Auden and Behaviourism

W.H. Auden has different collections of short statements conveniently called "Shorts." This one is from "Shorts II" in his Collected Poems edited by Mendelson.

"If all our acts are conditioned behaviour, then so are our theories:
yet your behaviourist claims his is objectively true."

Rather than offer my own commentary at the moment I will allow whoever reads this to think it over and respond if you like. I would simply like to add that it would be necessary to ascertain whether or not this is an accurate representation of Behaviourism.

The Name That is Above Every Name

I enjoy the series offered by The Teaching Company. I was fortunate enough to pick up Phillip Cary's "Philosophy and Religion in the West" for about $1.50 at a library sale. He brought up an interesting connection that I never made, or ever have heard anyone make, in Philippians 2:6-11.

In the NIV these verses are structured as though they were a poem; this is because, according to Cary, these verses were quoted by Paul from an early Christian hymn. Cary's focus is primarily on verse 9, "Therefore God exalted him (Jesus) to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name."

For a first century Jew, and well, anyone familiar with the Old Testament, this is a very bold claim. What is the name that is above every name? Cary points out (correctly?) that Jesus' name is being identified with God's covenant name, YHWH, from the Old Testament. Some of my favorite passages in the Bible are from the Gospel of John with the various "I am" statements by Christ: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," "I am the good shepherd," "I am the vine," and "before Abraham was born, I am!" Christ's statements when connected with the specific name given in Exodus 3:14, "I am who I am," provide a rich context. The hymn in Philippians 2 is another example of this.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Living a Christian Life

Apparently and unfortunately, 20th Century German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is often regarded as a disbeliever in the Resurrection of Christ, despite the many examples that would suggest the contrary. However, this post is not focused on whether or not one can consider him a Christian, since I am unaware of any serious objections to the fact. I would gladly welcome if anyone could point me in the direction of some primary source text, within its context.

Regardless, one may be thankful for the insight provided in Bonhoeffer's Ethics, the second section of "The Last Things and the Things Before the Last." Concerning the Christian's life, Bonhoeffer distinguishes between the ultimate and the penultimate; the former is the justification by grace and faith alone and the latter is the good works that follow from the ultimate.

How are these two related? One common approach is what Bonhoeffer calls "Radicalism." The radical only sees the ultimate; it disregards the penultimate. Radicalism hates what is established, such as creation (129). This is dangerous because it leads to bitterness, suspicion and contempt for men and the world (129); love is only extended to the "closed circle of the devout."

Bonhoeffer labels the other common approach a "Compromise." The compromise concentrates on the penultimate but ignores the ultimate. The way things are at the moment is what is of the most importance. "Compromise always springs from the hatred of the ultimate" (129). The world (creation) must "be protected against [the] encroachment on their territory" (129). Compromise hates the word, but Radicalism hates the real.

Neither of these approaches are correct but there is a solution and Bonhoeffer sees it in Christ. "In Jesus Christ there is neither radicalism nor compromise" (128). There are three reasons why Christ is the solution: 1) His Incarnation, 2) His Crucifixion, and 3) His Resurrection. The Incarnation shows us God's love for His creation, the Crucifixion shows us God's judgment on all flesh, and the Resurrection shows us God's will for a new world. As you can see, the Incarnation rejects radicalism and Christ's crucifixion and resurrection shows the error of a compromise. "There could be no greater error than to tear these three elements apart" (130), which Bonhoeffer thoroughly explains in more detail.

Being mindful of these three important aspects of Christ's life is a part of living one's life in God's will, where humanity's origin is recovered (34). Dante is right: " E'n la sua voluntade e nostra pace" (In His will is our peace) (Paradiso, Canto III, 85).

The page references are from this edition of Ethics.

Advice from Rainer Maria Rilke

I read Rainer Maria Rilke's book Letters to a Young Poet last summer and forgot that I had taken some notes in a word document. I think there are many important points here but I think that number 2 has had the biggest impact on my own views toward writing; motivation is extremely important and when there is an exhaustible motivation the desire to write will fade. "Must I write?" is a question each writer must ask him/herself.

1. Writing must have individual quality

2. Go inside yourself

Discover the motive that bids you to write

Ask “must I write?”

“A work of art is good if it is grown out of necessity.”

“Go into yourself and explore the depths whence your life wells forth; at its source you will find the answer to the question whether you must create.”

3. Draw near to nature

4. Avoid familiar and usual forms

“For great and fully matured strength is needed to make an individual contribution where good and in part brilliant traditions exist in plenty.”

5. Turn from common themes to those themes of your personal life

6. Depict your sorrows, desires, passing thoughts, and belief in beauty with heartfelt sincerity through images that surround yourself.

7. Turn your attention to childhood memories.

8. Do not be governed by irony

At the depths of things irony never descends

Use it if it springs from a necessity of your being

9. “Patience is all!”

10. Live with the questions in yourself

11. Love your solitude

12. Be near things which will not desert you

13. Hold to the difficult

14. “Only those sorrows are dangerous and bad which we carry about among fellows in order to drown them.”

15. Concentrate on the object rather than personal feelings about the object.

Purchase the book at Amazon.

Solitude or Blank Desertion? Wordsworth and Sufjan

The spring time always provides me with motivation for spending some time with the Romantic poets. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) is one of my favorites, sorry Percy. I recently had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Lake District, the area in Northwestern England where he lived, and it has deepened my interest in his poetry.

A common misconception of the Romantic period and possibly all poetry, and I would say this comes from a person completely unfamiliar with poetry, is that poetry is simply emotions run rampant. True Wordsworth says that "all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," but he also adds that no good poems are created with out a person of a "more than usual organic sensibility" who "has also thought long and deeply" (Preface to Lyrical Ballads); thought is not supposed to restrict the composition of the piece but it certainly plays an essential role. Thinking, poetic skill, and emotions are at least three of Wordsworth's necessary conditions for good poetry.

The selection I chose to share comes from Book First (lines 357-400) in "The Prelude: or the Growth of a Poet's Mind, An Autobiographical Poem." At the bottom is this poem turned into a song by Sufjan Stevens (the video isn't great but you can still listen to the song). The song does not address the last section of the speaker leaving "in grave and serious mood," but how many combinations of music and great poets are there? If you enjoy this you might also like lines 425-463--Wordsworth ice skating.

One summer evening (led by her) I found
A little Boat tied to a Willow-tree
Within a rocky cave, its usual home.
Straight I unloosed her chain, and, stepping in,
Pushed from the shore. It was an act of stealth
And troubled pleasure, nor without the voice
Of mountain-echoes did my Boat move on,
Leaving behind her still, on either side,
Small circles glittering idly in the moon,
Until they melted all into one track
Of sparking light. but now, like one who rows
(Proud of his skill) to reach a chosen point
With an unswerving line, I fixed my view
Upon the summit of a craggy ridge,
The horizon's utmost boundary; for above
Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky.
She was an elfin Pinnace; lustlily
I dipped my oars into the silent lake;
And, as i rose upon the stroke, my boat
Went heaving though the Water like a swan:
When, from behind that craggy Steep, till then
The horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge,
As if with voluntary power instinct,
Upreared its head.--I struck, and struck again,
And, growing still in stature, the grim Shape
Towered up between me and the stars, and still,
For so it seemed, with purpose of its own
And measure motion, like a living Thing
Strode after me. With trembling oars I turned,
And through the silent water stole my way
Back to the Covert of the Willow-tree;
There, in her mooring-place, I left my Bark,--
And through the meadows homeward went, in grave
And serious mood; but after I had seen
That spectacle, for many days, my brain
Worked with a dim and undetermined sense
Of unknown modes of being; o'er my thoughts
There hung a darkness, call it solitude
Or blank desertion. No familiar Shapes
Remained, no pleasant images of trees,
Of sea or Sky, no colours of green fields,
But huge and mighty Forms, that do not live
Like living men, moved slowly through the mind
By day, and were a trouble to my dreams.