God is the Ultimate "Other"

The Philosophical Other and the Mainstream Other

The term “the Other” is used in sociology often, and it is most commonly used to refer to one who is not part of the mainstream demographic in a given society. Most of my students are born and raised in the United States, and most of them are social media and popular culture savvy, so they understand the racial, ethnic, gender, and religious biases on our culture. It is not a difficult lesson to teach that, in general, the “eye” that our culture uses is white, male, and Christian. The general perception most of our media (news, entertainment, literature, academia, etc…) assumes the ideology and experience of what our modern critical culture refers to as the white, Christian patriarchy. “The Other” refers to anyone who does not fit into this particular sociological designation.

On the surface, my time living and working on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was an encounter with "the Other", and in that encounter I learned how to Love and to be Loved. But on a deeper level, I was encountering God in my students. My humility and vulnerability to my students opened me up to develop a relationship with God. (photo: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, P. Smith)

            This is an easy enough lesson to teach. All I have to do is show any piece of news media or popular culture and students can discern this mainstream hermeneutic at work. It is most easy to see in academia and politics as I show students who writes most of the history books they have to study and who holds political office in our country. “The Other” seems like a negative term; I am not sure if there is a particularly politically correct term used in sociology right now, but we stay disciplined in class and we try to be aware that even the language we use to describe “the Other” is biased. I often sense the frustration in my students. There is no way to avoid bias in the way we talk about issues of race and gender and religion. Everything we say or try to communicate will always be slanted based on where we speak from. If we add to that the complication of material Truth and the material inequality of all things, then it gets even more frustrating. But there is a lesson here. I teach my students the danger of fixating on material language in the world, because the words we use to describe each other are almost certainly not effective in describing the Authentic Self. Even more importantly, I am setting up the lesson that if we are in relationship with “the Other”, our Authentic Self necessarily needs to be increasingly humble. More importantly, as we apply the concept of “the Other to God, we realize that God is the ultimate “Other” to us, and if we are humble enough to grow in relationship with Him, then we can Truly begin to encounter our Authentic Self.

The Pursuit of True Happiness is NOT Selfish

            I revisit the concepts of eudaimonia and Beatific Vision. “Ugh! We already know this!” I ignore them this time and push them to consider the question: “If we think of eudaimonia or Beatific Vision or transcendent happiness as our goal, doesn’t that suggest our entire goal to be self-serving? Isn’t this kind of thinking selfish and the opposite of Agapic Love?” There is always one student who wants to find the hole in my argument and so they ask this question, thinking they have found the flaw in Western Philosophy and Theology, like they are some revolutionary! I beat that student to the punch, and I ask the question first because there is a rational answer to whether this can be consistent with Agape and humility and self-gift. Of course, we have already answered the question in our discussion about Aristotle and Aquinas, but, again. My students have compartmentalized that information and it does not matter to them after they have taken the test. No! Every piece of information matters! This is a basic premise to Sacramentality!

Our Lady of Knock Shrine in Knock, Co. Mayo, Ireland. It was the Joy of the Apostles at His Resurrection that gave Jesus happiness. Indeed, it is the Joy we find in Him in our conversion that pleases Him. Our happiness and His are entwined. (photo P. Smith)

            For Aristotle, eudaimonia is “human flourishing”, that is, it is the condition in which all humans are content while not being stagnant. It is the condition where all human beings are happy, not necessarily because they are constantly experiencing the same pleasurable moment for eternity; Aristotle and later philosophers and theologians, including Aquinas, explain how Beatific Vision, eudaimonia beyond human ability, is a state where one is able to “contemplate Virtue”. Indeed, as they say, Virtue is its own reward. If we are made to be virtuous, as one practices virtue increasingly, the first thing they witness is the Joy of “the Other”, the object of their virtue. The Joy of “the Other” echoes in the heart and soul of the one who practices Virtue. Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision is the “Joy” that we can now contemplate; it is the state in which we can observe the effects of our virtue, and as we see “the Other” as Beloved, we recognize our Authentic Self, Lover, in action. At the same time, we contemplate the virtue of “the Other” as they Love us. We contemplate the way in which “the Other” recognizes our dignity in how they Love us, and in that contemplation, we view the Authentic Self of “the Other”. We are made to Love and to be Loved. Virtue is that Authentic Self in action. Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision is the Joy we experience when we can contemplate that action as we and “the Other” live it. Because the whole process requires the self and “the Other”, the goal of Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision cannot be considered self-serving the same way eating a second piece of pie when others have had none is self-serving. Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision is only achieved within the context of relationship, therefore, “the Other” is necessarily as important as the self in the practice of Virtue and the telos of Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision.

Eudaimonia, Beatific Vision, and Happiness

I may introduce this unit in my classroom as focusing on “the Other” and I may even mention how we will discuss service and mission, topics that students get more and more excited about the longer I teach, but I take a step back to reiterate the concepts of telos, eudaimonia, and Beatific Vision.

The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas (photo P. Smith). To many people, a church is just a building. In Catholic belief the Church is much more than just the physical space or even the people of the Church; the Church is a Sacrament, bot material and transcendent in nature.

            After the groans from students that seem inevitable when I repeat what I think are important concepts, I reiterate what I have said before: telos is a target that we cannot reach, but the more we try, the closer we get to the target, and the closer we get to the target, the better we become as human individuals and as a human society. “Ugh! We already know this!” I know they already know this, but most education on our country is so compartmentalized that students do not always synthesize the details. Kids in this country know more about everything than ever in the history of the world, and if they do not remember all the details, they have more immediate access to virtually any information that they want. But what they do not have is the critical capacity to integrate and synthesize all of this raw information so they can begin to understand deeper and more fundamental Truths about their existence. Without the ability to synthesize all the information we have access to, we cannot develop or create new ideas, theories, philosophies, or theologies that stretch the human mind and heart to higher levels of knowledge and understanding. If we allow ourselves to simply consume information and to think of facts as being sufficient in and of themselves, then we are destined for an intellectual “Pit” out of which there is no escape. I repeat concepts of telos, eudaimonia, and Beatific Vision for my students so they can practice using vocabulary and difficult concepts in a way that builds on itself. By the end of the year, it is amazing how creative many students have become in their articulation of some of the deepest theological concepts in the history of humanity.

The Lover, the Beloved, and the Love Between

            Augustine writes that the Father is the Lover and the Son is the Beloved. Scripture gives evidence for this. At the Baptism of Jesus and at the Transfiguration the voice of God refers to Jesus as “Son”. Jesus refers to the Father multiple times, perhaps most especially in the Lord’s Prayer, when He prays for unity of the Apostles and at His Crucifixion. The Father Loves the Son perfectly and eternally, and the Son, because He is God too, does the same in return. The Love between them is so perfect, according to Augustine, that the Love between them is a unique and perfect person in itself. The Father is the Lover, the Son is the Loved, and the Spirit is the Love between the two. This is one of the few dynamics that I do not explore in depth with my high school students; it require a great deal of higher-level philosophy to event begin to explain. But what I do address the greater question: “How can this God be one if God is three persons? How can this not be polytheism?”

The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas. The Love Mary has for her Son is so profound that it draws her ever closer to the Cross and the suffering of Jesus. The Image and Likeness of God and the Universal Call to Holiness, perhaps, tells us that we should be the same (photo P. Smith).

            I start by reminding them that there is no perfect model to demonstrate the Trinity. The Trinity is not a Shamrock; sorry St. Patrick. The Trinity is not a triangle; sorry fifth grade religion teachers. The Trinity is not water (liquid, gas, solid)…sorry, but not sorry, anyone who has ever taught this. Heresies aside, I try to get students to consider what it means to be “One.” To be one is to be unified in thought and in will. Even the self can be divided if you are not focused on a single will. If I tell myself I want to be in better shape, and I should go for a run, I might also be telling myself that I want to sit and watch TV and eat nachos. I am, by definition, divided, not physically, but intellectually. I have two wills, and, usually, the nacho-will wins out. But if I can unite my body, spirit, and mind in a single will, then I am one. What is keeping us from doing the same with “the Other”? For God, He is His own “Other”, except the Wills of God’s self and God’s Other are so perfectly attuned, they unite in a single Will, though they are three distinct persons. Further, since the Son is the only one with a Body, God does not have to deal with the division or union of the material form to be “One” for there is only one body, that of Jesus Christ. The mind and the spirit of the three persons of God, as they are not material Truths, are perhaps more easily attuned and unified to each other. So think of this: if the three persons of God are so perfectly in tune with each other in body, mind, and spirit, then aren’t they, ontologically, one? Aren’t they so united in Will that they exist as a single God? This only leaves the question: if we are made in the image and likeness of God and if God is so perfectly attuned to God’s self, then shouldn’t our Vocation be to attune ourselves to “the Other” in the same way? If we want to live out the image and likeness in which we are made, shouldn’t we seek unified relationships with everyone in the world? The answer is “Yes”… the Universal Vocation to Holiness is to Love “the Other” and to be Loved by “the Other” the same way God does. But we must come to understand why this is beneficial to us, who exactly is “the Other”, and how can we actually come to do so. This is the focus of the next section of my class, and here is where the class begins to take root in the hearts of my students.

Who Was God Loving before He Created Us?

            One of my favorite questions to ask my students (and I borrowed this from one of my graduate school professors) is related to the claim that God is a community. I give my students this claim and question: “If we assume God is Love and if Love has both a Lover and a Beloved, then who was God Loving before He created us?” The question is a bit loaded. My sharper students remind me that we cannot use temporal vocabulary like “before” when we talk about God. I put my head in my hands and revise the question: “Since God exists independent of us, and if God is Love, then who does God Love and who Loves God independent of us?” Technically, it is a better question, although a bit complicated. Usually it is the same students who caught the temporal problem with the former question who can actually answer. They were really just showing off before. “God must be Loving Himself and God must be Loved by Himself,” they respond. I ask the class in return, “So God just Loves Himself? What does this say about God? What can we conclude about God based on this?” Occasionally I have to lead students to some of the deeper logical conclusions, but most of the time I get responses like: “God must be really into Himself” or “God really likes Himself.” They are not wrong, but they are not completely right. “But is this type of self-Love consistent with Agape as self-gift or humility, like we have discussed before?” St. John and the Church Fathers interpreted Agape in Scripture as a kind of Love that asks for nothing in return. That is, it is a Love that is not self-interested or egotistical. It is “self-donation” or submission of Will for the sake of the Truth of self and the other. It is the opposite of what we see in the Fall of Adam and Eve. It requires a distinct individual to acquiesce their Will, and their ego, out of concern for the Other. In order for God to be Love, as St. John wrote, then God must possess at least two distinct identities within God’s self. There must be an identity that is Love and another that is Beloved. This is, at least, how St. Augustine describes the persons in the Trinity. God is Lover and Beloved in two distinct persons (or more). My students can at least leave my class with a little bit of this theological language and understanding of the Trinity. It gets complicated when we talk about the third person of the Trinity and how this is not some form of polytheism.

The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas in Galway, Co. Galway, Ireland (photo P. Smith).

Who is the Other? The Trinity

Who is the Other?

           Originally I taught this section of the course with the questions: “Who are You?” Of course, this would mean I would spend a day and a half explaining that when I ask “who are you?” we are not asking who are you, the students in my classroom, as if the entire unit focuses on people not myself, Patrick Smith. I changed the language about a week or so into the unit. The previous unit focused on who the self is; this unit discusses who the other is. That is, who is everyone other than the self?

Made in the Image and Likeness of a Triune God, Again?

            It is important to recall concepts from the chapter on Christian Anthropology regarding the nature of God and the nature of self. If God is community in the Trinity and if we are made in the image and likeness of God, then we are also made to be in relationship, at least, with God. This chapter explore how it is not enough to be in a personal relationship with God; we must also be in a personal relationship with “the Other”, that is, with other human persons, and we discuss how that relationship, if it is to reflect the relationship God has within the Trinity, it must be characteristically self-giving and humble.

Trinitarian Abbey in Adare, Co. Limerick, Ireland. The Trinity remains the central mystery of Catholic Christianity. The image and likeness of God, we believe, is a relationship so perfect in Love that it is one God. If we are made in this same image and likeness, then we certainly need relationship with self, other, nature, and God. (photo P. Smith).

            God is Love, according to St. John, and that means that God Loves perfectly and is Loved perfectly. The “perfectly” stems from the transcendent nature of God. The capacity with which God Loves and is Loved is not limited; it is a telos at which His rational creation, humanity, should aim. But if God’s Agape is what we say it is, God must have an object of His perfect Love and God must have one who Loves Him perfectly. Since only God can be perfect and Love perfectly, this suggests a community within what we call God, the Trinity.

Anagogical Truth

It is important in Catholic theology and Scriptural Study to read Sacred Scripture narratively and analogically as these are ways we can comprehend Scripture, to an extent. Again, referring to the potential of material epistemology to know Truth and to point to deeper Truth, understanding the narrative and analogical Truths is essential in that they suggest deeper Truths. The term used to refer to Truths that are more Transcendent and therefore beyond human comprehension is anagogical Truth. While anagogical Truth cannot be directly observed or comprehended, by observing narrative and analogical Truths and by noting trends or themes that exist on both the narrative and analogical level, one can surmise Truths that exist on a Transcendent level. In this way, Catholic theology understands Sacred Scripture to present narrative and analogical Truths in terms of material epistemology as a means for pointing the human intellect toward transcendent Truths. These transcendent Truths, beyond observable knowledge, can only be fully comprehended by phronesis or an encounter, in this case, with the God presented in Sacred Scripture.

St. Colman's Catholic Church in Claremorris, Co. Mayo, Ireland. Even in the small towns in Ireland, like Claremorris (population 4800), the Catholic Churches were built to "point to" the grandeur of God, must the same way narrative and analogical Truths are meant to "point to" anagogical Truths.

In considering the materialist world and material epistemology, the observable world presents narrative and analogical Truths. It is by these Truths that one can be directed toward greater Truths which can only be comprehended by an acquiescent encounter with the divine. “Remember when we talked about psychology and sociology and philosophy and how they all seem to suggest the importance of relationship?” I ask my students sarcastically. We have been studying this stuff for several days. “We saw through those material or episteme-driven sciences the theme or idea of relationship as being important. We do not know exactly how important or how it looks outside of the Pit, but we can tell that it is important. This is an anagogical Truth: humans are meant to be in relationship with each other”.

The concept that one can begin to encounter God through the material world, and by that encounter begin to know the Truth of One’s Authentic self, is called Sacramentality. If creation is the result of an over-surplus of divine Love expressed between the persons of the Trinity, then it is within the boundaries of creation that one can encounter the Truth that is the source of that Creation. Sacramentality is, essentially, observing the created worlds’ narrative and analogical Truths with a lens that looks toward anagogical Truth. With this lens, the created world remains essential in the pursuit of one’s Authentic Self in as much as one continues to look beyond the limitations of human intellect in the pursuit of Truth.

Narrative and Analogical Truths

          Christian Theology is heavily rooted in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. To be clear, Catholic Scriptural Scholarship is not simply reading and believing what is written in the Bible. Catholic Scriptural Scholarship involves a much more nuanced understanding of the literary traditions which form the scriptures. Indeed, Catholic theology does claim Sacred Scripture to proclaim Truth, but this sense of Truth differs from perhaps what one refers to as fundamentalist reading of Scripture, which claims that what is written in Scripture is “fact” and Truth. Catholic scholarship tends to not assume all things in the Bible to be historical or empirical fact. Catholic Scriptural Scholarship looks at Sacred Scripture as possessing Narrative Truths, Analogical Truths, and Anagogical Truths. This can be thought of in terms of literary studies, that is, in terms of a regular story one might read. As one reads a story, the text can be read on a literal or a narrative level. The story has certain details that are true in context of the story itself. For example, in the Genesis Creation Story, if one reads it literally or narratively, there are characters, a setting, a conflict, dialogue, and a resolution. These are the literal facts of the story, and, as such, one can say these details are Narratively True, the same way the literal details of a story (fiction or non-fiction) are True in the margins of the text. These details, because they can be written and read by the human intellect, remain, in essence, materialist in their epistemological Truth. The details in Sacred Scripture, therefore, are essential in that they suggest or point to deeper Truths. The concept of Narrative Truth reveals to the scholar that the materialist details of the world are more than just accident in that they contain in them hints or signs of more complex and ever objective Truths. My students should remember this lesson from when we first talked about Genesis.

The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas in Galway, Co. Galway, Ireland. While some of the stories in Scripture cannot be taken simply for their face value, their narrative Truth, the Resurrection remains a central fact of Christian belief. If the Resurrection never happened, then Christianity has no meaning. (photo P. Smith)

Within the context of the human intellect, Sacred Scripture also reveals to the reader analogical Truths. That is, the narrative Truths of Sacred Scripture can be interpreted, within the capacity of the human intellect, to mean something deeper that is not expressly mentioned in the text, itself. For example, the narrative details of the Genesis story tell the reader that God creates humanity, invites humanity into communion with Him, sets expectations for that community, punishes humanity for not meeting those expectations, and continues to Love humanity despite the transgression of those expectations. These narrative Truths can be considered analogically as guidelines for familial and social structures. Though it is not expressly indicated in Genesis, an analogical reading of the text reveals a primer for social contract and a just society. This interpretation, among many others, is apparent when one reads Sacred Scripture analogically. Because analogical Truth can be comprehended by human intellect, it remains a material Truth. My students usually get this. If they had a good poetry teacher at any point in their life or if they ever read the lyrics to most any popular song, they get the idea of metaphor or analogy. It’s the next level of reading, the anagogical level, that is harder to understand.

What is Truth? Augustine and the Eternal Echo of God's Verbum

Aristotle and Augustine, together, provide a goal and means for moving toward that goal in terms of developing enduring relationships as an analogical and anagogical Truth of who one is. The Virtue Aristotle describes and the means to habituate Virtue show the individual the manner in which one can develop enduring relationships. Augustine takes those same enduring relationships and argues that the desire to develop such relationships suggest and even deeper or a more primordial drive to know oneself on a transcendent level. The relationships one develops in life, made enduring through habituation and Virtue, point to an even greater relationship with the Transcendent. The result is the eternal shout of one’s Verbum and the perpetual reception of that Verbum in the eternity of God and of all humanity. Perhaps we can say that the “Verbum” we begin to shout and hear in this life is but a shadow or an echo of the eternal Verbum. Indeed, Karl Rahner, the 20^th Century theologian, might say all of Creation is an echo of God’s own Verbum for us to hear. By looking Sacramentally at the material floors and walls of the Pit and the relationships we have in that Pit, maybe we can start to speak and to hear our Verbum.

Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas in Galway, Co. Galway, Ireland. The lofty expanse of the Cathedral invites us to consider our own lofty destination...our Authentic Self.

What is Truth? Augustine and the Extra Dimensions of Eternity

The Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas in Galway, Co. Galway, Ireland. The lofty dimensions of the Cathedral is not meant so much to make the congregation feel small as it is meant to lift our eyes to higher dimensions in which we can Hope to encounter our Authentic Self and the Divine presence of God. (photo P. Smith)

Augustine is attracted to Christianity, especially in terms of the Trinity, as the Trinity reveals origin, purpose, function, and destiny of the human person in terms of relationship. Augustine’s famous description of the Trinity in terms of Love is the beginning of his deeper understanding of the human person. Augustine describes the Trinity: the Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the Love between the Father and the Son. Within the Trinity, the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is the Verbum of God perfectly known, the Verbum spoken, and the Verbum perfectly heard. If humanity is made in the image and likeness of this Holy Trinity, this Holy Exchange of Verbum, then all humans are made to yearn for or desire this authentic exchange of Verbum. In this life, you can begin to speak and to hear your Verbum and in this exchange you experience great pleasure as it is the natural inclination of the all humans to want to speak and to hear their Verbum. But the relationship between humans as they strive to express their Authentic Self will always be incomplete as the Verbum remains a reality outside of time and space. Therefore, as Augustine realizes, one must form and foster a relationship with the Transcendent in order to better realize one’s Verbum. It is only in the extra dimensions of eternity where one can fully express their Verbum.

What is Truth? Augustine, Verbum, and Authentic Self

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, Ireland. The "Verbum" of God is Jesus Christ, and that "Word" speaks the Truth of God for all humanity and for all Creation. (photo P. Smith)

Augustine uses “Verbum” to refer to one’s Authentic Self. That is, Augustine understands that at the core of every human being is a Truth that you yearn to communicate to the world. There is a Truth that you desire to cry out for the self and for “the Other” to hear. Until one can speak this Verbum you will remain restless. Like Aristotle and the Classical philosophers, Augustine realizes the need to encounter the transcendent in order to “know” such an objective voice. Augustine adds the dimension of relationship in order to fully comprehend the concept of Verbum or Authentic Self. Even if you knows your Verbum, if there is no one to hear that Word, then the Verbum has no meaning. My students, at this point, know that Verbum is synonymous with the Authentic Self and the Authentic Self is the same as Loving and being Loved on a transcendent level. If Loving and being Loved is Verbum, then there must be some sort of relationship in order for that Verbum to be heard. You cannot Love in a vacuum. Relationship between individuals, therefore, is essential for you to begin to know your Verbum. In addition, as you hears another person’s Verbum, as you experience Loving or being Loved in more and more transcendent ways, you fulfills part of your own purpose, namely, to assist in the realization of the Other’s Verbum.

What is Truth? Augustine and Verbum

            This is not too much for high school students! If elementary school kids a hundred years studied this in classical schools, our kids can handle this, as well. You just have to be patient. Transitioning into Augustine is easy for me; several of my professors in graduate school were Augustine scholars and I was born on his feast day, so I have a particular affinity for him.

St. Augustine of Hippo at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Atlanta, GA. "Love is the Beauty of the Soul". If we are made to Love and to be Loved and that is our Authentic Self, then, indeed, as Augustine says, that Love is the Truest Beauty of our Authentic Self. (photo P. Smith)

St. Augustine of Hippo, six hundred years after Aristotle, explored the Authentic Self through the lens of Judaism and Christianity. As a rhetorician and a master of human language Augustine, before he even professed a belief in Christianity, wrote extensively on the concept of how one could know one’s Authentic Self and thereby achieve happiness. Above all, Augustine admits, the capacity for one to know one’s Authentic Self is profoundly limited, for, as one discovers who they are at a given moment in time and space, they are already different and what they have discovered is no longer True. The Truth of who one is, therefore, can only be observed from a transcendent or objective perspective. Combined with the classical understandings of telos and phronesis and in recognizing a Judeo-Christian parallel with Aristotelean Virtue and Ethics, Augustine began to dive deeper into Christian understanding of Truth, first in terms of philosophy and material epistemology, and later in terms of relationship and his own personal encounter with the divine. It was his own development of a relationship with the divine that would add to and expand what Augustine refers to as one’s Verbum.

What is Truth? Virtue, Authentic Self, and Beatitude

As one rationally chooses to pursue habituation, Virtue develops in the individual. For Aristotle, Virtue is not necessarily something that exists in the human being as much as it is an idea that can be developed. Virtue, simply put, describes any characteristic that reorients one from non-rational self-involvement to a rational, relationship-based mindset. That is, as we pursue Virtue we shift from fixation on material Truth and the floor and walls of the Pit, and we begin to look at “the Other” and a possible route leading out of the Pit. Virtue makes one more concerned about the well-being of the self and others as it relates to eudaimonia or Beatific Vision and less concerned about the non-rational appetitive mind of the self, which tends to be selfish in nature. The result of the habituation of Virtue in the individual is a relationship-oriented ethic which further fosters harmony within and between the individual and others, the result of which is Peace. 

Trinitarian Abbey in Adare, Co. Limerick, Ireland. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, perhaps more than any other Christological image, represents the Authentic Self and what it means to be "fully human". (photo P. Smith).

Aristotle does not state this directly, but it is in this state of Peace and harmony where we experience little or no anxiety; where we can be free to “speak” and “hear” what Augustine will call our Verbum. This Virtuous state of humanity further allows one to hear the Verbum of others, which, according the Aristotle, makes the Virtuous the most likeable of all characters. The Virtuous experiences eudaimonia or Beatific Vision because they can relate well to their authentic “voice” or “Verbum” and they can relate well to the authentic voice or Verbum of others. The rational mind, Prudence, habituation, Virtue, and ethics, therefore, relate to form an individual and social condition whereby the individual and others can relate in such a way that their Authentic Self can best be expressed. Just as the Trinity is in perfect union within itself and each person of the Trinity can speak their Verbum, when we are in increasingly similar relationships, we approach our Authentic Self. Those increasingly similar relationships can be experienced in time and space; essentially, the Virtuous and enduring relationships we experience in time and space are Sacramental visions of the transcendent Authentic Self.

What is Truth? Eudaimonia to Beatitude

Within the context of human relationships, eudaimonia is materially achievable, but as soon as it is achieved, it changes definitions and depth. Aristotle appealed to Aquinas because Jesus Christ serves as the bridge between any material action prescribed by Aristotle and any transcendent Truth associated with Virtue and Beatific Vision or Beatitude. Further, since for Aristotle it seems humble relationship with “the Other” is essential for the material development of Virtue, it is logical for Christian theologians that humble relationship with Jesus Christ can perfect Virtue in us. Aquinas recognizes, however, the limitations of Aristotle’s eudaimonia. Certainly, we can always achieve higher levels of happiness or flourishing, but perfect happiness can only flow through perfect Virtue, and, as there is only One being who is perfectly virtuous, perhaps happiness can only be given to us by that perfect vision, or, as Aquinas defines it, by viewing or contemplating the One who is perfectly virtuous. Aquinas calls this transcendent happiness “Beatific Vision”.

St. Senan's Catholic Church in Shanagolden, Co. Limerick, Ireland. This is where my great-grandfather on my mother's side went to Mass. In life he may have come close to something like Eudaimonia; in the afterlife, we Hope for Beatific Vision.

What is Truth? Aristotle, Virtue, and Happiness

Ultimately, what we are talking about here is the goal of happiness. I summarize Aristotle’s argument for how we can be truly happy; we need to choose with our rational mind to let go of simple appetites or fixations on material Truths. We need to be willing to sacrifice or be humble before a greater goal. That greater goal, within the scope of human vision, is treating the self and “the Other” with care and concern. This is Loving and being Loved. For Aristotle, this is Virtue, and as he teaches, the happiest person is the virtuous person. This, simply put, is a life characterized by recognizing human dignity. In Christian Theology, we are all called to the Universal Vocation to Holiness. Where Christians use the word “Holiness” to refer to Loving and being Loved, Aristotle uses “Virtue”. They are the same thing. We can rationally choose to pursue virtue for the sake of better and more enduring relationships. And as we move toward these better and more enduring relationships, we move toward our Authentic Self. Aristotle pre-dates Christ, and in his writing he admits that perfect Virtue and eudaimonia are not achievable in a material sense, although it is still a noble goal worth pursuing. As a result, Aristotle seems to suggest that humans can, in fact, achieve varying levels of “human flourishing”, but as soon as you reach one level, there will always be a higher level of happiness. Christianity argues that if God is perfect Virtue, then there is a way for us to achieve that same level of perfect Virtue (perhaps not in this life), but only if we are ion relationship with God. 

The Trinitarian Abbey in Adare, Ireland. Reason and Free Will in the pursuit of Virtue allows for one to more clearly see the dignity of self and the other, thus creating the potential to more fully Love one another. In a way, Reason and Free Will, rightly oriented toward Virtue, are like glass-cleaners in this 14th Century Abbey. (photo P. Smith)

What is Truth? Aristotle and the Habituation of Appetite

The rational mind and prudence allow the individual to choose to act in a certain way. It allows the individual to consider the effects of actions performed as a result of the non-rational, appetitive mind. Rational thinking and prudence allow the individual to “look up” and to consider the ropes that have been thrown to them and see how they can be used to help them get out of the Pit. If one chooses to use rationality and prudence, non-rational actions can be avoided. We stop looking at the floor of the Pit and start looking for ways to get out. Further, the rational mind and prudence, because of the superiority of the rational mind over the non-rational mind, potentially allow for the appetites to be formed or modified to serve the rational goal of eudaimonia and Beatitude. The process by which this occurs is habituation. That is, we can actually form or develop appetitive behaviors that serve movement outside of the Pit. Habituation is the conscious and systematic “reprogramming” of the appetites to serve the rational goal of eudaimonia and Beatitude. Simply put, habituation is the conscious choice to develop actions or habits in life, which can be called virtue, in a repetitive and systematic manner by which, over time, these actions become normative. I have to be careful to stress “habits”, for Aristotle, as being positive behaviors. Some students read or hear the word “habit” and connote negative action. Aristotle shows that in the process of habituation, these virtues become the appetite of the individual. Habituation turns the non-rational appetitive mind into an agent for the rational mind. The result is an individual whose rational and non-rational mind are united in a common goal. The harmonious relationship of the rational and the non-rational mind forms an individual who can more readily achieve eudaimonia and Beatitude. The analogy I use is as you develop positive habits that serve a transcendent goal, if those habits are virtue, then you do them automatically, like breathing. It is like holding a door for someone without thinking.

St. Theresa's Church Discalced Carmelites. For the Discalced Carmelites, even going barefoot can become an appetite. That is, the can habituate themselves into wanting to go barefoot and to live a life of poverty. (photo P. Smith)

What is Truth? Aristotle and Prudence

For Aristotle, the defining characteristic of the human being is the rational mind. The same is True for Catholic theology. Most of my students have figured out by now that I am not the kind of theology teacher who is concerned with how God makes them “feel”. I am not really into a pathos kind of rhetoric in my classroom regarding Faith. This surprises a lot of my students. They are used to other teachers who have simply wanted them to Love Jesus the way they Love Jesus! Some previous teachers want their students to experience Jesus the same way they experience Jesus! I have a bit more of a logos driven rhetoric in my class. That is, we are defined by the ability to rationally and logically decide to act in accordance with a purpose. The ultimate purpose of life for Aristotle is eudaimonia. Rationality is the first step in the process of achieving this enduring happiness. This human flourishing. The same will be True for Beatific Vision. Aristotle claims that the rational mind possesses the ability to use prudence as a guide for all actions. Prudence refers to the virtue that allows us to consider the repercussions or effects of current actions on future states. The rational mind using prudence, therefore, allows humans to see in multiple dimensions, the present and the future, using given data. Prudence, then, can be thought of as some sort of connection with eternal Truth of the Authentic Self. The combination of the rational mind and prudence is essential as a fundamental element of the pursuit of eudaimonia and Beatific Vision. Already, at this point of this discussion of Aristotle, students are more engaged and more welcoming to new ideas. Most have never approached theology from a rational perspective.

The Dublin Martyrs statue outside the St. Mary's Pro Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland. It seems irrational to suffer life imprisonment or death for one's beliefs, the punishments Mary Ball (left) and Francis Taylor (right) were given for their faithfulness to the Catholic Faith. Of course, if eternity is greater than time, then their reason was sound.

What is Truth? Aristotle and the Rational Mind

Aristotle claims there are four personality types: the Virtuous, the Continent, the Incontinent, and the Vicious. The first three are individuals with a rational mind. The fourth, the Vicious, describes a person with no rational mind. All four personality types, as described by Aristotle, are can be described in terms of varying relationships between the rational mind and the non-rational appetitive mind. Again, I stress to my students Aristotle’s concept of the relationship between the rational and the non-rational mind. Like psychology and sociology, the very relationship within the language of Aristotle can reveal for us a common theme or a Sacramental image of relationship. Aristotle writes that the Virtuous is the happiest of all personality types. That is, eudaimonia is achieved by living a Virtuous life. Aristotle describes it in terms of the relationship between the rational mind and the appetitive mind. That is, the appetite has been formed or habituated to want the same eudaimonia the rational mind wants. This process will be described later in this blog.

The Ascension of Jesus in St. Mary's Pro Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland. The relationship between Jesus and the remaining eleven Apostles becomes a context by which we have Hope for greater happiness than we can imagine. If Jesus is fully human an He can ascend by the power of the Father, then so can we. (photo P. Smith).

The Continent and Incontinent Personalities represent the varying degrees to which the rational mind is developed and to which the appetite is controlled to achieve the Virtuous personality, and therefore, eudaimonia. Essentially, the Continent mind has a developed rational mind (although not as developed as a Virtuous Personality) that is capable of directing the Appetitive mind. The Continent personality has an Appetitive mind that has been fairly well-habituated, (although not as well as in the Virtuous personality). The Incontinent lacks the same level of development of the Continent Personality and often allows the non-rational appetitive mind to control actions. The Vicious Personality lacks any form of rationality and therefore is completely controlled by the non-rational appetitive mind. The Vicious Mind has no concept of anything outside the Pit. Aristotle admits that there seems to be no Hope for the Vicious Personality for there is no rational mind to control the appetite and as the appetite is without a rationality, it is entirely self-serving and cannot develop enduring relationships and therefore has no place in society. My students shudder a bit when I tell them that Aristotle actually believed Vicious human beings should be executed so as to protect society. It is the development of the Virtuous Personality as a harmonious relationship between the rational mind and the non-rational appetitive mind that concerns Aristotle for it is in that relationship that Aristotle claims eudaimonia can be achieved, namely through a logical progression from the rational mind, to prudence, to habituation, to virtue, to ethics, and to Peaceful and enduring human relationship. I mention to students that 1600 years later, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic Church will see this logic as fundamental human movement toward relationship with self and others and, ultimately, the Authentic Self.

What is Truth? Aristotle

For Aristotle, the rational mind is essential to happiness. All humans possess a rational and a non-rational mind. The rational mind is able to look at the world and to make decisions using logic and reason. As logic and reason are elements of the rational mind and as the rational mind is directed always to the best for the individual, True human flourishing, the rational mind must be developed, fostered, and preserved for the sake of eudaimonia and, as it turns out, Beatific Vision. The non-rational mind, to Aristotle is similar to Freud’s id. Aristotle describes the non-rational mind as possessing the appetitive and the vegetative minds. The appetitive mind controls the desires and wants of the human person and is usually associated with vice. The appetites, to Aristotle, do not necessarily serve the pursuit of enduring happiness. Rather, the appetite is focused on immediate satisfaction of the material person. Without the direction of the rational mind, the non-rational mind is fixated on the material world inside the Pit. However, as will be described later, the appetites can be formed and trained by the rational mind to orient one’s actions toward eudaimonia. The vegetative mind controls the autonomic functions of the human person. These are the things that cannot be controlled by the rational mind but are essential to the normal functions of the human body. For example, the vegetative mind controls breathing, circulation, digestions, etc… Aristotle does not explore how the rational mind can control or direct the vegetative mind, although it may be possible if one considers some eastern philosophies and modern techniques. It is the relationship between the rational mind and the non-rational appetitive mind that most interests Aristotle in the pursuit of eudaimponia.

Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. The pursuit if education should be oriented toward the development of the the rational mind, ultimately, for the purpose of happiness. (photo P. Smith) 

What is Truth? Philosophy

          While Philosophy does explore concepts of transcendence and objective Truth, because philosophy is regarded as a study, and therefore an intellectual discipline, it must be regarded in terms of material epistemology. Philosophy, the “Love of Wisdom,” focuses on the pursuit of Wisdom for the sake of achieving Eudaimonia, a term I translated earlier as “happiness,” but more fully understood as “human flourishing”. It is a happiness that comes about as a result of living out one’s Authentic Self. For Aristotle, on whom the following paragraphs will focus, that Authentic Self is a result of enduring relationships between human beings. In terms of Christian Anthropology, it is within the context of enduring relationships that we reflect the image and likeness of the Triune God.

St. Joseph and the Child Jesus at Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners in Dublin, Ireland. Just as we find happiness in the relationships we develop in time and space, so, too, did Jesus. (photo P. Smith)

True happiness is only experienced as one “knows” their Authentic Self. Aristotle claims that this happiness, eudaimonia, is related to a life of Virtue. That is, one who lives virtuously, is happiest. What is the connection between the Authentic Self and virtue? Aristotle uses philosophy to suggest a progression of ideology, beginning with the rational mind and ending with eudaimonia. But within that ideology is a theme of relationship, both internally and interpersonally that ultimately leads to True happiness, eudaimonia. When I start this lesson with my students, after introducing what Aristotle says about Virtue and eudaimonia, I often ask them to do a short writing assignment. I challenge them to connect the image and likeness of God with the concepts of Virtue. The students who think of education in a more utilitarian way, just say things like “God is virtuous so we should be virtuous too. That will make us happy.” The answer is flat and boring, and, if I am honest with them, devoid of any intelligent reasoning. Luckily they are not graded on their ability to actually be smart. But I do get some students who think more deeply. “God is humble relationship,” they write. “Virtue is caring for another person more than yourself. To be virtuous is to be humble and to work for stronger relationships with other people”. My students are not Boniface or Cardinal Newman! But they are on the right track. Often teachers just need to give students a chance to be brilliant. I am not sure what it is about Aristotle, but his ideas just make sense to teenagers when they are presented clearly.

What is Truth? Sociology and Conclusions

On a material level, Sociology and Myers-Briggs serve to train the individual to better relate to themselves and to others in the world. The result, as we will discuss in the section on Aristotle, is a world in which individuals relate more Peacefully and harmoniously, for, with mutual understanding, comes mutual concern. Further, the relationship within the personality spectrum in the dimensions of the MBTI (Introvert versus Extrovert etc…) suggests, again, a fundamental or primordial role relationship plays in the development of the authentic self. It is in discovering the authentic self that one is Truly happy. The MBTI serves to create a harmony within the self and between the self and others, and it is in this harmony that one is happiest, Relationship, once again, functions on a narrative and analogical level to lead to the authentic self and True happiness. The superstructure of Sociology (how do identifiers and MBTI Dimensions relate to each other) and the actual relationships that Sociology can foster, through Christian Sacramental Vision, are signs we can observe in the Pit that suggest our Trinitarian or Relationship-oriented image and likeness.

St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Lilburn, Georgia. When we know ourselves, we can develop deeper, more lasting relationships with others. 

What is Truth? Sociology and the MBTI

My students are going to take that the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator about ten times by the time they are in their mid-twenties, and, at least once, they will start trying to predict what everyone they know is based on Myers-Briggs. I like to present this test, which seems almost entirely arbitrary at times, as a Sacramental sign of common human desire to be in relationship with the self and with others. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assists individuals in identifying their strengths in regard to how one is “energized”, how one gathers information, how one makes decisions, and how one deals with complex issues. By using a series of tests, the MBTI can assist an individual in identifying who they are within the context of the test parameters. The MBTI classifies individuals with terms related to the previously mentioned strengths as Extroverted or Introverted, Sensing or Intuitive, Thinking or Feeling, and Perceiving or Judging. This form of personality assessment utilizes academic tools for classifying who a person is, or, rather, for describing who a person is. This Material epistemological tool measures an individual’s personality within the context of a predetermined scale. It is purely done within the context of the Pit. Without describing in detail how this scale is determined and how the test is administered, the result is a description of an individual in terms of the previously mentioned dimensions. This description can be used in multiple ways to assist the individual in their personal and professional life. That is, as one better understands their Personality Type as determined by the MBTI, they may better understand their natural likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the dimensions of the MBTI. Knowing this gives the individual a way in which to make decisions that will best fit their personality, thereby allowing them to make the healthiest and most natural choices in their lives. Further, if one is aware of another’s personality type and if they have trained themselves to adapt to various personality types in relationship, they can better relate to the world around them. Ultimately, in the Pit, we can know our “type” based on simple observations, but knowing our “type” is only part of the equation.

West Rim Train at Big Bend National Park in Texas. Introspection and reflection are vital in helping to know the self, but this all means nothing if we do not use this knowledge to deepen interpersonal relationships (photo T. Burrell)

            Most often, I tell students, people finish the test and now they have their “type” identified. They are now defined by four little letters. Most students, when I challenge then to think about boiling down their personality to four letters, suspect there to be something wrong with the test. I tell them there is nothing wrong with the test; we just can’t look at this as the end of the story. “What can we do with type indicators?” I ask. The answers come flooding in.  Again, they are using ideas we have studied earlier in class. “If we know what our type is then we can explain why we act the way we do.” If we know our type and the type of others, we can predict their behavior better.” “If we know types, Mr. Smith, we know ourselves and others better…we can have stronger relationships.” Exactly! I explain to students, again, how if we stop at just our “type” then everything around us is only seen as it relates to the self. We are still alone in the Pit. But if we are aware of other peoples’ “types”, then we can start to develop relationships with others, even if we are all in the Pit.

What is Truth? Sociology and the Beginning of Anagogical Truth

Sociology, a material approach to “knowing” oneself, is effective as far as one can study the social factors that create the person and who they are. To know or to understand another within their sociological context may be essential in terms of pure knowledge, but that knowledge, in and of itself, is only valuable if that knowledge is used to help develop better relationships with the other or with one who’s sociological background differs from one’s own. It is basically like knowing as much as you can know when you are in the Pit. Again, as with psychology, the relationship between various identifiers suggests the anagogical role relationship plays, not simply in sociology, but in determining the authentic self. Further, it is not only the individual’s combination of identifiers that determines one’s self, but also how that individual relates to others.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Elementary and Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia. The community in which we spent eight or nine years of our formative years not only helped us identify our individual traits; it also introduced us to the people who would help us reveal even more who were are. (photo: Unknown)