PhilAdult

Science, philosophy, and theology are the three main theoretical inclinations of intellectual life. They are related ecologically. All are needed for a holistic understanding of reality. And it is a person's philosophy that does the integration.

But people have lost awareness of this truth about knowing--this truth of epistemology or philosophy of knowledge. The central, ecological character of philosophical thought itself has been underplayed throughout the entire history of Western cultures. Because of the specialization and fragmentation of intellectual endeavors that have occurred in recent decades, philosophy is often regarded as just another field of knowledge.

We need to take a look at how philosophy relates to the other two broad areas of theoretical knowledge. A holistic, as well as personal, meaning for philosophy is sorely needed for the sake of spiritual and emotional balance in intellectual life. We can gain a distinctive ecological perspective on what it means to develop a personal philosophy.

Philosophy may be defined as the science of integrative and ultimate meanings for reality. It is a science in the broad sense of being an organized body of knowledge through causes. It deals with the ultimate meanings for reality in an integrative way.
Science, as it is usually thought of today, tries to get at the causes of empirically observable things only. Theology tries to gain causal knowledge of the things of God. Philosophy is the natural intellective activity of integrating knowlege from both science and theology into one whole, meaningful organization.

Indeed, philosophy has a crucial role in the maturation of human intelligence. In order to appreciate this central role of philosophy, we can turn to something a bit easier to know and then see the parallel in the intellectual life. We can see the similarity between three areas of psychic life and the three areas of intellectual life. We can compare three readily identifiable areas of what might be called psychic ecology to intellectual ecology wherein philosophy has the critical role.

Specialists in transactional analysis regard three ego states as the natural parts of the human psyche. These ego states are called Parent, Adult, and Child. But in order to relate them to the three areas of intellectual ecology, it is first necessary to give them a philosophical interpretation. I will identify the root of each one of these psychic ego states and then indicate how a remarkably similar root is found in the life of the spiritual mind.

The psychic Child can be understood as a person's inner capacity to feel from within and to respond instinctively to stimuli, without inhibition and restraint. The baby, for instance, tends to act almost entirely in accord with his or her feelings, sleeping when tired, crying when hungry or wet, and playing when contented.

The psychic Parent can be understood as a person's inner capacity to be taught and to receive direction for his or her life from others, especially parents. Those others include not only parents, but everyone else who exerts some influence on the person's behavior, and in accord with whom the person is inclined to act. Brothers and sisters, playmates, and the television set are among the most influential others in the life of a child.

Yet, later in life, teachers, friends, employers, and many different kinds of people, all constitute those others who have been definitely influential in the person's behavior. An individual must act not only as he or she feels, but also as others feel, if he or she is to survive and function maturely.

But the key to doing so is an inherent disposition in the depths of the psyche that naturally inclines the person to receive behavioral information from a world entirely beyond his or her own little ego-world. This natural, inner capacity to be directed by someone or something other-than-self is the root of the psychic state called the Parent.

Then there is the crucial psychic area. The Adult is the person's inner capacity to interpret and to integrate data from the Parent and the Child, and to respond to the present situation thoughtfully and wholly. The natural ability to use reason and to decide what is the best course of action to follow at a given time is the remarkably distinctive power of the human being.

This Adult ego state takes into account the instincts and demands of the Child and Parent within, but acts independently. Like the others, it is present from the beginning. But it is the last to become significantly activated, and it requires a certain amount of development on the part of the Child and Parent capacities in order to operate effectively. The Adult also depends on both the Child data and the Parent data for effective functioning.

Intellectually, we all have a root Child. The intellectual Child is our natural capacity to know all created things and to respond naturally. We have a capacity and a natural desire to know, ever more effectively and deeply, the things of the world--inanimate, animate, and human.

Our senses, memory, imagination, and intellect are knowing powers that put us in touch with the created universe; and, if we are healthy, the more we know, the more we want to know. All of this knowledge comes from within our specifically human inclination to know and lies within our natural capacity to know.

We can regard the arts and sciences as the specially developed ways of attaining the knowledge of all the created universe that the liberated and growing person desires to attain. The arts and sciences minister to our intellective Child.

But there is another natural capacity to know intellectually. Everyone who has not had it squelched can recognize the natural capacity to know uncreated reality or uncaused, ultimate reality. Such knowledge cannot come from within our finite capacity to know. It can only come (through our natural desire to know) from the Creator, the Other, by way of some kind of special revelation.

Such is the kind of knowledge that the science of theology and religious studies purport to mediate and cultivate. This natural inclination and capacity within us to know uncreated reality from the Creator by way of special revelation is our intellective Parent. It is the natural capacity of the creature to be taught from outside his or her own natural ability to know created things, and to let his or her actions be influenced by this uncreated Other.

Most critically, the Adult in the intellectual life is that natural capacity to interpret and to integrate data form both nature (created beings) and supernature (uncreated being, the Other), and to respond to the here-and-now situation, meaningfully and wholesomely.

Philosophy is the art and science that cultivates this particular natural capacity for interpreting and integrating all of one's knowledge into a beingful whole. The word philosophy means "love of wisdom." And wisdom can be understood as a loving kind of knowing and a knowing kind of love. A person might be said to be intellectually Adult only to the extent that he or she is well-integrated and wise.

In order to be wise, of course, one need neither be called a philosopher nor even have studied philosophy in a formal manner. And surely, not everyone who is called a philosopher or who has studied philosophy is wise. Perhaps we can simply say that, other things being equal, the individual has a better opportunity to grow in wisdom if he or she studies philosophy under sound guidance than if he or she does not. Becoming an intellectual Adult requires careful guidance.

Unfortunately, philosophy today is widely conceived as having only incidental connection to theology and religion. One of the major needs of our time is a philosophy that incorporates theological data--as well as natural, scientific, and common sense data--into its organized reflections. Nowhere is this need more evident than in the philosophy of man and woman and the philosophy of human life. Other areas are crucial, too. The meaning of the origin of the human community on the planet earth is essentially a philosophical endeavor that adjudicates the data and conclusions from both science and religious belief into an holistic vision. Neither science alone nor theology alone can do the work of genuine mediation and integration.

Generally, philosophy in the Western world stops at the threshold of theology and religion, and refuses to incorporate data beyond the comprehension of the natural powers of the mind. But while acknowledging that one of the major roles of philosophy is to help people examine things in accord with simple, unaided reason, I suggest that there is another and far more crucial role.

The greatest task of philosophy is to help people experience wholeness in knowing, including what they acknowledge through faith--which is also a knowing. Theology deals directly with the contents of that faith; but it is not the integrative discipline as such. Philosophy, the traditional love of wisdom, needs expansion to include the highest Wisdom--without submerging either theology or itself.

The reader is encouraged to develop a philosophy of man and woman and a philosophy of life that include whatever he or she holds to be true in the area of religious belief. It is a mark of intellectual maturity to be able to respect differences in assumptions and presuppositions while examining the whole field of a person's organized reflection.

In the dialogue proper to philosophy, often we can learn form others with whom we disagree on significant assumptions, if we bring these areas of difference into the light of consciousness, and if we treat the propositions of disagreement as hypothetical judgments. The differences are then recognized and respected. They can thus function as stimulants for thought and discussion rather than as unconscious sources of conflict.

Philosophies that always preclude or shy away from religious and theological knowledge tend to function like emotionally disturbed people who cannot relate well with their Parent ego state. But the disturbance is intellectual and has far more devastating consequences for the individual and for civilization,

Considering the history of human reflection, we might say that it is time to integrate. There is no more crucial area for this coming of age than in the endeavor of growing wise in the ways of being man and woman and of insightful care of all human life, from conception to unneglectful natural death.



Science, Philosophy, and Theology: How Are They Related? Philosophy: the Adult of the Personal Life Robert E. Joyce Science, philosophy, and theology are the three main theoretical inclinations of intellectual life. They are related ecologically. All are needed for a holistic understanding of reality. And it is a person's philosophy that does the integration. But people have lost awareness of this truth about knowing--this truth of epistemology or philosophy of knowledge. The central, ecological character of philosophical thought itself has been underplayed throughout the entire history of Western cultures. Because of the specialization and fragmentation of intellectual endeavors that have occurred in recent decades, philosophy is often regarded as just another field of knowledge. We need to take a look at how philosophy relates to the other two broad areas of theoretical knowledge. A holistic, as well as personal, meaning for philosophy is sorely needed for the sake of spiritual and emotional balance in intellectual life. We can gain a distinctive ecological perspective on what it means to develop a personal philosophy. Philosophy may be defined as the science of integrative and ultimate meanings for reality. It is a science in the broad sense of being an organized body of knowledge through causes. It deals with the ultimate meanings for reality in an integrative way. Science, as it is usually thought of today, tries to get at the causes of empirically observable things only. Theology tries to gain causal knowledge of the things of God. Philosophy is the natural intellective activity of integrating knowlege from both science and theology into one whole, meaningful organization. Indeed, philosophy has a crucial role in the maturation of human intelligence. In order to appreciate this central role of philosophy, we can turn to something a bit easier to know and then see the parallel in the intellectual life. We can see the similarity between three areas of psychic life and the three areas of intellectual life. We can compare three readily identifiable areas of what might be called psychic ecology to intellectual ecology wherein philosophy has the critical role. The Psychic Ecology of Transactional Analysis Specialists in transactional analysis regard three ego states as the natural parts of the human psyche. These ego states are called Parent, Adult, and Child. But in order to relate them to the three areas of intellectual ecology, it is first necessary to give them a philosophical interpretation. I will identify the root of each one of these psychic ego states and then indicate how a remarkably similar root is found in the life of the spiritual mind. The psychic Child can be understood as a person's inner capacity to feel from within and to respond instinctively to stimuli, without inhibition and restraint. The baby, for instance, tends to act almost entirely in accord with his or her feelings, sleeping when tired, crying when hungry or wet, and playing when contented. The psychic Parent can be understood as a person's inner capacity to be taught and to receive direction for his or her life from others, especially parents. Those others include not only parents, but everyone else who exerts some influence on the person's behavior, and in accord with whom the person is inclined to act. Brothers and sisters, playmates, and the television set are among the most influential others in the life of a child. Yet, later in life, teachers, friends, employers, and many different kinds of people, all constitute those others who have been definitely influential in the person's behavior. An individual must act not only as he or she feels, but also as others feel, if he or she is to survive and function maturely. But the key to doing so is an inherent disposition in the depths of the psyche that naturally inclines the person to receive behavioral information from a world entirely beyond his or her own little ego-world. This natural, inner capacity to be directed by someone or something other-than-self is the root of the psychic state called the Parent. Then there is the crucial psychic area. The Adult is the person's inner capacity to interpret and to integrate data from the Parent and the Child, and to respond to the present situation thoughtfully and wholly. The natural ability to use reason and to decide what is the best course of action to follow at a given time is the remarkably distinctive power of the human being. This Adult ego state takes into account the instincts and demands of the Child and Parent within, but acts independently. Like the others, it is present from the beginning. But it is the last to become significantly activated, and it requires a certain amount of development on the part of the Child and Parent capacities in order to operate effectively. The Adult also depends on both the Child data and the Parent data for effective functioning. The Ecology of the Intellectual Life The counterpart of the three psychic ego states is found quite naturally in the higher life--the intellectual and spiritual life. Intellectually, we all have a root Child. The intellectual Child is our natural capacity to know all created things and to respond naturally. We have a capacity and a natural desire to know, ever more effectively and deeply, the things of the world--inanimate, animate, and human. Our senses, memory, imagination, and intellect are knowing powers that put us in touch with the created universe; and, if we are healthy, the more we know, the more we want to know. All of this knowledge comes from within our specifically human inclination to know and lies within our natural capacity to know. We can regard the arts and sciences as the specially developed ways of attaining the knowledge of all the created universe that the liberated and growing person desires to attain. The arts and sciences minister to our intellective Child. But there is another natural capacity to know intellectually. Everyone who has not had it squelched can recognize the natural capacity to know uncreated reality or uncaused, ultimate reality. Such knowledge cannot come from within our finite capacity to know. It can only come (through our natural desire to know) from the Creator, the Other, by way of some kind of special revelation. Such is the kind of knowledge that the science of theology and religious studies purport to mediate and cultivate. This natural inclination and capacity within us to know uncreated reality from the Creator by way of special revelation is our intellective Parent. It is the natural capacity of the creature to be taught from outside his or her own natural ability to know created things, and to let his or her actions be influenced by this uncreated Other. Most critically, the Adult in the intellectual life is that natural capacity to interpret and to integrate data form both nature (created beings) and supernature (uncreated being, the Other), and to respond to the here-and-now situation, meaningfully and wholesomely. Philosophy is the art and science that cultivates this particular natural capacity for interpreting and integrating all of one's knowledge into a beingful whole. The word philosophy means "love of wisdom." And wisdom can be understood as a loving kind of knowing and a knowing kind of love. A person might be said to be intellectually Adult only to the extent that he or she is well-integrated and wise. In order to be wise, of course, one need neither be called a philosopher nor even have studied philosophy in a formal manner. And surely, not everyone who is called a philosopher or who has studied philosophy is wise. Perhaps we can simply say that, other things being equal, the individual has a better opportunity to grow in wisdom if he or she studies philosophy under sound guidance than if he or she does not. Becoming an intellectual Adult requires careful guidance. The Abortive Philosophy of Recent Centuries Unfortunately, philosophy today is widely conceived as having only incidental connection to theology and religion. One of the major needs of our time is a philosophy that incorporates theological data--as well as natural, scientific, and common sense data--into its organized reflections. Nowhere is this need more evident than in the philosophy of man and woman and the philosophy of human life. Other areas are crucial, too. The meaning of the origin of the human community on the planet earth is essentially a philosophical endeavor that adjudicates the data and conclusions from both science and religious belief into an holistic vision. Neither science alone nor theology alone can do the work of genuine mediation and integration. Generally, philosophy in the Western world stops at the threshold of theology and religion, and refuses to incorporate data beyond the comprehension of the natural powers of the mind. But while acknowledging that one of the major roles of philosophy is to help people examine things in accord with simple, unaided reason, I suggest that there is another and far more crucial role. The greatest task of philosophy is to help people experience wholeness in knowing, including what they acknowledge through faith--which is also a knowing. Theology deals directly with the contents of that faith; but it is not the integrative discipline as such. Philosophy, the traditional love of wisdom, needs expansion to include the highest Wisdom--without submerging either theology or itself. The reader is encouraged to develop a philosophy of man and woman and a philosophy of life that include whatever he or she holds to be true in the area of religious belief. It is a mark of intellectual maturity to be able to respect differences in assumptions and presuppositions while examining the whole field of a person's organized reflection. In the dialogue proper to philosophy, often we can learn form others with whom we disagree on significant assumptions, if we bring these areas of difference into the light of consciousness, and if we treat the propositions of disagreement as hypothetical judgments. The differences are then recognized and respected. They can thus function as stimulants for thought and discussion rather than as unconscious sources of conflict. Philosophies that always preclude or shy away from religious and theological knowledge tend to function like emotionally disturbed people who cannot relate well with their Parent ego state. But the disturbance is intellectual and has far more devastating consequences for the individual and for civilization, Considering the history of human reflection, we might say that it is time to integrate. There is no more crucial area for this coming of age than in the endeavor of growing wise in the ways of being man and woman and of insightful care of all human life, from conception to unneglectful natural death. This essay is based on a discussion in Human Sexual Ecology, by Robert E. Joyce (University Press of America, 1981).

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