The narrative tradition, going back to the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey, pr... more The narrative tradition, going back to the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey, presents itself as a framework for any person faced with taking up their life and making something of it. It works with archetypes, images that seek to resonate with the human psyche. According to Christopher Booker, the central theme underlying the narratives – from quest stories through tragedy and comedy – is one that moves us from egocentricity to the achievement of an authentic and generous self. But the narrative relies on the distinction between an appearance of success or failure (“above the line”), and the personal journey that is, or is not, successfully undertaken, “below the line”. Our global commercially oriented culture has decoupled us from the traditional normative images and roles, but the danger, for example with superhero fantasies, is that the below the line plot is lost, and with it the self-referentiality that is the source of character growth. Against Booker’s negative take on post-moral fiction, I argue, finally, that a more self-conscious self-referentiality is shown in the technique of “free indirect style” discussed by James Wood, calling for a greater degree of co-authoring of the moral of the plot.
This paper raises some questions to do with freedom or human emancipation as an ethical ideal. Th... more This paper raises some questions to do with freedom or human emancipation as an ethical ideal. The vision of freedom or emancipation, personal and social, animates philosophers from Hegel (just nineteen years old during the storming of the Bastille) and Marx (1844 rebellions) through Sartre (Paris, May 1968) and Habermas and has profound implications for attitudes in a developing and contradictory country such as our own. What may we reasonably commit ourselves to? I am going to question the plausibility of the conception of emancipation as brought about by 'historical forces' and suggest rather the possibility of a potentially universal moral ideal or set of moral virtues. In this latter conception we can note a resonance with the notion of 'ubuntu', which suggests the idea that there is a norm of being human which we can, and normally do mature into through experiential learning. In common with Marx this approach challenges the liberalist paradigm of freedom which ...
The standard philosophy agenda is set up so as to disallow genuine dialogue with the African trad... more The standard philosophy agenda is set up so as to disallow genuine dialogue with the African traditional thought-world. What characterizes contemporary global culture dominated by technology is a kind of autism, a loss of a well-articulated sense of self. This is mirrored in the familiar standard topics of introductory philosophy from "can we know anything at all?" to "the intractable problem of free will" and on to a procedural (value free!) ethics and concept of justice. The disengaged subject stands over and against the world which is to be studied. But a good curriculum will help the learner to articulate their sense of self in ever more adequate ways and so become more self-aware and self-directing. Every pre-modern culture articulates, however inadequately, an understanding of human agency and responsibility (adulthood) as a norm. By bypassing this crucial element the curriculum allows the dominant attitudes and values (individualism, the disengaged stance, cultural relativism) to remain uninterrogated and alternative views simply placed alongside. I present an alternative philosophy curriculum drawn from the non-skeptical pre-modern thomistic tradition but framed not by any naive understanding of human nature but by the critical norms of being a subject and agent.
On pense souvent que le professionnalisme moderne exige qu’on regarde comme non relevante les tra... more On pense souvent que le professionnalisme moderne exige qu’on regarde comme non relevante les traditions particulieres ainsi que les liens avec familiaux, tribaux et religieux. Du point de vue du professionnalisme, ce qu’est important sont des regles internes a la profession et aussi les droits universels de l’homme vu comme individu abstrait. Dans une societe ou l’individualisme et le commerce deviennent omnipresents, les traditions ethiques et les identites narratives pourraient pourtant constituer un cadre de motivations cle pour l’integrite ethique professionnelle. Je prendrai comme exemple la profession militaire et en particulier l’utilisation de mercenaires. En distinguant entre les competences et les vertus je me demanderai si oui ou non il y a une relation necessaire entre un bon soldat et le fait d’etre un citoyen. Le fait d’etre est compris ici comme categorie morale qui occasionne un certain ideal de caractere et en particulier des vertus. Je conclus que l’action de cont...
Before his death in May this year (2016) Augustine Shutte wrote an “autobiographical account” of ... more Before his death in May this year (2016) Augustine Shutte wrote an “autobiographical account” of a selection of his theology papers that situates his writings within his public involvement in church and society – seminary, academy, the Catholic Church, African culture, a thought-world of science and secularity. The account also documents a pattern of development in his understanding of Christian faith that arises out of this involvement. As such the narrative constitutes a theological reflection on God’s self-communication in Jesus in the context of doctrinal formulations and traditional church practices that cry out for rethinking. The influence of Karl Rahner is evident throughout but his narrative also acknowledges his two formative teachers, at Stellenbosch and UCT, as his theology as a whole can be seen as an exercise in secularisation (Johan Degenaar) through a truly personal and existential appropriation of our Christian heritage (Martin Versfeld). The narrative is introduced...
Marcel Gauchet argues that whatever impulse previously gave rise to religion is now fully transla... more Marcel Gauchet argues that whatever impulse previously gave rise to religion is now fully translated by the values of representative politics, empirical method, future orientation and productivity as an end in itself. The good and productive citizen replaces the dutiful Christian. His foundational thesis is twofold: (a) religion is the surrender of human autonomy to a power other than human beings, issuing in a hierarchical social structure thought to be given by nature; and (b), paradoxically, religion has at the same time been the impulse to move away from religion. Christianity in particular is “the religion to exit from religion”, propelling society, particularly in the West, toward a disenchanted world-view, one that is non-supernaturalistic and implies non-hierarchical social arrangements. In recounting his argument, I conclude by agreeing with (b) but disagreeing with (a). I suggest that what Gauchet terms “religion” is better thought of in terms of Sartre’s concept of “bad faith”. In this project, Sartre’s – and Gauchet’s – concept of human freedom in terms of the power of “refusal” may well be complemented by the understanding of the person as empowered through interpersonal solidarity. I argue that this supplies a corrective to Gauchet’s interpretation of Christianity, and, further, is a reason to move away from his liberal idea of the state as neutral towards religions. As the secular and humanist re-articulation of religious traditions, the democratic state of its nature challenges rival interpretations of those traditions, whether fundamentalist or reductionist.
The reductionist conclusions of some evolutionary theorists are countered by appealing to the tra... more The reductionist conclusions of some evolutionary theorists are countered by appealing to the transformation of feeling-traces from our evolutionary origins. Presupposed to the science of evolutionary biology is the capacity to get at the truth of things, and to live by values, which Rahner terms “spirit”; its appropriation comes about through the process of moral and intellectual “conversion” (Lonergan), extended into the realm of feelings and the psyche (Doran). This allows a non-supernaturalistic way of understanding the saving interpersonal transaction at the heart of Christian belief; framed as a personal journey, it implies a less conceptual and more imaginal approach to faith.
Contemporary neo-Thomist writers offer an alternative to reductionist accounts of human agency. I... more Contemporary neo-Thomist writers offer an alternative to reductionist accounts of human agency. I argue that to do so plausibly they will have to show (a) their accounts do not entail a simple dualism of reason over desire; and (b) how they account for weakness of will. McCabe argues that for living organisms perception is a matter of receiving “intentionally”, allowing for a degree of voluntariness, and that by virtue of the human capacity for language, and insertion into a culture, the human animal can direct itself by means of its grasp of good reasons for action. In partial disagreement, Shutte clarifies the non-material nature of this human capacity as referring to our capacity for self-enactment—which gives rise to, or finds expression in, language and culture. The further problem of weakness of will is explained by Farrer as a question of the quality of one’s willingness, one’s ability to be persuaded—mistakenly thought of as a matter of the correct knowledge of the good taken out of the context of deliberation about action. Furthermore, the logic of growth in the breadth of one’s willingness is unpacked by Shutte by means of the guru-novice model of interpersonal transaction. I conclude that framing our understanding of agency in terms of a philosophical anthropology is eminently reasonable.
The narrative tradition, going back to the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey, pr... more The narrative tradition, going back to the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey, presents itself as a framework for any person faced with taking up their life and making something of it. It works with archetypes, images that seek to resonate with the human psyche. According to Christopher Booker, the central theme underlying the narratives – from quest stories through tragedy and comedy – is one that moves us from egocentricity to the achievement of an authentic and generous self. But the narrative relies on the distinction between an appearance of success or failure (“above the line”), and the personal journey that is, or is not, successfully undertaken, “below the line”. Our global commercially oriented culture has decoupled us from the traditional normative images and roles, but the danger, for example with superhero fantasies, is that the below the line plot is lost, and with it the self-referentiality that is the source of character growth. Against Booker’s negative take on post-moral fiction, I argue, finally, that a more self-conscious self-referentiality is shown in the technique of “free indirect style” discussed by James Wood, calling for a greater degree of co-authoring of the moral of the plot.
This paper raises some questions to do with freedom or human emancipation as an ethical ideal. Th... more This paper raises some questions to do with freedom or human emancipation as an ethical ideal. The vision of freedom or emancipation, personal and social, animates philosophers from Hegel (just nineteen years old during the storming of the Bastille) and Marx (1844 rebellions) through Sartre (Paris, May 1968) and Habermas and has profound implications for attitudes in a developing and contradictory country such as our own. What may we reasonably commit ourselves to? I am going to question the plausibility of the conception of emancipation as brought about by 'historical forces' and suggest rather the possibility of a potentially universal moral ideal or set of moral virtues. In this latter conception we can note a resonance with the notion of 'ubuntu', which suggests the idea that there is a norm of being human which we can, and normally do mature into through experiential learning. In common with Marx this approach challenges the liberalist paradigm of freedom which ...
The standard philosophy agenda is set up so as to disallow genuine dialogue with the African trad... more The standard philosophy agenda is set up so as to disallow genuine dialogue with the African traditional thought-world. What characterizes contemporary global culture dominated by technology is a kind of autism, a loss of a well-articulated sense of self. This is mirrored in the familiar standard topics of introductory philosophy from "can we know anything at all?" to "the intractable problem of free will" and on to a procedural (value free!) ethics and concept of justice. The disengaged subject stands over and against the world which is to be studied. But a good curriculum will help the learner to articulate their sense of self in ever more adequate ways and so become more self-aware and self-directing. Every pre-modern culture articulates, however inadequately, an understanding of human agency and responsibility (adulthood) as a norm. By bypassing this crucial element the curriculum allows the dominant attitudes and values (individualism, the disengaged stance, cultural relativism) to remain uninterrogated and alternative views simply placed alongside. I present an alternative philosophy curriculum drawn from the non-skeptical pre-modern thomistic tradition but framed not by any naive understanding of human nature but by the critical norms of being a subject and agent.
On pense souvent que le professionnalisme moderne exige qu’on regarde comme non relevante les tra... more On pense souvent que le professionnalisme moderne exige qu’on regarde comme non relevante les traditions particulieres ainsi que les liens avec familiaux, tribaux et religieux. Du point de vue du professionnalisme, ce qu’est important sont des regles internes a la profession et aussi les droits universels de l’homme vu comme individu abstrait. Dans une societe ou l’individualisme et le commerce deviennent omnipresents, les traditions ethiques et les identites narratives pourraient pourtant constituer un cadre de motivations cle pour l’integrite ethique professionnelle. Je prendrai comme exemple la profession militaire et en particulier l’utilisation de mercenaires. En distinguant entre les competences et les vertus je me demanderai si oui ou non il y a une relation necessaire entre un bon soldat et le fait d’etre un citoyen. Le fait d’etre est compris ici comme categorie morale qui occasionne un certain ideal de caractere et en particulier des vertus. Je conclus que l’action de cont...
Before his death in May this year (2016) Augustine Shutte wrote an “autobiographical account” of ... more Before his death in May this year (2016) Augustine Shutte wrote an “autobiographical account” of a selection of his theology papers that situates his writings within his public involvement in church and society – seminary, academy, the Catholic Church, African culture, a thought-world of science and secularity. The account also documents a pattern of development in his understanding of Christian faith that arises out of this involvement. As such the narrative constitutes a theological reflection on God’s self-communication in Jesus in the context of doctrinal formulations and traditional church practices that cry out for rethinking. The influence of Karl Rahner is evident throughout but his narrative also acknowledges his two formative teachers, at Stellenbosch and UCT, as his theology as a whole can be seen as an exercise in secularisation (Johan Degenaar) through a truly personal and existential appropriation of our Christian heritage (Martin Versfeld). The narrative is introduced...
Marcel Gauchet argues that whatever impulse previously gave rise to religion is now fully transla... more Marcel Gauchet argues that whatever impulse previously gave rise to religion is now fully translated by the values of representative politics, empirical method, future orientation and productivity as an end in itself. The good and productive citizen replaces the dutiful Christian. His foundational thesis is twofold: (a) religion is the surrender of human autonomy to a power other than human beings, issuing in a hierarchical social structure thought to be given by nature; and (b), paradoxically, religion has at the same time been the impulse to move away from religion. Christianity in particular is “the religion to exit from religion”, propelling society, particularly in the West, toward a disenchanted world-view, one that is non-supernaturalistic and implies non-hierarchical social arrangements. In recounting his argument, I conclude by agreeing with (b) but disagreeing with (a). I suggest that what Gauchet terms “religion” is better thought of in terms of Sartre’s concept of “bad faith”. In this project, Sartre’s – and Gauchet’s – concept of human freedom in terms of the power of “refusal” may well be complemented by the understanding of the person as empowered through interpersonal solidarity. I argue that this supplies a corrective to Gauchet’s interpretation of Christianity, and, further, is a reason to move away from his liberal idea of the state as neutral towards religions. As the secular and humanist re-articulation of religious traditions, the democratic state of its nature challenges rival interpretations of those traditions, whether fundamentalist or reductionist.
The reductionist conclusions of some evolutionary theorists are countered by appealing to the tra... more The reductionist conclusions of some evolutionary theorists are countered by appealing to the transformation of feeling-traces from our evolutionary origins. Presupposed to the science of evolutionary biology is the capacity to get at the truth of things, and to live by values, which Rahner terms “spirit”; its appropriation comes about through the process of moral and intellectual “conversion” (Lonergan), extended into the realm of feelings and the psyche (Doran). This allows a non-supernaturalistic way of understanding the saving interpersonal transaction at the heart of Christian belief; framed as a personal journey, it implies a less conceptual and more imaginal approach to faith.
Contemporary neo-Thomist writers offer an alternative to reductionist accounts of human agency. I... more Contemporary neo-Thomist writers offer an alternative to reductionist accounts of human agency. I argue that to do so plausibly they will have to show (a) their accounts do not entail a simple dualism of reason over desire; and (b) how they account for weakness of will. McCabe argues that for living organisms perception is a matter of receiving “intentionally”, allowing for a degree of voluntariness, and that by virtue of the human capacity for language, and insertion into a culture, the human animal can direct itself by means of its grasp of good reasons for action. In partial disagreement, Shutte clarifies the non-material nature of this human capacity as referring to our capacity for self-enactment—which gives rise to, or finds expression in, language and culture. The further problem of weakness of will is explained by Farrer as a question of the quality of one’s willingness, one’s ability to be persuaded—mistakenly thought of as a matter of the correct knowledge of the good taken out of the context of deliberation about action. Furthermore, the logic of growth in the breadth of one’s willingness is unpacked by Shutte by means of the guru-novice model of interpersonal transaction. I conclude that framing our understanding of agency in terms of a philosophical anthropology is eminently reasonable.
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