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Dec. 7th, 2006
Contra Consolatio Philosophiae
Dec. 7th, 2006 04:06 pmIn the opening book of his Consolation of Philosophy Boethius shows the lady Philosophy attacking the muses which were sent to console him, calling them whores and announcing that she will treat him with the "medicine" of pure reason (and oh wouldn't Kant have fun with that). Philosophy claims to be better able to provide deathbed consolation than the "irrational" things which the muses represent.
But really, what are the things the Muses bring which the Lady drives away? Clearly, if we must believe in her doctrine of Sola Ratia anything which is not rational is outside the realm of her treatment.
My first example is the theological virtues - Hope when one faces death is not rational, but to despair of the Grace of God is in fact sinful, because of God's never failing mercy for those who call on him. Charity is not rational - it is reasonable to do keep what you have for yourself and your family.
Family creates more problems of its own. Children, rationally, are parasites who disfigure and cause discomfort for someone you love before being painfully expelled from her body before crying and sucking up your money for years to come. Loving a child is irrational, yet parents do it.
Whether or not you believe in death, education itself isn't really reasonable. You could be doing something a lot more productive (depending on what you believe this is either getting terribly drunk and having lots of sex or praying and helping the poor) and once you die it doesn't matter either way, because either your brain stops functioning on all levels or you're chilling with somebody who knows everything.
So what does this appeal to rationality get us? It takes away the things that might actually console us - the love of our families, the service of our God, and the aquisition of knowledge - and leaves us with facing a bleak reality alone. The Sola Ratia heresy is the same error as the error of Sartre and the Existentialists. When you get rid of emotion, you debase the human person - we are what we are not because of our reason, but because of our capacity for love.
So why would this creature call such worthy and holy things whores? Only because of the other trap of this way of thinking. Emotion and these other goodnesses are available to all people at all times - they are truly Catholic. The doctrine the Lady gives Boethius is that only the selected few are her children, but we are all children of God. God's way is the way of emotion, not of reason. This is the consolation of theology that all people can be a part of.
Given this, why are we reading with approbation such poisonous literature?
Irrationally Yours in Christ,
-Ej Harris
But really, what are the things the Muses bring which the Lady drives away? Clearly, if we must believe in her doctrine of Sola Ratia anything which is not rational is outside the realm of her treatment.
My first example is the theological virtues - Hope when one faces death is not rational, but to despair of the Grace of God is in fact sinful, because of God's never failing mercy for those who call on him. Charity is not rational - it is reasonable to do keep what you have for yourself and your family.
Family creates more problems of its own. Children, rationally, are parasites who disfigure and cause discomfort for someone you love before being painfully expelled from her body before crying and sucking up your money for years to come. Loving a child is irrational, yet parents do it.
Whether or not you believe in death, education itself isn't really reasonable. You could be doing something a lot more productive (depending on what you believe this is either getting terribly drunk and having lots of sex or praying and helping the poor) and once you die it doesn't matter either way, because either your brain stops functioning on all levels or you're chilling with somebody who knows everything.
So what does this appeal to rationality get us? It takes away the things that might actually console us - the love of our families, the service of our God, and the aquisition of knowledge - and leaves us with facing a bleak reality alone. The Sola Ratia heresy is the same error as the error of Sartre and the Existentialists. When you get rid of emotion, you debase the human person - we are what we are not because of our reason, but because of our capacity for love.
So why would this creature call such worthy and holy things whores? Only because of the other trap of this way of thinking. Emotion and these other goodnesses are available to all people at all times - they are truly Catholic. The doctrine the Lady gives Boethius is that only the selected few are her children, but we are all children of God. God's way is the way of emotion, not of reason. This is the consolation of theology that all people can be a part of.
Given this, why are we reading with approbation such poisonous literature?
Irrationally Yours in Christ,
-Ej Harris