Rene Descartes and ChristianityAnother Theological Reflection from Dr Y... Renč Descartes (1596-1650), a mathematician and philosopher, profoundly affected Western culture and science. He formalized the deductive method or reasoning (from general principles to specific situations). Although deductive reasoning had been widely employed by Greek philosophers as well as at the heart of Augustinian logic, his formal treatment of it, cemented it into the foundation of our culture and the scientific method. His basic question was, how do we know what is really real? How do we know that the world that we perceive it is really as we see it? How do we know what is real. The more important point for this theological reflection today focuses on his duality model of reality. This has become known as the Cartesian World View. Cartesian World ViewHis famous statement, "Cognito, ergo sum"--I think, therefore I am--based his interpretation of reality in he, the thinker, was the only real reality he could count on. Next Descartes said comes what he called: clear, distinct ideas that he could not doubt, e.g. the existence of God. From these clear distinct ideas, we could then reason to the particulars of reality.So far Descartes we had the thinker and what he thinks about: the subject/thinker and the object, and these are independent of each other. This is the duality. Thinker and object are independent of each other. This world view, so eloquently espoused by Descartes, separated the world into subject and object, saying they are independent from each other. This is a fundamental foundation for science, except Quantum Physics. It views the world like pool balls on a table. They collide but other than that they are independent from each other. From this perspective, the scientist can view the object, be it gene, person, or atom, and do experiments. His viewing or interaction does not affect the objects he is viewing, much less the results he observes. Quantum physics on the other hand, says, no, that is not the way it is. The observer does affect the observed. They are interconnected. What we expect to see, affects what we see. The observer and the object being observed are not independent. Theology and ChristianityA fundamental premise of Buddhism is that we and the world are all interconnected. A change in one thing causes at some level changes in everything else. We are all interrelated and what affects me, affects you. This is also fundamental to Native American and many indigenous religions. Now to Christianity: Why did Jesus say to love your neighbor as ourself? It is from this very same principle: that we are all interconnected. What happens to the least of us, happens to all of us. By adopting the Cartesian World View, the Church and powers of the world could ignore the plight of the people it was pillaging, the land it was raping, and the destruction it was doing, because what happens in South America, in Armenia, to the Indians, elephants, is independent from us. They are objects for us to use as we see fit. In area of Health Care, for example, this World View says, "Hey, who cares about that poor person on the street. He can get his own health care. I'm not responsible." (Sound Republican?) This Cartesian World View, along with Augustinian Original Sin doctrine, have created a monster in our culture that is coming back to haunt us now in pollution, climate, over population, etc. This is also leads me to another related point. That is the difference between basic science and applied science. Basic and Applied ScienceMany people don't understand why the National Institutes of Health, for example, gives millions of $$$ for scientist to study fruit flies or little worms. After all, how does that help humans? What have fruit flies and worms to do with helping humans? The answer, a lot. It is through such basic research that we understand so much about genes, cells, molecular biology, immunology, and so forth, This basic research has lead to the basic understanding of life and its processes and enabled us to produce vaccines, medicines, cure many diseases, feed the over populated world.Amen |
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Dr. Y "Thinks" Index
Christ--who was he?Strange Piece of Ass Syndrome
Christian heresies
Baby boomers are dancing on... e
A Wild Ride
Dannion Brinkley
Circumcision
Why Vision Quest?
Vision Quest 1998
Enlightenment on a Harley
God, faith and the Recession
Breakfast Blessing
The Closet
God as my GPS
God as my GPS
Descartes and Christianity
Health Care Reform and Christianity
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