holy works we live, move and exist.”[18] So, all the means and forms of expressing the public divine cult have sacramental power, which means that the Holy Spirit spreads Its bounties and Its holy gifts over the willing ones with whom He enters in the communion, in living dialogue with Christ. “The entire religious service gets the value of a divine life, for which the 13 L. A. Molien, La priére de l'Église, IV édition, vol. II, Paris, 1924, p.69. 14 Pr. Prof. Petre Vintilescu, Sacrificiul religios ca principiu al Liturghiei, București, 1927, p. 53. 15 Dom. Gaspar Lefebre, O. S. B., Liturgie, Les principes fondamentaux, 4-ème édition, 118, mille, Bruges, 1929, p. 56. 16 Diacon Ene Braniște, Explicarea Sfintei Liturghii după Nicolae Cabasila, teză de doctorat, București, 1943, p. 69. 17 Romano Guardini, L'Ésprit de la Liturgie, Paris, 1930, p. 112. 18 Nicolae Cabasila, Despre viața în Hristos, trad. în rom. de Pr. Prof. Dr. Teodor Bodogae, cartea I, București, 1989, p. 136.
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Church becomes Its own place.”[19] As a consequence, during the Holy Liturgy, Christ makes Himself present in a sacramental way, from Birth to the Elevation in all its major acts and moments. It prolongs in time and space the entire life and saving work of our Lord, Jesus Christ, making us contemporary with His deeds, “because their sight, being in front of our eyes, would sanctify our souls and thus, become worthy of receiving the Holy Gifts.”[20] The presence of Christ among us, during the Liturgy, can be divided into three important stages: during Proskomedia, until the small entrance from the Liturgy of teaching men, Christ is present in a typical-symbolic manner; from the small entrance to transformation, in the Liturgy of the believers, Christ is present in a mystical-symbolic manner and, at last, starting with the Eucharistic transformation, Christ is present in a real and substantial manner. The transformation of the natural elements of bread and wine in His Body and Blood “is not physical, but meta-physical, meaning that it is beyond the limits of this world”[21], being secret, wonderful and supernatural. This Secret is the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work, since “God made everything with the energy of the Holy Spirit, exactly like that, the energy of the Spirit is now working things that are above senses, things that can only be covered by faith”[22], says a great father of the Church. The sacrifice takes place in the moment of the sanctification of the Gifts. “How does Jesus receive our gifts? By sanctifying them and turning them into His Body and Blood.”[23], says the greatest preacher Nicholas Cabasilas. In the act of sanctification and transformation of the Gifts the identity between the Sacrifice from Golgotha and the liturgical or Eucharistic Sacrifice is produced. As a consequence, “the Sacrifice does not consist in the stabbing of the Lamb when the Gifts are sanctified, but in the transformation of the bread in the stabbed Lamb.”[24] Once received in the depth of our being, the Holy Communion operates an inner transformation and, if we do this worthily, with a pure, honest and loving heart, the Face of Christ from inside us becomes brighter and more beautiful until It touches Holiness, since “Christ’s thinking becomes one with ours, His will becomes one with ours, His Body and Blood become one with ours! And then, how mighty must our thinking be, when mastered by the thinking of God, how strong our will if God Himself is the One that drives it, and, how hot our thinking is when Fire Itself spreads over it.”[25] But the structure of the Holy Liturgy Itself, adorned 19 Serghei Bulgakov, Ortodoxia, trad. în rom. de Nicolae Grosu, București, 1994, p. 130. 20 Nicolae Cabasila, Tâlcuirea Dumnezeieștii Liturghii, cap. I, trad. în rom. de Pr. Prof. Dr. Ene Braniște, București, 1989, p. 30. 21 Sergiu Bulgacov, Dogma euharistică, trad. în rom. de Paraschiv Angelescu, București, 1936, p. 75. 22 Sf. Ioan Damaschin, Dogmatica, partea IV, cap. 12, trad. în rom. de Pr. Dumitru Fecioru, Ed. Scripta, București, 1993, p. 165. 23 Nicolae Cabasila, Tâlcuirea Dumnezeieștii..., cap. XLII, p. 99. 24 Ibidem, cap. XXXII, p. 79. 25 Idem, Despre viața..., cartea a IV-a, p. 195.
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with hymns and prayers create a spiritual atmosphere that brings the man closer to God. It is a school for training the virtues, an endless rive of moral-religious life and a lab where human life is sanctified, in which the presence and the spotless work of the Holy Spirit regenerates human souls, renewing and cleaning them of the impurities of the vices and all sorts of sins. “During the Liturgy, the priest honors God, he makes the angels cheerful, he builds the Church, finds help for vineyards, brings rest to the dead and he makes himself part of the goods of the world.”[26] If the Holy Liturgy is the medium of real Christian life, than, it is more than self-understood why it is more than necessary to explain to the believers the mystical-symbolic significance, its importance and moral-educational role in the Christian life. Preaching and teaching are two irreplaceable ways of preaching the right faith in the divine cult. In the Church and in the light of the religious service the teaching process becomes better when joined by preaching, taking into consideration that both types are well defined and divided and full of biblical and liturgical substance. Between the cult elements and the ways of passing on the faith there are strong complementarities, because the divine public Orthodox cult contains a richness of moral-dogmatic teachings, and for its opulence, brightness and beauty, it was called by some “Heaven on Earth”. The entire treasure of doctrine and Christian life, of symbolic significances and depths of ideas, is valued in the public Orthodox divine cult through the fundamental elements of the Christian preaching: readings from the Bible, synaxaria, preach and teaching. These complete each other, making a whole, tempting with prayers. “The liturgical action and the liturgical prayer have, undoubtedly and ethic layer beneath and it promotes moral feelings such as: the wish for justice, repentances and the spirit of sacrifice”[27] in order to achieve the moral good. Knowing and assimilating ideas and moral-religious teachings and social rules expressed in the divine Orthodox cult, opens for the priest a wide horizon and vision of this cult with, helping him penetrate under the cover of the external forms that he does, to understand their deep meanings, the idea and the purpose they have been instituted for, as well as their symbolic significances. As to the believers, knowing these aspects help them take part at the holy Services with all their might and being: with inner feelings, with faith, determination and willingness, fully living the sacred moment together with the priest. In the gifted and explanatory climate of the Church services the believer lives the experience of the presence of the Revived Jesus Christ and of the spiritual communion with Him, but also with the entire community, linked by the Christian love and the religious feeling and through the unity of the cult forms that came from the Savior and the Holy Apostles and later established by Church. The Orthodox Church teaches us that we cannot save ourselves, but in full communion with Christ and by imitating His sacrificing love. In the Church, the believer prays with the priest for “the unity of the faith and for sharing the 26 Toma de Kempis, Urmarea lui Hristos, cartea a IV-a cap. 5, trad. în rom. de G.Munteanu, Editura Buna Vestire, Bacău, 1996, p. 246. 27 Romano Guardini, op. cit., p. 121.
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Holy Spirit” for achieving the unity “in spirit and in truth” (Joan, 4, 24) with Christ and with his people, the living and the dead one. Through the divine cult, the communion of brotherly love is kept alive and, at the same time, the unity of faith, peace and Christian morality are promoted. Every hymn and prayer contains strong pieces of advice for love, brotherhood, justice, peace and truth. Therefore, there is a rich treasure of truths about faith, a huge source of moral virtues and an excellent way of stimulating the most noble ideas and humanitarian feelings, that the contemporary humanity aspires to. Through its structure and the way it is officiated, the public Orthodox divine cult creates social and moralreligious profiles from the most ideal and the brightest ones: it erases the selfish barriers, turns off hatred and wickedness, overcomes the obstacles and brings people closer, thus trying to establish the eternal harmony and heavenly peace with ourselves, with God and with the others. The divine cult also has a teaching function. It is the total reflection of the dogma. The dogma moves and endlessly spiritualizes the cult, which, in return, relays on the dogma. “The liturgical prayer is dominated by the dogma… Dogma is the only one that gives prayer the force, this impetuous force, that saves and, without which, prayer might degenerate into weakness”[28]. Through the Church service, the heart is moved and the mind accepts easier the dogmas that the Church ties to its rites.[29] The religious truth penetrates clearer and easier in the depth of the soul when expressed as a glorifying prayer, of thanksgiving or request, than when expressed in dogmatic formulas and in abstract definitions; but this cannot be achieved without and active and conscious participation of the believers at the divine cult. “The heat of the feeling must penetrate all the forms of the prayer.”[30 ] The content of the public Orthodox divine cult, at the same time, church-historical, dogmatic, moral, sacramental, praying and doxological, and its primordial purpose is the sanctifying one. It is meant to satisfy the neediest and burning needs of the human soul made after the looks of God, to lift it from the pit of falling, to protect it, to enlighten it, to cleans it, to sanctify it, to caress it, to feed it, to strengthen it and to bring it on the right path, in order to make it part at the true life. Through its splendor, depth and poetical and artistic beauty and through its doctrinarian and moral-educational value, the public Orthodox divine cult enlightens and adorns both the soul, as well as the body, because “man’s senses must be strongly moved in order to be able to know the divine gift and to grow through faith, its ability of answering and joining the gift.”[31] In the content of the public orthodox divine cult there are enough elements that help the believers to deepen its contents and their secret meanings. Thus, the teaching about the cult of Virgin Mary, the Saints, icons, the Holy Trinity’s adoration and many others, are displayed in an explicit and precise forms in liturgical hymns and prayers. 28 Ibidem, p. 106, 109. 29 Paul Oltramare, La religion et la vie de l’esprit, Paris, 1925, p. 23. 30 Romano Guardini, op. cit., p. 115. 31 Pr.Prof.Dr. Petre Vintilescu, Curs de Liturgică Generală, București, 1929-1930, p. 257.
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There is no doubt that all these teaching aspects of the cult widen the horizon and the sphere of religious knowledge of the believers, helping them assimilate the truths about faith. They also have the gift of strengthening the souls of these believers on the stone of the right faith, making them understand it, cherish it and live according to it. The essence of the Christian Orthodox teaching is transposed in the acts, forms and rites of the cult, so, we can say that this divine cult is the living and dynamic tradition of the Orthodox Church, grown and shadowed by the light, heat and power of the Holy Spirit. According to what was stated above, we can conclude that the spiritual work of sanctifying and redemption of the believers, of strengthening and protecting the Orthodoxy, as well as the work of promoting the Christian morality and the continuous spreading of the truths of faith has always used this fluid of spiritual life, of religious sense and feeling which is the public Orthodox divine cult. “It is the primordial and irreplaceable source of Christian spiritual truth and believers cannot have this Christian spirit unless they actively take part at the Holy masses and at the public and solemn prayer of the Church.”[32]
32 Gaspar Lefebre, op. cit., éd. V-e, Bruges, 1936, p. 17.
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Anthropology
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The paradigm of interdisciplinarity and the religious values-centered education Prof. univ. dr. Constantin Cucos
Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași (UAIC) cucos@uaic.ro
Abstract. Focusing education on skills shifts the perspective on the paradigm of interdisciplinarity, in that it gains a privileged status in education, ensuring the acquisition of these basic elements of personality. The complex character of skills - as a body of knowledge, habits and values – is closely related to the development and achievement of an interdisciplinary training of the individual. In what follows, we will try to show the ways and virtues of a religious education in an integrative and interdisciplinary view. Key words: religious education, skill, interdisciplinarity, curriculum integration.
I.
The heuristic vocation of interdisciplinarity in skill development
Skills are structured bodies of knowledge, skills and attitudes developed through learning, that allow an individual to solve particular or general problems in various situations. Skills are established at educational levels, but also at subject, interdisciplinary and trans even transcurricular level [9]. The literature includes even cross skills, that is those skills that go beyond the goals of a particular subject or type of education, such as teamwork skills, oral and written communication skills, following and developing values and professional ethics, IT skills, problem solving and decision making, acceptance and respect for diversity and multiculturalism, learning autonomy, initiative and entrepreneurship, opening to lifelong learning etc. The skill concept has some heuristic advantages: integral and integrative nature (meaning that it integrates and unifies various, even complementary, aspects of educational goals), gradual and cumulative nature (because it evokes a growing reality, it concerns a dynamic process of adding new conducts and performances) and transversal, transdisciplinary nature (such a personality state or trait is the result of a multiple approach, from different perspectives, permanently evolving, generating new and novel changes and future assets of the individual). We cannot ignore some difficulties, such as the nature complex by the fact that it develops or derives these various goals, the weak or difficult operationalization of the observable reality as well as the
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difficulty in skill assessment (skill dynamism, its level and context of development, the assessment criteria problem, etc.). We believe that the idea of bringing together several subject profiles to investigate the complexity of the world we live is of great importance and should be welcomed. Sequential and delimited studies are good provided they are correlated, resonate, subject to correlative evidence, compared to or supplemented among themselves and ratified in accordance with certain values. What the strict disciplinary view lacks is the relation to a wider context, the opening of approaches and explanations to each other, the significance of their results at higher levels whose epistemological aims are mostly absent. It is a known fact that interdisciplinary focuses on cohabitation, completeness, articulating several explanatory means or methodologies, and accredits that only the solid integrative and holistic approach may make us understand the deep meaning of existence. Aside from this methodological assumption, interdisciplinary has another advantage: it shows that relating to the world only through knowledge is insufficient, including in its approaches the contributions of man’s sensitivity and faith. An idea is not just the product of the mind, it is also an emotional projection, a desire, a belief. This ‘parallel’ driving force has always stimulated knowledge and has made man know more, turn to good, to values. Knowledge by mental mechanisms is fruitless if it is not topped by what the heart feels or the faith can do. Limiting ourselves to rationalism can lead to nonsense or drive us to insurmountable difficulties, including for reason. Even if we live in an age proclaiming holism and globalization, we still apply the fragmented, autarchic, deep approach, ignoring the common points, reverberations and interdependencies. There is a taste for specialization and narrowness that obscures the coherence we crave for. There is even a culture of ‘selfish’ research where one side can’t see the other. The scientist is unaware of the artistic creation, disregards the socio-cultural context and is ‘shortsighted’; sometimes he/she ignores or disregards what his fellow scientists discover. The cultural value of knowledge increases when it
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is based on broader foundations, when it listens to ethics normativity or calls of action. We say that knowledge is power, but it does not stem from an idolatrous status, but from the emergence and diffusion of views. And by no means should it be exerted randomly by anyone. A scientific idea can kill individuals or communities, it can bring unrest or disasters, it can be diverted from a good purpose when it is not ‘framed’ by a transcendent, guiding, ‘taming’, ratifying vision. We can all go crazy if we do not know how to use that knowledge that we obtain. Left to chance, reason creates monsters that we can no longer escape at some point. The interdisciplinary approach gives a high meaning to questioning and seek answers to questions such as ‘what is the meaning of knowledge’, ‘how far can we know’, ‘what can we do with our ideas’, ‘how and when do they reflect us’, ‘how do we go from one idea to another’, ‘how do we merge several ideas’, ‘how do we put them into practice’. The unification that this view requires does not mean leveling, flattening, loss of subject contours, but it urges the creation of good borderlines, continuity in research, stimulating circulation of ideas, the clarification of a higher horizon which can give us deeper and wiser knowledge of things. II.
Possibilities of curriculum integration for Religion We argue that, by this approach, we consider the possibility of integrating the contents taught by religion, not the realities that these contents refer to, i.e. the aspects of various faiths or religions. Therefore, we address a meta-discourse level, rather than the actual practical talks that feed it, support it. In fact, it is common knowledge that, epistemologically, to higher we go on the line of decontextualization, de-subjectivization and stripping of materiality, the more we can accommodate closeness, synthesis, unification. If at the level of realities integrations are problematic or undesirable (and, in this respect, faiths can not be unified because they exists precisely by their specificity, their specific dogmatic, ritual, expressive action, etc. features), at the level of their knowledge and presentation (in a teaching context) unifications become possible and even desirable. Some researchers put forward the idea that, dogmatically, the alignment or agreement of ideas, which would cancel the specificity of religions or faiths, is unthinkable. “Religions, as human expressions are structures of a thinking and view of the world. As such structures, they can not meet. Meeting can only be between people who practice these religions or adopt these views of the world. In other words, the foundation of the meeting is secularism (subl. n.), i.e. a situation or condition where human existence is fully guaranteed, as is the freedom of life, thinking and expression”1. The actual dialogue is at the formal, academic level or between individuals practicing various faiths, as ordinary citizens. Whatever our view may be, closeness is beneficial and it strengthens the pluralistic humanism that our age is trying to build. It must be said that the term integration can be correlated with other terms of the same semantic field, with integral, entire (whole), in the sense of cohesive and unified body. The notional content refers to promoting the common 1 Nayak, 1992, p. 109.
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denominator of a whole, the functional, profitable coarticulation of the various areas that make up a whole. Integration should be understood as a multidimensional process, not a unidirectional one. It extends beyond the cultural level, acquiring social and political dimensions. In a very broad sense, integration requires the unification and merger of two or more realities or spiritual beliefs in a way that is fair for all parties. After integration, a new synthesis or a new spiritual unit will arise, preserving nevertheless the specificities, and there won’t be a forceful assimilation of one reality by the other [1]. In the multi-religion context, the focus would be on “religious meta-values” that is on bonding values, the significance criteria of the world (which are the same in all religions), and not on the specific values, unique, sequential values [2]. The latter are to be respected, but not obligatorily accepted or practiced by the parties entering into dialogue. By pedagogical integration we mean of religious contents that that cumulative-selective, higher-level teaching process, by which a common standard of religious knowledge and values is sequentially established, concomitantly with the release of specific sets that are to be taught to all pupils of a school area (classroom, school), irrespective of their religious affiliation, where the interplay between generality and particularity should be naturally and cleverly achieved, which should include a great number of religious options which should be addressed cognitively, emotionally, ritually, culturally at community level. Why do we aim at such a closeness of partial overlapping of contents? Here are some arguments for curriculum integration: o the pedagogical argument, by preparing a teaching device to prevent exclusion and axiological enclosure; the teaching approach should emphasize the common values, point out, whenever necessary, the stimulating plurality of values in the teaching context; o the sociological-community argument, by explaining the need for building cohesive communities, where people can communicate easily, respect each other, meet in joint spiritual expressions or actions; o the psychological argument, by rallying people to similar value standards that produce,through empathic communication, intra-psychic stability and comfort; in this case, an additional security level is created, people feeling more self-confident; o the political-strategic argument, in the sense that integration may be a clever, tactical answer to possible measures, explicit or not, of marginalization and exclusion of religious training processes; in fact, some observers of religious culture training have reached the conclusion that “public religious education devices, adopted only by rules of concordats, seem to be increasingly inadequate” (Pajer, 2002, p. 80); many secular bodies, including European ones, is against ghettoization and ethnic, religious, racial, etc. segregation; let’s not wait for others to be streets ahead us. Regarding, the actual strategies of achieving the curriculum integration of religious education, we mention
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several ways2: o Integration by following the same principles of curriculum design. o
Integration through the aims, goals set by curricula.
o Integration by the actual organization strategies, namely the modular structure of the contents or the integrated organization. o Integration through teaching, that is at the level of explaining certain general content issues - methodologies, concepts, visions of existence, etc., which will be infused in the contents explained during religion classes. o Integration by inter-religious development and design of religious contents (to explicitly include in the subject materials or to present in class religious values other than their own). o Integration by joint training (or partially joint, by attending some common core subject classes) of religion teachers. o Ensuring integration by developing and presenting religious contents in an interdisciplinary approach. On the integration of Religion teaching in the interdisciplinary approach we will make some remarks in the following chapter. III. Strategies of Religion teaching in the interdisciplinary paradigm
Introducing religion among the subjects taught in schools has also generated the following problem: does religious education fall solely to the Religion, or must it become a goal for other subjects? Is only the religion teacher called to this task, or other teachers as well? Starting from the assumption that religious education requires several components and levels (knowledge, attitudes, conducts), some of these acquisitions of particular complexity - requiring a long time for their consolidation - it is quite natural that this side of education should be approached by several subjects and several teachers. As deep and diverse the topics addressed during the Religion class may be, and as well-trained as the religion teacher may be, it can not be expected to develop a true religious culture and behavior, only by a unidirectional view (cf. Panikkar, 1985). If intellectual or aesthetic education is entrusted to several subjects that, simultaneously and partially, contribute to the structuring of specific skills, so should religious education be a goal for several subjects aiming for and focused on a single goal. On the other hand, excluding the religious facts from the problematic field of school subjects (science, history, philosophy, arts, etc.) limits them epistemologically, degrading them to a partial, fragmentary, self-reflective speech. Interdisciplinary will also be highlighted at the level of the contents of the subject that ensures the religious education explicitly. Given that “the theology research in the past decade itself is free of its secular institutional and 2 Cucoş, 2009, pp. 283-290.
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self-referential isolation that has kept it prisoner inside its status of training institution almost exclusively for the priest class” (Pajer, 2002, p. 83) the religious educational speech should be multiform in terms of the values it promotes, by transgressing specificity, by resorting to additional, complementary explanatory grounds. Religion, as a subject, must be a center of wisdom, culture, enlightenment and balanced valuing of the world we live in. It should not deny what is new in the field of knowledge, scientific discoveries, human social practices. We note that, currently, school subjects are not in line with this goal, they are not sufficiently grounded in a spirituality that should agree with the Christian faith. Conversely, one can identify many information sets that are disjoint, apart, opposite to religious values (see certain topics in Biology, Geography, Physics, etc. textbooks). Many school subjects not only do not contribute to promoting religious training, but they deepen gaps, present unilateral views of understanding, spread confusion or overtly challenge obvious spiritual principles. We do not argue for a religious re-grounding of all objects of study – in fact some continue to be fairly neutral toward or distant from religion (the case of sciences) - but a minimal agreement should be achieved as soon as possible by highlighting common elements pertaining to a transcendental principle. Many study subjects, by the very topics imposed by curricula, have continued to be ‘atheized’, by obstinately highlighting materialistic, factualist determinations and deliberate ignorance of possible spiritual implications. The students are introduced to the most abstract and sophisticated scientific theories, neglecting the spiritual implications and reverberations of those theories. The positivist spirit is predominant and it is fueled in multiple ways. Instead of a comprehensive scientific culture, our youngsters are driven towards isolated explanatory bits and pieces that one does not know what to do with, what significance they have. Each subject may throw light on the religion fact in its own way. The diversity of views ensures greater wealth and strength of the religious edifice. The teaching of sciences, to the extent that it does not lead to dogmatic enclosure, is a positive fact for religion. As shown in a previous chapter, there are mutuality relationships and even explanatory convergence between science subjects and religion. The History subject can account for the various manners of connecting religions to social evolution, cultural reform of social structures. Various arts subjects can bring attention to religious themes, subjects transfigured by means of specific languages. Generally, several steps of introducing the principle of interdisciplinary may be suggested, as follows: A first step towards interdisciplinarity must be achieved by eliminating the axiological (value) disagreements, by reducing conflicting elements that are still included in our curricula and school textbooks. The elimination of explanatory gaps and ambiguities that still exist in the educational content is a deontological requirement. It is not right and fair that what students learn at a subject should be rejected at others. The requirement can be met since, objectively, from a principle and constitutive point of view, there are no insurmountable incompatibilities between scientific paradigms and religious faith. Take the case of Darwinian theory, a classic example in the matter: to the extent that the theory put forward is presented - in a
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hypothetical, informative manner - as one of the possible explanations, as a particular case, as a relative theoretical construct (because there exist other theories about the origin of man as well) and not as the only ‘true’ theory, as an immutable dogma, this explanatory model no longer contrasts that much with religious teaching, and, from a teaching perspective, the presence of both views (or even multiple ones) is no longer a deontological weak point, but rather a strategy that stimulates reflection and personal creativity. A second step of introducing the interdisciplinary view can be achieved by highlighting at each separate subject (without forcing things) the spiritual dimensions of existence, of a principle of value that is above us, with clarifying and integrating valences. Even in the most arid study subjects (sciences) one can identify concepts, explanations, theories that can highlight principles or resonance of values pertaining to religious belief. At Physics, for example, there arise many opportunities to resort to the Divine, to involve a prime Regulator, generating and steering all things. By explanatory regressions one often reaches ultimate grounds, axioms similar to the promoted religious dogmas (the term dogma in this context is not pejorative in itself, meaning primary teaching, incontestable starting point). A prior preparation of students for accepting certain religious grounds, that is an implicit religious education is thus achieved. But, for this, it is necessary to change the current syllabus and curricula. A third level of interdisciplinarity in religious education is for each separate subject to promote proper, explicit religious knowledge or values. Partly, this method is already present in subjects such as History, Romanian Literature, Geography, Philosophy, etc. At history, for example, there are topics or paragraphs which discuss important achievements of the church or members of the clergy. The same is true of Romanian Literature, where there are dedicated chapters addressing literary texts stemming from religion and the church. These religious elements or impact highlighted by textbook authors can increase in number in the same subject or in different subjects. It would be advisable that now that a school content reform is intended, policy makers should be aware of the need for shifting focus, of steering school subjects towards a deeper spiritualization of mankind - in an excessively secularized world which has lost its values. Interdisciplinary supports the complementarity of human knowledge. The religion class can promote nonspecific information pertaining to other subjects, but which support theological reasoning. Even information or theories which apparently contradict the spirit of religion can be invoked and used. Darwinian theory, for instance, does not refute religious assumptions. In fact, this theory is just an explanatory paradigm, a relative epistemological construct that attempts to give an explanation that should not scare the priest or the religion teacher at all. Theories have existed and will continue to arise. Explanatory paradigms are sequential and perishable. We should not turn into hardened opponents of what is not worthy of consideration. Introducing interdisciplinarity in religion teaching can be achieved by: - highlighting at every subject the sacred impact or dimensions involved in discussing particular topics
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(when discussing old Romanian literature, some sacred texts will be analyzed on or the indissoluble bond between religion and literature in a particular historical period will be underlined); - Promoting specific religious characteristics or particularities of a class, by multi-religious sessions in which students of different faiths and religions should present the specific characteristics of their own religion, to discuss on similarities and differences among religions which they promote; - Performing living of and situational awareness exercises for students who perceive reality in different ways, so that the way to transcendence should pass through different, even contradictory axiological and comprehensive filters. An interesting and exemplary experience regarding an integration policy is that carried out in recent years in Quebec. Several projects, work groups, legal provisions and political measures were implemented to find a formula agreed by most parties in the matter of religious education. The starting point of all strategies was the following action principle: “public school should contribute to the complete development of young people, not just as future citizens. But this will be done showing regard to the fundamental equality of citizens and their choices, by complying, however, with a certain obligation (as value n.n.) which is neutrality “3. Those engaged in this complicated project of identifying new paths to a religious education have deemed satisfactory the introduction of a cultural education of religions into the school curriculum, instead of a differentiated religious education. What does the attribute “cultural” mean in the phrase above? The answer seems to be pedagogically, logically and even politically acceptable. Here is the explanation of the term used by the supporters of this view: “the adjective cultural indicates the specific view according to which both the proposed integrated content and the learning elements will be addressed in the student training process. The choice of the adjective cultural is more illustrative to us than the non-religious one, that some might consider satisfactory. Non-religious will clearly denote this type of education’s lack of reference to a certain religious authority or normative profession of faith, exerted is an area of influence of a given ecclesiastical organizations, including for qualifying education by a possible definition by union with this community4. It is true that any religious classification or orientation may represent a major obstacle for the school to overcome the challenges of ethno-cultural and religious pluralism. Winning education over to a sacerdotal authority (except when aiming to reproduce some internal structures) becomes problematic. The generalized use of these practices does not resonate with the value affinities of the increasingly open and permissive contemporary society.
Conclusions Of course, the possibilities of integration mentioned above involve varying degrees of adequacy, activation, reality. It is our right, as teachers, to design 3 Laicite..., 1999, p. 21. 4 Ouellet, 2000, pp. 456-7.
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projects, to set paths, to dream. It is important to know that, at least theoretically, there are other perspectives, other solutions as well. The (educational, political, cultural, etc.) future is to facilitate, to call for, to impose the use of such strategies of unification, integration in terms of design and actual teaching of Religion. Elsewhere, diversity should be strengthened and preserved. This can be also be achieved by aiming towards Unity. Bibliography Benito, E., O., 1989, Elimination de toutes les formes d’intolérance et de discriminations fondées sur la religion ou la conviction, Genève, Centre des droits de l’homme, New – York, Nations Unies. Cucoş, Constantin, 2002, Possibilites et limites d’une éducation religieuse dans une perspectives interculturelle, in Association pour la recherche interculturelle, Bulletin no. 37, avril 2002, FPSE, Université de Genève. Cucoş, Constantin, 2009, Educaţia religioasă. Repere teoretice şi metodice (2nd edition), Polirom, Iaşi. Laïcité et religions. Perspective nouvellepourl’écolequébécoise, Rapport du Groupe de travail sur la place de la religion a l’école, Ministère de l’Education, 1999, Québec. Nayak, Anand, 1992, Etude des religions dans le contexte intercultureld’aujourd’hui: uneapproche dialogale, in Enseignerl’histoire des religions dans unedémarchelaïque. Représentations, Perspectives. Actes du colloqueinternational de Besançon 20-21 novembre 1991, CNDP/CRDP, Besançon. Ouellet, Fernand, 2000, L’Enseignementculturel des religions, Éditions du CRP, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec. Pajer, Flavio, 2002, Studiul ştiinţelor religioase într-o Europă multiculturală, in Dialog Teologic, Revista Institutului Teologic Romano-Catolic Iaşi, anul V, nr. 9. Panikkar, Raimundo, 1985, Le dialogueintrareligieux, Ed. Aubier, Paris. Potolea, Dan; Toma, Steliana;Borzea, Anca (coord.), 2012, Coordonate ale unui nou cadru de referinţă al curriculumului naţional, Centrul Naţional de Evaluare şi Examinare, Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti, 2012.
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Man – body and soul, as well as the relationship between them in the conception of St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher Dr. Ioan-Gheorghe Rotaru
President of Education Society for Romanian People (SPIPR) Bucharest, Romania. Dr_ionicarotaru@yahoo.com
Abstract. Among the first Church Fathers, where we find the concern for anthropological issues, is St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher. Even though St. Justin has not developed a proper anthropology, because it was too early for such a performance, however he draw a few lines in this regard, that influenced later patristic tradition, also showing interest in humanist culture in general, because this culture has a pronounced character of continuity, keeping the principles of permanent value, principles earned through the efforts of the spirit and society over time. Man, in the conception of St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher, is a rational being comprised of two elements: body and soul. Taken separately, the two elements, body or soul, do not form the man, this being the union and unity of the two elements. Sf. Justin says that God, summoned to life and resurrection this entire assembly, that is the man, and not just a part of him. He considers man as being a miracle, if we take into account the small drop of seed which he derives from and which produces and develops the bones, nerves and flesh. As for the relationship between body and soul, St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher says that they are closely connected by the very act of creation. Keywords: man, body, soul, mortal, immortal.
I. INTRODUCTION Anthropology is the science that deals with the study of the origin, evolution and biological variability of the human being in correlation with the natural and socio-cultural conditions. Patristic anthropology is one of those values of philosophy, which hundreds of years away still preoccupies the minds of those keen on meditation. Christian anthropology has been brought forward and highlighted in a timid way by St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher, then continued very carefully by Athenagoras and Tertullian, examined with great passion by Origen, reaching a complex system due to others’ thinking, due to some golden minds or geniuses such as St. Gregory of Nyssa and Blessed Augustine. [1] There was almost no Father or Ecclesiastical Writer who had not been concerned with anthropological
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issues, human origin, with his embodiment, essence, with meaning and value of the soul. Because of this, patristic anthropology is extremely rich and valuable. In this study [2] we will refer specifically to St. Justin the Martyr’s concept about man, made up of body and soul, along with the relationship between them. II.
MAN – BODY AND SOUL, AS WELL AS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM Among the early Church Fathers, that were concerned with anthropological issues, we find St. Justin the Martyr and Philosopher. St. Justin has not developed a proper anthropology. Even if it was too early for such a work, however he draw a few specific lines in this regard, that influenced later patristic tradition, also showing interest in humanist culture in general, because this culture has a character of continuity, keeping the principles of permanent value, principles earned through the efforts of the spirit and of the society throughout the ages. St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher also contributed to the humanist culture through his vision of man, as much as we can distinguish it today from his works. His conception about man is remarkably relevant for today. No matter how rudimentary could be considered St. Justin’s anthropological elements, they are not insignificant in that historical context. These elements have often contributed to strengthening or clarifying the anthropology of the New Testament, as well as creating, introducing or mixing of ideas, values and new perspectives, which have often enriched the classical anthropologies of the Patristics’ representatives of the Renaissance and of our age. St. Justin knew how to take advantage of the anthropological ideas of the Hellenic culture, that he fundamentally knew and from which he particularly passed over the cult of reason. [3] What is man in St. Justin’s thinking? Man is considered to be a rational being made up of two elements: body and soul. Neither the body, nor the soul, taken separately, do not form the man. Man is considered to be the union and unity of these two elements. St. Justin says that God summoned
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to life and resurrection this entire assembly, that is the man, and not just a part of him. [4] He considered man as a miracle of divinity, if we take into account the small drop of seed which he derives from and which produces bones, nerves and flesh. According to the view of St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher, there are three elements or realities which outline and define man. These are: truth, reason and resurrection. Human nature, he says, is endowed with predispositions, such as intelligence and salvation that make it able to know the truth. Truth exists and there is nothing stronger and trustworthy than it. It is a truth that needs no rational demonstration, because this, i.e. the truth, is identical with God, the perfect intelligence. Christians, says St. Justin, are the children of truth, because their life is in accordance with the truth, but to live according to the truth is not possible without knowing the nature of things. The truth that defines man participates, therefore, simultaneously to reason and God. The truth that defines man participates to reason, because people were created from the beginning as rational beings capable of intelligence. [5] Also, the truth that defines man is related to God because He is the foundation of reason, like intelligence or eternal Reason. No doubt there are some Platonic elements in this Justinian conception, especially on the relationship between truth and reason. Such elements also exist in the assimilation of God with reason. There are also some stoic elements in this aspect. St. Justin’s conversion to Christianity owes much to these assimilations, because Christianity is for him “the only safe and useful philosophy”. Man has, by his own nature, the reason to reach the truth, therefore it can be said that the certainty of truth is an essential need for humans. But this reason does not reach this point but rarely by itself; different philosophies are evidence in this regard. Reason must be grounded in God, the absolute certainty. Reason and the faculty to choose or to decide are considerable powers characterizing and making the man, but absolute certainty is only given by God, Who is the truth and reason itself, as Plato would say. This is why reason plays an important part in human life, but it must be based on the divine Logos, on the supreme Reason which is God. 1 If truth and reason give man dignity and a role that make him a special being and give him a special mission, this dignity and this unique mission require and even impose the eternity of man, of the whole man, made up of body and soul. St. Justin talks about this eternity that was about to be compromised because of man’s disobedience to the divine will, on which depended the whole nature itself. Man’s disobedience to the divinity introduced rottenness in human nature, and thus becoming his second nature. The one who wanted to rescue him from rottenness had to destroy its very essence. 2 The Logos was the one that, by God’s will, took this mission upon him. He had to incarnate himself in order to save man from death and natural rottenness.3 He, the Logos, accomplished this in a special way by his resurrection from the dead, which assures man’s resurrection and everlasting life. Only the Logos, the Supreme Reason, could protect 1 See [3], p. 380. 2 Ibidem. 3 See [5], XXII, XXIII, pp. 54-55.
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man, His most qualified representative in nature. 4 St. Justin sometimes seems to be trichotomist. He claims that the body is the house of the soul, and the soul is the gate of the spirit.5[4] This conception of platonic, stoic and philonian origin left traces even in the doctrine of St. Paul the Apostle, who says the following in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians 5,23: „And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [6], and in the Epistle to the Hebrews: „For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”6 There are texts of St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher, speaking exclusively about the bodies and souls of those who will be judged: “These are, to speak briefly, what we expect, what we have learned through Christ and, in our turn, we also preach. Plato said that Radamante and Minos will punish the wicked, who will come to their judgment. We, in our turn, say that the same thing will happen, except that they will be punished by Christ; that they will be punished in the same bodies they had together with their souls and they will be punished with eternal punishment, not just for a period of a thousand years, as Plato says.7 Other texts from the writings of St. Justin present aspects of the souls of the dead: ”souls of the righteous and of the prophets”, “...God teaches us through His Son to struggle to become righteous and on our parting from life, to ask our souls not to be subject to such powers.”8 Also, about the body and soul of Christ as the human expression of the Logos: “Who appeared for us as body, Word and soul; if the term logos in the expression „soma kai logon kai psychen” [8] expresses the divine nature of the Logos and not the human reason, which can be regarded as being involved in the psyche. In any case, if theoretically St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher is neither a declared trichotomist nor a dichotomist, basically he seems to be dichotomist9: “and that the souls remain (after the separation from the body),10 I proved it, he says, from the fact that the soul of Samuel, at Saul’s request, was called by the ventriloquist…”11 Because of his intensely work and thinking, he had no time to ponder the philosophical formulations of his time in order to adopt or to create a final one. St. Justin opposes this time his Christian philosophy about resurrection to the pythagorean or platonic doctrine which claimed the exclusive immortality of the soul and the body’s decay. St. Justin imagined resurrection as a whole, body and soul. St. Justin claimed that the body has the same 4 See [3], p. 380. 5 See [4], p. 246 A. 6 See [6], The Holy Bible. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews 4, 12.
7 See [5],VIII, pp. 39-40. 8 See [7], CV., p 286. 9 In the sense that man consists of two or three basic elements. 10 See [7], CV., pp. 285-286. 11 See [6] The Holy Bible. 1 Samuel 28,11.
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destiny, the same fate as the soul. St. Justin reasons his thesis with the fact that if Christ had preached the message about natural immortality of the soul, he would not have brought any new ideas compared to the philosophers Pythagoras, Plato, and others who think alike. Christ came - St. Justin asserts – with the message of a new and unknown hope, that is the promise that He would not keep the state of decay but He would transform it into an imperishable state.12
would not only have not healed it in many circumstances during his earthly life, but he would not have raised it from the dead. He resurrected both the souls and the bodies. If the resurrection would be a purely spiritual phenomenon, the resurrected Christ would have had to show his body spread out on one side and the soul on another. But things did not happen this way, because Christ resurrected his body itself, thus confirming the promise of life.19
The fate of the body, according to the idealistic philosophy of the antiquity, was not held in very high esteem, but St. Justin said that Christ, the incarnate Logos, shows special attention to the body, seeking to provide its salvation through various means, such as: healing, feeding and resurrection. The highest honor and appraisal that Christ has given to the human body was the resurrection, St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher says.
For St. Justin these are evidence of concern for the body by Jesus Christ, as stated in his work About resurrection, that the care with which Christ treats the human body, especially through the urge to avoid sin, practicing an austere regime, is for the good and the salvation of that body, such as the diet prescribed by doctors to patients aims to ensure their health.20
Philosophical and Gnostic circles around St. Justin opposed this idea (resurrection) fiercely, for various reasons. To the objection that the body is unworthy of resurrection and heavenly life because of its basely earthly substance, because of its sins and the violence with which it treats the soul, forcing it to fall into sin, St. Justin brought as counterarguments the words spoken by Moses about the creation of man, namely: „And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 13 Then, St. Justin said that it would be absurd to say that the body made in the image of God does not deserve honor and that is not worthy of anything. The creator and painter, he says, don’t they praise their own works? The one for whom all things were created, i.e. the man, is very valuable for the One who made everything.14 St. Justin thought that only the heretics15 believed that the body was made up by angels:16 “for I could not say that what your heresy dogmatizes is true, or what your masters try to prove, that God said so speaking to angels, or that the human body is the creation of angels.”17 St. Justin continues with other arguments namely: that man, as a work of God, created following a great counsel, his body cannot be neglected or reduced to nothing. Taking up the image of the creator or of the painter, Justin thinks that if they want their images to last, to be glorified through them, they do not hesitate to restore them when they suffer corruption. If God would despise his work as something nonexistent, would he not put an end to the body? Would He have worked in vain? God also summons the body at the resurrection, promising it eternal life. Justin says that the Gospel of redemption (salvation) addresses not only the soul but also the body.18 Moreover, if the soul would not worth anything, says St. Justin, Jesus Christ 12 13 14 15
See [4], p. 216 BC. See [6] The Holy Bible. Genesis, 1,26. See [4], p. 232 D and 234 DE. Here, St. Justin considers either all Jewish sects, or just some of them, or, finally, those Jews with philosophical tendencies of Philo's kind. 16 See [7], LXII., p. 215. 17 Ibidem. 18 See [4], 8, pp. 236 BC, 236 CD.
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These rudiments of anthropology especially addressed Christian masses. They were not meant to convince the Greeks. For non-Christians, St. Justin tries to find arguments whether in mythology, or in philosophy. He says, if Homer’s idols can all (Odyssey X, 306 ff), then God can, with much more reason, resurrect the body. In almost all philosophers (Plato, Epicurus, the Stoics), with all their differences, body revival seems possible. One of the common ideas of these philosophers is that a creature, or anything that is made from matter, can, after its disappearance, reappear, through the force of matter itself, which is immortal, and through the power of deity or some force that is next to this matter (Plato), or in it (the Stoics). This entity resembles an alloy of several elements, such as gold, silver, copper and tin, which one would want to decompose and recompose it at will.21 It is the same with the state of bodies or concretions produced by the positions of the atoms of Epicurus.22 St. Justin concludes about the body that it is an element of the human being, that it is somehow God’s own image, and it determines the existence of the soul itself, because God created the body first and then the soul. Also, says Justin, a God who would save (redeem) only the soul would not be a good God. A God who would save the soul exclusively would only redeem Himself, if the soul is of divine essence.23 III.
THE CONCEPTION OF ST. JUSTIN REGARDING THE SOUL The issue of the soul was one of the most debated issues in antiquity. Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, etc. have devoted special treaties to it. St. Justin himself wrote a treaty on the matter, entitled About the soul, treaty mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea in Ecclesiastical History. In the work About the soul, St. Justin presented the views of Greek philosophers on the issue of the soul, and promised that he would fight them in another paper.24 Unfortunately, these two works have been lost completely. According to the texts that we have retained, especially the early chapters of the work Dialogue with the Jew 19 20 21 22 23 24
See [3], p. 382. See [4], 10. p. 248 DE. See [3], p. 382. See [4], 6, pp. 230.232. See [3], p. 382. See [3], p. 383.
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Tryphon, and the work About resurrection, it is clear that before his conversion to Christianity, St. Justin, regarding the soul, shared the view of Plato. However, after his conversion, he tried to fight Plato’s conception of the soul, but not completely detach himself from him. He often allows himself to be influenced by the anthropology of his great master Plato. St. Justin, during his pre-Christian period, considered the soul as divine and immortal, as a part of the sovereign Spirit, however, without ceasing to resemble the soul of animals.25 While in the body, souls can see God in spirit, but they can do so especially after separation from the body, without remembering it later, and without being able to specify whether this contemplation of divinity has any use. Souls unworthy of divine contemplation are chained in animal bodies, without being aware and without knowing that they have sinned, says Justin in Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon. After his conversion to Christianity, Justin let go of this concept, and even criticizes it through the old man’s mouth from Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon, claiming that souls do not see God and do not change bodies, because they would know that way, that they are punished, and would fear sin, even the most occasional one.26 Souls can know that there is a God and that righteousness and piety are good.27 St. Justin the Martyr claims that souls are produced as the world is created, and they were built for humans and other living beings, not with the body, but separately. St. Justin said that the soul is not from the being, but from the will of God. It is thus created and becomes immortal by God’s will and its merits. He is especially opposed to the view of Platonic philosophers, according to which the soul is immortal and unborn. And if it (the soul) is a part of the same complex as the world, and if this is created, is born, it is natural and necessary that souls were also created, and they do not exist on their own, since they were made for humans and for other beings, and were produced separately, not every soul with its body. Souls, according to the conception of St. Justin, are not immortal, but are like the world. Furthermore, those who defend non-corporeality and the immortality of the soul believe that they will not be punished for their evil deeds, because the incorporeal can not suffer, and because the soul is immortal, they do not need God. There was here a significant consequence of the Platonic conception that some of the partisans of the immortality of the soul did not despise. But if souls are not immortal, yet they do not all die, because it would benefit the wicked:28 „But I do not mean at all that all souls die; for the wicked, it would really be a profit. But then how? The souls of the pious remain in a better place, and the unjust and evil ones in a worse one, waiting there for judgment. Thus, souls of those worthy of God will never die, while the others will be punished as long as God wants them to exist and be punished.”29 The importance of the moral aspect is crucial, but without being able to remove the contradiction inherent in such a concept. 25 26 27 28 29
See [7], IV., pp. 125-126. Ibidem. Ibidem. See [3], p. 383. See [7], V., p. 127.
The essential characteristic of the soul is that it has life. But it does not live as life, but as a partaker of life. This shows that it is different from the thing in which it takes part. The soul participates in life because God wants it to live. It will no longer participate in life when God would not want it to live anymore. Life does not belong to the soul, as it belongs to God. The soul leaves the body and man ceases to exist. When the soul must cease to be, the spirit of life comes out of him and goes back to where it came from.31 The life of the soul and the duration of this life are no longer natural phenomena, such as they are in Phaedo, but they depend on the will of God, which is their source and creator. The origin of this conception of St. Justin is based, he says, on the Bible. It is the merit of St. Justin the Martyr and Philosopher to have carefully weighed and organized the elements of this issue in a different perspective. This solution corrects at least partially Justin’s prior idea, according to which the soul, being a part of God, as “breath” of Him (Genesis 2.7)32 is saved by its very nature. There is a big difference between the two positions of Justin’s expressed on the matter. However, in some parts, this doctrine eased his progress towards the new formula kept in the work Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon, formula that is the result of his new Christian philosophy. Justin argues that Plato’s work Timaeus opened the perspective to his new formula. In fact, if the soul is not immortal “in law” anymore, but only to the extent that God wants to keep it at [9], this does not mean that his immortality is compromised in itself. This immortality becomes a divine gift, which saves it from death, because the soul will enter into a new life, where it will be rewarded or punished according to its deeds. St. Justin says it is not an immortality granted by itself, but one that is given by God. And this divine gift is not obtained without the trouble of the soul and the body. It is now available to all who seek the truth. IV. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY AND SOUL As for the relationship between body and soul, St. Justin the Martyr and the Philosopher argues that they are closely linked by the very act of creation, which took place almost simultaneously, though the souls were built separately and not with their own bodies. Justin observes in the act 30 31 32
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No matter how new and original this view would seem, it is still closely linked to the cosmology of Plato in Timaeus, according to which everything that comes after God – the Uncreated and the Incorruptible, is created and corruptible. Because of that, souls die and are punished. If they were uncreated, they would not sin and would not fall into madness, their attitude would not be contradictory, they would not go willingly to dwell in animals, and could not be forced into it. If souls would be uncreated, they would be alike, equal and identical to the Uncreated itself, to God, and there would not be any difference between them and Him, neither in terms of power, nor in terms of dignity. Next, the Uncreated has no plural. Therefore the soul is not God, and does not enjoy His immortality.30
See [3], p. 384. Ibidem. See [6] The Holy Bible. Genesis 2,7.
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of creation a distinction designed to keep each part its own identity. God first created the body, to which He gave the soul, through the breath of His mouth. They have thus become an inseparable whole. The preexistence and the transmigration of the souls separating soul and body were abolished and forgotten. The body and the soul are “the same into the same”. They form not only an ideal unit, but a kind of identity that still retains the properties of the constitutive elements. According to the Christian philosophy of Justin, the saving of the soul is integral to that of the body because they are inextricably linked by a common destiny.33 The solidarity of the soul and the body relies then on their close collaboration. The body being accused of sin and coercion on the soul to make it sin together is in vain. How could the body sin in itself if it would not have been preceded and provoked by the soul in this direction? V. CONCLUSIONS This Justinian conception about the relationship and intimate union of the body and the soul was different from the Platonic theory, and later from the Neoplatonic theory, according to which matter is the origin of evil and is evil in itself, and the union of the soul and the body would cause all sorts of mistakes.34
and indices by] T. Bodogae, Olimp Căciulă, D.Fecioru, Bucureşti: Ed. Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al BOR, 1997, XXVIII, p. 58. [6] The Holy Bible. The first Epistle of Paul the Apostle to tle Thessalonians 5, 23, King James version, Cambridge: University Press. [7] Sf. Iustin Martirul şi Filosoful, Dialogul cu iudeul Trifon [Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon], în Apologeţi de limbă greacă [Apologists in Greek], traducere, introducere, note şi indici de [translation, introduction, notes and indices by] T.Bodogae, Olimp Căciulă, D.Fecioru, Bucureşti: Ed. Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al BOR, 1997, CV, p. 286. [8] Sf. Iustin Martirul şi Filosoful, Apologia a doua în favoarea creştinilor [The second Apologia for the Christians], în Apologeţi de limbă greacă [Apologists in Greek], traducere, introducere, note şi indici de [translation, introduction, notes and indices by] T. Bodogae, Olimp Căciulă, D.Fecioru, Bucureşti: Ed. Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al BOR, 1997, X, p. 111. [9] E.Gilson, La philosophie au Moyen-âge. Des origines patristique a la fin de XIV-e siecle, deuxieme edition revue et argumentee, Paris : Payot, 1961, p. 20. [10] La creation de l’homme, 27.228.b. Introduction et traduction de Jean Laplace “Sources chretiennes”, No. 6, 1943, p. 213.
St. Justin the Martyr and Philosopher contributed through the relationship between body and soul to the development of the idea that the “outward appearance” of the body remains in the soul, which is like “the mark of the seal to the seal itself”, after St. Gregory of Nyssa [10], and will lead to the medieval conception, according to which the intangible soul is a form of the body, because the soul is existentially united to the body by the nature of its essence in itself; he requires the existential union with the body to exist, ontologically, and to act, psychologically.35 REFERENCES: [1] Ioan G. Coman, Probleme de filosofie şi literatură patristică
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
33 34 35
[Matters of philosophy and patristic literature], Bucureşti: Ed. Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al B.O.R., 1995, p. 40. Ioan-Gheorghe Rotaru, Aspecte antropologice în gândirea patristică şi a primelor secole creştine [Anthropological aspects in patristic thought and in the first Christian centuries], Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2005, pp. 93-102. Ioan G. Coman, Elemente de antropologie în operele Sfîntului Iustin Martirul şi Filozoful [Elements of anthropology in the works of St. Justin the Martyr and Philosopher], Ortodoxia, XV (1968), nr. 3., p. 378. Sf. Iustin Martirul şi Filosoful, Despre înviere [About resurrection], 8, ed. I, în C.Otto, Corpus apologetarum christianorum saeculi secundi,1879, vol. III. T.III. ed. a III-a, p. 238. D. Sf. Iustin Martirul şi Filosoful, Apologia întâi în favoarea creştinilor [The first Apologia for the Christians], în Apologeţi de limbă greacă [Apologists in Greek],, traducere, introducere, note şi indici de [translation, introduction, notes See [3], p. 385. Ibidem. See [3], p. 386.
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Anthropological structures of the religious imaginary in Sandu Tudor’s norm - poem The Akatist of Our Allpious Father St. Demetrius The New, Keeper of oxen in Basarabov Ciornea Carmen
Department of Theology Ovidius University of Constanta Constanţa -900527, Romania carmenciornea@gmail.com
Abstract: The present study presents some aspects of the liturgical composition - The Akatist of Our Allpious Father St. Demetrius The New, Keeper of oxen in Basarabov – and it is based on the assumption that the greatness of literature must be determined by the „dialogue” with Divinity. The poetry search a reference point in the transcendent and the most sequences in the akatist of Sandu Tudor is imposed by the gravity of emotion, by purity and the ardour of the feeling. The paths created by mystical and iconic anthropology developed in its akatists require a thorough understanding, coherent with the Church tradition and the Christian vision of the dynamics of its transformation into words. Keywords: Sandu Tudor, poetry, akatist, litheraturtheologie, theoposie, anthropology
theology,
I. Introduction The paper “Anthropological structures of the religious imaginary in Sandu Tudor’s norm-poem” focuses on a segment of Romanian literature less discussed, namely, Sandu Tudor’s religious poetry seen from the viewpoint of iconic anthropology structure, of coagulation of religious images in his first liturgical composition - The Akatist of Our Father St. Allpious Demetrius The New, Keeper of oxen in Basarabov - in theological epistema. Structural analytical method applied in our research was designed to track the main nucleous religious pictures, images related to the archetype, constitutive chronotop, myth, but the intention was also to emphasise some significant ideas on the reflection of some mystical images in his poetic work. The explanatin of this type of analysis in terms of literary theology represented the element of originality. Author’s mystical vocation requires the application of some terminological indicators – Litheraturtheologie1 and Theoposie - two unique concepts in the Romanian critical space, theories taken from Karl-Josef Kuschel German writers, Gisbert Kranz, Georg Langenhorst, etc., which focuses on the anthropological structures of the religious imaginary. Literary Theology - Litheraturtheologie – has as 1 Vezi Ernst Josef Krzywon, Möglichkeiten einer Literaturtheologie, în
„Der Evanghelische Erzieher. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik und Theologie”, 28, Jahrgang, 1976, p. 21;
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a research method the transcendental analysis and can be applied to Sandu Tudor’s norm-poem because it is directly focused on the religious norm, the trend being to consider the Christian element not only in form but rather in spirit. The analysis from the perspective of Theopoem is justified, on the one hand, by the poet Sandu Tudor’s intention to implement the divine mystery in some intelligible images as much as possible, which require a minimum theological culture for decoding the message of the pray-poem and by focusing on the tension between the word and the Word or between the non-word and Logos. We analyzed Allpious The Akatist of Our Father St. Demetrius The New, Keeper of oxen in Basarabov through these innovative research methods, based on theological and literary skills, trying to separate the terms “anthropological comprehension” of the religious images in daytime and night time registersand in two types of structures of religious poetry- ekstatic and enstatic, and finally, to follow the theme of human deification seen as overlaping of human and divine nature. Revelation of the Christ is an anthropological revelation and religious consciousness of man is meant just to reveal the Christian consciousness of man. II.
THE AKATIST - ECCLESIASTICAL SACERDOTAL POETRY
The Akatist of Our Father St. Allpious Demetrius The New, Keeper of oxen in Basarabov emerged from poet’s desire to dedicate to the saint patron of Bucharest - his relics are in the Patriarchal Church - a beautiful poem of spiritual comfort for the believers. This Akatist will be the only one – from the five of the author - published during his lifetime, in 1942, at the Royal Foundation for Literature and Art, Bucharest, the edition being accompanied by a preface - “Some words” - signed by Sandu Tudor, which contains some clarifications on the importance and the role the Akatist plays in the spiritually journey of every believer: “The greatness and its mastery is doubled: one, outside, sound and color well measured; other, inner, of discovery and dogmatic meaning”2. In Foreword he tells the readers 2 Sandu Tudor, Seamă de cuvinte. Introducere la Acatistul preacuviosului părintelui nostrum Sf. Dimitrie cel Nou boarul din Basarabov. În
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some biographical details that generated composing this Byzantine poem: “I started this akathist in the twilight of the Dead people’s Saturday, the eve of Holy Sunday of Pentecost. There are fifty days after the passing away of my youngest. A repentant prayer to the Saint Lord, The one with the name of mystery, the one who is above our thoughts, the Hope from age to age. It was created in order to settle in a quiet place the soul of my brother, Eugene.”3 The term akatist comes from the Greek “akathistos” which means “holy song standing” and is an old hymn to a holy person. Fixed form poem, specific to Byzantine cult, consists of a series of twelve Kontakion and canticles, its structure following, at the symbolic level, the evolution of a cycle of the year, that is twelve steps, spiritual poetry cores, in the natural evolution of the subject for the twelve calendaristic months. The only deviation which is permitted in the architecture of the poem lies in the ability to vary the cycle, the process that Sandu Tudor uses and expands akathist to thirteen episodes, the second part of the last song being not developed. The Akathist has, however, as a whole, the roundness of a circle, being a hymnic prayer that is perpetuated infinitely for the anthem is meant to be restarted from the beginning, in his natural utterance at the end of its gradual cycle: “Anthem of a wide vision or better, a whole hymnology, the Akathist is a fulfilled cycle of religious poetry. It is like a total, gathered as a continuous chain of songs, and returns itself to flow endlessly, revealing one by one: dramatic songs which are overlapped with other epic hymns and linked with purely lyrical litanies. “ 4 The word “kontakion” used to designate in the old times the stick on which the paper or parchment manuscripts were wrapped on, and in Greek has the meaning of “boudoir”, and take the form of a private prayer, “that is always a dramatic dialogue with God.” 5 The term “oikos” - means in Greek “monument” and entailed summarizing the life of the praised saint “hymnal largest and narrative piece, which in turn ends with a litany, song of praise.” 6 If in the kontakion the structure is accomplished dramatically, as a consequence of the intimate dialogue with God, in case of the canticle the organisation is somehow more narrative, it meaning a description of the glorious moments of the honoured person’s life, in this case St. Dimitrie the New Basarabov, which in turn divides, the final part being a litany, a song of praise, easily recognizable by resuming obsessive leitmotif: “Rejoice ...”. The care to elaborate a text according to Orthodox teaching and traditional ritual is even certified by the author, after the first moment of the broad composition, which poem consists of thirteen Kontakions and twelve canticles, each having a particular number of lines, reviews and completes the work in 1928, adding the metric and the rythm of the old Byzantine Akathist. At the same time this submits to approval of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Ieroschimonahul Daniil de la Rarău (Sandu Tudor), Acatiste. Prima ediție integral, îngrijită de Alexandru Dimcea, Gabriel Moldoveanu, Editura Christiana, București, p.10. 3 Ibidem, p.13. 4 Sandu Tudor, Seamă de cuvinte. Introducere la Acatistul preacuviosului părintelui nostrum Sf. Dimitrie cel Nou boarul din Basarabov. În Ieroschimonahul Daniil de la Rarău (Sandu Tudor), Acatiste. Prima ediție integral, îngrijită de Alexandru Dimcea, Gabriel Moldoveanu, Editura Christiana, București, 2009, p. 9. 5 Ibidem, p.10. 6 Ibidem, p.10.
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Orthodox Church of the blessing to print it: “Your Holy Highness, with deep humility I am adding, along with it, the attached “The Akatist of the Holy New Dimitrie Basarabov “written by me in lyrics after metric and rythm of old Akatist of Byzantine rhythm, adding extra modern rhythmic, asking you to kindly arrange to be examined and approved by the Holy Synod and possibly to be used by the pious believers in their readings and spiritual consolation without fear of heresy or inappropriate innovation of the teaching of our Holy Orthodox Church. May 28th , 1928, Bucharest, Sandu Tudor, writer “7. The work, published in the journal lines “Thought” is perceived by the readers at that time as a composition quite demanding that revives old language sermons. The paper did not leave indifferent upper bodies and so, after reading it in the meeting of May 20th , 1928, obtained the blessing of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church for the publication: “To Mr. Sandu Tudor. In response to the petition you submitted, we have the honour to let you know that the Holy Synod, in the meeting of May 20th, 1928, reading your paper entitled “Akathist of St. Demetrios the New Basarabov” and appreciating its value both in terms of literary and of the keeping intact of the true teachings of our Holy Church praises approved printing of this work. July 13th, 1928, Bucharest, President Pimen, Metropolitan of Moldova “8. Thus the poem, Byzantine type, falls within the tradition, improving with its value of prayer. Writer innovations consisted of the construction of new metaphors with symbolic value and caring to support lyric musicality without affecting classical structure. Therefore, the text lends itself to an analysis from the perspective of literary theology - Litheraturtheologie because it does not priorily subordinate to aesthetic purpose, but wished to be valuable for the orthodox literature, the Christian element being observed both in form and especially in spirit. Akathist-Hymn is a text which is primarily a cultic role, invokes and honours the holy person. Unlike other traditional species - sonnet, washers, triolet, gazelle – the Akathist, promoted especially by the church leaders, taken into account the spiritual needs, did not turn over time and did not accept structural changes, but with very few exceptions, proved itself a model in which form and content can and must achieve a perfect unity of ideas and poetic expression. Sandu Tudor’s Akathist is kept within these classical frames of a worship song that gravitates around the life and work of a saint, whose evoked personality is ruled by a strong and humble emotional feeling, in a discovery approach, an emphasis of a dogmatic meaning, embeded in an oratorical musicality which at first glance may seem austere, but with this melodic cold enciphers mystical solemnity. This cultic production, “brilliant exactly because of the absence of superficial subjective lyrical originality” identifies itself with the collective objective lyric of the Church Tradition, with the “assuming and creative varying of the motifs, of its symbolic and archetypal images of great religious depth is transfigured in prayer, and art in spirituality.”9 7 Mitropolitul Antonie Plămădeală, Rugul Aprins, Editura Arhiepiscopiei Sibiului, Sibiu, 2002, ediția electonică, p. 7.
8 Ibidem, p. 8. 9 diac. Prof. dr. Ioan I. Jr.Ică, Daniil Sandu Tudor-poet, schimnic,
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Sandu Tudor’s preoccupation to recover archaic vocabulary and syntax of old Romanian language – which we admit that untrained readers –justifies the application of hermeneutics from the perspective of Theopoem, the poet being concerned, on the one hand, to recover the sacred aura of prayers uttered with the same words able to translate divine mystery in some understandable pictures to a person who has a minimum initiation into the mysteries of the Christian vision and so to restore the authentic dialogue between ancestors and descendants. The word, the soul expression, manifests the image and the relationship between complete units, between faces that communicate with each other. Poetic identity is grounded at a prereflexiv, preanalytical level, within the pure act of own utterance of the soul. The Auroral Status of the poetic utterance points to the first state of the soul in the theological sense. In the poet’s akathist-hymns the creative act of writing is put into service of the discovery of the transcendent, toward it aspires to, but also the unsuspected inners of the heart, in which God makes He present. Writing, in his view, is not only a path to the core of things and creatures, but becomes a proof of the presence of God in the human heart. In this context, the poet’s options for religious hymn, litany, textnorm are justified10: “The Akathist is a great spiritual canticle typical of Eastern Christian piety. Of all the great solemnities of Constantinople, perhaps the greatest, most impressive was just the sermon of “the Prayer” which in Greek means “holy song standing” (...) When hearing it, you need to remain steadfast as a candle burn in frozen glory. “11. So the semantic level of the Akathist has tripartite functionality: dogmatic, historical regarding the mentioned saint and liturgical: “Akathist is part of the liturgical mystics of what is known in Orthodoxy as “Uninterrupted Worship” or “constant glorification”. Akathist supposedly never stops and is always renewed (...) Akathist hymn is one of those stairs in spirit that gives the possibility to climb up there to the horizon where you can be covered by the Vision without breaks and without blemish through this”12. Invoking the Holy New Dimitrie Basarabov does not have only a latreutic role, for worship, but also allows the creation of a spiritual channel, needed for education and sensibilisation of the soul. III. POETIC ASIDE: THE LINK BETWEEN DIURNAL and NOCTURNAL IN THE RELIGIOUS IMAGINARY The perspective that Gilbert Durand opens in Anthropological structures of the imaginary13 suggests a suppression of the limit between rational and imaginary and the presentation, structuralist, of the anthropological “paths” of the imaginary. The basic components of general human neoimnograf și martir, în „Revista Teologică”, anul I, Sibiu, 1991, nr. 2, p. 110. 10 Laura Bădescu, Sacris litteris. Încercare de sistem, în „Viaţa Românească”, XCIV, Ianuarie-Februarie, București, 1999, nr. 1, p.18. 11 Ieroschimonahul Daniil de la Rarău (Sandu Tudor), op. cit, p.10. 12 Ibidem, p.10. 13 Gilbert Durand, Structurile antropologice ale imaginarului. Introducere în arhetipologia general. Traducere de Marcel Aderca. Postfață de Cornel Mihai ionescu, București, Editura Universul Enciclopedic, 2000.
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imagination are, in his vision: diurnal and nocturnal. Looking from this point of view, The Akatist of Our Allpious Father St. Demetrius The New, Keeper of oxen in Basarabov we note how significantly the internal structures of the Tudorian imaginary are organized because in the early lines of the Kontakion I, the poet’s creativity seems to enroll into light: “O Thou, Father, old, you hold the world in your hand! / blaze without shade, I only can see Your halo, / guess as in a mirror! Face of dazzling confusion!”. It is the implicit light, uncreated, it is what Testament texts call “Divine Glory” worn by Persons of the Trinity, which becomes visible, perceptible by categories of analytical thinking, discursive just in the process of transfiguration and deification of human nature, like Moses on Mount Sinai. Intention to recover the anthropological dimension of light is emphasized by the poet himself: “Locked in a rough canon pattern and determined in the smallest details, the cold formal transformation, like the accuracy of a mysterious crystal is, in fact, only one way to rule and order the spiritual flames, which must light in our hearts. But, at the same time, the akathist hymn is shown as a circle of fire and flames of all our strained booms, through which godliness is written and always grows around a holy life, which was chosen from the niches of the calendar to stand in front of us as izvodite of deification”14.” Sandu Tudor expresses this uncreated light by mystical experience and not common knowledge, so that his akathist poems mark a level of deification of the material by light “seen unseenly and known incomprehensibly”15: “But our eye does not see the wonder, / our mind, blind, the mystery does not believe. / Surely, Holy your mercy for man / Make that the holy light to bind us, / to sing to you in the Lord - God / the clean music, in slender singing” (Canticle III). These Tudorian suggestions send to the immanence of Divine Transfiguration light: “Apparent shadow you gone through life / until the moment of Divine Transfiguration.” But the Big Transfiguration on Mount Tabor may also connote the transfiguration of the apostle-poet who acquires “by divine grace, the faculty of seeing Jesus as He is in his light”16. It is relevant in this regard, the construction of the symbolic images, the final theological episteme in the final part of Canticle II of the Akathist of St. Demetrios the New Basarabov designed to glorify the saint: “Rejoice, the best part of the divine love”, “ Rejoice, mirroring of celestial stars”,” Rejoice that you keep Christ into your heart core”,”Rejoice that birth and death you have won”, “ Rejoice, from the coffin with bright relics “. Phenomenology of the Tudorian light would remain only a simple statistical exercise unless the perspective and the senses towards the light and the light of the celestial stars river, Numinous, did not flow into the “black night”: “And in the third evening when from the heavenly hive / the stars swarm as gold bees, / the black flower night, it was buried / your hermit body without coffin / (...) / local 14
p.10.
Ieroschimonahul Daniil de la Rarău (Sandu Tudor), op. cit,
15
Dumitru Stăniloae, Viața și învățătura lui Grigorie Palamas, Seria Teologică, Sibiu, 1938, p.79. 16 Mircea Eliade, Istoria credințelor și ideilor religioase, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, București, 1988, vol. II, p. 230. A se vedea și prima parte a volumului Mefistofel și Androginul, Editura Humanitas, București, 1995, pp.11-70. Ea este consacrată experiențelor luminii mistice în mai multe religii, inclusiv în creștinismul isihast.
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people, seeing you playing spin fire over the light “(Canticle III). The image of the Virgin Mary is presented as a means of potentiating the numinous, which sends to the divine protection and ascenssional projection. The image of the numinous woman usually contraries the female archetype who, after Gilbert Durand, belongs to terrestrial elements, “the eternal feminine and the feeling of nature go hand in hand.” At Sandu Tudor, the Virgin meets cosmic role of Mother Earth looking at Heaven, she represents “earth element in terms of nurturing motherhood, in terms of cosmic soul that feeds the worlds”17 “Oh You, wise Mother, godly choice, / O ! You blessed and bright Bride / (...) / A! You, Holy Mother of Light-without-shadow / clear darkness from my blind wandering / make me see the holy pledge of your host / all the embodiment of Christ, I break the crooked path “(Kontakion IX) The reader of the Akathist to St. Dimitrie the New Basarabov “lives” metaphorically in the aesthetic ideas world, participating, by reading, in the process of sacralisation of the world by the light of love. God is revealed through light and Sandu Tudor customizes this situation by lighting effects that enlight the nocturnal nature of spirituality. Sandu Tudor refuses the sterile word and has the ability to develop the ekstatic mystics in his texts. Understood by Christianity as the pinnacle of lucidity the ekstatic state is the way the mystic is revealed both to the outer world and also to the inner world. The imagistic scenario develops the state of ekstatic mystics, the exit out toward divinity. The Akathisthymn poet, recipient of a profound inner metamorphosis is concerned with the change of material he works with - word - which he illuminates from the interior. Therefore Sandu Tudor conveys the mystical experience meaning in poetic experience, transfiguring the latter, until the discovery of its mystical dimension 18. His poetry is important by deciphering of its mystical significance, identifiable by its living research. Openings created by reflections, mystics and iconic anthropology developed in his akathist propose a model and a coherent analysis with Church Tradition and a genuine Christian vision of transposition dynamics in the word. The conventional image, even if it differentiates from Archetype, it still maintains a connection with him through a minor structure of meanings. In this type of image “there is a homogeneity of signifier and signified”19, the picture representing a response, imagination, energy. This process that the poet Sandu Tudor uses, which we might call the “manipulation” of diurnal / nocturnal regimes, where the simple oxymoronic relationship is converted to total replacement, connotes a mystical transfiguration. Gilbert Durand ranges it among his favorite rhetorical techniques, calling it double negation. The changing process consists essentially in the fact that the affirmation can be constituted by denial that through denial or a negative act the effect of an initial negativity is destroyed. It can be said that the source of change of dialectical direction is the sense in the process of double 17
Paul Evdokimov, Femeia și mântuirea lumii. Traducere de Gabriela Moldoveanu, București, Asociația Christiana, 1995, p. 228. 18 Dumitru Stăniloae, Ascetica și mistica Bisericii Ortodoxe, București, Editura I.B. M. B.O. R., 2002. 19 Gilbert Durand, Structurile antropologice ale imaginarului.. Introducere în arhetipologia generală, Traducere de Marcel Aderca. Postfață de Cornel Mihai Ionescu, București, Editura Universul Enciclopedic, 2000, p. 28.
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negation lived on the image plane before the grammatical formalism is encoded. The poet places words above thought, which at the mystical and theological Christian level correspondsthe theory that Being, Person or Soul are above energies. Being as person is the unit itself and the causal model for the living unit at any level of existence. Broken from the connection with the soul the material energies destructure themselves, know the phenomenon of entropy and take death image. As a result of the fall, the materialenergetic systems know structuring and destructuring, antagonistic guidelines internal or external. The matrix of structuralist thinking is the antagonistic energy logics, which reflects in itself the very state of falling in a Christian sense. The soul, however, transcends the antagonistic logic, it is also provides the unit beyond oppositions: “O Thou, Father, old, you hold the world in your hand! / blaze without shade, I only can see Your halo, / guess as in a mirror! Face of dazzling confusion!”. (Kontakion I), “Under Thy Holy light my heavy clay burnt “(Canticle I),” You, our holy country, we speak with the new voice / like hungry for godliness, from temporality we sew/ in the trappings of light and shade, your thought.” (Kontakion II),” And in the third night, when from the heavenly hive / the gold bees, swarming stars / black night flower, was buried / your body of a hermit without coffin “(Canticle III), “white nun”. Therefore, the expression of the soul, the word, manifests the relationship between image and full units, between faces that communicate with each other. In the hymn-akathist, the words cease to be part of a system of antagonistic opposition. The poetic identity is grounded at a prereflexiv, preanalytical level, the sheer act of being self utterance: “Glory to You, Trinity, Non-understood understanding / Glory to you, forever pure virgin bride, / Glory to you, Archangels, Heavenly armies , / Glory to you, O Mostholy, chosen, sealed spiritually / Glory to you, Dimitrie the New Basarabov, / to whom I sang this akathist by this Ceaslov Verse, / Increase a keep-forever through which the world, / Enlarge him forever in ages, Glory! Glory! Amen!” (Kontakion XIII). Hence the Sandu Tudor’s need to recover the Auroral condition of poetic utterance that points to the first condition of the being in the theological sense. We note that the uncreated all bathing light experience which he lives is an experience of the transfiguration of all things and especially those earthly realities that seemed to have no spiritual status before being seen by the Spirit: “So many awaken nights in you the stars devise / and the sun took your dreams, / so you could see the ones alive, / passing under your eye/ merciful, the crown, rings sanctified / good to be praised by the fallen heaven.” The Akathist, the norm-text that meets own aesthetic and visionary specific, foretastes of same mystical experience of overcoming the inertia of the world, with air filling, the filling with the Spirit’s presence. IV. POETIC ASIDE: ABOUT THE MESSIANIC FUNCTION OF THE HYMN-AKATHIST In The Great Code - The Bible and Literature20, Northrop Frye argues that Holy Scripture had a fruitful and continuing influence on Western literature, establishing an imaginative framework and a mythological universe as it evolved until the eighteenth century and, somehow, is still evolving. The return of the myth over the time is because Jesus Christ is 20
Northon Frye, Marele Cod – Biblia şi literatura, Traducere de Al. Sasu și I. Stanciu, Editura Du Style, București, 1999, p.214.
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the apparition of a superior nature, a transfigured nature above human life. Since the concept of death and rebirth of Jesus is a religious concept, being the “result of an experience, not of a theoretical speculation – it is a mystery conception”21 - a reading of these hymns-akathist in the key concept of deification is entirely legitimate and at least two other reading variants could be admitted here: one from the perspective of intertextuality, another of the archetypal criticism. This phrase - life in Christ – of Paul’s, the Church Fathers called it deification. Thus, according to patristic teaching, the path of deification is the union with Christ, precisely because the union of the Archetype is the one that leads the man to his completion. To get here however, the human beings must gain some inner skills, must have overcome the evil within, and have learned with good thoughts. However, this way is just the imitation of Christ, the One who, in Himself, has overcome the powers of evil, defeating then by Resurrection. Far from being an esoteric issue, a “mythological fantasy” or metaphysical speculation, deification of Man remains an inexhaustible theological and literary theme that deeply marks modern utopias and anxieties, representing a constant of human condition and history as a whole. St. Demetrios’ perfect simplicity of life inspired the young poet Sandu Tudor and he represents an ascetic ideal who, throughout his life, is committed explicitly in the process of updating the Archetype, sinking into oblivion and seeking of God. Demetrius was a very simple man, oxen keeper in Basarabi village, on the banks of the stream Lom, where, finally, stepped back out of sight of the crowd, becoming a hermit. Henceforth his life fulfilled in prayers remained almost unknown, even his grave being covered by flood waters and after a storm, and hid under gravel river bottom. More than a century and a half has elapsed over the hermit’s relics until one night when he showed himself to a girl from his native village with terrible experiences of illness, and this girl was healed. Following the girl’s indications regarding the location of his remains as it was shown in a dream, the villagers proceeded to dig in river and they found, indeed, the bones which they unearthed and placed them in a coffin to which then people nearby and around the world have come to pray for help. And miracles of healing did not slow to appear. Thus began his new and true life, given by the grace of God. In Dumitru Stăniloae’s point of view, Jesus opens to the world not only the possibility to invoke a possible therapeutic world, but also transcending truth “through death to resurrection” death being defined by him as a needed and universal time which places the meaning of life in transcendent. As the sanctity of the oxen keeper hermit Demetrius was proven, the Patriarchy moved the remains in the patriarchal church, passing it among the Romanian saints, named Saint Dimitrie the New Basarabov. In this context, St. Demetrius is a “dynamic image” of Archetype which finds its meaning precisely in this way of deepening without ceasing into existance, which is a way of deifying communion: “Stellar sign in your head inserted, / Pious, you stood over death that had hidden you, / (...) / and by you, thought climbs like a vine in heaven / and with thin hands touching Christ’s garment, / so our spirits cure of flaming disease.” (Kontakion VII). Communion with Christ 21
Mircea Eliade, Morfologia religiilor.Prolegomene, Editura Jurnalul literar, București, 1993, p.83
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renews the human being. If here on earth man is imperfect and unfulfilled, the need of deification becomes imperative in Sandu Tudor’s view: “You, with my unseen hand shadows, / to endure the heat of temptation, / to give me without delay! / love buds with abundance of facts, / do not ever try slave rebellion, / to break to the day, through devilish night / revived in the Lord, crystal awe, / kidnapping of stairs to tell the glory “ (Canticle IX ). Natura umană, însă, nu se putea întregi prin simpla ei aspiraţie spre desăvîrşire; ea trebuia să realizeze unirea cu Arhetipul: „Luminare sfântă ce călăuzește,/sub smerirea rugii, fă să simt iar, cum,/prin iubirea-ți trează, viața-n mine crește/cu avânt de aripi, spre cer de vultur.” (Icos IX) Christ opened the way for achieving of this goal. God redeemed the man from the servitude of sin, the devil and death, but did the thing which Adam had not done; gave real existence through Christ, raising him to the rank of new creation. Therefore, Christ is the salvation of man, not only in a negative way, delivering him from the consequences of his forefathers’ sin, but also positively, completing the iconic existence before the Fall. Human relationship with Jesus is not only a healing one; Human salvation is something much more than redemption, it coincides with the deification: “Lord Jesus Christ, I am looking at the icon / which in a canon paints on wood, holy, the Crucifixion, / the ninth hour, when, Life Giver, / through the agony pain you redempted your creation” (Kontakion X). Therefore, Sandu Tudor’s norm-text The Akatist of Our Allpious Father St. Demetrius The New, Keeper of oxen in Basarabov develops an authentic anthropology because, as is stressed by Nikolai Berdyaev, it can be based only on Christic revelation: “The universal fact of Christ appearance is the foundation of anthropology. Only in Christ and through Christ the universal act of human divine awareness becomes possible”22. Thus, the Tudorian dogmatic Akathist, extensive poetical utterance, is built on Christian anthropological architecture, which posits human deification, defined as the interplay of human nature and the divine. The poetic discourse is held constant in the expression of humility emotion and faith. The man is pressed by the need of own progress as a human need, and that deification supposed by mystical involvment presupposes inhumanning of the man; it is an act of overcoming human objectivity by tracing its spiritual basis23. Deification, the ascetic ideal of shimistics, does not refer to what is commonly called knowledge, but a reconstruction of the human in the perspective of what it should be; it is the result of “to be” instead of “to know”: “Putting away the sadness of the world, free from all blame, / in Christ clothed, kissing your holy bone / day of cross carriers to keep after your holy example, / unbridled Church” (Kontakion XI). V. Conclusions It seems clear that any effort of probing depths of the Tudorian imaginary in the Tradition of the Church and the 22
Nikolai Berdiaev, Sensul creației, Editura Humanitas, București,1992, pp. 85-86. 23 Sandu Frunză, O antropologie mistică-introducere în gândirea Părintelui Dumitru Stăniloae, Editura Omniscop, Craiova, 1996, p. 71. [A Mystical Anthropology‒Introduction in Father Dumitru Stăniloae’s Thinking, Omniscop Publishing House, Craiova,1996, p.71]
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Christian vision, in addition to identifying any veins or even suspicion of hidden links is forced to confront and explain the own developments, the way which is what we might call the original iconography of Sandu Tudor’s imaginary. In this sense, from the trial and assumptions stage, analysis is urged to get and install in that area of approved prospections and safe design. The contemporaneity of following Christ is explained by the feeling of unfulfillment that threatens at every step the circumstantial balance of human existence. However The Akatist of Our Allpious Father St. Demetrius The New, Keeper of oxen in Basarabov denotes the power exercised by the Archetype of the literature, the impact of Christianity on creative imagination. Therefore reading this akathisthymn brings the mystical feeling in our hearts to reveal it to us, contributing to the activation of transfiguring dynamics of faith. References [1] Bădescu, Laura. Sacris litteris. Încercare de sistem, în „Viaţa
[2] [3]
[4] [5] [6]
Românească”, XCIV, Ianuarie-Februarie, București, 1999, nr. 1. (references) Berdiaev, Nikolai. Sensul creației, Editura Humanitas, București,1992. Durand, Gilbert. Structurile antropologice ale imaginarului. Introducere în arhetipologia general. Traducere de Marcel Aderca. Postfață de Cornel Mihai Ionescu, București, Editura Universul Enciclopedic, 2000. Eliade, Mircea. Istoria credințelor și ideilor religioase, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, București, 1988. Eliade, Mircea. Morfologia religiilor.Prolegomene, Editura Jurnalul literar, București, 1993. Evdokimov, Paul. Femeia și mântuirea lumii. Traducere de Gabriela Moldoveanu, București, Asociația Christiana, 1995.
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[7] Frunză, Sandu. O antropologie mistică-introducere în
gândirea Părintelui Dumitru Stăniloae, Editura Omniscop, Craiova, 1996, p. 71. [A Mystical Anthropology‒Introduction in Father Dumitru Stăniloae’s Thinking, Omniscop Publishing House, Craiova,1996, p.71] [8] Frye, Northon. Marele Cod – Biblia şi literatura, Traducere de Al. Sasu și I. Stanciu, Editura Du Style, București, 1999, p.214. [9] Ică, diac. Prof. dr. Ioan I. Jr. Daniil Sandu Tudor-poet, schimnic, neoimnograf și martir, în „Revista Teologică”, anul I,nr.2, Sibiu, 1991. [10] Plămădeală, Mitropolitul Antonie. Rugul Aprins, Editura Arhiepiscopiei Sibiului,ediția electonică, Sibiu, 2002. [11] Stăniloae, Dumitru. Ascetica și mistica Bisericii Ortodoxe, București, Editura I.B. M. B.O. R., 2002. [12] Stăniloae, Dumitru. Viața și învățătura lui Grigorie Palamas, Seria Teologică, Sibiu, 1938. [13] Tudor, Sandu. Seamă de cuvinte. Introducere la Acatistul preacuviosului părintelui nostrum Sf. Dimitrie cel Nou boarul din Basarabov. În Ieroschimonahul Daniil de la Rarău (Sandu Tudor), Acatiste. Prima ediție integrală, îngrijită de Alexandru Dimcea, Gabriel Moldoveanu, Editura Christiana, București. [14] Krzywon, Ernst Josef. Möglichkeiten einer Literaturtheologie, în „Der Evanghelische Erzieher. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik und Theologie”, 28, Jahrgang, 1976
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The uncreated energies – the spiritual foundation of knowledge Lector Rev. Dr. Florin Spanache The Faculty of Theology, Ovidius University Constanţa, Romania
Abstract: By the Orthodox teaching’s point of view on the uncreated energies, the science has the possibility to be spiritually substantiated. As far back as the patristic epoch, the theology speaks of the inward rationality of creation backed up by the uncreated energies, by which the world can be gathered in man and lifted to the highest level of its existence, to its being transfigured into a new heaven and a new earth. The microscopic world is found at the basis of the visible material world, but by knowing it, the science has exactly discovered this rationality. In accordance with Einstein discovery concerning the hierarchy of the physics laws, the universe’s rationality goes beyond its manifestation described with the help of the laws of symmetry, of finality, of cause and effect, all of which are conspicuous at the macroscopic level; it was this reality which has induced the men of science to assert that this is the work of God’s Mind. Keyword: the uncreated energies, rationality, the quantum physics, the theory of relativity, macroscopic scale, microscopic level, the uncertainty principle, fulfillments, epecthesis.
I.
The role of christendom in the development of science. The eastern Christianity has always led the humanity to her liberation from the determinism of natural and cosmic laws which stand at the basis of the myth of eternal return from the pantheistic and dualistic religions of antiquity, thus allowing the appearance of the vast scientific and technical progress of today’s humanity. By preaching the teaching on the spiritually pure, eternal and transcendental Being of God, the Christianity has led human reason to the partial desacralization of nature, to the abolition of idolatry which was advocated by the entire ancient world and generalized by the heathen religions, and has permitted the knowledge, the utilization and the preservation of creation which has been made to be bestowed to the man, who had the destiny to spiritualize and humanize it after Christ’s model Who has transfigured in Himself the man and the cosmos.1 The Christianity offers us the possibility to assimilate the 1 Pr. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Popescu, Ortodoxie şi contemporaneitate, „Editura Diogene,” Bucureşti, 1996, p. 158-159.
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universe in our being by God’s presence and His work in the creation. But today, as much as in the ancient world, God’s existence and the soul’s immortality are a priori posited and they must be placed at the basis of the scientific researches. It is asserted that the rational arguments can not awaken the faith into an atheist; yet they may strengthen and justify it for the faithful. The reason’s limits are shown especially in front of miracles and prophesy which can not be explained by anything but by faith. However, sometimes neither even the miracles are able to make an atheist to believe; but if he manifests a sincere openness as compared to the truth and desires to uncover it, then the miracles are the best means to awakening the faith and uncovering the truth. There is no shame for an intellectual or for a serious scholar to find out that his theses are erroneous; for such an individual, it would be a reason for joy to find out about other theories, closer to the truth, which shall help him to elucidate the mysteries which are worrying him. “Karl Popper has claimed that a true scholar must always attempt at refuting his own hypothesis.”2 This must be the ultimate norm of the deontology of researchers and scholars. “Nothing honor a scholar more than calling a spade a spade, that is, as he is being led by the sense of his intellectual researches.”3 Due to our discursive, limited thinking, only the dialectical search allows us to evolve on a scientific plan. Wherefore, “the disputes are always constructive. One may deceive oneself; another one may correct him/her. No hypothesis may be prohibited, and no hypothesis is unuseful. All of them are offered to the research and the researcher stops at the one which seems to him/her to be true, or, anyhow, plausible. No one must be condemned for his personal options, when they are sincere and honestly sought for. But, one must not lose sight of the fact that his options are personal, since there is no general option. St. Paul the Apostle exhorted: „Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to dsiputes over doubtful things” (Romans 14, 2 ***, O constatare senzaţională, dar controversată, care ar putea
produce o adevărată „schimbare de civilizaţie”. Apa are propria ei memorie, „Magazin Nord-Est,” year I (15-21 june, 1995), nr. 15, p. 13. 3 Mgr. Gheorghe Drăgulin, Ortodoxia în teologia contemporană, „Ortodoxia,” anul XI (1959), nr. 1, p. 148.
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1).4 II.
The necessity of scientific and technological
development of the humanity for her material and
spiritual life. In analyzing various scientific discoveries which, on one hand, present the complexity of the world created by God, and, on the other hand, may offer solutions to the various requirements and necessities of the contemporary and forthcoming human society, such as, the energetic crisis, the genetic diseases, we have to conclude that the scientific and technological development is necessary for the welfare of humanity. The quantum physics and the theory of relativity have decisively contributed to the development of technique to its present-day forms.
The great theories of the present-day physics have an important role both in the conserving of the world’s existence and of man’s, and in its being led to new stages of development. Thus, Albert Einstein has discovered the theory of relativity and has very much contributed to the discovery of the quantum mechanics,5 but these things have not satisfied him due exactly to the revelation of the caducity of the material world. Any material creature is made up of atoms found in a permanent moving state which takes place in huge void spaces as compared to the atoms dimensions. This means that the creatures, for their greatest part, consist of void spaces. The microscopic particles give cohesion to the things only due to their unceasing dynamism around the nucleus which exerts an attracting force. The matter, under all its forms of aggregation, is made up of energetic particles, which are into a continuous movement in a void space. These particles have short life duration, disappearing in the nothingness of which they have come out, but not before some others have come out in an equally magic way to the way by which the previous ones have disappeared. We can not stay impassible in front of such a discovery which reconfirms the intuition of genius of the Holy Fathers. This time we are reminded of St. Justin who, while speaking of the world’s cause and its created character, says that the world is such a solid, resistant, and dense body, and it changes itself by disappearing and being born each and every day, nevertheless.6 In order for them to explain this phenomenon, the men of science, who have in view to preserve the autonomy of creation in comparison with God, have emitted the hypothesis of anti-particles’ existence as the source for the particles’ appearance. The last innovation of the autonomous science with respect to the way of appearance of the elementary particles is the assertion that they appear by the agency of the bosons nicknamed “the God particles.” In passing over all these theories, we want to emphasize that the creatures are founded on these particles which have 4 Antonie Plămădeală, Tâlcuri noi la texte vechi, „Tiparul Tipografiei Eparhiale Sibiu,” Sibiu, 1989, p. 269.
5 Stephen W. Hawking, Visul lui Einstein şi alte eseuri, „Editura Humanitas,” Bucureşti, 1997, p. 77.
6 Sf. Justin Martirul şi Filosoful, Dialogul cu iudeul Trifon, 5, 2, at Pr.
Prof. Dr. Ioan G. Coman, Patrologie, vol. I, „Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române,” Bucureşti, 1984, p. 301.
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a short existence and which bring the men of science on the horns of a dilemma, since some are prone to call them creatures, also, because the microscopic universe is to them more real than the macroscopic universe.7 “In each point of the creation the matter was never anything but a servile slave and dominated everywhere by the sovereignty of the forces that are steering it.”8 The firmness of the rock is based not on a dense composition of stable material particles; it is based on dynamic particles which manifest themselves in a void space, and this proves the dynamic character of all creatures, grounded on the energetic structure of the matter, on the presence of some forces which come from a continuous source of existence and movement. Einstein has understood why the man can not easily dominate the matter, namely because, although he possesses a complexity which is hard to describe, it does not have stability, and is not eternal. Even the physical laws must be framed into a hierarchy, since some of them are valid at a certain level, while others start acting at another level, superior to the others. Wherefore, it is said that “Einstein has not proved that ‘Newton has deceived himself:’ he has transcended Newton’s theory, by including it in something deeper and with greater applicability,” and because of this it is deemed that, it would have been better suited for the theory of relativity to be called the theory of invariant.9 If we go higher on the stages of knowledge, our perspective is more complete, supplying us a better understanding of the things’ interconnection, and amazingly broadening our horizon.10 This is how one could explain why he lived the second half of his life while looking vainly to realize a unified theory by which this thicket of material particles could be controlled and thus the world to be understood in its totality.11 This theory could not be ever defined, due to apparent contradiction between the microscopic world, characterized by a fantastic contingency, and the macroscopic one, which evinces an amazing rationality, a fact which made Einstein to assert that the only incomprehensible thing as far as the world is concerned is the fact that it can be comprehended.12 On the other hand, Einstein has discovered another one, the one of probability, by which he had in view, to some extent, the explanation of the connection between phenomenons at the microscopic level, and their supervision. This last theory has laid at the basis of the subsequent development of the data processing science, by which there have been possible the present-day fulfillments of the human civilization, such as the development of the spatial navigation, of the automating, and of robotics. The Einstein’s step is not novel and it was not forgotten to the present-day; it was taken over by some other restless 7 Kitty Ferguson, The fire in the equations: science, religion, and the search for God, „Templeton Foundation Press,” Philadelphia and London, 2004, p. 5. 8 Camille Flammarion, Dumnezeu în natură, trad. de Arhiereul Irineu Mihălcescu Târgovişteanu, „Editura Aurom”, Bucureşti, 1997, p. 37. 9 Martin Res, Doar şase numere. Forţele fundamentale care modelează universul, “Editura Humanitas,” Bucureşti, 2000, p. 48. 10 Julian Barbour, The End of Time, „Weidenfeld & Nicolson,” 1999, after Martin Rees, Doar şase numere, p. 49. 11 Stephen W. Hawking, Visul lui Einstein şi alte eseuri, pp. 77-78. 12 Ian C. Barbour, Când ştiinţa întâlneşte religia. Adversare, străine, sau partenere?, „Editura Curtea Veche,” Bucureşti, 2006, p. 89.
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spirits, eager after the exhaustive knowledge of the seen world, that were ignoring the fact that the infinite God works in the world and offers it infinite potentialities. “Descartes, and the modern science, all at once with him, considers that the interpretation of (reality, our note), may be replaced by the data accumulation (it is a displacement from the teleological method to the eutaxiological one, a step visible at Hawking, also: “the final goal of science is to give a single theory which describes the entire universe”13).14 But the man is much more a complex creature than this, and this reality is discovered only by the faith teaching through which the action of the divine grace’s work enters into action, grace which is able to unify all in God. “The contemporary science leads us to the frontiers found between science, faiths and ethics. Some dream about a vast unifying synthesis between the present-day science and the mystical and religious traditions. Yet, instead of succumbing to a concord or a syncretism full of confusion, it is rather necessary to attain to a true dialogue between the great cultural traditions: science, religion, etc… The contemporary epistemology has quite clearly shown that the very science involves the faith dimension.”15 The science gives oneself airs. Our attainments bestow on us pride, gravity, and we have the tendency to rely only on ourselves, without any more appealing to God. The more we identify quicker our knowledge’s errors, the more we are closer to the truth. The faith teaching does not signify anything to those who consider themselves wise in accordance with the wisdom of this world, while to those who are pure in their heart the whole work of God in the creation is discovered until, united to Him in the life hereafter, they attain to knowing Him into an ascending form, into a perpetual epecthesis. The dynamics of indetermination and of cosmos’ order,16 which fascinates the modern science, was anticipated by the Holy Fathers, who have spoken about the rationality of creation, of whom we are reminded, particularly, of St. Maximos the Confessor, who asserts: “Who is the one who knows the reasons of things as they are and how they are differentiated and have an unmoved stability by nature, and an unchanging movement between them, having the stability on the move and the move on the stability, which is such an astounding thing? Who knows which one is the relation between them of the contrary things toward the making up of a single world, and which one is the kind of the move and of the well ordered and unmixed steering?”17 13 See Stephen W. Hawking, Scurtă istorie a timpului. De la Big
Bang la găurile negre, „Editura Humanitas”, Bucureşti, 1995, pp. 24-28, at Doru Costache, Istoria recentă, actualitatea şi perspectivele raporturilor între teologie şi reprezentarea ştiinţifică a lumii, in Pr. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Popescu, Ştiinţă & Teologie. Preliminarii pentru dialog, „Editura XXI: Eonul dogmatic,” Bucureşti, 2001, p. 39. 14 Doru Costache, Istoria recentă, actualitatea şi perspectivele raporturilor între teologie şi reprezentarea ştiinţifică a lumii, in Pr. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Popescu, Ştiinţă & Teologie. Preliminarii pentru dialog, „Editura XXI: Eonul dogmatic,” Bucureşti, 2001, p. 39. 15 Jean-Pierre Lonchamp, Science et croyance, „Ed. Desclee de Brouwer,” Paris, 1992, pp. 8-9. 16 Jean-Pierre Lonchamp, Ştiinţă şi credinţă, “Editura XXI: Eonul dogmatic”, Bucureşti, 2003, pp. 145-148. 17 Sf. Maxim Mărturisitorul, Ambigua, tâlcuiri ale unor locuri cu multe şi adânci înţelesuri din Sfinţii Dionisie Arepopagitul şi Grigorie
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It ensues from all of these researches that there exist three categories of laws. The theory of relativity is applied on a macroscopic scale, in connection with the space and the time, thus revealing to the man not only the universe’s relativity, but the present-day life of man, which is directly dependant on the forces and moves of the heavenly bodies with slower or faster speeds.18 In contrast with this, the Newton’s physics is applied to the terrestrial plan – the one of man’s existence – and the quantum physics is applied to the microscopic level and it contains, also, the uncertainty principle discovered by Heisenberg, in accordance with which there cannot ever be measured simultaneously the position and the speed of a particle, due to the observer’s influence, based on his instruments’ help, on the energy and on its move,19 that which confers inconsistency to the world, also, at the macroscopic level, since the history of each particle may influence the history of the entire complex of the world, while ensuing that the causality and the finality are dependant on an infinity of invisible, microscopic factors.20 Moreover, “the famous law of direct causality seems to be no longer valid in the small infinite in which the physicians have uncovered micro-particles, the behavior of which eludes this law.”21 On the other hand, this principle demonstrates the essential limits of the knowledge power of man,22 and the necessity of an over-rational, intuitive knowledge, grounded on the act of faith. Thus, the quantum physics has led to comprehending the fact that the consummate representation of the world can not be exclusively scientific, the men of science being, hence, called, also, to a dialogue with some other knowledge forms, to “the creation of a relation between microphysics and philosophy,” owing to the ultimate questions posed by the physics.23 The quantum physics has discovered the paradoxical structure of light which is simultaneously both wave (the spiritual side) and corpuscle (the material side); yet, it could not demonstrate how the relation between them takes place. The light has given voice to the world, has lately said the researchers, that is, the photon is the first particle that appeared in the universe by which the other particles have appeared, also. The discovery – by the scientific research – of the internal logical order of the matter, which surpasses the opposition between the nature and the spirit, has made some scholars to speak about electron as about a Spirit “bearer,” things which have been anticipated by the Revelation and expressed in a theological language, that is, Teologul, colecţia Părinţi şi Scriitori bisericeşti, vol. 80, „Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române,” Bucureşti, 1983, p. 204. 18 Martin Rees, Doar şase numere, p. 48. 19 Stephen W. Hawking, Visul lui Einstein şi alte eseuri, p. 85. 20 Kitty Ferguson, The fire in the equations, pp. 15-16. 21 Prof. K. Blaser, Doctrine de Dieu. Guide des principaux aspects de la question, Curs dactilografiat, 1979-1980, p. 45. 22 Pr. Prep. Dr. Răzvan Andrei Ionescu, Lect. Dr. Adrian Nicole Lemeni, Teologie Ortodoxă şi Ştiinţă. Repere pentru dialog, „Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române,” Bucureşti, 2006, p. 375. 23 C.F. von Weiysacker, The World View of Physics, „Editura Routledge,” London, 1952, pp. 35-36, apud Pr. Prep. Dr. Răzvan Andrei Ionescu, Lect. Dr. Adrian Nicolae Lemeni, Teologie Ortodoxă şi Ştiinţă. Repere pentru dialog, pp. 368-369.
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“the world was created by the Logos,” Who gave it, also, an internal rationality as a structure of the matter.24 Starting from the structure of light, Erwin Schrödinger avails himself of the same laws of physics and defines the life as spirit and matter.25 He points out that, as the physics science can not demonstrate the relation which exists between the wave and the corpuscle in the light’s structure, in the same way the relation which exists between the matter and the spirit can not be demonstrated, and, as such, the life is an extraordinary antinomy for the science.26 Thus, the life notion which is understood by the science as being a double reality, spirit and matter, confirms the Hebrew term chaim, which has a dual sense, in as much as it refers to the visible-material aspect, and to the invisible-spiritual one, a significance which we may report to the two worlds, the visible one and the invisible one. And the quantum science has demonstrated that there could be two worlds in the same space and time. Besides the discovery of these fascinating realities on the complex subatomic world, which edifies the man on the existence in general, the quantum physics shows its importance for the man, also, by the fact that it has allowed him to get to the discovery of the two procedures by which the atoms could be used as new sources of energy, namely, in the nuclear fission and fusion. In the context of contemporary world, in which the pollution of nature represents the more a danger to man, because of the utilization of fossil fuels, the two procedures of producing energy are much more than saving. Someone said that there is no energetic crisis, but a technologic one, since the energy can be obtained through very many ways, but not only by the classical ones; yet, the lack of technology is what makes us to reach an energetic deadlock. By using the nuclear energy, the present-day man may secure the long lasting function of all of the technical creations necessary in life. “The matter!... Lately the men of science have discovered one of greatest mysteries of nature: the atomic energy. In a kilogram of uranium is stored so much energy so that piece of metal is able to bear a huge passenger ship across the ocean. Now, try and imagine if you can, how much energy is inside the entire matter from the globe, or how much in the sun, or in the billions of stars and galaxies which are seen in the universe, or which have not been discovered as yet. And all of these have been made by God.”27 And the discovery of the new microscopic particles and the using of the quantum physics offer the man the possibility to study procedures more and more efficient for the producing of the energy which is necessary to realize the most grandiose plans for humanity, as the spatial flights of long duration. 24 Pr. Tache Sterea, Dumnezeu, omul şi creaţia în teologia ortodoxă şi
în preocupările ecumenismului contemporan. Teză de doctorat. Partea a II-a, „Ortodoxia,” anul XLIX (1998), nr. 3-4, p. 157. 25 Apud Pr. Drd. Ioan Popescu, Structuri tematice cu implicaţii în gândirea teologică după gândirea lui Erwin Schrodinger: „Ce este viaţa? Şi spirit şi materie,” „Studii Teologice,” an XLIII (1991), nr. 4, p. 140. 26 Pr. Drd. Ioan Popescu, op. cit. 27 Pr. Dr. Ştefan Slevoacă, Din tezaurul ortodoxiei în apărarea credinţei străbune, „Editura Episcopiei Buzăului,” Buzău, 1990, p. 122.
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Another providential fulfillment could be the deciphering of the thorough map of the genetic code of man. This fulfillment could be used to root out some diseases which are considered incurable up until now.28 Of course, it could lead to contingent ethical side-slipping, as the human cloning,29 a fact because of which the secular authorities have a great responsibility in the observance of the ethics and of the man’s personality. “A science without foundation and without ethical applications is in all cases ill-starred to the man and culture,” as says a Catholic theologian, who reminds us of Bacon who asserted that science without conscience is tantamount to the ruin of the soul and of the universe, since, if we consider that the man is a being made up exclusively of matter, then we depreciate the very essence of his nature.30 Likewise, starting from the map of human genome, some of man’s behaviors could be corrected, both at the individual level and at the social level. In this direction have already appeared researchers who have given birth to a new science, the science of socio-biology, which has in view to fulfill a systematic study on the biological bases of any forms of social behavior.31 III. The perspectives of scientific and technological development of humanity. All of these fulfillments of the human scientific genius have been possible by God’s providence, and they have a great utility both for the knowledge and the preservation of the integrity of the whole world, and for its promoting, for developing it in new forms more and more complex which are supposed to secure the progress of man and of his physical necessities, both of the present-day ones and of those who succeed us. They have not been fulfilled in a short period of time; they have been fulfilled in a long period, depending both on the necessities of the epoch in which they have lived, but particularly, depending on their spiritual evolution, especially after the salvation fulfilled in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. By the Orthodox teaching’s point of view on the uncreated energies, the science has the possibility to be spiritually substantiated. As far back as the patristic epoch, the theology speaks of the inward rationality of creation backed up by the uncreated energies, by which the world can be gathered in man and lifted to the highest level of its existence, to its being transfigured into a new heaven and a new earth. The microscopic world is found at the basis of the visible material world, but by knowing it, the science has exactly discovered this rationality. In accordance with Einstein discovery concerning the hierarchy of the physics laws, the universe’s rationality goes beyond its manifestation described with the help of the laws of symmetry, of finality, of cause and effect, all of which are conspicuous at the macroscopic level; it was this reality which has induced the men of science to assert that this is the work of God’s 28
Constantin Maximilian, Ştefan M. Milcu, Sylvain Poenaru, Fascinaţia imposibilului. Bioetica, „Editura pentru tineret şi sport – Editis,” Bucureşti, 1994, p. 144. 29 Ibidem, pp. 51-53. 30 Cardinalul Paul Poupard, Credinţă şi cultură la cumpăna dintre milenii, „Editura Galaxia Gutenberg,” 2005, p. 161. 31 Jean-Pierre Lonchamp, Ştiinţă şi credinţă, p. 150.
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Mind.32
Popescu, Pr. Drd. Ioan, Structuri tematice cu implicaţii în gândirea teologică după gândirea lui Erwin Schrodinger: „Ce este viaţa? Şi spirit şi materie,” „Studii Teologice,” an XLIII (1991), nr. 4, pp. 136-145; [18] Poupard, Cardinalul Paul, Credinţă şi cultură la cumpăna dintre milenii, „Editura Galaxia Gutenberg,” 2005, 216 p; [19] Rees, Martin, Doar şase numere. Forţele fundamentale care modelează universul, „Editura Humanitas,” Bucureşti, 2000, 212 p; [20] Slevoacă, Pr. Dr. Ştefan, Din tezaurul ortodoxiei în apărarea credinţei străbune, „Editura Episcopiei Buzăului,” Buzău, 1990, 384 p; [21] Sterea, Pr. Tache, Dumnezeu, omul şi creaţia în teologia ortodoxă şi în preocupările ecumenismului contemporan. Teză de doctorat. Partea a II-a, „Ortodoxia,” anul XLIX (1998), nr. 3-4, pp. 65-166. [17]
Bibliography [1]
The Orthodox Study Bible. New Testament and Psalms, New King James Version, Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993;33 [2] Sf. Maxim Mărturisitorul, Ambigua, tâlcuiri ale unor locuri cu multe şi adânci înţelesuri din Sfinţii Dionisie Arepopagitul şi Grigorie Teologul, colecţia Părinţi şi Scriitori bisericeşti, vol. 80, „Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române,” Bucureşti, 1983, 372 p; [3] Barbour, Ian C., Când ştiinţa întâlneşte religia. Adversare, străine, sau partenere?, „Editura Curtea Veche,” Bucureşti, 2006, 328 p; [4] Blaser, Prof. K., Doctrine de Dieu. Guide des principaux aspects de la question, Curs dactilografiat, 1979-1980, 100 p; [5] Coman, Pr. Prof. Dr. Ioan G., Patrologie, vol. I, „Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române,” Bucureşti, 1984, 462 p; [6] Costache, Pr. Asist. Dr. Doru, Istoria recentă, actualitatea şi perspectivele raporturilor între teologie şi reprezentarea ştiinţifică a lumii, in Pr. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Popescu, Ştiinţă şi Teologie. Preliminarii pentru dialog, „Editura XXI: Eonul dogmatic,” Bucureşti, 2001, pp. 27-60; [7] Drăgulin, Mgr. Gheorghe, Ortodoxia în teologia contemporană, „Ortodoxia,” anul XI (1959), nr. 1, pp. 145158; [8] Ferguson, Kitty, The fire in the equations: science, religion, and the search for God, „Templeton Foundation Press,” Philadelphia and London, 2004, 188 p; [9] Flammarion, Camille, Dumnezeu în natură, trad. de Arhiereul Irineu Mihălcescu Târgovişteanu, „Editura Aurom”, Bucureşti, 1997, 352 p; [10] Hawking, Stephen W., Visul lui Einstein şi alte eseuri, „Editura Humanitas,” Bucureşti, 1997, 174 p; [11] Ionescu, Pr. Prep. Dr. Răzvan Andrei, Lemeni, Lector Dr. Adrian Nicolae, Teologie Ortodoxă şi ştiinţă. Repere pentru dialog, „Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, Bucureşti, 2006, 498 p; [12] Longchamp, Jean-Pierre, Science et croyance, „Ed. Desclee de Brouwer,” Paris, 1992, 168 p; [13] Maximilian, Constantin, Milcu, Ştefan M., Poenaru, Sylvain, Fascinaţia imposibilului. Bioetica, „Editura pentru tineret şi sport – Editis,” Bucureşti, 1994, 184 p; [14] ***, O constatare senzaţională, dar controversată, care ar putea produce o adevărată „schimbare de civilizaţie.” Apa are propria ei memorie, „Magazin Nord-Est,” anul I (15-21 iunie 1995), nr. 15, p. 13; [15] Plămădeală, Antonie, Tâlcuri noi la texte vechi, „Tiparul Tipografiei Eparhiale Sibiu,” Sibiu, 1989, 480 p; [16] Popescu, Pr. Prof. Dr. Dumitru, Ortodoxie şi contemporaneitate, „Editura Diogene,” Bucureşti, 1996, 214 p; 32 Kitty Ferguson, The fire in the equations, p. 19. 33 The translator used this official translation for the biblical quotation.
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On how the Dialogue between Religion and Science is possible Mircea Adrian Marica Ovidius University Constanta, Romania marica.mircea@yahoo.com
Abstract: My work attempts to identify the reasons behind the dialogue between theology and science, pointing out the difficulties of such a dialogue and the framework that appear under the conditions of the possibility of this dialogue. According to the author, the truths of science and the truths of theology belong to different dimensions and cannot collide if the specificity of the knowledge domains is observed. Science has as its object what we call physical world, whereas theology has as its object the metaphysical world, the world of values and of the meanings of existence in relation with transcendence. The arguments we bring lead to the idea of this dialogue being possible under the conditions of observing epistemic competences and suggest as possible spaces for a fruitful dialogue the issues related to existential starting points, sufferance, isolation, death, lack of sense, as well as the issue of the ethics of scientific research, of political science, of educational policy and of development policies. Keywords: theology, science, authority, ethics, psychotherapy
I.
metaphysics,
epistemic
The reasons behind such a dialogue
The issue of the dialogue between science and religion seems to be extremely up to date in our cultural space, since there have been academic research centers, programs, post-graduate courses, summer schools, conferences, symposiums, and even a virtual congress for a while now. It is worth mentioning the fact that at the origin of this inter-disciplinary dialogue there stands the Romanian Orthodox Church, which lately has started a series of common projects regarding the dialogue between theology and science together with Romanian universities. [1] This is a common sense salutary initiative, especially if we take into account the fact that theology faculties exist within universities along science faculties, while at undergraduate level the religious discourse intertwines with the scientific one during religion classes. Because of this reason, the
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dialogue is imperative because, from a pedagogical point of view, it is completely absurd that the student of the education institution be exposed to contradictory messages. When science is practiced in school and religion is practiced in church, the fact that the two state different things does not cause serious problems. But when a religion class is followed by a biology class or the other way around, then things get more complicated. A minimum agreement in order not to go beyond the limits of self knowledge and a clear delimitation of the educational fields are elementary. Or, in order to accomplish clarifying agreements, a real and honest dialogue carried out at academic level where teachers are trained is needed before anything else. II.
The difficulties of this dialogue
The dialogue between religion and science raise a series of unsurpassable difficulties if we use the most general concepts of this type of discourse. The first difficulty within this interdisciplinary dialogue has to do with the impossibility to compromise. If in ordinary or political communication negotiation, compromise and via media are terms that lead to satisfactory solutions, when it comes to religion and science this mediating is not possible. Science cannot make compromises without disqualifying itself as science. Likewise, religion cannot contradict the very fundaments of its existence, its dogmas, its faith and its traditions. This difficulty makes some of our colleagues to claim without doubt that such a dialogue cannot exist. Secondly, proving, reenacting and experimenting are impossible in order to identify the truth. When a common problem is debated, it can be solved by going to the facts, by reenacting them, by hearing witnesses, etc. in a scientific dispute in order to choose between two competing theories new theoretical reasoning, new experimental data are brought forward, falsifying attempts and crucial experiments are developed, other alethic criteria such as completion, epistemic relevance and explanatory power are activated. When it comes to the dispute between science and religion, reenacting the facts would have no decisive relevance. Any
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scientific reenactment can only partially confirm or deny the claimed truth of the scriptures, but never a truth related to the sacred. For the dispute between science and religion such criteria are useless, for they belong exclusively to the epistemology of science. Therefore, the dialogue appears to be nonsense. Let us consider several examples from Christian religion. Recently there have been news about a so-called discovery by a historian under the title” Jesus has never existed” [2] published by the Romanian media (from the sports media to magazines). It is said that the historian, after having studies 126 texts “dating back to Jesus’ times”, concluded that Christ has never existed, being just a fable. Does the fact that those texts do not contain any information about Jesus allow us to scientifically or rigorously claim that he has never existed? Or is it just an opinion based on his research? In other words, is it just the historian’s belief based on the date he has worked on? Opinion and belief are not scientific truths in the true sense of the word. Following the flawed logic of this piece of news, I am entitled to wonder if my great-grandmother really existed or if she is just a fable, since neither the internet nor the texts of her times speak about her, even though in my belief she was a significant personality in the community she lived in only a few centuries ago. Let us now consider the reverse of this thesis: there is historical and therefore scientific mentioning about Jesus’ earthly existence. Let us further assume that there is compelling evidence of the truth in the sacred texts about his life. What could this evidence prove? Anything about his divine origin? Obviously not! A last imaginative exercise on this topic. Let us assume that there is compelling historical evidence that Jesus was married. Would this fact deny his divine origin? Obviously not! At the most, it would prove that the story of his earthly life depicted by the scriptures does not really match the data of certain scientific research. The examples above underline the idea that scientific data, regardless of the fact that they prove wrong, confirm or change what religious faith claims, are not relevant to the respective faith. S. Kierkegaard rightfully sys that nothing can be learnt about Christ from history, “you can know nothing about Him, you can only believe in Him’. [3] III. The framework and the terms of the dialogue As one might have noticed, theoretically speaking, for the author of this paper, religion and science are distinct forms of expressing human spirit, with distinct objects, with specific language, different methodologies, with their own aims that cannot overlap except in the absence of a minimal analytical exercise. Science has nothing to do with the truths of faith, and religion has nothing to do with the truths of science. “Scientific truth and faith truth do not belong to the same sense dimension” [4] is rightfully claimed by P. Tillich. From here also springs the fact that the two cannot be in a conflict either, for “science can only be in a conflict with science, and faith can only be in a conflict with faith” [5]. The conflict arises only when one of them goes beyond its territory and betrays its purpose. Practically speaking, things are completely different.
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A theologian can deal with science, and a scientist can be an exemplary believer or he can deal with theology. But when a religious servant looks into an empirical fact, he goes beyond the religious conduct and into the scientific one, whereas when a scientist prays, he goes beyond the scientific exercise and goes into the religious one. The complementary aspect of practical attitudes cannot be considered at a theoretical level without giving birth to monstrous hybrids such as scientific religions and religious sciences. When rigorously considering the terms, the above mentioned syntagmas are nonsense. As a result, the framework of a dialogue can only exist at a pragmatic level, between the theologian and the scientist, springing from understanding and assuming the specificities and the limits of their own scientific and, respectively, religious endeavors. The world of existence, which we can generically call the physical world, is the object of scientific research (regardless of who does the research). The theological endeavor is something that belongs to the metaphysical world, a space where religion meets philosophical speculation. From an epistemic point of view they are two different worlds that existentially meet in my own torn consciousness, where my beliefs on scientific (objective) knowledge and my (subjective) hopes towards a divine transcendence come together. Taking upon me these epistemic considerations, I state that the dialogue between theology and science is necessary and it is possible, but its relevance is determined by theology giving up on its scriptural literalism for intelligent hermeneutics which avoids the collision between the biblical text and the scientific explanation of phenomena. As the same Tillich said, “a theology that interprets the biblical story of creation as a scientific description of a past event interferes with the methodologically controlled scientific activity” [6]. To avoid this interference, it is necessary to accept the presence of a symbolism of the biblical language so that the “evolutionist tiger” can gently sit by “the genesis lamb”, as Lucian Blaga used to say. IV. Places of the fruitful dialogue Man is a creature longing for structure, coherence and sense. When they do not exit, they are phenomenologically set. Science has got the power to explain the empirical world, to discover its structure and to give it a certain coherence; but it can give neither coherence nor sense to human life. This is where metaphysics steps in, be it religious or philosophical. Philosophy uses concepts, while religion uses symbols. The ordinary person finds it more difficult to reach the level of concepts, the symbolist level is more accessible. So this is where the dialogue between theology and science can find its place – in structuring the coherence of our existence and developing the sense of life in the world of values, the world of what deserves and does not deserve to be done. Science provides instruments to control reality; theologians provide the direction in which this control can be enforced. Science provides the means, theology provides the aims for which the means deserve to be used. This entitles Albert Einstein to say that “science without religion is limp, and religion without science is blind” [7] To make myself clear, I shall give an example. Science
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has discovered the intervention mechanisms upon human genome. Theologians can take action to persuade believers, scientists and political decision makers to accept the forms of the beneficial use of this discovery. It would be laughable for theologians to issue scriptural judgement upon genetic truths, but it is useful to step in when analyzing the ethics of using such discovery from the confession perspective. Media syntagmas such as “God’s particle” used without understanding the metaphor also generate confusions. Tillich urges the theologians not to use “recent scientific discoveries to confirm the faith truth”, since “the power emission of quanta has no link to mystery understanding”. The faith truth cannot be confirmed “by the latest physics, biology and psychology discoveries - just as it cannot be denied by them” [8]. Another example of the fruitful dialogue between science and theology can be that of psychotherapy. The priest, by means of confession, has played the role of the modern physiotherapist for millennia, without even knowing it. Yet, he did it according to his skills, in a good or a bad way, saving or killing people. Once scientific psychology appeared and developed, coherent theories on personality and scientific psychotherapy practices have been structured. For many people even nowadays the words of the priest ae enough to bring them comfort. For others, a rigorously scientific practice cannot be replaced by anything else. Still, there are instances in which the two practices can prove to be complementary, by emphasizing themselves. It is that meeting place we have mentioned before, linked to the existential problem, to the tragic triad as it is called in logotherapy: suffering, guilt, death [9], or the sphere of the four fundamental … of existential psychotherapy as defined by Yalom, death, liberty, isolation, and the lack of sense.[10]. The issue of losing the sense of life is considered by psychologists as the origin of most of the existential difficulties. C.G. Jung claimed that “the lack of sense in life plays a crucial role in the etiology of neurosis. Neurosis must ultimately be understood as a suffering of the soul that was unable to find its meaning (…) about one third of my cases do not suffer of any neurosis that can be clinically defined, but of a lack of sense and purpose in life” [11] The same stand can be found in Viktor Frankl, who considers that more than 20% of the neurosis of his clinical activity are noogenic, derived from the lack of sense of life. In all neurosis cases you can see how “symptomatology invades the existential void and continues to develop in it” [12]. The creator of logo-therapy concludes that the existential void is “the mass neurosis of the present” [13]. And theology can find its role in filling this void. L. Marinoff points out that “a great deal of the success that religion has enjoyed along centuries is due to the fact that it offers sense and purpose to individuals” [14]. In this place, with the assistance of priests, theology has its meaning for “man is the creature who invented the gas chambers in Auschwitz! But man is as well the creature who entered these chambers head high with Holy Father or Sharma Israel on their lips” [15]. One last domain of the dialogue between science and theology, and maybe the most important one, looks at the objectives, the contents and the means of religious education to make practices compatible, to make the given information coherent and to add educational approaches.
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Without being a specialist in this field, I say that a clear identification of the objectives in teaching religion in schools is needed first of all. What dimensions of the personality building process are targeted by this school subject? What competences are taken into consideration, longitudinally and transversally, when integrating Religion into the curriculum? Then what content can contribute to their accomplishment? Here an honest dialogue is needed, a dialogue among the representatives of the various confessions and the specialists in the field of education. Secondly, it is necessary to eliminate epistemic conflicts. In reaching the targeted objectives and abilities, I do not believe that it is beneficial to expose the student to incongruent and contradictory messages within the school. I consider the American solution to issue anti-evolutionist laws (in 15 American states in 2004) [16] to be a political barbarism. I want to believe that for Europe the Inquisition times are long gone. If it is true to its specificity, science follows its mission to technically explain the empirical world, whereas religion follows its mission to build the transcendental meanings of the human existence. In this way conflicts are avoided a desired complementary situation can exist. V. Conclusions From the above mentioned, it is clear that the dialogue between theologians and scientists can be beneficial when the domains of epistemic authority are observed. We also need objective data that have been verified and confirmed in the empirical practice by scientific progress, just as we need existential coherence, beliefs, hopes, love, and sense. The authentic dialogue can lead to a revaluing of the dignity if theology and to a reorientation of the scientific research directions. The meeting of the two within the space of ethics can contribute to a re-humanization of the policies and of directions of the human development. Bibliography [1] http://www.doxologia.ro/religie-stiinta-filosofie/intre-
[2]
[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
[8]
stiinta-religie-nu-exista-conflicte-atat-timp-cat-ambele-suntbine, consulted on 6.10.2014. http://adevarul.ro/cultura/istorie/iisus-nu-existatniciodata-afirma-cercetator-analizat-126-texte-istorice1_542d5b1a0d133766a89bc755/index.html, consulted on 4.10.2014. S. Kierkegaard, Şcoala creştinismului, Bucureşti: Adonai, 1995, p. 38 [Practice in Christianity, 1950]. P. Tillich, Dinamica credinţei, Bucureşti: Herald, 2007, p. 166 [Dynamics of Fait, 1957]. P. Tillich, Dinamica credinţei, Bucureşti: Herald, 2007, p. 117 [Dynamics of Fait, 1957]. P. Tillich, Dinamica credinţei, Bucureşti: Herald, 2007, p. 118. [Dynamics of Fait, 1957]. A. Einstein,”Ştiinţă şi religie”, în Cum văd eu lumea. O antologie, Bucureşti: Humanitas 1992, p. 273 [Science and Religion, 1941]. P. Tillich, Dinamica credinţei, Bucureşti: Herald, 2007, pp.
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120-121 [Dynamics of Fait, 1957]. [9] Frankl, V.E., În căutarea sensului vieţii, Bucureşti: Meteor
Press, 2012, p.151 [Manˈs Search for Meaning, 1984]. [10] Yallom, I.D, Psihoterapia existenţială, Bucureşti: Trei, 2012 [Existential Psychotherapy]. [11] Jung, C.G., Collected Works: The Practice of Psychotherapy, vol. XVI, New York: Pantheeeooon, Bollingen Series, p. 83, citat de Yalom, în Psihoterapia existenţială, Bucureşti: Trei, 2012, p. 487. [12] Frankl, V.E., În căutarea sensului vieţii, Bucureşti: Meteor Press, 2012, p.120 [Manˈs Search for Meaning, 1984]. [13] Frankl, V.E., În căutarea sensului vieţii, Bucureşti: Meteor Press, 2012, p.141 [Manˈs Search for Meaning, 1984]. [14] Marinoff, L., Înghite Platon, nu Prozac, Bucureşti: Trei, 2010 [Plato, Not Prozac!]. [15] Frankl, V.E., În căutarea sensului vieţii, Bucureşti: Meteor Press, 2012, pp.146-147 [Manˈs Search for Meaning, 1984]. [16] Branch, G., Scott, E., Assaults on Evolution Have Evolved as Well, apud Hatos A, Sociologia educației, Iași: Polirom, 2006, p.75.
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Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) , “déjà vu” phenomenon and religious experiences 1. Sanda M. DEME(Author), Dana S. Ioncu(Co-Author), Catalin Hreniuc(Co-Author) Neurology Department Western Vasile Goldis University of Arad Arad, Romania sandademe@yahoo.com
3. Ani Docu-Axelrad(Co-Author), Daniel Docu-Axelrad (Co-Author) Faculty of Medicine / Neurology Department Ovidius University of Constanta Constanța,Romania
2. Simona Dragan(Co-Author)
4. Dragos C. Jianu(Co-Author)
Cardiology Department Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Romania
Neurology Department Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Romania
Abstract: A lot of controversies appear regarding temporal lobe epilepsy to bridge the gap between religion and neuroscience. TLE was described in literature in 1869 by Russian writer Dostoievski (who suffered from epilepsy), in his work ”The Idiot”, when the hero Prince Myshkin described his epileptic feelings of sublime sacredness of the inner light. Neurotheology is the science trying to understand the brain activities and to find an integration in religion concepts. TLE aura or psychic crisis is defined by simple or complex hallucinations, mystic divine experience, unpleasant experience of fear and déjà vu phenomenon. Neppe and Funkhouser (2006) described the notion as already seen, but it means also already heard,met, heard or visited. The“déjà vu” phenomenon is always a subjective experience which can appear in normal subjects or in pathologic states like TLE, schizophrenia or other types of psychosis. It can also be a subjective paranormal experience. Neppe’s definition is now universally used, defined as ‘any subjectively inappropriate impression of familiarity of the present experience with an undefined past’ (Neppe, 1983). Déjà vu has an impact on neuroscience and descriptions from history and literature and the multitude of descriptions from experiences demand various scientific explanations.
concepts, which are etymologically distinct : psychotic déjà vu (in schizophrenia), temporal lobe epileptic déjà vu or TLE déjà vu (specifically in temporal lobe aura or seizures) , subjective paranormal experience déjà vu (in subjective paranormal experiences),and associative déjà vu (in ostensible ‘normal’ patients)(3).
Keywords: temporal lobe epilepsy; déjà vu; the self; consciousness; memory; the human brain.
I. Background Manipulation of the limbic system has caused subjects to report feelings of ‘forced motion’, physical distortion and hyper emotionality (1). Stimulation direct to the temporal lobe can cause a sense of spiritual well-being experience, paranormal experience and feelings of hyper-religiosity. The majority of the patients (80%) claimed to have experienced a feeling of ‘not being alone’ and sensed a ‘spiritual presence’ when their temporal lobe was stimulated.(2) Déjà vu phenomenon can be classified in four modern
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II. The self and ‘déjà’ experience in TLE patients The concept of the self is a modern point of view from philosophy, sociology and biology, but there are many contradictions regarding this subject. René Descartes was the first philosopher who treated this subject in a new manner, his concept of “I think therefore I am” became very popular among scientists. He privileged thinking above being, a concept that defined thinking as a superior activity of the brain which now longer needed the presence of a god as its reality. In his work he stated that the mind or self was separated from the body, as distinct and superior and the body was considered inferior and impure (4). Thinkers like Hegel and Freud have stipulated theories regarding the concept of the “self”, placing the self as a product of external and internal stimuli which are converted to different sensations which lead to building images and feelings stored in the memory of the unconscious self. The unconscious self cannot therefore determine if the experienced sensations are from outside or from the inside. This lack of discrimination creates a process of optical projection of images separate from the unconscious self. This is the known process of building up an ego. Persinger states that overstimulation and unsyncopated reaction in one area of the temporal cortex can cause misinterpretation of “the self”. A neuronal imbalance in the left hemisphere of the temporal lobe makes the brain perceive the right hemisphere as a personified “other entity” or God (1).This physical reaction in the temporal cortex causes a chain reaction in the limbic system, which hyper stimulates the amygdale (seat of higher emotion) and hippocampus (seat of stored memory/experience).This can induce hallucinogenic visions and arousal feelings. Hyperstimulation induces feelings of euphoria and rapture
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which are associated with high concentrations of opiate receptors in the amygdala and the release of enkephalins in large quantities (5). There are questions regarding a predisposition for some temporal lobe epilepsy patients for paranormal and religious experiences. Some patients claim of having intense hallucinations and physical reactions regarding Christian practices or figures from the Bible during their seizures. On recovery from seizure they experienced euphoria and intense spiritual enlightenment. Pacients with strong beliefs in the esoteric and agnostic can have experiences of alien encounter, abduction and near death experiences during their seizures. From the vast amount of experience descriptions from TLE sufferers it is posibile to consider that their experiences are based upon their beliefs.Christians with strong beliefs are more likely to encounter God or other biblical figures during their seizures,while on the other hand agnostic pacients are more likely to have paranormal experiences related to their esoteric beliefs. It is known today that repeated epileptic seizures have a cumulative effect and that they produce cerebral damage. Intractable epilepsy may be associated with widespread structural cerebral damage. The brain structures affected mostly are the hippocampus, cerebellum, and neocortex. These structural damages occur only after a few years of epilepsy history,however there have been detected some subtle changes after a 3.5-year period which were not related to a history of overt seizures. A study performed in 2010 in County Hospital of Arad analyzed structural changes as a result from recurrent seizures in 43 subjects with the mean age of 20, 6 years. The brain lesions were studied by serial magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) with morphologic analysis of the temporal lobes and volumetric analysis of the amygdala and hippocampus. The study group included 8 pacients with crytogenic TLE, 14 with symptomatic partial temporal epilepsy, 21 with generalized epilepsy (5 idiopathic, 13 cryptogenic, and 13 symptomatic). Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) were significantly more likely to have recurrent seizures than were those with extratemporal or generalized epilepsy. One patient had preexisting hippocampal sclerosis. The frequency of bilateral hippocampal or amygdala atrophy (p < 0.06) and combined hippocampal-amygdala atrophy (p < 0.03) was higher in patients with temporal lobe developmental malformations. The presence of „déjà vu” was found only in two TLE patients and was persistent with a correct treatament. Structural abnormality can best revealed with threedimensional analysis of volumetric MRI, these abnormalities include bilateral amydala or amygdala-hippocampal atrophy which are associated with a higher risk of seizure recurrence. Patients with temporal lobe developmental malformations are frequently associated with hippocampal atrophy. Regarding cerebral damage as a result of epilepsy we can conclude that it may occur before the onset of seizures or develop insidiously over a more prolonged period, except preexisting cerebral lesions or alcohol abuse. Subtle changes were detected in individuals over a 5-year period but were not related to a history of overt seizures. The relationship between the human brain and spiritual experience was studied by Newberg and D’aquili in 2001,
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when they analyzed tibetan monks and franciscan nuns during deep meditation and prayer. In order to map the brain regions implicated in meditation they injected a radioactive tracer to the subjects and the tracer detected brain areas where there was an increased neuronal activity and blood concentration. The imagistic studies were taken with SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computerised Tomograph) and the most active area of the brain was the prefrontal cortex with an dramatically increased neuronal activity, an area associated with attention and concentration. In contrast to that, areas of the brain associated with space orientation and time perception which are located in the parietal lobe showed very low activity. This is very important because it topographically explains why the brain can`t distinguish the limit between the self and the external world during trance and meditation. It also explains why those involved in deep meditation experience a feeling of ”unity” with the universe, overcoming time boundaries and connecting with God.(6) It can now be explained via neuroscience and brain mapping what regions in the brain are involved in paranormal experiences and déjà vu phenomenon. With the prefrontal cortex activated and low activity in the parietal lobe, the brain enters a state of trance where it cannot distinguish time and space boundaries. Massive neuronal discharges during epileptic seizures in the left temporal lobe cause the brain to interpret the other cerebral hemisphere as another entity, depending on it`s spiritual and cultural beliefs. Funkhouser notes the importance of the level of consciousness involved in a déjà vu episode, many of those episodes being similar regarding this matter. The feeling they leave of us right in the moment of occurrence is that we are totally aware of everything that is happening and that it conforms with our ‘memory’ of it. This means that the entire brain capacity is not required to produce a déjà vu experience, only a small portion of the conscious self and the I-function being needed to resemble the experience. (7),(8) Although one person can sometimes effortlessly recall in detail a déjà vu experience,that experience is nowhere to be found in the memory of that person. So the events ”remembered” are not a product of memory of specific events that happened in the past. This matter has been explaind by Janet P. in 1942 as an ”overlap” between short and long-term memory,resulting in percieving recent events as events more distant in time. The theory that explains this process of overlaping memories is that the storing of those events happens before the conscious part of the brain even recieves the information and processes it.(9) There are controversies regarding this theory,especially for it does not explain how the brain stores these memories without a sensory input first. The storing of sensory input could be explained as a process of “memory-in-progress”,the reason why during the event itself we believe it to be past memory. The déjà vu experience is a very common phenomenon and in a survey by Brown approximately twothirds of the population have had déjà vu experiences(10). There are also studies that confirm that déjà vu is a common experience in healthy individuals, with a range of 31% to 96% of persons describing it. Wild E. consideres unusually prolonged or frequent déjà vu experiences,or associated with other symptomes such as hallucinations could be a indicator
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of neurological or psychiatric illness (11). Results from studies certify that déjà vu experiences can be caused by the consume of certain drugs and by some pharmaceutical drug associations (12). III. The Bible and déjà vu Runehov questions the problems regarding explaining religious experiences by contemporary scientists and she analyses the research performed on religious experiences by canadian neuropsychologist Persinger and the works of Newberg and d’Aquili. She questions whether religious experiences are o product of the human brain or experiences of some type of ”ultimate reality”. The question raised is if these religious experiences are sacred in the spiritual sense or just a result of neuronal processes. From a neuroscientific point of view these experiences are consequences of a damaged,malfunctioning or mentally deranged brain or they are part of some sort of existential crises. Some neuroscientists explain religious experiences are part of the human brain as all human experiences are. The conclusion of Runehov`s research calls for interdisciplinarity,for neuroscience only can explain religious experiences in a methodologically restricted way. Philosophy and theology are also limited by their methods to explain religious experiences. These experiences are not sacred or neural,but sacred and neural and must be studied properly from different point of views.(13) Historical and biblical figures seem to have suffered from neurological disorders that went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed because by that time they were not understood and named. Researchers speculated that St. Paul of Christianity may have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. St. Paul`s conversion is described separately in the book of the Acts in the bible, one is third person narrative and one is a speech he have when he was arrested in Jerusalem(Acts of the Apostles 22:6-21 ). They both contain elements to support a TLE interpretation, describing how he fell to the ground, seeing a blinding light and hearing a voice claiming to be “Jesus of Nazareth”. After this episode which is very suggestive for a TLE aura, he could not see and he did not eat or drink for three days on his way to Damascus. This experience made St. Paul a devout follower and missionary of Christianity (14). Auditory hallucinations of divine voices, visions of divine figures, and physical collapse are all common elements of TLE, and they are especially common in documented cases of sudden religious conversion in people with temporal lobe epilepsy. Another text from the Bible sums up the beliefs about déjà vu and the history of mankind repeating itself. “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor there any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. “(Ecclesiastes 1:9-11). Déjà vu can be considered from this point of view, a process of “remembering” an ancient history of mankind trapped in our DNA. The fact that “there is nothing new under the sun” is just a way of recovering memories from our unconscious collective self. The fact that “there is nothing new under
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the sun” is just a way of recovering memories from our unconscious collective self. The text found in Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” reminds us of how little of the entire brain capacity we are using. We are unable to access our entire memory and brain activity, because of our unconscious self. IV. Conclusion In conclusion, TLE is a pathology related to déjà vu phenomenon, but it cannot explain entirely the processes which lead to it to those without epilepsy. Certain areas in the brain are activated during seizures and cause the brain to enter a state of trance, experiencing hallucinations and visions mostly of them according to the individual’s beliefs. Concepts like the self, consciousness, memory storing, distinguishing time and space, between what is real and what is not are still under investigation by scientists and philosophers. The human brain is a complex micro cosmos ready to be discovered step by step by mankind. No one can foresee what will be in the future, but if it develops exponentially, maybe in the far future we will be able to discover more of that cosmos. As Charles Dickens wrote in David Copperfield in 1850”We have all some experience of a feeling that comes over us occasionally of what we are saying and doing having been said and done before, in a remote time—of our having been surrounded, dim ages ago, by the same faces, objects, and circumstances—of our knowing perfectly what will be said next, as if we suddenly remembered it.” References [1] Ford
C, ”Neurotheology: Which Came First, God or the Brain?”, (2002) http://www.serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/bio3/web3/ ford.html. [2] Persinger. M. A (1997) cited in Ford. C, (2002) “Neurotheology: Which Came First, God or the brain?”. [3] http://www.serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/bio3/web3/ ford.html. [4] Neppe V. M. ”Déjà Vu: Origins and Phenomenology:Implications of the four subtypes for future research” ;The Journal of Parapsychology 74. 1 ( 2010): 61-97. [5] Descartes R, “Discourse on the Method” ,(1644). [6] Joseph. R (1997) cited in Bradley. F, (1997) “On Neurological Origin of Mystical Experience, the Limbic System et al” [7] Newberg A. et al ”The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during the complex cognitive task of meditation:a preliminary SPECT study”,Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging Section 106 (2001),113-122 [8] Funkhouser, A. T. ”Deja experience research.” http://www. deja-experience-research.org (2006) [9] Funkhouser, A. T. ”Explanations for déjà experiences.” http://www.deja-experience-research.org(2006) [10] Janet P. ”Les Dissolutions de la Mémoire”. Disorders of Memory, 1969, p.152
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[11] Brown, A. S. ”The déjà vu illusion.” Current Directions in
Psychological Science, (2004),13, 256-259
[12] Wild, E. “Deja vu in neurology.”. Journal of neurology(
2005) 252 (1): 1–7
[13] Taiminen T. and Jääskeläinen S. “Intense and recurrent déjà vu
experiences related to amantadine and phenylpropanolamine in a healthy male”. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience(2001) 8 (5): 460–462 [14] Runehov A,”Sacred or Neural? The Potential of Neuroscience to Explain Religious Experience” ,European Journal of Science and Theology, 2007, Vol.3, No.2, 71-74. [15] Marissa Leow, James Noble, Carl Harris, Rachel Diamond, Maya Weisinger. At http://www.macalester.edu/academics/ psychology/whathap/ubnrp/tle09/Religiosity.html.
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Media and Popular Culture and Controversies in Comatose Patients 1. Ani DOCU-AXELRAD (Author)
3. Sanda M. Deme (Co-Author)
Department of General Medicine “Ovidius” University Constanta, Romania
Neurology Department Western Vasile Goldis University of Arad Arad, Romania sandademe@yahoo.com
2. Daniel Docu-Axelerad (Co-Author)
4. CIOCAN Tudor Cosmin (Co-Author)
Abstract: Comatose patients may have irrevocably lost all brain function. This condition has been distinguished from other comatose states by the term brain death. Its assessment has been known as the determination of death by neurologic criteria. The clinical diagnosis of brain death implies that the person has died. When the clinical criteria of brain death are met, it allows organ donation or withdrawal of futile support. Without being unnecessarily hostile to the press, one can argue that the representation of comatose states in the media is concerning. Families confronted with this often unexpected loss of life understand this strictly defined neurological condi tion well. Unfortunately, the legal cases are surrounded by misinformation and reluctance to understand the implications of these comatose states. Nevertheless, many legal cases are settled in court without much attention. Exposure to the media may solicit physician opinions, and these cases may easily become a spectacle. Bioethical issues do surface under these circumstances.
Families, with all their doubts and uncertainties, face a difficult situation with a loved one in coma. Most have little to relate to, and some seek more information elsewhere. Family members often first browse the Internet, only to discover that a few sites have posted accurate and relevant information. Hospitals may have an Information Center providing booklets or other educational material.
FEFS, Kinethoteraphy Department “Ovidius” University Constanta, Romania
Department of Theology Ovidius University of Constanta Constanţa -900527, Romania ctc@rcdst.ro
Keywords: brain death, controversies, media and popular culture
I. Introduction Comatose patients may have irrevocably lost all brain function. This condition has been distinguished from other comatose states by the term brain death. Its assessment has been known as the determination of death by neurologic criteria. The clinical diagnosis of brain death implies that the person has died. Brain death can be declared when a neurologist examination of: brain stem reflexes, motor responses, and respiratory drive of a patient are absent in a normal thermal condition, non-drugged comatose patient with a known, irreversible, widespread brain lesion and no metabolic dysfunctions. Clinical neurologic examination is the gold standard for determination of brain death, and clinical examination should not be replaced by a laboratory test (doesn`t matter if is an ultimate generation).
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The public likely has been subjected to information on coma before, and the newspaper and local television are the main media outlets. [Brantley M, 2006] It is important to know how the public gets informed and how could the Media and other sources influence the public’s perception of coma or if there is a potential influence on a credulous public. II. Materials and Methods Information collections regarding newspapers, television, the screen writer, the internet and coma, and the portrayal of coma in motion pictures. III. Discussions The daily newspaper remains an important source of information, and its ready availability on the Internet might only increase exposure. Newspapers print newsworthy information on comatose patients in three major domains. These are findings on new clinical or laboratory research, [Burns RB et al, 1995] awakening from coma, and legal proceedings surrounding end-of-life decisions. Research in coma is sparse, but new developments could immediately attract attention, particularly if the findings contradict current tenets in neurology. Failure to correctly diagnose brain death is news and hard to pass up by reporters. There have recently been reports concerning “miracle awakenings” and unexpected awareness in patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). (The stories in the press are often compared to Rip Van Winkle, the fabled Dutchman who fell asleep under a tree and awoke several years later.) The most interesting recent coverage involved the story of an unfortunate, severely brain-injured man Terry Wallis. He remained comatose initially, but then improved gradually. More exceptionally, Wallis started to speak
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after 19 years of grunts. Newspapers and the blogosphere covered it extensively, using eye-catching titles: “Miracle in Arkansas,” [Brantley M, 2006] “Comatose man’s brain rewired itself, doctors say. While fibers were severed, nerve cells stayed intact allowing later recovery,” [Marchione M, 2006] and “A man lay in coma-like state, his brain was busy rebuilding.” [Kaplan K, 2006] The newspaper cover age remained cautious in some places, but its widespread extensive coverage including a TV documentary, [Discovery Health Channel; 2005] suggested that the diagnosis of PVS can be misleading. (Terry Wallis was most likely in a minimally conscious state but had not been examined by a neurologist before his dramatic improvement.) Other cases have caught attention. One patient, Sarah Scantlin, from Hutchinson, Kansas, suddenly “awakened from coma after 20 years.” However, her doctor said “that she could react to following things with her eyes.” During a therapy session, she said “okay” and then began to utter simple sentences. [Brown DL, 2005] In early 2005, a Buffalo firefighter apparently started to speak after he was treated with “a new drug regimen that would take 6 months to become effective.” Mr Herbert had a head injury after a roof caved in and “a lack of oxygen” after rushing into a burning apartment. [Staba D, 2006] He remained in a coma for 2.5 months, then apparently regained consciousness, but had speech and vision problems. Gary Dockary, from Tennessee, recovered over a few days after 7 years of “coma or communicating at a lower level.” [Smothers R, 1996] Gary Dockary had a gunshot wound to the left forehead, damaging the left frontal temporal area. Although there was dramatic improvement initially, he regressed to his prior state before he died. David Mack recovered after 20 months in a PVS. A CT scan did not show any progressive atrophy. He regained consciousness after 22 months, although there is more evidence that it was after 15 months. [UPI, 1986] For the public, it is difficult to understand the medical facts, especially when they are also exposed to headlines that suggest that patients are more aware than they normally should be. For the physician, obviously, the accuracy of these reports should be questioned, but it remains difficult to verify these cases and obtain sufficient information. A systematic review of these cases would be useful, but the amassed documents are likely fragmentary and difficult to interpret. Common features of these patients are that they are not in a PVS, but in variable states of severe impairment with marked impairment of mobility, mute but responding. What is most interesting is that, in many cases, a fairly dramatic improvement in communication skills occurs over a period of hours or days, but then—if we believe the media coverage—patients often typically relapse into the previous state. Not uncommonly, dopamine agonists or antidepressants have been introduced prior to clinical improvement, suggesting the possibility of neurotransmitter modulation in some patients in a minimally conscious state. These cases may represent recovery (meaning that the diagnosis is correct and there is a true exceptional improve ment) or discovery (in which the diagnosis is incorrect and changed with a better examination). The news coverage of comatose patients until recently had remained unexamined. Our review of US newspapers of each state in the United States, over a 5-year epoch, found that coma is an infrequent news story, and we identified a
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total of 340 stories with “coma” in the headline. [Wijdicks EFM, 2006] Therefore, it is perhaps not likely that the public’s perception is influenced by coverage of coma in newspapers. Most stories involved violence, accidents, and drug overdose that was not evident by reading the headline alone. One of ten reports involved drug-induced coma initiated by the physician to reduce intracranial pressure. A common theme in newspaper articles on coma was of physicians displaying no hope while the family disagreed or of family members disagreeing among themselves whether to withdraw support. However, it is evident that when coma is a topic, the editors of major US newspapers select stories that involve young persons involved in violence or trauma. The general impression left by the daily newspaper is thus different from the reality in the hospital (e.g. a recent study in the ICU found that coma is mostly due to drug intoxication, stroke, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and shock [Senouci K, et al, 2004]. Coverage of coma in US newspapers is more reflective of young individuals in a rehabilitation center rather than severely injured elderly patients in an ICU, and thus offers a more positive outlook. Physicians and journalists have two entirely different professional cultures, and the chasm between both professions is considerable. [Wang Z et al, 2007, Cohen L, 1988, DeVries WC 1988, Wahl OF, 2004] The most reserved and restrained approach of physicians to reveal information can be contrasted with a highly competitive industry where journalists not only are driven to write a compelling story but also have to meet imposed deadlines. William Osier warned physicians “not to dally with the Delilah of the press.” (Delilah begged Samson to reveal his strength and then betrayed him.) In Osier’s words, the press, when representing physician’s opinions, could potentially undermine the physician’s reputation and diminish the confidence of colleagues. [Osler W et al, 1905] Without doubt, some physicians would like to repeatedly offer their opinion and do not object to being cast in the role of a spokesperson. The choice of commentators not only depends on their availability but also on the desire of physicians to be quoted and mentioned as experts. It may be impossible for journalists to recognize experts with conflicts of interest that could bias their response and the true experts may be media shy. Surely, reporting on coma can be newsworthy and has journalistic appeal. Severe brain injury may occur against a background of medical errors, abuse, alleged police brutality, or other assault. Journalists may have problems sorting out the vast information that is coming along and, in the worst example of their writings, may resort to tabloidization. Catchy headlines on miraculous awakening from coma may foster certain expectations with the public. When citing the medical community, it is uncertain if commonly used words such as “shocked,” “spectacular and never seen before,” or “doctors cannot explain” truly represent their sentiment. Therefore, for example, portraying simple awakening in headlines, without examination of the true dimensions of the problems facing comatose patients is potentially disturbing. [Wijdicks EF, 2006] Although it remains unclear how much the public carefully judges single sensational cases, the message that readers may draw from the presentation of comatose states and awakening may be distorted. The lack of clarity in reporting has been recognized, [Lantz CL et al, 2007] and a better practice model has been proposed by the
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Association of Health Care Journalists. [Schwitzer G, 2004] National newspapers and also medical societies have professional medical writers. Their task is to prepare a news release and interview the author and related peers. There is a considerable effort to present opposing views, often using direct quotations that are typically verified by the interviewee. Adopting a neutral and nuanced stance toward recent news is warranted, particularly when the scientific finding has not been corroborated. [Larson A et al, 2003, Picard A et al, 2005] When news breaks, the true facts may not be known, and it is the duty of physicians, particularly neurologists, to clarify, explain, and most importantly, caution. More recently, monthly periodicals have appeared with in-depth coverage of neurologic conditions including coma, neuroethics, and other policies and the editors are neurologists in practice. This reasonably ensures a consistent high quality, but the distribution is among physicians, and only abstracts may appear in the Media or Internet. Separate sections on health appear regularly in major national news papers and are often co written by physicians. These articles (eg, “Health and Fitness” in The New York Times) reflect a wide spectrum of views in good measure; however, it is not clear if these columns attract the general public outside of the academia. Recovery from coma is rarely breaking news on networks.[ Pribble JM,2006, Pribble JM, Goldstein Kmey all , 2006] Dignitaries may receive attention, and lessknown individuals may also get caught up in a major news story. Occasionally, survivors of a major catastrophe (eg, mine accident, traffic accident) may get additional attention. In addition, major TV networks employ medical correspondents and may frame recent discoveries into brief documentaries. Finally, advertisements may use the depiction of coma as an amusing means to sell their product. A recent Porsche advertisement that was aired on national TV used awakening from prolonged coma to bring out the surprise on seeing a new car model. Most of the depiction of coma is seen in TV serials. Daytime dramatic television or “soap operas” do depict coma and its recovery. A recent review of Web-posted story lines of daytime soaps such as “General Hospital” “The Young and the Restless,” “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and “Passions” found that the recovery of coma was unreal.[ Casarett D et al, 2005] Actors representing patients were in a coma for approximately 2 weeks with full recovery in 89% and a mortality of 4%, significantly lower than expected from scientific publications. There has been an increase in serial medical drama on US television. “ER” is an example of what has been called “medicine as a pop culture icon.” [Cohen, M.R. et al, 2004] It depicts an emergency room that provides ideal health care, although it carefully avoids ridicule and displays considerable compassion. “ER” has portrayed coma, most of it drug-induced coma with a good recovery, and one episode with a discussion on brain death and organ donation. The script is accurate and most likely a reflection of the comprehensive advice that screenwriters have obtained. However, more recently, there has been a noticeable deterioration in the accuracy of representation of coma in TV series. The popular series “House, MD”—watched by an estimated 25 million viewers according to Nielsen Media
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Research—recently aired “son of a coma guy.”[Shore, D., 2006] A patient in a PVS for 10 years suddenly awakens after Dr House injects 1-dopa, immediately sits up in bed, and asks for a steak. In “Grey’s Anatomy”—another top-rated series—an episode deals with a patient in a PVS for 16 years who was admitted from a nursing home after falling out of bed. The medical team noted no atrophy on CT and believed he was in a minimally conscious state. They suggested to the upset family to start an “amphetamine drip” that awakened him within hours. He became fully lucid (“How long have I been out?”) [Horton, P., 2005], laughing and a bit amused that he might be a major embarrassment for his family. “The Drew Carey Show” aired Drew Carey slipping into a coma after an accident. [Helford B, 2001] While his family was considering withdrawal of support, Drew was in a dreamlike state, fed by beautiful women pulling off slices from a pizza tree and drinking from a beer fountain. It remains unclear what message, if “message” is the right word, the screenwriter wanted to convey in this episode. Serious TV documentaries on coma are nearly nonexistent. A recent documentary entitled COMA showed a surreal abundance of pity, sorrow, and loneliness in head injury survivors in a rehabilitation center, but without a reasoned analysis of the causes that led to coma and what to expect after recovery from coma. [Wijdicks EFM, 2007] The influence of the World Wide Web is uncertain, the accuracy unexamined, and there is much miscellany. A patient’s family often seeks clarification of medical ter minology from the Internet. Several Web sites provide information on rehabilitation after traumatic head injury. Other Web sites provide support and an emotional outlet (www.braintalk.org). The use of Web sites to pay tribute or to follow improvement after a major brain injury is increasing. The themes are “triumph over tragedy” (www.brookebecker. com) and “from paralysis to power” (www.katesjourney. com). These inspirational web sites emphasize not only unexpected recoveries but also physicians’ error. Photos of patients in hospital beds are contrasted with photos showing remarkable recoveries. The Terri Schiavo case has also been documented fully on the family’s Web site (www.terrisfight. org). Not only photos and video clips of her parents approaching her but also a hospital dismissal summary with medical details have been posted. The video clips of her examination were particularly successful in convincing some physicians and politicians that she was not in PVS. The site (renamed “Terri Schindler Foundation”) contains links to “remarkable cases” of recovery from a severe disability. Indirectly, Terri Schiavo’s family puts forth the notion that she was disabled and needed appropriate rehabilitation. Finally, since 2002, www.waiting.com has been providing information about coma, among other information. After a video introduction of attorney Gordon Johnson Jr, the site offers a plethora of medical information and multiple links, including legal issues. The site, maintained by the “brain injury law group,” claims an educational purpose. No doubt, providing information to the patient’s family may be improved by the presence of web sites, but little is available, and there is a lack of dependable sources. Easy access to medical practice parameters may be helpful for patients’ families to understand the complexity of decision
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making and prognostication.
fantastical entertainment.
Coma is a useful plot device, and screenwriters use actors to show a dream-like state with actual nightmares, to show change in personality, to show revenge after recovery from coma, to show relief when a patient awakens against all odds, or even more simply, to remove the character from the plot. Films depicting coma are predominantly thrillers, with motor vehicle accidents, gunshot wounds, or violence causing brain injury. Unconsciousness can also be a major theme of a movie (e.g. Critical Care), and even the title of a movie (e.g. Coma). The progressive stupor in a child with adrenoleukodystrophy has been dramatically represented in Lorenzo’s Oil. [Hudson JA, 2000] Cinema (and in particular DVDs) may become one of the most influential of all arts. Thus, the depiction of neurologic disorders demands accuracy. Neurologic advice, similar to advice from historians and scientists, is indispensable if movie directors are to limit a false impression of coma. [Knight J., 2004]
IV. Conclusions Sources of information to the public may involve the newspapers, local TV, internet, and the movies. Without being unnecessarily hostile to the press, one can argue that the representation of comatose states in the media is concerning. Seldom do the media shape the information in a useful way and correctly convey the major consequences of coma and rehabilitation to the public. In only a few instances is it an admirable combination of reportage and essay. The credibility of news reports can be increased by specifically mentioning coma associated with sedating drugs initiated by the physician. Journalists should make the extra call to a physician rather than relying on police reports. Screenwriters do make a mockery of coma and awakenings, creating decidedly unflattering scripts. It is uncertain if that can change.
Representation of comatose states in contemporary cinema is inaccurate in most instances. [Wijdicks, E.F. et al, 2006] Rarely are actors—despite being comatose for months—tracheotomized, none display contractures, and none have feeding tubes, reducing the depiction of coma to a sleep-like state. They all have a quiet pleasant look. PVS has been represented in a few movies, most remarkably showing beautiful actresses asleep in liable con Ella (Talk to Her). Not showing the muscle atrophy, decubital ulcers, bladder and bowel incontinence, and feeding tube may be a conscious decision by screenwriters to maximize entertainment, but is a disservice to the viewer. Moreover, in liable con Ella (Talk to Her), the physician suggests that awakening after 14 years has been noted and uses a magazine article showing a miracle awakening to convince the friend of the comatose bullfighter to continue care. The most notable misrepresentations are the miraculous awakenings from coma. Sudden awakening from coma follows a characteristic pattern. Patients in coma for several years awaken within seconds, are lucid, and without apparent cognitive deficit. In many, awakenings are provoked by a stimulus (e.g. mosquito bite). Awakening is either sudden, sitting upright in bed, or may be associated with marked restlessness and agitation. Sudden movement of a hand, reaching and squeezing a family member, is another theme (Rocky II). Success of rehabilitation is emphasized after many years in coma (Dead Zone, Talk to Her), belittling the catastrophic injury. The attending physician is portrayed with little compassion. Consistent with earlier studies, [Golden G., 2005, Flores G, 2002] physicians are displayed as paternalistic with egotistical traits. Patients in PVS are often referred to by physicians as “vegetables” but some screenwriters have taken it a step further by talking about “the garden” (nursing home). The general viewer is capable of identifying these inaccuracies. However, a survey of key scenes of a series of movies suggested that an unacceptable number of viewers (36%) have difficulty with pointing out these misleading scenes. [Wijdicks EF et al, 2006] Nonetheless, screenplays depicting coma can be factual, and there are several exam ples (Dream life of Angels, Reversal of Fortune, Miami Vice, and Fracture). Most screenwriters choose uncompromising,
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Coma is a consequence of a brain injury that often leads to a severe disability and agony to family members. There should be a sensible depiction in media outlets and an attempt to frame it correctly. Journalists, screenwriters, TV commentators and correspondents all have a responsibility to be cautious. They ought to. The audience may be quite perceptive but is unable to draw the line. Unfortunately, the legal cases are surrounded by misinformation and reluctance to understand the implications of these comatose states. Nevertheless, many legal cases are settled in court without much attention. Exposure to the media may solicit physician opinions, and these cases may easily become a spectacle. Bioethical issues do surface under these circumstances. The physician involved with the care of comatose patients should understand and respect different values but maintain optimal professionalism. References [1] Wang Z, Gantz W. Health content in local television news.
Health Commun. 2007; 21:213-221.
[2] Cohen L, Morgan P. Medical dramas and the press: who
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benefits from the coverage? Can Med Assoc J. 1988; 139:657-661. DeVries WC. The physician, the media and the ‘’spectacular’’ case. JAMA. 1988; 259:886-890. Wahl OF. Stop the presses: journalistic treatment of mental illness. In: Friedman LD, ed. Cultural Sutures, Medicine and Media. Durham, NC: Duke University Press; 2004:55-69. Osler W. Aequanimitas with Other Addresses: Internal Medicine as a Vocation. Philadelphia, PA: Blakiston Son and Co.; 1905. Wijdicks EF. Minimally conscious state versus persistent vegetative state: the case of Terry(Wallis) versus Terri (Schiavo). Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81:1155-1158. Lantz CL, Lanier W. Observations from the Mayo Clinic National Conference on medicine and the media. Mayo Clinic Proc. 2002; 77:1306-1311. Schwitzer G. A statement of principles for health care journalists. Am J Bioeth. 2004; 4:W9-W13. Larson A, Oxman A, Carling c, Herrin J. Medical messages in the media-barries and solutions to improving medical
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journalism. Health Expect. 2003; 6:323-331.
[23] Pribble JM, Goldstein KM, Majersik JJ, et al. Stroke
[10] Picard A. How can we improve medical reporting? Let me
count the ways. Int J Health Serv. 2005; 35:603-605. [11] Burns RB, Moskowitz MA, Osband MA, Kazis LE. Newspaper reporting of the medical literature. J Gen Intern Med. 1995; 10:19-24. [12] Brantley M. Miracle in Arkansas. Arkansas Times. 2006. [13] Marchione M. Comatose man’s brain rewired itself, doctors say. While fibers were severed, nerve cells stayed intact allowing later recovery. Baltimore Sun. 2006. [14] Kaplan K. As man lay in coma- like state, his brain was busy rebuilding. Los Angeles Times. 2006. [15] The man who slept 19 years. In: Discovery Health Channel; 2005. [16] Brown DL. The Awakening: Sarah Scantlin’s 20-year of journey from comatose to silence to breakthrough. Washington Post. 2005. [17] Staba D. Illness claims a firefighter whose awakening made headlines. NY Times. 2006. [18] Smothers R. Injured in ’88, officer awakens in ’96. NY Times. 1996. [19] UPI. David Mack who emerged from long coma in ’81 dies. NY Times 1986. [20] Wijdicks EFM, Wijdicks MF. Coverage of coma in headlines of US new spapers from 2011-2005. Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81:1332-1336. [21] Senouci K, Guerrini P, Diene E, et al. A survey on patients admitted in severe coma: implications for brain death identification and organ donation. Intensive Care Med. 2004; 30:38-44. [22] Pribble JM, Goldstein KM, Fowler EF, et al. Medical News for the public to use? What’s on local TV news? Am I Manag Care? 2006; 12:170-176.
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information reported on a local television News. A national perspective. Stroke. 2006; 37:1556-1539. [24] Casarett D, Fishman JM, MacMoran HJ, Pickard A, Asch DA. Epidemiology and prognosis of coma in daytime television dramas. BMJ. 2005; 331:1537-1539. [25] Cohen MR, Shafer A. images and Healers: A visual History of Scientific Medicine. Durham, NC: Duke University Press; 2004. [26] Shore D. Son of a coma guy. In: House. Season 3, episode 53 ed. US; 2006. [27] Horton P. Thanks for the memories. In: The Grey’s Anatomy. Season 2, episode 9 ed; 2005. [28] Helford B. Drew’s in a coma. In: The Drew Carey Show. Season 6, episode 15 ed; 2001. [29] Wijdicks EFM. Why the new coma documentary ‘’COMA’’ is disappointing. Neurology Today. 2007; 7:28-29. [30] Hudson JA. Medicine and the movies: Lorenzo’s Oil at century’s end. Ann Intern Med. 2000; 133:567-571. [31] Knight J. Science in the movies: Hollywood or bust. Nature; 2004;430:720-722. [32] Wijdicks EF, Wijdicks CA. The portrayal of coma in contemporany motion pictures. Neurology. 2006: 66:13001303. [33] Golden G. The physician at the movies: master and commander. Pharos Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Med Soc. 2005; 68:51. [34] Flores G. Mad scientist, compassionate healers, and greedy egotists: the portrayal of physiciansin the movies. J Natl Med Assoc. 2002; 94:635-658.
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Post-Pope: A postcolonial approach to religious pluralism in Argentina Lic. Miguel M. Algranti University of Buenos Aires CAEA-CONICET Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract: In this paper I will review the impact of the designation of Jorge Bergoglio as the Catholic Pope on the field of religious heterodoxies in Argentina. From a postcolonial approach, i will consider his designation within the historical relations between the State and the Catholic Church in South America and its capacity to organize one of the most hegemonic and constitutional socio symbolic frames in which religious practices and beliefs struggle for legitimation and negotiates their position on Argentina’s religious field. In this context the concept of religious pluralism, proposed by the social sciences, operates as a device that regulates and administrates religious diversity rather than protecting it. Keywords- Religion; Pope; Argentina; Pluralism
I. Introduction The so called post-colonial theoretical approach supposes and suggests the possibility to establish egalitarian dialogs between sets of knowledge produced by populations and dissimilar groups, starting from the re-localization of the dominant European/ North-American theory production center, to expand into different zones or regions of the globe. The proposition is basically a geopolitical and geocultural vision on the production of knowledge that avoids some perspectives, from the contingency of history, to be transformed into hegemonies, as it happened (and still happens) with western reason. Observing that modern reason is conceived as a logical operation without any sensitiveness or localization interference. 1 When it comes to religion this perspective renounces to the possibility of establishing a transcultural and transhistorical definition of the phenomenon, and rejoices in the inquiry of religious practices, symbols and ideas through the recognition of historical and socially determined genealogies of religious power. Allowing at the same time the emergence of an epic definition of religion.2 In the case of Argentina, as in most parts of Latin America, the Christian heritage from Spanish and 1 Dussel, 2003; Mignolo, 2000:106. 2 Asad, 2010
The Argentinian secularization expresses itself in a restructuration of creeds and the plurality of beliefs within a catholic-impregnated culture as in a long-term symbolic effectiveness on the national identity. In this sense the Catholic Church in Argentina is more respected as a social institution than as the dispenser of salvation goods or agent of religious power. Ease of Use II. The construction of a “catholic nation” The Catholic Church is not the official one in Argentina, but several authors, Catholic or otherwise, agree that it does enjoy a very special status in the country (Marostica 1997, Navarro Floria 2000, Baamonde et al. 2001). Legally, this position is supported particularly by three regulations. Most notably, by Article 2 of the National Constitution, which declares, “The Federal Government sustains the Roman Catholic Apostolic worship”. This clause was in the original 1853 Constitution, and maintained after the 1994 Reform. A special status is also upheld by the 1869 Civil Code, which recognizes in its article 33 the full legal standing of
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Portuguese colonies imposes a western symbolic frame to the category of ‘religion’ that organizes and regulates the social emergence of new religious agents. Since Latin American modernity was constructed with a strong network between political and religious symbolic universes -especially Catholics- the impact of a catholic specialist reaching a position of “universal” power, as Pope of the Catholic Church, makes him a significant political actor in the religious field. It is not mere opportunism or an act of instrumental reason (links between Latin American heads of state to head of state of the Vatican) but a real effect on the beliefs and political representations of the vast majority of Christian parties and leading political groups, governing states in the region, who legitimately believe in his symbolic and charismatic power. The beliefs and subjectivities share imaginary and symbolic universes that brings them together in the so-called “building the common good” concept of pure Catholic and Thomistic tradition. An Argentinian Pope unthinkable as it is drastically change the landscape for religious interactions; what he does or doesn’t, what he say, write or mute, will now be read in local key for different groups of media power, political, religious and economic.
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“the Church”, considering it a “legal entity” (persona jurídica ). In April of 1968, Law 17.711 reformed the Civil Code, and article 33 now specifies that “the Catholic Church” is one of the “public legal entities” (“persona jurídica” de “carácter público” ) (our emphases). Finally, in 1966 the nation signed a treaty with the Vatican (“Acuerdo entre la Santa Sede y la República Argentina ”) that specially rules the relationship between the State and the Catholic Church. In sum, the Catholic Church is a person of public law, its relationship with the State is ruled by specific legislation, and, according to the Constitution, must be sustained by it. Non-Catholic religious groups are not mentioned in the Constitution. Article 14 of the 1853 Constitution, however, awarded all inhabitants of the nation the right to “freely practice their religion”. The 1994 Reform upheld this right, and bolstered it by awarding constitutional status to several international human rights treaties (article 75, paragraph 22). Law 21.745 promulgated by a military government in 1978 provides the most important and still current regulation of non-Catholic groups. This decree re-created the National Register of Cults in which groups have to enroll, providing information about their doctrine, rituals organization, history and the names of their authorities locally and abroad -among other items. According to this law, registration is mandatory but does not, at the same time, bestow full legal standing. It is presumed that after enrollment religious institutions can apply to other government offices to obtain legal entity as civil associations, to do this, however, they have to develop a parallel organizational structure to comply with the requirements of civil associations. After enrollment in the Register and registration as civil associations non-Catholic religious groups can obtain the status of “private legal entities”. The Catholic Church -we have seen- exists as a “public legal entity ” by virtue of the Civil Code laws. Considering that the Argentine military have been, since the 1930s, closely associated with the Church in their efforts to build a Catholic nation, it comes as no surprise that Law 21.745, which had the goal of “supervising” and “establishing an effective control” over non-Catholic groups was sanctioned by a de facto government. Such a regulation merely reflects the “national security” doctrine that saw “foreign ideologies” as enemies of the “national being”. Its intention, however, was not followed by the creation of the means to enforce its threats of loss of rights to groups that did not enroll or lost its registration. Thus, there were few actual cases of prohibitions of religious groups under the last military government (1976-1982) -for different reasons, the Hare Krishna, Jehova’s Witnesses, The Children of God, and a few others. Members of nonCatholic religious groups, however, had to keep a low profile and probably limit the visibility -perhaps the frequency- of their public meetings, as did most Argentine citizens during the period. The military dictatorship, which produced 30000 ”disappeared” individuals (desaparecidos), severely curtailed the expression of many forms of popular culture, and religion was certainly among them. The Secretariat of Cult (used here as synonymous with religion) within the National Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Cult, is the institution that mediates between religious organizations -including the Catholic Church- and
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the State. The Minister of Foreign Affairs appoints the Secretary of Cult, and the National Register of Cults is part of his Secretariat. The office of the director of the National Register of Cults, however, is not a political position, but a more technical one, awarded after an open selection of candidates. Apart of its legal/ institutional conceptualization, the idea of a “Catholic Argentina” is both the product of a historical social situation that exceeds the academic field or situations specifically related to the dominant modes among social scientists. First, and beyond the fact that is the religion of the majority, it is obvious that the hegemonic intentions of Catholicism and the fact that in significant stretches of the national history was linked to elites who promoted social and political processes at a national level made Catholicism a crucial factor in the political and social life. However, this process that has implicated, with no lack of overestimation, the creation of a Catholic Nation is neither an eternal or a homogeneous reality. Partly because neither “Catholicism” nor “nation” are or were unified entities over time and social space. And partly because the hegemonic pretensions of Catholicism must be put in perspective for eventual catholic hegemony can not evaluate without resetting the analysis contingency attending this claim and commitments that lock between academic look and that claim (even when that gaze academic clearance). I do not deny the influence that Catholicism may have at this level, but in no way accept that entails the tacit assumption that what happens with Catholicism is what happens with Argentina. With that argument we have already entered the academic gaze and she must say more: if she tends to assume the premise of “Argentina society Catholicism” is not only because as we said up here reflect uncritically, as if it were a fact, the claims of the catholic hegemony But on a much deeper level, the claim of the Catholic nation is possible because very common ways of conceptualizing the relationship between society and state accompanying assumptions of Catholic ontology. Many of the large matrices in which sociological theories that analyze midrange religion are mounted, and especially those matrices that are the basis of the sociology of Catholicism presuppose the notions of religion seeking to analyze. What Carl Schmitt notes to the concept of political and state, is also true for the concept of religion in sociology: the metaphysical picture of the world is shaped a certain time is transposed to the political organization that resolves apparent that time. The idea of civil society as communitas or assembly that is retrieved, retranslated and are represented by the state, has more to do with the Catholic ideas of what we think and is both the course and the phenomenon that they intend to establish, measure and analyze the dominant paradigms. It would be unfair to ignore the emerging paradigms, as those inspired by the experience of the American society that presuppose another ontology (naturalizing, for example, the market and the individual). But it would also not be fair to ignore that the prevailing position of the paradigms previously referred is primarily based on the problematization of the relationships between religion and politics that is the area where the thesis of a Catholic Argentina is usually verified . Thus, this thesis not only supposed biased perceptions arranged by the hegemony
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or social environment, but above all,supposes philosophical assumptions that inhabit the sociological theory that , in the end, are questioning what they are already assuming the same organization). This template was designed for two affiliations. III. Pluralistic but not diverse Since Jorge M. Bergoglio became Pope Francias his attitude towards ´religious pluralism´ has changed a lot. While he previously presented the religious pluralism as a challenge for Argentina and the product of an individualistic and consumer oriented society in his paper -“Argentina: una mirada general”- (Bergoglio, 2007), now, Francis, promotes religious pluralism and interfaith dialogs. ´Pluralism´ has been re-signified within a Christian threshold, but diversity has been seriously compromised. Catholicism, Catholics and Catholic churches. The plural is appropriate to describe the unique reality of contemporary Catholicism. The desire remains catholic but is always confronted with a wide variety of modes of feeling and being catholic in contemporary society. In sociological jargon, this means that the internal differentiation of contemporary Catholicism, from parishes to ecclesial movements, from a less dense and quieter surroundings of theology to various sensitivities criticisms in the ranks of the clergy, from the monastic world to women’s religious orders , has reached a level of complexity that no authority seems to have been able to reduce and redirect it to unity. The Roman form of the unity of the Church Catholicism met during the history of Christianity does not seem to ensure effective theological communion and a unitary way of being church. The different Catholic churches outside Europe, face specific cultural and social histories of countries and large continents like Africa, Asia and Latin America. In these countries the various Catholic communities are measured with new Protestant churches, with its religious and liturgical impulse, are writing a page of the postcolonial history of entire peoples. Catholic communities, those shepherds also guided by reflecting the restoration line inaugurated by John Paul II, aimed at restoring the “virtue” of obedience of the clergy and bishops to the Pope’s authority, also look for their own way of being church : Catholic but not Roman, faithful to the authority of Peter but relatively distant from European theology formally respectful of liturgical canons as were defined from the Second Vatican Council, but with little tolerance limits on the forms of pre-Christian spiritual expressiveness that emerge vividly in the new Pentecostal churches or Catholic charismatic movement trend. However, pluralism among Catholics doesn’t have a counter part of non Christian religions. In fact, The very existence of a Register for non catholic religions could create, as some groups fear, “first class” and “second class” religions. The churches that can comply with the formal requirements needed for registration, will gain the juridical status of “religious persons” . Small Pentecostal churches or temples of Afro-Brazilian who cannot enroll, on the other hand, will lose the little legality they possess. The result may be a class-based discrimination due to which the poorer practitioners of certain religions will not be able to attain the legal status that other, wealthier and more formally educated of their counterparts will. Although the law does not oblige religious institutions to register, those in a position
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to do so enjoys benefits that excluded ones don’t. Since the designation of Pope Francis brought a new wave of social suspicion regarding sects, and media stigmatization of the non Christian religions, non-registered groups are more prone to social persecution or stigmatization. This process translates in a moderation of ritual practices and religious identities among the religious periferia and a registered tendency of religious minorities for establishing theological and institutional links to Christian associations and symbolic universe. The fears of secularization that the catholic church faced during the nineties had a correlation with the diversification of the religious field in Argentina, with this new horizon set by a Latin American Pope the Vatican has made the first step forward to inverse that tendency and regain cultural hegemony. IV. Conclusions For Argentina the designation of Jorge Bergoglio brings a reinforcement to, already deep, catholic hegemony pretensions. Rooted in a history of colonies and religious assimilation, usage of the concept of ‘religious pluralism’ in social sciences hides the homogenization process that operates among religious heterodoxies along the territory. ‘Pluralism’ supposes the recognition of a variety of creeds but ignores the relations of power between them. On the ground, pluralism’s discourses have imposed a Christian blueprint on every alternative religion expression. Further, for some groups such as the Evangelicals, those years of discussing the subject seem to have pushed them towards the understanding that even attaining the status provided by Register of non-Catholic cults is not enough. Many have now started to crave a legislation that would put all religions -including the Catholic one- under the same law regime and not two different ones as is the case today, or as the draft laws indicate it will continue to be. The appointment of Jorge Bergoglio as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church has revived cultural coordinates dating from the time of the Spanish colony. Christian fervor of the media and the political class resets to a colonized Christian identity governed by Eurocentric and Western values that undermine the sovereignty and cultural diversity that lurks in every corner of Latin America. References [1] ASAD, T. 1993. Genealogies of Religion. Discipline and
[2]
[3] [4] [5]
[6]
Reasons of power in christianity and islam. The Johns Hopkins University Press. London BAAMONDE, J.2001. Libertad religiosa, cultos y sectas en la Argentina: Análisis del anteproyecto de Ley de Libertad Religiosa de la Secretaría de Culto. Buenos Aires: Fundación SPES. BOURDIEU, P. (1986). La disolución de lo religioso. En Cosas dichas (pp. 104) Gedisa. Buenos Aires BOURDIEU, P. (1971). Genèse et structure du champ religieux. Revue Française de Sociologie, 12(3),295-334. DUSSEL, E. 2003. Europa, modernidad y eurocentrismo, E. Lander (compilador), La colonialidad del saber: eurocentrismo y ciencias sociales. Perspectivas latinoamericanas, pp.41-53. CLACSO-UNESCO. Buenos Aires. CASANOVA, J. (1994). Public religions in the modern
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world. University of Chicago Press. Chicago [7] DAVIE G. (2002). Europe: the exceptional case. Darton,
Longman & Todd. Londres [8] FATH, S. (2008). Dieu XXL. Autrement. Paris [9] HERVIEU-LÉGER, D. (1999). Le pèlerin et le converti. Flammarion. Paris [10] HERVIEU-LÉGER, D. (2003). Catholicisme, la fin d’un monde. Ed. Bayard. Paris [11] MALLIMACI, F. (2013) The Argentinean Catholicism of Bergoglio and the papacy of Francis. A first approach from Argentina. Sociedad y religión. vol.23 no.40 Buenos Aires [12] MIGNOLO, W. 2000. Local Histories/Global Designs. Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges, and Border Thinking. Princeton University Press. Princeton. [13] MAROSTICA, M.1997. Pentecostals and politics: The creation of the Evangelical Christian movement in Argentina 1985-1995. Ph. D. dissertation. Political Sciences Department. University of California, Berkeley. [14] MICHEL, P. (1995). La grande mutation. Albin Michel. Paris [15] NAVARRO FLORIA, J. 2000 El reconocimiento de las confesiones religiosas en la Argentina. Paper presented at the Congreso Latinoamericano sobre Libertad Religiosa. Instituto de Derecho Eclesiástico del Perú. Lima, Perú, September of 2000.
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Study of Impact of Culture on Women throughout the World DR. MANISHA MATHUR
Department of Zoology, G.N.Khalsa College, Matunga ,Mumbai, India manishakmathurs@yahoo.co.in
Abstract: This article reviews the impact of cultural factors on mental health of an Indian women. Marked gender discrimination in India has led to second class status of women in society. Their mobility, work, self-esteem and selfimage, in fact their worth and identity, seem to depend upon the male members of a patriarchal society. Women’s lack of empowerment and both financial and emotional dependence have restricted their self-expression and choices in life. This, along with family, social and work pressures, has a definite impact on women’s mental health. This paper discusses some recent advances in the area of movements that has gained tremendous impetus in the humanities and social sciences is the rediscovery of the role of women in history and their contributions to human culture. These diverse collections demonstrate the far-ranging impact women have had on all aspects of culture. From innovative women artists and pioneering scientists and technologists to the woman who campaigned for universal suffrage and social equality, their stories provide a window on to women’s multifaceted contributions to our shared heritage Keywords: Women, Culture, Anthropology, mental health, cultural violence.
I. Introduction India is facing enormous social, economic and health challenges, including inequality, violence, political instability and high burden of diseases. Women continue to experience systematic violations of their human rights and to be largely excluded from decision-making. In situations of war and military occupation, women are to an alarming degree the victims and targets of atrocities and aggression(6). To combat war as the ultimate expression of the culture of violence, we must address issues such as violence against women in the home, acts and reflexes of aggression and intolerance in everyday life, the banalization of violence in the media, the implicit glorification of war in the teaching of history, trafficking in arms and in drugs, recourse to terrorism and the denial of fundamental human rights and
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democratic freedoms(7,8). When women’s health has been addressed in this region, activities have tended to focus on issues associated with reproduction, such as family planning and childbearing, while women’s mental health has been relatively neglected. A culture of peace requires that we confront the violence of economic and social deprivation. Poverty and social injustices such as exclusion and discrimination weigh particularly heavily on women. Redressing the flagrant asymmetries of wealth and opportunity within and between countries is indispensable to addressing the root causes of violence in the world(9) .Efforts to move towards a culture of peace must be founded in education; as stated in UNESCO’s Constitution: since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. Even in the new millennium, women in South Asia are deprived of their socio-economic and legal rights(10,11). They live in a system where religious injunctions, tribal codes, feudal traditions and discriminatory laws are prevalent. Thy are beset by a lifetime social and psychological disadvantage, coupled with long years of child bearing. They often end up experiencing poverty, isolation and psychological disability. In some urban regions of South-Asian countries, women’s social roles have changed to some extent. They have now comparatively more opportunities for education, employment and enjoyment of civil rights within society. However, the de-stereotyping of the gender roles which have been traditionally assigned by our society is still far away. In India, most of the societies the customary thought of people is that “girls are born to be fed throughout their lives” and “boys are born to earn and support the whole family”. This thought is reflected through certain discriminative behaviors of people. Sex selection during pregnancy is still rampant in India, where women are forced to abort a female fetus .The birth of a baby boy is celebrated with great enthusiasm even in very poor families, and they look for every possibility for celebration on the occasion of birth of a male child. On the other hand, the birth of a baby girl is not welcomed. The situation is even worse in some rural areas of India where the girls are even deprived of their right to live. In one of the rural areas of India, it happened that, when a woman came home from hospital cradling her
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newborn daughter, her mother-in-law mashed a poisonous coriander into the dollop of oil and forced it down the infant’s throat. The reason behind it was that sacrificing a daughter guarantees a son in next pregnancy. The couples are often forced by elderly members of family, particularly mother-in-laws, to keep on taking chances for the birth of a baby boy, which in many cases results in the birth of five or six girls. Non-governmental organizations, women rights movements, Amnesty International and human rights workers periodically manage to follow-up the victims of violence and bring the culprits to justice. In India, some ancient traditions and customs are still followed promoting various forms of violence against women. These include honor killings, exchange marriages, dowry, female circumcision, questioning women’s ability to testify, denying their right to choose the partner, confinement to home . The most frequent causes for acts of violence are domestic quarrels due to the inability of a woman’s family to make dowry payments at time of marriage. In some rural areas of India, girls are deprived of their marriage rights only to keep the property in the family. In India, very often young unmarried girls and women suffer tremendous physical and psychological stress due to the violent behavior of men. The nature of violence includes acid throwing, rape , wife-beating, murder of wife, kidnapping and physical. Besides that, many women and young children from SouthEast regions are trafficked and forced into prostitution, undesired marriages and bonded labor. Illiteracy, political forces, a feudal and tribal culture, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of religious principles, and above all a girl’s low status in the society encourage and sustain sexual exploitation of women. The trafficked victims face violence, intimidation, rape and torture from the employers, brothel owners and even law enforcement agents. This sexual servitude is maintained through overt coercion, physical abuse, emotional blackmail, economic deprivation, social isolation and death threats. Customs and traditions are often used to justify violence. The present scenario in India is still dramatic particularly in the rural areas, where the tribal chief remain in command. An analysis of various studies in different regions of India revealed an overall prevalence rate of mental disorders in women. Women had significantly higher prevalence rates for neuroses, affective disorders and organic psychoses than men . A study carried out in India (6) showed that factors associated with depressive disorders in upper and middle class women were marital conflicts conflict with in-laws (13%), financial dependency (10%), lack of meaningful job (14%), and stress of responsibilities at home and at work (9%). Another study conducted in India revealed that the most frequent factors forcing women to commit suicide were conflicts with husband and in-laws. The women who face domestic violence from husband and in-laws have no way out, because the system considers these acts of violence as acceptable. (12) The police and law enforcement agencies are normally reluctant to intervene, considering it a domestic dispute. If the woman abandons her marriage, she has to face innumerable problems, like nonacceptance from society, financial constraints and emotional problems of children growing up without father. The tendency of women to internalize pain and stress, and their lower status with less power over their environment, render them more
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vulnerable to depression when under stress.(13,14) Now a days, almost 80% females are into jobs. But along with them they have to fulfill all the requirements of the family members. Have to perform all the house hold jobs along with the job where as men only do the job and dominate on females and force them to do all house hold activities. In some regions of India violence has reached staggering levels; in a recent population-based study from India, nearly half of women reported physical violence (6) .In ;India, only women are thought to be responsible for producing the next generation, and the blame for the absence of the desired number of children is unquestioningly placed on them, leading to a destabilization of their social status (9-11). Studies have revealed that severe emotional harassment is experienced by a large number of these women in their marital homes in the form of ostracism from family celebrations, taunting and stigmatization, as well as beating, and withholding of food and health care (12,13). A study carried out in Karachi explored the experiences among women suffering from secondary infertility: 10.5% of them reported they were physically and verbally abused by husbands and 16.3% by in-laws. Nearly 70% of women facing physical abuse and 60% of those facing verbal abuse suffered severe mental distress (14). There are several types of violence against women, not all of which take the form of brutal assaults. Demands by society on widows, however young they were, to lead a rigidly austere life, socially isolated and without any access to men, have been condoned for ages as necessary measures to keep them from temptation and sin(15,16). The practice of “sati” in certain parts of India, by which the wife threw herself into the funeral pyre of her husband, has been documented in the not too distant past. Such behaviors of self-denial, torture and even death are indeed sanctified and glorified and there are even temples erected for the goddess of sati(17). The rate of mental distress has been reported to be high also in working women in India, and cultural factors are among the contributing variables (15). This mental distress usually remains unacknowledged (16). Finally, the recent economic reforms in India have been accompanied by a rise in the incidence of reported domestic violence, rape and alcohol abuse (17). In ancient India, vedic people established a social system in which father,instead of mother became the head of the family. Throughout ancient history,women were obliged to abide by the laws made by men. However, it is also true that vedic society had a number of women in key positions and that certain austerities could not be performed without their wives even in the early ritualistic period. In fact according to legends Lord Brahma was forced to take up a girl named Savitri as his consort for a special worship, in the absence of his wife Saraswati. The ritualistic vedic culture was indeed male dominated. Women folk only helped in the preparation of things for the rituals and fire sacrifices and did not conduct rituals themselves. Intellectual revolution followed as the fire sacrifices of the vedic culture was challenged by thinkers including women, who speculated on the nature of religion (Mazumdar, 2004). Independence of India heralded the introduction of laws relating to women.The Constitution provided equality to men and women and also gave special protection to
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women to realize their interests effectively. Special laws were enacted to prevent indecent representation of women in the media and sexual harassment in workplaces (Nair, 1996). The law also gives women equal rights in the matter of adoption, maternity benefits, equal pay, good working conditions etc. At the international level, the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) sought to guarantee better legal status to women. However, certain contentious issues like the Jammu and Kashmir Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill 2004 (which deprived a woman of the status of permanent residency of the State if she married an outsider) and the Supreme Court judgment in Christian Community Welfare Council of India (in an appeal over the Judgment of the High Court, Mumbai). The latter has permitted, under certain circumstances, the arrest of a woman even in the absence of lady police and at any time in the day or night. These instances have once again brought to the forefront the traditional male domination (Mazumdar, 2004), who speculated on the nature of religion .Despite major changes that have occurred in the status of women in some parts of the world in recent decades, norms that restrict women to the home are still powerful in India, defining activities that are deemed appropriate for women(18,19,20). They are, by and large, excluded from political life, which by its very nature takes place in a public forum. In India, an important mechanism of male dominance is the propagation of gender ideology through sanctions of religious practices and their gender-selective interpretation by the community leaders. Moreover, increasing exposure to violence through popular reading, theaters, film and TV shows, satellite culture, etc. directly or indirectly encourage men to commit offences like rape. Theoretically Government of India regards man and women as equal. However,the states concern to preserve the existing patriarchal social order is clear from the ways laws operate in respect to violence against women.
II. Conclusions Equality, development and peace are inextricably linked. There can be no lasting peace without development, and no sustainable development without full equality between men and women. The new millennium must mark a new beginning. We must dedicate ourselves to averting violence at all levels, to exploring alternatives to violent conflict and to forging attitudes of tolerance and active concern towards others. Always provided it involves the full participation of women, action to remedy a pervasive culture of violence is not beyond the capacity of the people and governments of the world. Women’s capacity for leadership must be utilized to the full and to the benefit of all in order to progress towards a culture of peace. Their historically limited participation in governance has led to a distortion of concepts and a narrowing of processes. In such areas as conflict prevention, the promotion of cross-cultural dialogue and the redressing of socio-economic injustice, women can be the source of innovative and much needed approaches to peace-building. Women bring to the cause of peace among people and nations distinctive experiences, competence, and perspectives(17). Women’s role in giving and sustaining life has provided them
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with skills and insights essential to peaceful human relations and social development. Women subscribe less readily than men to the myth of the efficacy of violence, and they can bring a new breadth, quality and balance of vision to a joint effort of moving from a culture of war towards a culture of peace. Girls and women constitute a large majority of the world’s educationally excluded and unreached. Ensuring equality of educational access and opportunity between the sexes is a prerequisite for achieving the changes of attitudes and mind-sets on which a culture of peace depends. Even in the new millennium, women in India are deprived of their socio-economic and legal rights. They live in a system where religious injunctions, tribal codes, feudal traditions and discriminatory laws are prevalent. Thy are beset by a lifetime social and psychological disadvantage, coupled with long years of child bearing. They often end up experiencing poverty, isolation and psychological disability. In some urban regions of India, women’s social roles have changed to some extent. They have now comparatively more opportunities for education, employment and enjoyment of civil rights within society. However, the de-stereotyping of the gender roles which have been traditionally assigned by our society is still far away.
Reference [1] Crawford, Philip Charles. “An Enlightening Look at the
Feminist Ideals that Informed This American Icon”. School Library Journal. Retrieved 13 October 2011. [2] Ley, PhD, David J. “Wonder Woman: Top or Bottom”. Psychology Today. Retrieved 13 October 2011. [3] Margot Lovejoy, Digital Currents: Art in the Electronic Age, Routledge, 2004, p108. ISBN 0-415-30780-5 [4] T.J. Demos, Dara Birnbaum, Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman, MIT/Afterall Books, 2010, p1. ISBN 1-84638-066-9 moma.org.uk [5] “Lasso of Truth”. Retrieved 24 March 2014. [6] ’Lasso of Truth’: The curious tale of Wonder Woman’s creator”. Retrieved 24 March 2014. [7] “1969”. Comics Sightings in TV and Film. Marvel Masterworks.com. Retrieved 13 October 2011. [8] Wertham, Frederic (1954). Seduction of the Innocent. New York: Reinhart & Company. pp. 192, 234– 235. ISBN 1-59683-000-X. [9] Robbins, Trina. “Wonder Woman: Lesbian or Dyke: Paradise as a Woman’s Community”. Papers. Girl-wonder.org. Retrieved 13 October 2011. [10] DiPaolo, Marc (2011). War, Politics and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda In Comics and Film. McFarland & Company. p. 14. ISBN 9780786485796. [11] Bullough Vern and Bonnie Bullough (1987), Women and prostitution. A social history, p. 94, New York:Prometheus. [12] CEDPA & PRIDE (1997), Devadasi system continues to legitimize prostitution: the Devadasi tradition and prostitution, India: Annual Report. [13] Chakraborthy, Kakolee (2000), Women as Devadasis: origin and growth of the Devadasi profession, New Delhi: Deep and Deep.
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[14] Friedman, Robert (1996), “India’s shame: sexual slavery and
political corruption are leading to an AIDS catastrophe”, en The Nation, New York: The Nation Associates. [15] Giri, V. Mohini (1999), Kanya: exploitation of little angels, New Delhi: Gyan. International Labour Organization (ILO) (2000), “Globalization’s losers become its movers”, en
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The value of human life and the attitude towards abortion A christian and bioethic approach 1. Gabriela ANDREI, assistent lecturer
2. Ana ION, assistent lecturer, Ph.D.
Faculty of Navigation and Naval Transport, Department of Fundamental Sciences and Humanities, Maritime University Constanta, Romania e-mail: andregabriela@yahoo.com
Faculty of Navigation and Naval Transport, Department of Fundamental Sciences and Humanities “Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy Constanta, Romania e-mail: ana_ion_ana@yahoo.ro
Abstract: Abortion, the cruel reality of the contemporary mankind, bites with no mercy our life and lacerates the humanity face, relativizing life’s ultimate value. We fight for the animal’s lives and rights, but we kill our children in womb. We are confused and living up to the rules imposed by us, and we fail, because we do not see the „Light of the world” (John 8,12) - Jesus Christ, losing sight of the reference frame – the divinity. We have declared God dead [1], the fountain of life , and we put ourselves in His place. We lost indiscriminatingly the values of “as Gods” ( Genesis 3,5) and “as God’s image” (Genesis 1, 27) drifting on the gradient of big fails, as big as God we have chased but never listened. So, that, from the survival outlook and lacking of love in our life, the fight for survival targets against the somebody ‘s else life, and no illustration is more eloquent and tragic as the mothers, families and society’s fight against the procreation generally, and particularly against the unborn child.
why, all his life, a man is struggling for life. Unfortunately, this battle, instead of being full of love and thanksgiving, directed towards harnessing this great gift, nor rarely it becomes a fight for survival and fulfillment in temporal life, succumbed finally to death, forgetting that the purpose of life in the flesh is not survival, but eternal life, which Jesus Christ Himself, our Savior was sacrificed.
Keywords - abortion, right to life, life, homicide, murder, live, Christianity
„For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalms, 138, 13, 14) “I see, in each and every human being, which has its beginning in their mother’s womb, a person that God created out of His unlimited love for us. I see his longing to lead us from the moment of conception until the moment of death, when we would prepare for His kingdom, on the way to holiness, to all, not just one ... But I can also see His pain for each child killed in the womb, for the old or the who are sick euthanized. I see His pain to him who dies in sin, who does not confess their sins, who kill their neighbor, who kill their child or others’ children, which helps encourages, or approves of stopping a human life. ”[2] We all want life for ourselves, for our own good. Once we are living our life, we do not want it to stop, that is
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The biological life begins simultaneously with the spiritual life. Human nature, after the primordial fall, involves the embryo involves state, as the beginning of life, and this condition begins with the fertilization of the egg cell, not with the adherence of the blastocyst to the uterine wall. Holy Scripture, the writings of the Holy Fathers, contemporary science, confess this, through the voices of true scientists. This is the man: intellect in a useful and appropriate body (nous kai endedemenos prosphoro prepo sarki). He emerged from the maternal bosom (en tois metroois plattetai kolpois) sustained by the most reasonable and wise master, God almighty. He, in the time of birth pains goes towards the light in those dark chambers” [3]. St. Gregory of Nyssa, making a comparison with the grain of wheat which embraces all that plant’s species, says: “... it’s not fair to say that the soul is prior to the body” or that body is without a soul, but both have a unique beginning, according to His higher will, in God’s primary purpose “[4]. Moreover, as St. Basil the Great accounts for (A.D 329379), the placing of the soul into the body, or the condition of the fetus formation is not relevant for this traditional Christian judgment: “Women who deliberately kill their own unborn children are guilty of murder. From our point of view there is no analysis of whether the child was or not formed “(Letter 188, 1995, vol. VIII, p. 225)” [5]. Professor Balthasar Staehelin, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Zürich, Switzerland, said: “Our psychotherapy practice shows that the body is closely related to its psyche through the Spirit of God. Each man and each embryo carries with itself, since conception, the image of Christ. So, human liveliness occurs at conception, and not later in the pregnancy” [6].
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Professor Erich Blechschmidt, a renowned German embryologist and anatomist from Göttingen, noted, in his work on the beginning of human life, that . The embryo does not become human, it is human from the very beginning. “ He is a human being in every moment of its development from conception [...]. Already the first cell (the fertilized egg) is a human individual. This is demonstrated by research of nucleus and chromosomes contained in it” [7]. Professor Rudolf Ehmann, a gynecologist and director at Department of Obstetrics - Gynecology of the Stans Cantonal Hospital in Switzerland, said: “A child’s life belongs to him, and nobody else’s ; we do not have the right to decide on anyone’s life. I have no doubt that human existence begins at conception, during the fusion of the sperm with the egg cell. A scientific evidence for this is in vitro fertilization. Any other definition of the beginning of life is unfounded.” [8] However, in the 60s, (the year when the hormonal contraceptives and the intrauterine device, the IUD, appeared on the market), the medical world decided to “assess”, as “beginning” of human life the blastocyst attachment to the uterine wall, and hence the beginning of pregnancy was considered to start in this point. This compromise consider new perspectives of medicine without God: the use of contraceptive methods, of abortion in the period of preimplantation, the techniques developed later (in vitro fertilization, the sick embryos which were considered sick were eliminated), the IUD use, and the use of chemicals for the elimination of healthy, but unwanted embryos, etc. Thus, modern medicine easily exculpates from any charge and “when people have to be killed, they are first assigned, by definition, an inferior, non-human status. This is how the fetus is considered: to be able to legally kill it in their mother’s body, it is decided that it will not be attributed any specific human qualities. The idea also applies to the fertilized human egg up to its complete implantation, given that early human life was established purely out of utilitarian reasons, to be considered at the end of implantation “ [9]. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31), are the words of the Annunciation for all humanity, sent to a maid who impressed heaven by her soul’s humility and purity. By these, man’s redemption begins, along with the whole creation, and they say “you will bear a son in your womb” so, in the womb of the Virgin, the Son, and not anything else, was conceived, from the very beginning. “In those days Mary arose and went in haste into the hill country, to a city of the tribe of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby moved in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit “(Lk 1.39 to 41). Elizabeth’s unborn baby felt the presence of God and “rejoiced” (Luke 1.44), even though he was in his mother’s womb. So, one can have a dialogue with God, since their womb life, which can be as effective as an adult’s dialogue with God, because they who are in the womb bear God’s the image from the moment of conception. Elizabeth, too, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and they all were happening “in those days”, i.e. immediately after the Annuciation, Jesus
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Christ the Saviour being in the womb of the Virgin Mary, just conceived, with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Abortion means murder and there is nothing to justify it. Killing a life without the slightest possibility of defense from the victim’s part is abominable. And, more, when the killer is the very one who should have to defend it, wear it in the womb, help it to grow, love it, i.e the one that should be called mother , things become difficult to understand. Not even the most ferocious, bloodiest animals would do such a thing. Not rarely, are material causes cited; however, “abortion can never be justified, morally, or in relation to other factors such as: the economical status of the family, misunderstandings between partners, career damage of the future mother, or her physical appearance.”[10] The problems of human life cannot be solved by death, nothing which has to do with life finds the solution in death; the solution in none else but God’s kindness and mercy. We should be sure of that with life, God sends all that is necessary for this. Man must come with his share of love and sacrifice, while for other necessary things, it is only God that takes care of. No man can take, through death, which God gives them through life, so take heed! “You look for happy life in the kingdom of death? It is not there. For how could happy life in a place where there is no life at all? “ [11] In reality, material, family or social problems invoked are often exaggerated. Our grandparents used to grow as many children as God allowed in a much smaller house, as compared with ours today; with a plot of land not bigger than our wages they managed in hard times of war and natural disaster. Children learned to care for one another, to help, to love and become real, strong souls, with God in mind, whom they began to know from their mother’s prayers and stories. In our homes now have no place children, any more, and it is not the house which is the problem, not the low income, not the family disagreements, but our hearts that have become too small and cannot love any longer, cannot allow anyone else inside them, because we took God out of there. Therapeutic abortion, a demonic death mask, hide sin and crime under the guise of a human right. Therapeutic abortion for medical reasons (healthy child and sick mother or sick child and healthy mother) or social reasons (healthy mother and healthy baby) is a criminal therapy that allows killing of the fetus even in advanced stages of intrauterine life. “If the genetic investigation finds that an unborn baby will be abnormal, the recommendation is to give birth to that child, respecting his right to life, but the decision will be made only by the family, and only after that family was told about the moral and spiritual implications, both by the doctor and by the confessor. All these need to be resolved in terms in relation with the redemptional significance of the presence of a handicapped human being in the life of every person in the life of the community. “[12] Community and man sometimes needs burdens, so as to make them strong, to make them learn sacrifice, love, and to help them carry their own crosses. If God decided
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so, it is for soul’s salvation, that child will be saved by the suffering and helplessness they wore, and along with him, those who received it as a challenge to love, as a gift God made them. It is neither simple nor easy, but Jesus, the Son of God Himself assumed human infirmities and bore them, to show how much he loves us. Moreover, there not few are the situations in which mothers chose to give birth to such children, and healthy children were born, which indicates that prenatal diagnosis was false, and it is likely to kill a healthy child. “If a mother’s life is at risk by pregnancy or birth, priority should be given to that woman’s life, not because her life has a higher value in itself, but because of the relationships and responsibilities which that woman has towards other people who depend on her” [13]. It is the case of therapeutic abortion, having maternal causes, but even here, the woman must be very responsible ... There are mothers who understood that nothing is accidental, and chose not to oppose life, even in these situations, and go forward with any risk, assuming the sacrifice to the end; these women had the surprise and joy to bear healthy children, and they, themselves, were healed of their diseases and infirmities. This is where faith, obedience, prayer, God’s plan of salvation for each of us intervenes. In what social reasons are concerned, we can mention the case of schoolgirls or students who become pregnant, and resort to abortion as a desperate solution ; the solution is not contraception, but an education based on Christian moral principles. If, however, they become pregnant, there is the alternative of adoption, since there are childless families who are willing to adopt them, to love them and raise them. “Contraception is opposed to the divine command of Fc 1, 28: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Man slips slightly to extremes - on the one hand we have the example of Ham, who begot Canaan, in flood conditions, when abstinence was required (cf. Genesis 9, 18) and on the other hand, the example of Onan, who did not want to have children with his wife whom he had under the levirate (Genesis 38, 8-9). Today the same extremes are perpetuating, the same sinful guidelines, on the one hand, by exploiting the laws of procreation through in vitro fertilization, and on the other hand, abusing sexual pleasure without assuming responsibility for children born, through contraceptive measures (both abortive risks or with possible side effects of abortion). Christian theologians recommend moderation in sexual activity, in marriage, accompanied by birth of children, some admitting certain natural contraceptive measures, obviously with no danger of abortion” [14]. The woman “will be saved through childbirth, if she continues to abide in faith, in love and holiness” (1 Timothy 2, 8-15). This is the fulfillment and mission of a woman, regardless of her social status, education, or training, because thus, she can make the most of love and can spread love around the family, and society, making her being an instrument of love, always filled with faith in God, the source of everything. True love begins with life and they just go together. If a
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woman became aware of her extraordinary place before all creation, in which dignity was laid participating with God to create and to spread love, she would never abdicate give up this role. What is the man’s responsibility, if he consents to an abortion? As a father, and a husband, the man is responsible for the whole family and should be concerned about its spiritual orientation. His duty is to love his wife and children as Christ loves His Church, until sacrifice. When the woman comes and tells her husband that they are going to have a child, she is waiting for some sort of blessing from him, as a confirmation of love between them. A woman will never go to have an abortion if the child’s father expressed his joy that a new life will be born, if he assumed responsibility to do whatever it takes to grow and educate it, and believed that God put hope for the fulfillment of these duties. A woman needs confidence, stability, peace, and love; once she has felt these realities, she will never think of abortion. Creating this balance in a woman’s life depends largely on the attitude of the man, because, no matter how different the feminist views are a woman, subconsciously wants to live under authority: “ Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” (Genesis, 3, 16). Therefore, man’s attitude towards life, taking responsibility of the role of guiding the family to Christ will lead to a correct attitude of the woman towards all aspects of existence, “ because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church--he himself being the savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). Moreover, it strengthens the relationship between spouses in love, because through the birth of children, this love goes beyond life in the flesh, the mystery of love becomes creative, calling to life and tending toward more life and love; and we all know that love and life beat death, and conquer eternity A man who consents to abortion, sending the woman to have an abortion, the man goes under his man status, or head of the family, leaving behind his authority; he is only a male interested in his bodily needs, and, from the perspective of this attitude, the woman is seen as an object of pleasure, lust. A man should not be surprised if, later, his children and wife will stand against him, and walk the path of disobedience, of infidelity, or lust. The cause is here in his disobedience to God, the fact that he considered his wife a whore, then, again, he should not be surprised that his daughter or wife, try to walk the path of unhealthy habits, that his son is against him, that there is not harmony and understanding among family members, at an age when he needs tranquility, peace and balance. “Abortion is the deadly wound of love, he is the last stage of conviction in the disappearance of conjugal love, with the role of assassin of God’s image, from the safest place, which is the womb of his mother, i.e. conjugal love temple“ [15]. A woman is truly a woman when she remains as God created her, virgin and mother. Virgin, by behavior, moral standing, dignity, humility, obedience and mother, by love, wisdom, faith, by fulfilling her role in creation.
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God Himself, the Creator and Providence need a virgin to make her a mother and to take flesh, and come into the world as its Savior. Heaven and earth are united in the womb of a Virgin, and thus, in the attitude (heart) of a woman begins the path of obedience, the way of salvation”. Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1, 38); this was the answer that contains all beauty, greatness and responsibility of freedom. This answer supposed high risks, up to the stoning, after the Old Testament Law, but opened the door of eternity, and knotted the dialogue between God and man, in obedience, where Adam interrupted it by disobedience. However, God does not reject the woman who had an abortion, and does not reject anyone who wants forgiveness and correction. “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. For I do not desire ... death of the wicked, says the Lord; So go back and live “(Ezekiel 18, 23,32). Beyond sin, ignorance, weakness, unbelief, wickedness, deceit and urge of devil, and beyond tears and remorse there exist genuine hope of forgiveness and love and reconciliation. God, through His sacrifice, reconciles us with Him, and, as a source of love, He can reconcile us with the children whom we killed. Let us try to find God, as our unique opportunity for eternity, and let us not despair. Sincere repentance, deep, sustained and conscious future involvement in the struggle for life, for the will of God in creation, hope in His mercy can be like a return to life, or a resurrection in the authority of Him who motivated repentance, God Jesus Christ, who has the power to restore our spiritual profile and gives us the strength to face those children hoping to be healed, and, at least at that time hoping to love them. Therefore in order to get healing we should learn how to forgive; forgiveness should be sought, in the holy confession; no forgiveness can be given to a soul that is not clear of sins. By the Cross and His sacrifice, God, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness, while through His Church, He brought healing. Let’s go, then, to God, Jesus Christ in our lives; let us be parents, mothers and fathers of our children and not their executioners.
Destiny in The Romanian Bioethic Review, Vol. 8, Nr. 4, October – December 2010, p. 71. [5] Mark J. Cherry, Bioethics and public Forum: why should christians involve in public moral debates, in The Romanian Bioethic Review , vol. 7, n. 1, January – March, 2009, p. 50. [6] Pius Stössel, Myriam, de ce plângi? – Trauma avortului, Ariel Publishing House in cooperation with Pro Vita Medica Timişoara Foundation, 1998, p. 131 apud C. T. Gross, Ph.D. Professor priest, Ph.D. Ilie Moldovan, works cited, p.39. [7] Erich Blechschmidt, Wie beginnt das menschliche Leben. Vom Ei zum Embryo, Christiana Verlag, Elveţia, 2008, p. 31, apud Dr.C. T. Gross, Professor priest Ilie Moldovan, Ph.D ., works cited,., op. cit., p. 40. [8] Dr Rudolf Ehmann, Ph.D. – obstetric gynecologist , cantonal hospital Stans, Elveţia, CH – 6370, in cooperation with Otto Döpper, Contraceptive Aids. Untold Fatal Side Effects . A critical track-record of a gynecologist.The article is the enlarged and reviewed text of the conference held by Dr Rudolf Ehmann pe 22.09.1990 in Dresden, at the International Congress “World Federation of Doctors Who Respect Human Life”, p. 20, apud Dr.C. T. Gross, Professor priest Ilie Moldovan, Ph.D. works cited, p. 40. [9] Ibidem, p. 35. [10] BOR official site, Socio-charitable work, Bioethics, Abortion, http://www.patriarhia.ro/ro/opera_social_filantropica/ bioetica_1.html, 30 may, 2014. [11] The Blessed Augustin, Confessiones, in Scrieri alese, Partea întâia, PSB 64, EIBMBOR 1985, p. 110. [12] BOR Official site, works cited. [13] Ibidem. [14] Serban George, Paul Drugaş, Antropologia şi probleme actuale de bioetică , in Revista Teologică, no 1/2008, p.229249. [15] Calinic Botosaneanul, Tanatologie şi nemurire, Cantes Publishing House, Iasi, 1999, p. 80.
“Behold, I have set before you today life and death, good and evil, life and death ... I have set before you today blessing and curse. Choose life, that you and your descendants to live” (Deuteronomy. 30 15, 19). References [1] Nietzsche, Le gai savoir, Paris 1950, aphorism 125, apud
Gheorghe Istudor, Introducere in misiologia ortodoxa, Domino Publishing House, 2009, p. 369. [2] Dr. C. T. Gross, Pr. Prof. Dr. Ilie Moldovan, Îndrumarul medical şi creştin despre viaţă al Federaţiei Organizatiilor Ortodoxe, Renașterea Publishing House, 2008, p. 19. [3] Saint Basil the Great, Despre a nu ne lipi de cele lumeşti, in Scrieri. Partea întâia, PSB 17, EIBMBOR 1986, p. 557 [4] cf. Professor priest Ilie Moldovan, Ph.D., Teologia Iubirii, vol. I, Publishing House of the Orthodox Episcopacy of Alba Iulia, Alba Iulia, 1996, p. 233 apud Adrian Gh. Paul, The Sin of Abortion and Its Anthropological Implications on Human
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Orthodoxy and Science
Niculcea Adrian
Department of Theology, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanţa -900527, Romania E-mail: Niculcea_adrian@yahoo.com
Abstract: The relationship between “orthodoxy” and “science” has recently become a research topic. The orthodox area has never remarked through scientific concerns. The recent concern is generated by intense discussions that are taking place in the West on this issue; therefore Orthodox concerns in this direction do not seem to have been generated from internal reasons, it is a form of imitation, of forced adaptation to modernity, a modernity that we are forced to adapt to by the European world in which we came and where we want to integrate deeper. This does not mean that the Orthodox concern for the relationship between religion and science would necessarily be alien to the essence of “orthodoxy”. It just means that the concern for this issue is recent and has not arisen as a consequence of internal historical development of orthodoxy, as it is the case in the West, where modernity is a process deeply rooted in the history of ideas itself of this part of the world. Keywords: cosmology,
science,
Modernity,
uncreated,
patristic,
I. Introduction If, however, it is time to give our opinion on this topic, even if it is not a priority for the Orthodox consciousness, it is necessary to analyze carefully and with a rigorous thinking the premises of whose position we can answer the question: what is the real relationship between “orthodoxy” and the modern “scientific phenomena”. The attention and rigor required by a serious approach of this topic are motivated by the shallowness of the so-called “orthodox scientists” engaged in this line of research, who prove, in fact, shallowness both in the use of the “orthodoxy” concept and - surprisingly - in the use of “science” concept. This is particularly true for those who state with no rigor that “science” existed in antiquity, as well (and give in this respect the example of the ancients’ gains in terms of mathematics and geometry), and the fathers of the Church would have viewed favorably the scientific concerns (citing as evidence works as Hexaimeron by St. Basil the Great). That is why a rigorous effort to define this relationship must be based on a good understanding of the two terms; he must
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therefore begin by answering two fundamental questions, namely: What is science? What is Orthodoxy? Through “science” in the modern sense of the term we must understand the special concern for the nature of our material world through careful observation of the sequence of the spatial-temporal events that compose it, and the effort to find out the laws by which this sequence of events that make up the world develops, which governs the relations between the different parts that make up this diverse material world in the midst of which we live. Shortly, the “science” is fundamentally a concern for the intrinsic nature of the physical world we belong to in order to discover the rationality that governs it. The final target of the entire scientific effort is not only researching the nature of the physical world and discovering its profound rationality, but using it through technology to improve the comfort of our lives. Then what is “orthodoxy”? Very briefly, throughout its history orthodoxy (and I mean here the Greek patristic Christianity from which the Orthodox claim today) was a huge effort to argue the real presence of God in the world. The period of Ecumenical Councils, that completed with “the dispute around icons” was nothing but a huge effort to answer the question: what exactly could the apostles of Jesus Christ “see” and “touch” in Godhead. The final answer was given by Theodore the Studite who said: his divine person. There followed a period in which the doctrinal effort focused on the question: what exactly is “seen” by the hesychasts, the practitioners of “unceasing prayer” during “their mystical views “? After an extensive argument with a representative of the Italian Renaissance (Barlaam of Calabria) the answer was given by the great Gregory Palamas who said: they see Jesus Christ himself as he is surrounded by “the glory he had before the world was”, in other words by “His uncreated glory”. Today orthodoxy is still striving - with more or less success - to argue in the middle of the modern world and for a modern world in process of desecration that God is present in our material world. One facet of this sense of the real presence of God in the material world we are part of as people is precisely the issue of “the relationship between Orthodoxy and science”. The question we should
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ask ourselves – as a continuation of the great questions the Christian consciousness asked in the patristic period - is: what can we exactly “experience” in the Godhead when investigating “scientifically” the physical world in all its aspects? What is the relationship between laws that govern the physical world and which were discovered by “modern science” on the one hand, and Orthodox concept of “God” on the other? It is a profound question, because it refers to what we “see” or “feel” in the Godhead itself in our efforts focused on understanding the nature and rationality of the created world. It is a specific orthodox question in accordance with both the questions the patristic asked in the Greek East, and with the Scripture itself (John XVII, 5; Luke IX, 32; Acts XXVI, 13; I John III, 2). Who is not aware of the precise nature of this question, the nuances involved and its exact meaning will never understand the true nature of “the relationship between Orthodoxy and science.” In what follows I will seek the premises of this “relationship”, first analyzing the concept of “science” in biblical texts and then at the Greek Fathers. II. The Meaning Of ”Science” In Biblical Texts The Biblical authors see the created physical world as a stark contrast with the infinite God who created it. It is a vision that the psalmist emphasizes very well when he says: “O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendour and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.” (Psalm 104.1-7) But the largest contrast that the psalmist emphasizes is the one between God and man: “O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!...” (Psalm 144.3-5) Is this a “scientific” vision of the world? I could answer yes, if we think that in the biblical authors’ vision the world created by God is a world that exists fundamentally on the condition of time and space, and thus on the condition of finitude. Through its finitude in time and space the world is in a stark contrast with the infinity of God. We understand, therefore, that the cosmic world that God created and in the midst of which we live is a finite one in its materiality in contrast with the spirituality of God who is infinite precisely through this, that is beyond time and space. These details are very important, since “science” may have as “object” nothing else but objects, finite beings. The infinite God transcends the concerns of science. Now it is the time to ask the question: can one know the laws that lead the created world? The question is crucial because the simple empirical acknowledgement of the components of the material world in the midst of which we live and of which we are part is not “science”; in fact, it is not the “scientific knowledge” of it. Does the psalmist authorize, for example, an effort of knowing the legalities by which this finite world is led being
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out of “the hand of God”? This question is also answered by the Psalmist when he says: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether...Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it...For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth...How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139.1-18) The text is complex, so the answer to the above question seems quite difficult. However, the psalmist’s suggestion would be that all finite objects that make up the world, including the components of each organism, are associated based on a “great science” that God has in himself from the depths of eternity. This “science” keeps an eye on beings from the moment of their formation and supervises their evolution until they die. God’s acute sight does not miss any being, any movement. For Him there is no area shrouded in ignorance, because in God’s eyes “the night shines as the day and the darkness shines as light.” What useful idea could we draw from this text for our topic? The basic idea promoted by the psalmist is clearly that the laws by which every being comes into existence into the finite world after and develops her existence until her death are deeply rooted in the “thinking / mind of God”, that is the unfathomable depths of His eternal thinking. This idea will be developed both by the New Testament authors’ thinking and later patristic thinking. However, any “scientific” approach of the world is based on human knowledge of the laws by which the world is evolving; the assertions “... such a wonderful science is beyond my power, it is too high to comprehend”, and “how incomprehensible to me your thoughts are, God, and how great their number is” seemed to undermine any contingency of the psalmist’s opinions about knowledge of the world created by God with the modern “scientific” approach of knowing the physical world! A world that cannot be known cannot be “object” of science! And yet, if we are careful, what the psalmist says with this phrase is not necessarily that he cannot understand any of the “God’s thoughts” regarding this world, but that in reality they are so many (actually infinite), that his knowledge powers - finite as the entire being and all the powers that are in it – they themselves are finite. The psalmist admits that man, just like all the other beings that make up the created world, is finite through his being and the powers that derive from it. Thus, the suggestion would be that man, no matter how much effort will make, will never be able to know “God’s thinking” in its entirety, since it is infinite! III. The Meaning Of ”Science” At The Greek Fathers The Fathers of the Holy Church from the patristic period saw themselves faced with the same problem as the biblical authors. The Greek philosophers of their time were still
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supporting the ideas of the pre-Socratic philosophers of nature according to whom the world we live in has sprung from an eternal matter they identified either with the “fire” (as Heraclitus of Ephesus) or “air” (as Anaximenes of Miletus) or “water” (as the famous Thales), even with “ground” (as Xenophanes of Colophon did). Others saw this “primordial matter” as composed of atoms, and the resulting cosmic world composed of the periodical “union” or “separation” of them. All these “assumptions” excluded from the start the idea of “creation out of nothing”, divinizing this “original matter” in its various forms. It is the thing St. Basil the Great complains of when he says that: “‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ I stop struck with admiration at this thought. What shall I first say? Where shall I begin my story? Shall I show forth the vanity of the Gentiles? Shall I exalt the truth of our faith? The philosophers of Greece have made much ado to explain nature, and not one of their systems has remained firm and unshaken, each being overturned by its successor. It is vain to refute them; they are sufficient in themselves to destroy one another. Those who were too ignorant to rise to a knowledge of a God, could not allow that an intelligent cause presided at the birth of the Universe; a primary error that involved them in sad consequences. Some had recourse to material principles and attributed the origin of the Universe to the elements of the world. Others imagined that atoms, and indivisible bodies, molecules and ducts, form, by their union, the nature of the visible world. Atoms reuniting or separating, produce births and deaths and the most durable bodies only owe their consistency to the strength of their mutual adhesion: a true spider’s web woven by these writers who give to heaven, to earth, and to sea so weak an origin and so little consistency! It is because they knew not how to say “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Deceived by their inherent atheism it appeared to them that nothing governed or ruled the universe, and that was all was given up to chance. To guard us against this error the writer on the creation, from the very first words, enlightens our understanding with the name of God; “In the beginning God created.” What a glorious order! He first establishes a beginning, so that it might not be supposed that the world never had a beginning. Then he adds “Created” to show that which was made was a very small part of the power of the Creator. In the same way that the potter, after having made with equal pains a great number of vessels, has not exhausted either his art or his talent; thus the Maker of the Universe, whose creative power, far from being bounded by one world, could extend to the infinite, needed only the impulse of His will to bring the immensities of the visible world into being. If then the world has a beginning, and if it has been created, enquire who gave it this beginning, and who was the Creator: or rather, in the fear that human reasoning may make you wander from the truth, Moses has anticipated enquiry by engraving in our hearts, as a seal and a safeguard, the awful name of God: “In the beginning God created”--It is He, beneficent Nature, Goodness without measure, a worthy object of love for all beings endowed with reason, the beauty the most to be desired, the origin of all that exists, the source of life, intellectual light, impenetrable wisdom, it is He who “in the beginning created heaven and earth.” [1] The same views are found at St. John Chrysostom. Speaking about the Greek philosophers of his time and their
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debates about the origin of the world, he says: “You heard on the previous days of the ineffable wisdom of the artificer of all visible realities, and how he produced everything solely by his word and desire. He said, remember, “Let it be made,” ’ and it was made, and immediately all the elements were produced; (77b) his word sufficed for the sustenance of all created things, not simply because it was a word but because it was God’s word… You recall the arguments we brought to bear against those saying that existing things came into being from underlying matter and substituting their own folly for the dogmas of the Church. You learnt why, on the one hand, he produced the sky in finished form, but left the earth shapeless and incomplete. We gave you, remember, at that point two reasons for this: firstly, so that you might team the power of the Lord from the more complete thing and not weaver in your reasoning with the thought that it was created out of lack of power; and secondly, since the earth has been created as mother and nurse for us, and from it we are nourished and enjoy all other things, and to it we return in the end, being as it is for us all both homeland and tomb, (77c) he shows it to us shapeless from the beginning in case the very pressure of necessity, if nothing else, should lead us to conjure up some grandiose ideas about it, instead of learning even through these very things that all the above-mentioned advantages are to be attributed no longer to the nature of the earth but to the power of the Creator.” [2] Therefore, the Church Fathers, continuing the biblical authors’ idea, state the finite nature of the material world in time and space to which we belong. This means that the world does not exist from eternity, but was created “out of nothing”. But if it was “created out of nothing”, it means that it is in danger to return in the “nothingness” it came out of. This is because a finite world in time is a prospective world, in a constant change, so that something that did not exist there is now; therefore, based on the same becoming that masters it implacably, the world that exits today may not exist tomorrow, returning again “into nothingness”. If, however, the world exists, what keeps it from falling apart again into the “nothingness” it came out of? This is the big question St. Athanasius the Great asks, when he says: “Seeing then all created nature, as far as its own laws were concerned, to be fleeting and subject to dissolution, lest it should come to this and lest the Universe should be broken up again into nothingness, for this cause He made all things by His own eternal Word, and gave substantive existence to Creation, and moreover did not leave it to be tossed in a tempest in the course of its own nature, lest it should run the risk of once more dropping out of existence ; but, because He is good He guides and settles the whole Creation by His own Word, Who is Himself also God, that by the governance and providence and ordering action of the Word, Creation may have light, and be enabled to abide always securely.” [3] “But by Word I mean, not that which is involved and inherent in all things created, which some are wont to call the seminal principle, which is without soul and has no power of reason or thought, but only works by external art, according to the skill of him that applies it—nor such a word as belongs to rational beings and which consists of syllables, and has the air as its vehicle of expression—but I mean the living and powerful Word of the good God, the God of the
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Universe, the very Word which is God John 1:1, Who while different from things that are made, and from all Creation, is the One own Word of the good Father, Who by His own providence ordered and illumines this Universe.” [4] What does St. Athanasius the Great want to say? He wants to say that the cosmic, the material world that surrounds us, is a world that appeared “out of nothing”, as the biblical authors teach us, a world forged from various components which are in contradiction with each other. If the world had been left by her Creator on the strength of its own diversity, it would have ended up disintegrating. Divine wisdom or the Word of God has arranged everything to gather in a general harmony within which none of these components eliminates the other, but they all support each other forming the symphony of the universe. This harmony is given by the laws that lead the diverse material world, which is finite in time and space; laws that are nothing else but the famous “divine reasons”. The argument, the ultimate source of these “reasons” is, therefore, the Word of God. This means that the ultimate argument, the most original, of the laws that govern the evolution of the material universe we live in is not inside it, but outside it. This is the great affirmation of St. Athanasius’ cosmological thinking, who says: “Who that sees things of opposite nature combined, and in concordant harmony, as for example fire mingled with cold, and dry with wet, and that not in mutual conflict, but making up a single body, as it were homogeneous, can resist the inference that there is One external to these things that has united them? Who that sees winter giving place to spring and spring to summer and summer to autumn, and that these things contrary by nature (for the one chills, the other burns, the one nourishes, the other destroys), yet all make up a balanced result beneficial to mankind—can fail to perceive that there is One higher than they, Who balances and guides them all, even if he see Him not? 2. Who that sees the clouds supported in air, and the weight of the waters bound up in the clouds, can but perceive Him that binds them up and has ordered these things so?” [5] This theory of Sf. Athanasius the Great, according to which the various elements that make up our physical world are governed by laws whose origin and ultimate basis is outside matter, that of finitude that characterizes creation, was developed in the Greek patristic by great names like Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (divine paradigm theory), Maximus the Confessor (divine rationality theory) and Gregory Palamas (uncreated energies theory). Thus, according to the Greek Fathers the world is made of a matter that is ephemeral in time and limited in space, a diverse matter whose components tend to fall apart, to get away from each other, in order to return into the “nothingness” they came out of. What holds them together and explains the universal harmony in which there are hold “the contrary ones” (contrary to each other) is a power outside of our material world: it is the “power” of God’s Word, that is of the “Supreme Reason” from which derive all the special “reasons” which master the bigger or smaller various “regions” of the cosmic world. All these “theories” are the “heart” of the Orthodox vision of today’s world and its destiny. Let’s see what the meaning of “science” is in our
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modern world and how compatible the orthodox view of the material world nature could be with the laws which govern this notion, given the biblical and patristic foundations we have talked about so far. IV. The Meaning Of “Science” In The Modern World The modern science was born under the auspices of a succession of philosophical currents. Starting with nominalism and English empiricism, going through Kantianism and phenomenology and ending with the logical positivism of the “Vienna Circle”, the term “science” has focused more strongly on eliminating the metaphysics’ notions from the research space of the physical world. Some aphorisms offered by great names from of the “science philosophy” illustrate the best this tendency that made possible the emergence of the modern science. All the aphorisms that philosophers like A. Compte, I. Newton, L. Wittgenstein, J. Sebestik and other said about human knowledge, prove that modern science emerged in a gigantic effort of the Western thought to establish knowledge of the physical objects that make up the world, objects that are in a reciprocal relationship, against Aristotle and in the detriment of the absolute notions of its “physics”: the absolute space, time, and motion. This means that modern cognitive approach refuses the absolute knowledge the ancient were promising (pre-Socratic philosophers of nature or Aristotle himself), of eternal entities that would substantiate our being and knowledge of our physical world, and accepts only a relative knowledge, that is the knowledge of the material world just the way it appears to us. Modern philosophy of scientific knowledge is based on the idea that there is no “real/being” outside the space and time in their quality of transcendental categories. All we can know are only the things just the way they appear to us, as “phenomena” and not as “things in themselves”, meaning in a “noumenal” state. Shortly, we know reality only as it appears to us, and not as it exists - independently. This means that as finite beings, conditioned in time and space, we cannot know this reality except only in the transcendental categories that determine our intellect. This is why Husserl says: “As much appearance, that much being!” What do all these mean? It means that modern philosophy of science says that we cannot know anything outside space and time under the condition of which there is our physical universe; we cannot know what it was before it emerged, as we can never know what will be after its disappearance. Knowing under the condition of transcendental categories cannot be extended to metaphysics; it is effective, limited to the physical world. Is that what A. Compte when he stated that true knowledge of the phenomenal world is to “giving up, as mandatory unnecessary, to any search for causes (metaphysical) itself, whether initial or final, limiting us to study the invariant relationships that constitute the actual laws of all phenomena observable” [6] This statement hides in its depths the recognition that the absolute origin, as well as the eschatological ultimate purpose of our material world, transcends any human cognitive effort made within a world that exists under the condition of spatial-temporal finitude. Thus, the world has its real beginning in the original “nothingness” and its final end beyond our cognitive possibilities. Both ‘causes’,
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efficient and final, transcend human knowledge limited to phenomena. This is where modern philosophy of science meets ancient biblical and patristic conception, as we mentioned above. Let’s see what the modern philosophy of science says about the nature of laws that govern this finite world we belong to and in the midst of which we live. The fact that human intelligence discovers more and more laws by which the physical world evolves, proves that it is not prey to chaos, uncertainty or pure contingency as empiricist D. Hume believed. The world is dominated by “order”. This is what modern consciousness has argued from Galilei, who said: “God wrote the book of the universe in the language of Mathematics.” [7] However, there is a question that arises: whether the matter the physical world consists of is finite, does it exist only on the condition of time and space, which is the true nature of its mathematics, numbers and formulas? Are “mathematical objects” (numbers, equations, geometric figures, etc.) some “works” that also appeared in time and space, as all objects in the material universe? Or do they come from “outside” our world, from the depths of God’s uncreated thought? We know that the roots of this latter assumption in the ancient Pythagoreanism, and then at Platon. Pythagoreans believed that everything that makes up the universe, including the universe in its entirety, are ... “numbers”! Numbers, they said, are “the causes and principles of all things.” These enigmatic philosophers of antiquity associated the idea of “number” with the one of “harmony”, so that the whole universe was not a chaotic world, but a nicely organized world, a harmonious world. This is why they named the universe the “cosmos”. Each of the cosmic “elements” was associated by them with a geometric “figure”: the “earth” was associated with the hexahedron (cube) “figure”, “water” was associated with an icosahedron, the “air” with an octahedron and the fire with a tetrahedron (pyramid). They were geometrically related shapes, as all could be built on a fundamental triangle. The founder of the Pythagoreans’ “sect”, Pythagoras, discovered the law which puts in an eternal relation the sides of a right triangle with its hypotenuse: the square of the hypotenuse was equal to the sum of the squares of the sides. The irreducibility of this geometric “law” made the Pythagoreans believe that these are divine laws, of celestial inspiration, hence eternal. As far as the physical world, sublunary, embedded these celestial laws, it really was not a chaotic universe, but a true “cosmos”. This view about the nature of “harmonies” present at various levels of the cosmic universe has been taken up and developed considerably by the great Plato. This is why we are talking even today about a so-called “Platonism” in mathematics, meaning that the entire mathematical structure through which the physicists describe the material world is seen by some of them as the eternal nature. The first who tried to understand the material world, through mathematics were Galileo and then Newton. Einstein was also - more or less explicitly - a supporter of the Platonic metaphysics. They and many others after them formed the group of modern ‘Plato’ philosophers regarding the nature of mathematics. “The essence of the Idea overrides the understanding of the Idea” [8]
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It is clear that the interpretation of mathematical structures through the eternal status of Plato’s “ideas” approaches the modern mathematical thinking - at least the Platonists’ - the so-called divine “paradigms/ reasons/ uncreated energies”, that patristic theological thinking claimed as governing our world and expressing the proof of God’s immanence in our physical universe. A. Orthodoxy And Science As it is known, Orthodoxy has its roots in the Greek Fathers’ theological concept. They formed their mentality regarding the relationship between God and our material world in the biblical authors’ wake. For this reason they rejected the vision of the ancient philosophers of nature about the origin and destiny of the physical world. Unfortunately, their reaction to the old philosophers was too radical, for they were not satisfied to just reject the theory of eternal matters as the fundamental cause of the universe, but went so far as to reject the philosophy itself, meaning the whole rational approach of understanding the cosmic world. Even worse, they placed this process in a flagrant opposition to the cosmological claims of the Scripture, causing a radical break between the pre-Christian and Christian conscience. Inaugurating this train of thought, St. Basil very much rationally stated that the rational research of the causes and phenomena existence is actually futile, endless and even damaging to the soul! “If we were to wish to discover the essence of each of the beings which are offered for our contemplation, or come under our senses, we should be drawn away into long digressions, and the solution of the problem would require more words than I possess, to examine fully the matter. To spend time on such points would not prove to be to the edification of the Church. Upon the essence of the heavens we are contented with what Isaiah says, for, in simple language, he gives us sufficient idea of their nature, “The heaven was made like smoke,” that is to say, He created a subtle substance, without solidity or density, from which to form the heavens”. [9] St. Basil eventually urges his readers to reject even the rational arguments if they are opposed to faith: “There are inquirers into nature who with a great display of words give reasons for the immobility of the earth. Placed, they say, in the middle of the universe and not being able to incline more to one side than the other because its center is everywhere the same distance from the surface, it necessarily rests upon itself; since a weight which is everywhere equal cannot lean to either side. It is not, they go on, without reason or by chance that the earth occupies the center of the universe. It is its natural and necessary position… Do not then be surprised that the world never falls: it occupies the center of the universe, its natural place. By necessity it is obliged to remain in its place, unless a movement contrary to nature should displace it. If there is anything in this system which might appear probable to you, keep your admiration for the source of such perfect order, for the wisdom of God. Grand phenomena do not strike us the less when we have discovered something of their wonderful mechanism. Is it otherwise here? At all events let us prefer the simplicity of faith to the demonstrations of reason.” [10] St. Basil was did not do with disputing the philosophical
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rational, relative explanations to the first cause of the universe; he vehemently rejected even the theories on the side causes, that is the relative phenomena within the cosmos. Today his words seem downright incredible to us: “Have you never thought, when standing nears spring which is sending forth water abundantly, who makes this water spring from the bowels of the earth? Who forced it up? Where are the store-houses which send it forth? To what place is it hastening? How is it that it is never exhausted here, and never overflows there? All this comes from that first command; it was for the waters a signal for their course... (3) And God said: “Let the waters be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear.” He did not say let the earth appear, so as not to show itself again without form, mud-like, and in combination with the water, nor yet endued with proper form and virtue. At the same time, lest we should attribute the drying of the earth to the sun, the Creator shows it to us dried before the creation of the sun.... (5) “And God said Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself.” It was deep wisdom that commanded the earth, when it rested after discharging the weight of the waters, first to bring forth grass, then wood as we see it doing still at this time. For the voice that was then heard and this command were as a natural and permanent law for it; it gave fertility and the power to produce fruit for all ages to come; “Let the earth bring forth.” The production of vegetables shows first germination. When the germs begin to sprout they form grass; this develops and becomes a plant, which insensibly receives its different articulations, and reaches its maturity in the seed. Thus all things which sprout and are green are developed. “Let the earth bring forth green grass.” Let the earth bring forth by itself without having any need of help from without. Some consider the sun as the source of all productiveness on the earth. It is, they say, the action of the sun’s heat which attracts the vital force from the center of the earth to the surface. The reason why the adornment of the earth was before the sun is the following; that those who worship the sun, as the source of life, may renounce their error. If they be well persuaded that the earth was adorned before the genesis of the sun, they will retract their unbounded admiration for it, because they see grass and plants vegetate before it rose”. [11] The watchword of all spirituality in the Greek East, established by St. Basil, remains that a good Christian should radically reject any curiosity about how the natural world works and even the entire rational approach to explain the phenomena it consists of, and to have in mind only the God who made them all simply by His Word: ““You have then heaven adorned, earth beautified, the sea peopled with its own creatures, the air filled with birds which scour it in every direction. Studious listener, think of all these creations which God has drawn out of nothing, think of all those which my speech has left out, to avoid tediousness, and not to exceed my limits; recognize everywhere the wisdom of God; never cease to wonder, and, through, every creature, to glorify the Creator...During the day, also, how easy it is for you to admire the Creator everywhere! See how the domestic cock calls you to work with his shrill cry, and how, forerunner of the sun, and early as the traveler, he sends forth laborers to the harvest! ...Notice how the swan plunges his neck into the depths of the water to draw his food from it, and you will understand the wisdom of the Creator in
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giving this creature a neck longer than his feet, so that he may throw it like a line, and take the food hidden at the bottom of the water.” [12] Therefore, the Christian must leave any rational, philosophical concern regarding the physical world, must abandon all earthly things he lives with and to focus his mind only on the heavenly ones. Looking at the natural ones, he should stop not even for a moment to them, but to think about the heavenly ones, for there is the true homeland, and not this world: “Truly, if such are the good things of time, what will be those of eternity? If such is the beauty of visible things, what shall we think of invisible things? If the grandeur of heaven exceeds the measure of human intelligence, what mind shall be able to trace the nature of the everlasting? If the sun, subject to corruption, is so beautiful, so grand, so rapid in its movement, so invariable in its course; if its grandeur is in such perfect harmony with and due proportion to the universe: if, by the beauty of its nature, it shines like a brilliant eye in the middle of creation; if finally, one cannot tire of contemplating it, what will be the beauty of the Sun of Righteousness? If the blind man suffers from not seeing the material sun, what a deprivation is it for the sinner not to enjoy the true light!” [13] At the end of these considerations the conclusion of the great shepherd is quite the obvious: ““seek those things which are above where Christ is.” Raise thy mind above the earth; draw from its natural conformation the rule of thy conduct; fix thy conversation in heaven. Thy true country is the heavenly Jerusalem; thy fellow-citizens and thy compatriots are “the first-born which are written in heaven.” [14] In the wake of his great predecessors, St. John Chrysostom rejects more and more vehemently the philosophical, rational research of the universe origins, arguing that the second causes are not truly known, much more the first cause of the physical world. He says: ““If the enemies of truth insist on saying it is impossible for something to be produced from nothing, let us ask them. The first human being— he made from the earth, or did he come from somewhere else? To a man they’ll say from the earth, and make no bones about it. So let them tell us how the substance of flesh came into existence from the earth. I mean, from the earth you get clay, and bricks, and pottery, and potsherds so how would you get the substance of flesh? How would you get bones and nerves and arteries, fat and skin, nails and hair, and all the qualities of different substances from one underlying material? They wouldn’t be able to open their mouth in reply.” [15] Following in St. Basil’s footsteps, John Chrysostom takes the same way to understand the second causes of phenomena in the universe and says: “There are some people who try to ascribe these things to some of the stars. For this reason the Holy Spirit teaches us that before the creation of these elements the earth heard his word and command and brought forth the plants, with no need of anything else by way of assistance. In other words, in place of anything else the earth had need only of that word that was spoken, “Let the earth put forth a crop of vegetation,’’...Who could fail to be absolutely astonished at
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the thought of how the word uttered by the Lord, “Let the earth put forth a crop of vegetation” penetrated to the very bowels of the earth and, as though with a veil, adorned the face of the earth with a variety of flowers? In an instant you could see the earth, which just before had been shapeless and unkempt, take on such beauty as almost to defy comparison with heaven.” [16] A millennium later, the horror for the philosophical research of the universe is shared with the same force by St. Gregory Palamas, who puts the ancient science and the Christian theology in a more radical antithesis. The ancient science, he says, comes from empirical observations of phenomena that make up the world, as they are followed the conclusions drawn by the mind and imagination. All these, the great Father suggests, are nothing else but creations, fantasies of the natural mind. But the true science about things comes from outside the mind, comes from God, and the natural philosophers have not had this science before. “But not only data relating to the moon, but also those related to the sun, its eclipses and conjunctions of their time the changes and distances of the other planets in the sky, various bands together and make them, in short, all that we know about heaven then reasons of nature, all the arts, crafts and simply speaking, all knowledge of all collected from partial observations we have gained from the senses and the imagination in mind. None of these, however, cannot be called spiritual, but rather natural, because it does not include those of the Spirit.” [17] What are the pieces of knowledge that come from God and the natural philosophers could not find? St. Gregory exemplifies with the man himself whose composition cannot be reduced to the physical nature’s elements in order to be understood/explained only through the efforts of the human mind; in his constitution he also has elements from the spirit world, that are beyond the science and the understanding of natural philosophy. He says that the cause of natural philosophy errors is the mind slavery in relation to the sensory knowledge, the fact that the cognitive effort is limited to those observed through senses: “So are these (i.e. the Greeks philosophy, the wisdom that comes from natural knowledge of logic methods, nm) compared to true wisdom and, above all, to the teaching of the Spirit. Not only truly knowing God, as far as possible, exceeds matchless philosophy the Greeks, but also to know what place has the man before God surpasses all the wisdom of those.” [18] The patristic period comes to an end in Orient on this note of radical opposition between Christians, followers of “true wisdom”, of the “doctrine of the Spirit”, and of the great ancient philosophers, “those who were philosophizing through their nature”, that were practicing “wisdom from those subject to senses”. The two groups were deeply despising each other, the theologians accusing the philosophers of ignorance, and the profane philosophers considered the biblical cosmology as being a “humble wisdom”, that is a science that offers absolutely mediocre explanations regarding the natural phenomena. This diatribe against the natural sciences and even mathematics and geometry used by astronomers did not fade with Palama and the fall of Constantinople.
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Fervently adopted in the following centuries, it will get in time in the orthodox East the drapery of a total rejection of the science about the things created for the benefit of hesychastic mystical experience of the divine. Also in the eighteenth century another coryphaeus of Athonite thinking, Athanasius of Paros, was affirming that the Orthodox must reject everything that comes from Europe, must cover their ears to everything that is propagated by those who were impressed with the western modern world, but especially to give up any scientific concerns ... not to jeopardize their salvation! If Palama’s diatribes against “natural philosophy” seemed at some point the ultimate expression of patristic thinking organically related to ancient philosophy, with Nicodemus and especially Athanasius of Paros this rejection of the physical nature research in terms of rational thinking has made the leap across time structuring the orthodox thinking in the new era it entered after the fall of the Byzantine capital. In this new period, the opponent of orthodoxy will not be the ancient philosophy and ancient science, but the philosophy and modern science coming from the West. Unfortunately, this vision endures today, because the strange revolt of the Athonite environments against the so-called “biometric passports” equipped with memory chip to store personal data cannot be regarded otherwise than as the latest expression of this long, very long Orthodox tradition against science and philosophy. V. Final Thoughts I would not want to be misunderstood. Orthodoxy is not restricted to this tradition of rejecting natural philosophy in favor of a wisdom solely based on the ones revealed by the Scripture. There is a second school of thinking - unfortunately weakly explored in relation with Modernity - namely the theory of divine paradigms truly opened by Dionysius, continued by Maximus the Confessor and finalized somehow by Gregory Palamas himself. If the horror of philosophy inherited by Palamas from his great predecessors, St. Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, is an important current Orthodoxy today, under which some Orthodox schools rejected Modernity radically in the way of rejecting any concerns for a rational understanding of the natural physical world, the second current, represented by the same Palamas, but in the line of Dionysius and St. Maxim, is the opportunity for Orthodoxy to reconcile with the same Modernity. The rejection of “modern science” by the orthodox thinking rigorist false patristic, is a historical fact that cannot be denied, if we want to remain in objective; the reconciliation of the same orthodoxy with modernity in general and with “the modern science” in particular, however, is only a hope whose fulfillment requires hard work and struggle in the future on behalf of the Orthodox theologians. The problem of the attitude of Greek Fathers towards the science of their time and to the research of the cosmic nature, in fact of the physical nature in general, is a deep one that needs to be circumscribed by a rigorous analysis. It is the first task that the Orthodox theologians of tomorrow will have to assume it. This is because, for example, phrases like “May your simple faith be stronger than your logical arguments”, “not to say that the sun is the cause of dry
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earth, the Creator has prepared the dry land before the sun”, “Because some consider that the sun is the cause for rising steeply the earth, because by the attraction of its heat rise on the earth’s surface the power of germination, which is deep down into the earth, that’s why God gave the earth this ornament before the sun”, “the sun is newer in its making in relation to the grass and plants” and also others, unwillingly ignore the causal succession of things in the universe, the created character, therefore finite and thus conditioned by space and time of items like “sun” or “grass of the earth”. Divinity is an infinite, absolute reality, and so unconditional by no relationship outside them. In contrast to that all created things that make our world are interdependent, meaning that are placed by their own way to be finite in a web of mutual relations, which determines its existence. To say that “it is not the heat of the sun that makes plants sprout from the earth” but mere arbitrary will of the Creator means to understand the created world exclusively under the sign of the divine pure arbitrariness. Moreover, it is to deny the reality of “reason / paradigms / divine energies”, uncreated, the intimate fabric of this finite, material world. For it is evident that the physical world is not ruled by chaos, arbitrariness, but by the divine reasons whose ultimate roots are in the depths of the “eternal thought of God Himself.” It is time for the Modern Orthodox thinkers to abandon this extreme view in favor of building a “cosmology”, a “biology” and even an “anthropology” based on the great theory of “divine reasons” whose sketch is found at Dionysius, the Maxim and even Palamas himself. Only when these unexploited resources will become an expanded orthodox theory regarding the physical and biological world, only then we will be able to speak among the orthodox theological thought and modern science about a real, true, into the spirit of the Scriptures relationship.
[14] Ibid, 9.2. [15] St. John Chrysostom, Homilies...2.11. [16] Ibid, 5. 13. [17] St. Gregory Palamas, Capita 150 (“One hundred and fifty
chapters”). Edited and translated by Robert E. Sinkewicz. Studies and Texts 83. 1968; xii, 271] [1] Ibid.
References [1] St. Basil the Great. The Homilies on the Hexaemeron. Homily
I: In the Beginning God made the Heaven and the Earth. Cpt. 2. In the romanian collection “Părinţi şi scriitori bisericesti”, Bucuresti: Editura Institutului Biblic si de Misiune, vol. 17, p. 72-73. [2] St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis. In the romanian collection “Părinţi şi scriitori bisericesti”, Bucuresti: Editura Institutului Biblic si de Misiune, vol. 21, cpt. 9.3-4. [3] Saint Athanasius (Patriarch of Alexandri], Against the Heathen, tom. 41. traduced by pr. prof. D. Stăniloae, in colection „Părinţi şi scriitori bisericeşti”, Bucuresti: Editura IBMBOR, 1987, vol. 15, p. 78. [4] Ibid, tom. 40. [5] Ibid, tom. 36. [6] A. Compte, in „Dicționar de istoria și filozofia științelor”, D. Lecourt (edit), Bucuresti: ed. Polirom, 2005. [7] Ibid. [8] Ibid. [9] St. Basil the Great, Homilies On The Hexaemeron, 1.8,9. vol. 17, p. 79, 60, 81. [10] Ibid, 1.10. [11] Ibid, 5.1. [12] Ibid, 8.7. [13] Ibid, 6.1.
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Conditions for a Possible Dialogue between Theology and Science from the Perspective of the Concept of Frontier Călin Săplăcan
Faculty of Greek Catholic Theology “Babeş-Bolyai” University Cluj-Napoca, Romania E-mail: calinsaplacan@hotmail.com
Abstract: Is there a way without conquests and wars to be found in the relationship of theology and science? This relation is analyzed from the perspective of the concept of frontier in order to establish the conditions for a possible dialogue. Paradoxically, the frontier unites and divides at the same time. On the one hand, the frontier marks the differences, on the other hand it appears as a crossing, a passageway. The frontier is an in-between, a huge space in which the two sides are called together to explain each other, and in order to create a passage between the two sides. The methodological framework of analysis is the approach of analytical theology to distinctions in language and significance. As a frame of reference, the possibility conditions for a philosophical dialogue between phenomenology and analytical philosophy have been considered.
The contentual significance of the frontier discussed here can be defined by analogy with the mathematical concept of frontier in topology. In what follows, the mathematical “part” of analogy will be presented very briefly and only insofar as it is of interest for the characterization of the frontier in this presentation.
Keywords - scientific language, theological language, frontier, difference, dialogue, passage, ethics
I.
Introduction. The Frontier As A Paradigm
The concept of frontier. For the sake of simplicity in presentation, only two “differences” will be considered. In a certain context, the frontier does not separate, it unites differences, it is a “bridge” between “differences”, a passage that cannot exist outside these differences, only through them. The frontier however is not a “no man’s land”, meaning that it does not belong to any of the differences. Its basic nature is that it belongs to one of the differences but in such a way that it cannot exist without taking into consideration the other difference, the “presence” of the other difference. Synthetically: the frontier belongs to one of the differences but by its nature it does not belong to it in such a way that it excludes the other difference. The concept of frontier defined this way may seem abstract but in fact it is not, as it proves useful and strong in a multitude of analyses: on the level of languages, interdisciplinarity, science, ecumenism, anthropology, ethics, etc.
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The concept of frontier is defined by a paradox: the frontier unites and divides at the same time. In addition to its geo-political use, its use in theology is almost nonexistent. Still, biblical and theological readings hide terms which are suitable for such a use. In the Book of Genesis, God’s creation differentiates: man and woman, human and animal, sky and earth, night and day, etc. The appearance of life is closely connected to the appearance of frontiers. The following examples are illustrations for this: • The act of creation in Genesis introduces and reflects the significance of the frontier in each of the six stages (days): day/night, land/water, human/animal, man/woman, plant/animal – each day is distinct from the previous and also closely connected to it.• Binomials such as separation-alliance, “arche-telos”, man-woman, human-God, creation-eschatology, etc. justify the use of this concept in theology. •In biology, for instance, the frontier plays a role in the genesis of life by the originary differentiation between an “inside” and an “outside” which are the limits of an organism (the body surface). •Also, any organism must protect itself by a frontier (such as the skin) which acts as a barrier against intrusion. •Similar is the frontier in psychology, as anguish against the other who is threatening or invasive.1 Often reduced to limit, border or front, the concept of frontier can question the relationship of science and theology, especially the conditions of a possible dialogue between these. II. The Frontier In A Phenomenological Perspective The reading of the frontier of man, the world or history – whether scientific or theological – is a phenomenological reading in the broad sense of description. The phenomenological approach seems quite easy, although it is just as difficult: it appears as a return to the ways things offer themselves and are regarded (perceived). The interest in phenomenology came from an immediate regard of the world, from the way how reality presents and offers itself. Obviously, this is revealed through discourse. Starting from this description of reality, other representations will also be elaborated, inscribed into one or another interpretive approach. Science elaborates thus a series of representations starting from the description of the reality of man, the world, and history through observation and experience in order to find models and laws that govern its organization. Similarly to science, theology also elaborates a series of representations that describe reality, but distinctly from science, it is developed starting from a confessed reality, the Kingdom of Heavens. What is problematic in this approach is how reality offers itself and how we see it. For example, where theology sees man as the creation of God, science (biology) sees man as a subject of evolution. Is it legitimate to ask if there is a difference in recognizing what we see? We do not only find that science and theology have different takes on reality, but they do not agree with the reality they see. [This is not a matter of perception; it is a matter of interpretation]. This is also the origin of differences in perspective, marked by tensions and disputes. These differences are not only found on the level of phenomenological reading, but they concern both the origin (“arche”) and the end (“telos”), for 1 Ph. Fontaine, “Des frontières comme ligne de front : une question d'intérieur et d'extérieur. Éléments de sociotopologie,” Cités, vol. 31, pp.120-122, 2007.
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any geographical reading – which describes the surface of a phenomenon – sends us to an archaeological reading on its appearance and a teleological reading regarding its end. However, the origin and the end are constellated places which interrogate our identities. What kind of origin and end are we talking about: biological, psychological, spiritual, social? The need for an analytic clarification of languages is obvious. III. The Frontier In An Analytical Perspective There are many words, terms or concepts that have the same “vocabulary form”, but which have different meanings in a natural scientific language or a theological language. For example: “scientific” truth, truth “of the faith”; “biological” origin, “divine” origin; “animal” human (biological), man by “the image and likeness of God”. The natural language stands at the basis of all types of languages, as a common meeting place for scientific and theological language. While the scientific language describes the world of facts, the theological language describes the world of values and existence. Turning to Wittgenstein’s Tractatus LogicoPhilosophicus, one can say: “How the world [the objective of scientific truths, author’s note] is, is completely indifferent for what is higher. God does not reveal himself in the world.” [God is not a fact of this world, the truth about God (the religious truth) is not that of the facts (the scientific truth), author’s note].2 Physics or biology, for instance, will not find God in their researches on facts, and neither will they among or within facts. The truths of the faith cannot be expressed in a scientific language. “Darwin’s theory has no more to do with philosophy than any other hypothesis in natural science”3 This aspect is also valid for theology, as it can be stated that Darwin’s theory has as little to do with theology as any other hypothesis of natural sciences. (Creationism has just as little to do with Darwinist evolutionism as the theory of evolution with theological creationism or the Genesis.) Recognizing differences is the first condition for establishing a relation between theology and science which would exceed the perspectives of concordance or discordance4 that can lead to indifference, disputes or violence. The best example is the passionate debates between the creationists and the evolutionists (following the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species). The fear of the different other and the fear of the other when it is reduced to the self: intolerance and hatred are located in this interval. It is necessary to find the possibilities for bridging these fields in order to enable mutual communication and understanding; they also attempt to identify the fields with strict frontiers where the infringement of these frontiers may lead to confusion and misunderstanding. The activity 2 L. Wittgenstein. (2010, October 22). Tractatus LogicoPhilosophicus, [Online]. Available: http://www.gutenberg.org [EBook #5740], P 6.432. 3 L. Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, P 4.1122. 4 D. Lambert, Sciences et théologie: les figures d'un dialogue. Namur: Presse Universitaire de Namur /Bruxelles: Lessius, 1999, pp.74-105.
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of correct and relevant communication of a theme in a field directed to its adequate presentation and assimilation in another field is hereby called the explication of theme. IV. Crossing The Frontier: Explanation/Explication As Conditions For A Possible Dialogue Between Theology And Science As regards the particularities of theological vs. scientific language, the dialogue between them seems hindered precisely by the difficult access to these languages. In order to unblock the dialogue, it is essential to distinguish between explanation and explication. We can say, with its specific character as a discipline charged with giving an account of faith, the concern of theology could also be to justify and expound the relationship between theological language and scientific language. An example is explication from religious language to scientific language, relevant for an scientific approach, as well as the passage from scientific language to religious language, important for conceptual clarifications in theology (for example: evolution / creationism). A. Explanation The following statement is a general and schematic characterization of this context of explanation as an approach: Explanation, whether scientific or otherwise, is in the first place an approach by which phenomena, events, etc. are correlated, meaning that certain events are considered the basis to make assertions about other events. (The answer to the question: “Why doesn’t the Moon fall on Earth?” is an explanation and not an explication).It is important to note that these correlations are inherently specific to the discipline where explanation happens, and do not have the legitimacy to transgress this discipline to other fields. Consequently, a scientific explanation in biology belongs to this science exclusively and it is not legitimate, for instance, in the field of theology. The restriction is also valid interchangeably: the theological explanation is foreign from biology and must not be mixed up or overlapped with scientific explanation. B. Explication Let us start with an observation: explication is the activity to clarify certain results (new or difficult) within one discipline, in the particular language of that discipline. In this sense it is closer to explanation. Explication is however also a complex cognitive activity aiming at the modeling and interpretation of certain results by the interdisciplinary transgression of disciplines on the level of language. In this sense it is closer to interpretation. Any field of activity that creates a form of knowledge has its own language. This specific cognitive activity of correct and relevant communication, of taking results from one specialized language into another is termed explication. The role of interpretation in explication must once again be emphasized: it is the action which prevents the reduction of explication to merely a form of popularizing the results of a discipline. For instance, the remodeling and reinterpretation of results of biology in the field of theology, respecting
The 1st Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology SECTION
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the requirement to keep the correctness of their scientific meaning, is a form of explication. In this respect there are constraints in the action of explication. Another example is for instance the philosophical interpretation of theological results. In order to be considered explication in the sense proposed here, it cannot be so arbitrary as to violate certain theological meanings, it cannot be incorrect or unacceptable from a theological point of view, such as for instance the violation of certain truths of the faith. The theological explication implies the remodeling and reinterpretation of certain results of the science in agreement with the requirements of the theological field. In the activity of explication, the stress falls on the target field of explication. If in the process of explication, or more generally in our dialogues and proposed solutions we were more sensitive not to our field but to the target field, the way of dialogue would not be a dead end. Metaphorically speaking, one must take care not to silence God by speaking about Him. There are interpretations of certain scientific results indifferent to their scientific value or significance, just as there are interpretations of theological results indifferent to their theological value or significance. Such interpretations are not associated with explication. Example. The images of “man” as forms of theological vs. scientific explication are different, partly due to the differences of explanation within these disciplines, and partly because of the differences of language in explication. What a theologian “sees” in a man is different from what a biologist or a psychologist “sees”. What could be relevant for a man of science from the theological image? And reversely, what could be relevant for a theologian from the scientific image? The levels of explanation seem to be irreconcilable, while the levels of explication look for a place of encounter as long as the man of science faces existential problems and the theologian goes to the doctor. V. The Frontier As Passage: Anthropological And Ethical Perspectives Can we find a way without conquests and wars5 in the relationship of theology and science? The concept of frontier, limited to the aspect of difference, cannot tell what is happening between the parties. The anthropological and ethical perspectives are those which can keep the autonomy of science and theology and at the same time open up to places of dialogue and common action. For instance, the extraordinary development of bio-sciences, cognitive sciences, nano-science and information science target the improvement of human functions and abilities which could be repaired, transformed or enhanced. These technologies (as are, for example, genetic surgery, humanmachine hybrids, or human-computer interface) touch the human body and identity and ask ethical questions about benefits and risks, such as how they are used, and what are the social, psychological and economic consequences of these technologies. The requirements of scientific research are increasingly oriented, and there comes a time when the man of science cannot avoid moral questions, especially 5 L. Chevalier, La frontière entre guerre et paix. Du signe au sexe, le théâtre sacrificiel de l'homme. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2003, p.7.
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the question of choice. Ethics is what lights these choices and can become a place of dialogue and common action between theology and science. An important observation must be made. Such an explication also implies an ethic responsibility: truths cannot remain half-said, there are things that cannot be silenced, lied about, misinformed or manipulated by interpretations, etc. A further warning must also be said: when explication is nothing else than a mixture of languages, it may turn into a source of transdisciplinary conflicts. Finally, any kind of discourse about science or faith must also be an ethical one. And when we do not know what to do, we have to ask ourselves who we are. The anthropological question is connected to the ethical one. How will the man of tomorrow look like? Which are the frontiers we should not cross? These questions concern both the theologian and the man of science. VI. Conclusion The frontier seemed to make any unity an illusion, differentiating between the perspective of theology and science. From this point of view the frontier is characterized by separation and division. The frontier permits the differentiation of languages as well as the distinction of the world of facts and the world of values (in a Wittgensteinian sense), of sciences (exact sciences) and theology. The clarification of languages of science and theology leads to the clarification of one’s own field of research. It lays the basis of the time and space of an identity in relation with an alterity, giving way to theology and science to find their own identity. Any confusion between theological and scientific language would risk the loss of their identity and a blend of fields of research. This is the risk of return to the same, to undifferentiation.6
The frontier appears as an ethical space, a dynamic inbetween, mutating between science and theology. In this perspective there is no need to reject any of the approaches – for we would have less regards on man, the world, and history – but to share them. Ethics, this function critical with humanization, appears as a common place of dialogue between science and theology, which respects the autonomy of both8. References [1] Chevalier L. La frontière entre guerre et paix. Du signe au
[2]
[3] [4]
[5]
[6] [7]
sexe, le théâtre sacrificiel de l’homme. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2003. Lambert, D. Sciences et théologie: les figures d’un dialogue. Namur: Presse Universitaire de Namur /Bruxelles: Ed. Lessius, 1999. Sibony, D. Entre-deux: l’origine en partage. Paris: Seuil, 1991. Wittgenstein, L. (2010, October 22) Tractatus LogicoPhilosophicus. Available: http://www.gutenberg.org, [EBook #5740], Philippe Fontaine, “Des frontières comme ligne de front: une question d’intérieur et d’extérieur. Éléments de sociotopologie” [Borders as frontline: a question of inside and outside. Elements of the sociotopology], Cités 31, no. 3 (2007): 120-122 (translation by author). Gemignani, M. C. Elementary Topology (second ed.). New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1990. Einstein, A. Out of my later years. New-York: Philosophical Library, 1950, p.21-30.
But the urgent matters are born on the frontier, on ill separated fields. Even if the idea of difference is essential, it is limited, since it does not take account of the huge space between the parties, of this in-between. Cannot we possibly approach the frontier differently? I have broadened the concept of frontier in order to think of it as a meeting place through which we can travel together. Explanation/ explication makes it possible for every discipline (theological or scientific) to clarify its own field of research in the first place, and then the other’s. The objective of explication can be summarized in this way: in the analysis of the explication, the criticism of forms of explication it is necessary. “We feel that even when all possible scientific questions have been answered, the problems of life remain completely untouched.”7 Placed between the origin and the end, the frontier appears as a crossing, a passageway. It is only by leaving this much needed origin that we can meet, explain, understand the differences and demands that accompany it. Finally, this frontier is an in-between, a huge place where the two sides are summoned to explain themselves by their origin, and to elaborate a passageway between the two sides. This passage lies on an anthropological and ethical level. 6 D. Sibony, Entre-deux: l'origine en partage. Paris: Seuil, 1991, p. 11. 7 L. Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, P 6.52.
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8 I keep distance from positions such as that of A. Einstein (A. Einstein, Out of my later years. New-York: Philosophical Library, 1950, pp.21-30.), for whom reason has a "sacred" load, an almost absolute role. I tend to share Wittgenstein's position that logic and the truth criteria of empirical sciences are not "necessary conditions" of theological language, nor are they criteria of religious truth (the truth of faith).
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DIALOGO ISSN 2392 – 9928 ISSN-L 2392 – 9928
Proceedings of the Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology Volume 1 Issue 1: The 1st Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. Cosmology, Life & Anthropology ISBN 978-80-554-0960-3 November, 6 - 11. 2014 Romania - Slovak Republic - Poland - Germany - Switzerland - Australia - United States of America - Canada
In search of harmony The annual â&#x20AC;&#x153;DIALOGOâ&#x20AC;? CONFERENCES promotes reflection and research on important public issues to which Christian theology can make a helpful contribution and this is essential in the relation between science and religion in this era; scientists are also invited to manifest their ideas/theories on the topics in a constructive manner. The dialogue between Science and Theology has always existed whether it led to agreements or controversies. The desire to demonstrate the richness of such a dialogue has given birth to our Research Center on the Dialogue between Science and Theology (RCDST) , whose mission is to stimulate interdisciplinary scientific research in the below-mentioned fields, as well as in compared and apologetic theology, resulting in solutions regarding the greater issue of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s society on a par with Christian` spirituality and faith, as well as with any other religion and spirituality.
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