Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Planck: Miscellaneous Comments
(1) The Planck chapter comes from the 1936 Norton Library book "The Philosophy of Physics" which was translated from the German. It's likely these were originally public lectures since they're quite repetitive. The other chapters are "Causality in Nature," "Scientific Ideas: Their Origins and Effects," and "Science and Faith."
(2) Here's a link to a great lecture by Stephen Hawking on determinism, the uncertainty principle, and whether or not God plays dice with the universe. His answer is: "Not only does God definitely play dice, but He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen."
http://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/dice.html
(3) The other chapters of Planck's book throw a little more light on the discussion we had in the reading group about the possible spiritual aspect of his ideas. It turns out that his "ideal spirit" is a way of thinking about a underlying rational order of the universe and why we should have "faith" in it, much like a religious faith or devotion. As human beings, we have limited knowledge and limited ability to observe causality at the deepest level because of the uncertainty principle and the overpowering amounts of information involved (bubbles in the waves breaking on the shore). However, we can posit a mind without these limits: "The most perfect harmony and consequently the strictest causality in any case, culminates in the assumption that there is an ideal spirit having a full knowledge of the action of the natural forces as well as of the events in the intellectual life of men; a knowledge extending to every detail and embracing present, past, and future."
He goes on to argue that great scientists have only been able to achieve insight into nature by "surrendering to our belief in a philosophy of the world based upon a faith in the rational ordering of this world."
So we can never truly know how the universe works, although we can keep on zig-zagging towards better descriptions of it if we believe in its underlying rationality. Although Planck doesn't fully connect his discussion of the "ideal spirit" with the paragraphs on ethics at the end of the chapter we read for the group, I think he sees the underlying rational order as a moral order as well, and can thus argue that "a pure mind and good will" lead to the highest happiness and peace of mind, and are also the "essential of every genuine science and ...equally a sure standard by which to measure the ethical value of every individual."
It might seem surprising that Planck's spiritual ideas aren't more comforting, given that at the time he wrote the chapters he had lost three of his five children (they all died as young adults) as well as his wife. In World War II another son was executed by the Nazis for taking part in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. He has been described as bearing his losses "stoically," and his philosophical outlook does actually seem close to the Stoics in some aspects. They too saw an underlying rational order to the universe (the logos) and a strict causality and determinism at work.
(2) Here's a link to a great lecture by Stephen Hawking on determinism, the uncertainty principle, and whether or not God plays dice with the universe. His answer is: "Not only does God definitely play dice, but He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen."
http://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/dice.html
(3) The other chapters of Planck's book throw a little more light on the discussion we had in the reading group about the possible spiritual aspect of his ideas. It turns out that his "ideal spirit" is a way of thinking about a underlying rational order of the universe and why we should have "faith" in it, much like a religious faith or devotion. As human beings, we have limited knowledge and limited ability to observe causality at the deepest level because of the uncertainty principle and the overpowering amounts of information involved (bubbles in the waves breaking on the shore). However, we can posit a mind without these limits: "The most perfect harmony and consequently the strictest causality in any case, culminates in the assumption that there is an ideal spirit having a full knowledge of the action of the natural forces as well as of the events in the intellectual life of men; a knowledge extending to every detail and embracing present, past, and future."
He goes on to argue that great scientists have only been able to achieve insight into nature by "surrendering to our belief in a philosophy of the world based upon a faith in the rational ordering of this world."
So we can never truly know how the universe works, although we can keep on zig-zagging towards better descriptions of it if we believe in its underlying rationality. Although Planck doesn't fully connect his discussion of the "ideal spirit" with the paragraphs on ethics at the end of the chapter we read for the group, I think he sees the underlying rational order as a moral order as well, and can thus argue that "a pure mind and good will" lead to the highest happiness and peace of mind, and are also the "essential of every genuine science and ...equally a sure standard by which to measure the ethical value of every individual."
It might seem surprising that Planck's spiritual ideas aren't more comforting, given that at the time he wrote the chapters he had lost three of his five children (they all died as young adults) as well as his wife. In World War II another son was executed by the Nazis for taking part in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. He has been described as bearing his losses "stoically," and his philosophical outlook does actually seem close to the Stoics in some aspects. They too saw an underlying rational order to the universe (the logos) and a strict causality and determinism at work.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
What is the answer to the question posed in the third chorus?
"What is the finest gift that gods can give to mortals?"
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Abraham Willingness to Sacrifice Isaac
Yes, I think that Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac was a requirement for establishing the covenant with God because it reflected a trust/confidence in God that Adam and Eve lacked when they disobeyed and ate of the fruit of Tree of Knowledge. It was a gesture of submission, and of supreme generosity, on the part of Abraham. This act reflects a willingness in Abraham to hold his part of a Covenantal relationship with God for the benefit of His chosen people.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Miscellaneous Comments on Genesis
(1) Here's a quote from the Greek philosopher and poet Xenophanes of Colophon (570 – 480 BC) about how humans imagine gods in their own likeness:
“The Ethiops say that their gods are flat-nosed and black,
While the Thracians say that theirs have blue eyes and red hair.
Yet if cattle or horses or lions had hands and could draw,
And could sculpture like men, then the horses would draw their gods
Like horses, and cattle like cattle; and each they would shape
Bodies of gods in the likeness, each kind, of their own."
(2) There are many ways to look at a religious text from a nonreligious point of view: as simple stories, as historical records, as expressions of a particular social structure or historical context, as mythologies which reflect basic archetypes of human thought or human nature, as weapons of one class or sex against another, and so on. This can sometimes feel like an exercise in "debunking," or showing that the text cannot really be taken the way a religious person might take it--namely, as the revealed word of God. But believers who wish to accept a text as God's word also have to develop their own interpretation, or accept someone else's, and these interpretations can look at the same text and draw diametrically opposed conclusions. The interpretations then can become part of a new religion or social movement, often in opposition to the "official" religion. A text with ambiguities, levels of symbolism, and contradictions makes this possibility much more likely.
One example is the way both sides in the 19th century debate over slavery in the U.S. used Biblical sources, and the story of the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt and their liberation under Moses became a powerful set of symbols in the political struggle.
Another example that I think is really fascinating is the interpretation that some Gnostic groups gave to the story of Adam and Eve. Gnosticism refers to a number of religious groups that arose in the early centuries A.D. and drew from different existing religions and texts, including the Bible. As best I can make out, they saw the material world as evil and the need for a secret knowledge (gnosis) which would let us break out of the prison of matter and reconnect with the source of our spiritual being, which is a god outside of the material world. As some Gnostic groups read Genesis, Yahweh/Elohim was actually a lesser and evil god, creator of the material world. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the "gnosis," and the serpent was the hero of the story by helping Adam and Eve break with the demiurge and gain the knowledge necessary for liberation. Gnosticism was largely suppressed as a heresy by the early Christian church, but has reappeared in various forms in medieval and modern times. One version in popular culture is in the trilogy by Phillip Pullman, of which the first book, the Golden Compass, was recently made into a movie.
“The Ethiops say that their gods are flat-nosed and black,
While the Thracians say that theirs have blue eyes and red hair.
Yet if cattle or horses or lions had hands and could draw,
And could sculpture like men, then the horses would draw their gods
Like horses, and cattle like cattle; and each they would shape
Bodies of gods in the likeness, each kind, of their own."
(2) There are many ways to look at a religious text from a nonreligious point of view: as simple stories, as historical records, as expressions of a particular social structure or historical context, as mythologies which reflect basic archetypes of human thought or human nature, as weapons of one class or sex against another, and so on. This can sometimes feel like an exercise in "debunking," or showing that the text cannot really be taken the way a religious person might take it--namely, as the revealed word of God. But believers who wish to accept a text as God's word also have to develop their own interpretation, or accept someone else's, and these interpretations can look at the same text and draw diametrically opposed conclusions. The interpretations then can become part of a new religion or social movement, often in opposition to the "official" religion. A text with ambiguities, levels of symbolism, and contradictions makes this possibility much more likely.
One example is the way both sides in the 19th century debate over slavery in the U.S. used Biblical sources, and the story of the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt and their liberation under Moses became a powerful set of symbols in the political struggle.
Another example that I think is really fascinating is the interpretation that some Gnostic groups gave to the story of Adam and Eve. Gnosticism refers to a number of religious groups that arose in the early centuries A.D. and drew from different existing religions and texts, including the Bible. As best I can make out, they saw the material world as evil and the need for a secret knowledge (gnosis) which would let us break out of the prison of matter and reconnect with the source of our spiritual being, which is a god outside of the material world. As some Gnostic groups read Genesis, Yahweh/Elohim was actually a lesser and evil god, creator of the material world. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the "gnosis," and the serpent was the hero of the story by helping Adam and Eve break with the demiurge and gain the knowledge necessary for liberation. Gnosticism was largely suppressed as a heresy by the early Christian church, but has reappeared in various forms in medieval and modern times. One version in popular culture is in the trilogy by Phillip Pullman, of which the first book, the Golden Compass, was recently made into a movie.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Great Idea, Great Blog for Great Books
I love knowing that you guys are meeting and discussing. I've been spending all my time on art and graphic design. www.jeannelafferty.com
Nice to know that I can check in here every so often to see what's under discussion. Who knows? Maybe you'll all be unlucky and I'll come back to the club.
Warmly,
Jeanne
Nice to know that I can check in here every so often to see what's under discussion. Who knows? Maybe you'll all be unlucky and I'll come back to the club.
Warmly,
Jeanne
