Friday, September 26, 2014
Freedom
One of the discussions from a previous class on freedom really intrigued me. According to Augustine, our virtues don't achieve happiness, its consistently a struggle with our desires. Our internal war is amplified by the concept of positive freedom. In positive freedom we are only free because our will is oriented to what truly is, whereas in negative freedom we are not constrained, yet only free when we turn toward god. This brings up the topic of tranquility in the order of succession. As our reason shapes our will which shapes our desires internally we are in order. In a state of disorder our desires overcome reason or our will overcomes reason. I'm not sure if I believe in this order, because sometimes our desires could be shaped by our faith which precedes reason as a transcended idea. Prompting, is turning to reason less significant to turning to faith?
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Last class, we established that faith comes before reason in the order of succession. I don't think that it matters which concept you turn to initially; you're just starting at a different location in the order of succession. If you start at faith, then you start at the beginning. If you start at reason, then you start after faith. This does not mean that faith isn't involved in the process, it just doesn't occur to you. As a sociology major, I have a hard time believing that there can be a singular, linear progression regarding topics like happiness and freedom. I tend to think about it more like a flow chart. For Augustine, this is one of those flow charts that, no matter which path you take, God is always the end result. Thoughts? -Meaghan F.
ReplyDeleteReason and faith should not necessarily contradict one another. Rather, one should seek a proper balance between these two. Neither should be sacrificed for the sake of the other. However, if push came to shove, I believe that faith should be held in a higher regard because at the end of the day faith will guide you where reason sometimes cannot. Do not neglect reason so much to the point where you become ignorant, just know how to balance and properly weigh two quite heavy concepts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt that reason and faith often coexist. I think it is logical to assume that we can extract reason from faith and visa versa. Perhaps if we learned to differentiate between the two concepts we might be able to answer these questions more directly, but I do not think that this is necessarily practical. I believe that it is easier to change someone's perspective on issues of reason than it is to change someone's spiritual beliefs and faith, and the two will usually be coexistent.
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