tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post8518450165251322915..comments2024-03-28T09:59:13.754-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: Finding the Individual bionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-9755939205845382812020-09-11T06:34:47.116-07:002020-09-11T06:34:47.116-07:00ATL, I have been following a video series by Ryan ...ATL, I have been following a video series by Ryan Reeves. Here is a video of his on Anselm; he offers an explanation of Anselm's proof. It's only about 30 minutes:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnL9x7DmLVo&list=PLRgREWf4NFWZEd86aVEpQ7B3YxXPhUEf-&index=44bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-670461880192830922020-09-01T11:17:18.840-07:002020-09-01T11:17:18.840-07:00"...freedom is also the capacity for justice ..."...freedom is also the capacity for justice and the capacity for moral praiseworthiness..."<br /><br />Not for license, it seems. <br /><br />"willing what one ought to will"<br /><br />Aquinas (I think) says something similar (and I am summarizing and paraphrasing), that we have free will in accord with our purpose, and through our purpose we can understanding what we ought to will.<br /><br />This is true freedom.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-83512774435157016602020-09-01T11:12:06.604-07:002020-09-01T11:12:06.604-07:00RMB, I agree. I have come to understand that ther...RMB, I agree. I have come to understand that there is much to learn from the Christian scholars over the last 2000 years. It is fair to say that the Bible can be sometimes difficult to interpret or understand, that some passages appear quite contradictory to others, and that the wisdom gathered from other sources could be helpful in giving context or interpretation.<br /><br />Of course, this would not include anything clearly contradictory to Biblical teaching.<br /><br />Sola Scriptura is one thing; interpretation and understanding is quite another. Understanding God is complicated business!<br /><br />:-)bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-33101051668878500982020-09-01T10:02:34.191-07:002020-09-01T10:02:34.191-07:00Thank you!
I remember St. Anselm for his attempt ...Thank you!<br /><br />I remember St. Anselm for his attempt at an ontological proof of the existence of God, which I confess is pretty hard to follow and so I was not convinced, but that may have just been the result of my own inability to understand.<br /><br />I didn't realize how important he was. To put him as the most important theologian between Augustine and Aquinas is quite an honor. And the father of scholasticism? I wonder what his thoughts were on economics and politics?<br /><br />The <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anselm/#ProDivAtt" rel="nofollow">Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a> gives a good breakdown of Anselm's 'proof of God' argument, and it has an interesting discussion of his views on freedom, sin, and redemption (section 4) that may be relevant to our discussions here.<br /><br />Here is a taste:<br /><br />"Since, as we have already seen, Anselm will define freedom as “the power to preserve rectitude of will for its own sake,” the arguments of On Truth imply that freedom is also the capacity for justice and the capacity for moral praiseworthiness. Now it is both necessary and sufficient for justice, and thus for praiseworthiness, that an agent wills what is right, knowing it to be right, because it is right. That an agent wills what is right because it is right entails that he is neither compelled nor bribed to perform the act. Freedom, then, must be neither more nor less than the power to perform acts of that sort."<br /><br />Neither compelled nor bribed eh? Sounds pretty good to me!<br /><br />"Rectitude of will" is further defined as "willing what one ought to will or (in other words) willing that for the sake of which one was given a will"<br /><br />Seems obvious and yet it is also profound. Also, according to Anselm, truth consists in rectitude (or righteousness). <br /><br />"Statements are true when they correspond to reality, but only because corresponding to reality is what statements are for. That is, statements (like anything else) are true when they do what they were designed to do; and what they were designed to do, as it happens, is to correspond to reality."<br /><br />This sounds a lot like Hoppe's argumentation ethics. For instance, the libertarian social norm (in the spirit of St. Anselm) is the only one that is true, because the rest do not abide the purpose of a norm, because rather than prescribing a system wherein conflicts can be avoided, they instead enshrine continuous conflict into the norm itself.A Texas Libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980539931923054404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-1969945498212496112020-09-01T08:35:52.670-07:002020-09-01T08:35:52.670-07:00Hm. In the past I have focused on what ideas are ...Hm. In the past I have focused on what ideas are found in the Bible or what kind of behavior, life, or plan would the Biblical text motivate me to pursue.<br /><br />But it is also interesting, helpful, and confirming to find who and where these interpretations have been developed during church history. What you write about Anselm, makes me want to pay more attention to other things he said. Individualism is definitely an important topic to recognize but also fit into how to fit into the rest of human society.RMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13603112499567064214noreply@blogger.com