five truths
you weren't always here
you did not chose to exist and you didn't create yourself
beauty and meaning
beauty: a harmony among many contrasting elements
meaning: the relationship to the part of the whole of which it is a part
Forms
unchanging and perfect ideals that exist outside the physical world
Plato proposed these to represent the essence of things we experience in the material world - true reality can exist outside the physical world within the Forms
opened Augustine's mind to the existence of soul and God as immaterial beings
desire love
arises out of need and directed towards the self
goal of freedom
happiness, fulfillment, and actualization
you can't do it all
you can't achieve respect, fullness, and dignity by means of your actions
meaning of God
we need a concept of God and an experience of God's goodness
Platonists and Evil
believed in a hierarchy of reality with Forms being perfectly good and the material realm as being less perfect - evil is a force lacking good, not purely evil
Augustine saw evil as something that turned away from good (God) and saw human free will as the key to evil when they turn away from God
benevolent love
arises from fullness and directed towards others
common view of freedom
the absence of external forces that keep us from doing what we want
you can't be it all
humans possess great potential but can't do everything
technology and the modern self
reinforces and augments the modern self, nature becomes an array of objects to be controlled
nature is mysterious, alien, ancient, and beautiful
Christianity vs Platonic Books
the concept of a loving and active God [vs] attaining knowledge through reason
God's grace in salvation [vs] only providing a path for knowledge and understanding
a personal relationship with God [vs] no personal relationship
concept of redeption that gives meaning to struggles [vs] obtaining knowledge for the sake of understanding
natural love
impulse built into human nature
problems with common view of freedom
we lack total self knowledge, we know ourselves better than others but God knows us best
we possess finite knowledge of the world, we do not know or control the outcome of our actions - to have true freedom we need to know the consequences before we act
you won't always be here
humans are mortal - threatens the annihilation of all meaning
moral experience
preferences are not moral things and rules are not completely directed towards happiness
assume there is no God -> humans cannot be guided because there is no ground for how things should be (no moral law)
assume there is a God -> moral law becomes concievable and rules tell you what is good for you
freely given love
chosen and personal, reveals more about a person than compassion
freedom and God
God is the only possibility for happiness
you are part of a greater whole
we are not the source of what we need to live and do anything, we depend on a greater whole beyond and above us
God and other minds (external pov, external mode of reality, internal pov)
external pov - makes us think we understand the world if we understand the science (science is reductive)
external mode of reality - only exists in the mind, we cannot know external things as external because we cannot get outside our minds and material things cannot get inside our minds
internal pov - you know your mind better than anyone else but only know the external world as far as you can form an image in your mind
love and the question of God
human love is neccessary, but cannot find our worth
no one can know you perfectly and fully, only God
God know our worth beyond dispute and promises completion
final definition of freedom
if freedom is the right and power to do whatever you want, then God is a limit on freedom
if freedom is the absence of external forces and ignorance that keeps us from finding true and lasting happiness, then God is not a limit on freedom