Estrangement and Unity Are Human Beings Estranged in
Estrangement and Unity
Are Human Beings Estranged in Essence? o Is it possible to reconcile racial differences? Harmony and integration or uneasiness and suspicion? o Individuality versus community o Hobbes – psychological individualism – ontological separation as part of materialist philosophy o Aristotle – man is a political animal and only a beast or a god can live outside the bounds of society
If human beings are not estranged in essence, why are there so many divisions and conflicts among them? o St Augustine – Original Sin – human will – unbridgeable state without Grace Conservative o Rousseau – Institutions of property and centralized power – humans can overcome this estrangement - Radical
Can Estrangement Be Overcome through Reason? o “Come, let us reason together” – the motto of the West o Can reason subordinate the superior? – Callicles and Thrasymachus o Reason as the basis of community – Plato – the Stoics o Edmund Burke – Customs, prejudice and traditions are superior to reason – estrangement is overcome through adherence to ancient customs, traditions, and institutions
Can Estrangement Be Overcome through Reason? o Moral absolutism versus moral relativism o Uniformity versus organic unity o Radicalism versus conservatism o Feminism embraces intuition above rationality – the specific versus the universal
Is Religion in Some Form Needed for Overcoming Estrangement? o The power of humanism and the rejection of religion o Unity among human beings depends upon unity with the divine – Classical and Christian philosophy o Platonic-Stoic bridge with the divine relies on human initiative o Christianity – seeks God’s action to bridge a gap unbridgeable by human efforts
Is Religion in Some Form Needed for Overcoming Estrangement? o Fyodor Dostoevsky contrasts man-god and God -man o The man-god will not be compassionate but will be perverse and destructive o The God-man/Christ – Divine companionship saves us from this dark abyss – rejection of Christ sends us to our doom
Should All People’s Be United in a Single Global Society? o Small Is Beautiful – Athens – Rousseau o Universal Empire – Romans – Christians – Mongols o Nation- State – Modern Solution – GWF Hegel
Should All Class Distinctions Be Abolished? o Radical – Marx o Conservative – Burke o Liberal – Roosevelt and Kennedy
- Slides: 9