The Second Element: Mechanistic Metaphysic The materialist understanding of the universe is the most familiar iteration of this mindset to us moderns. We live in a culture which, at least pro forma, asserts that all reality is matter-in-motion, with each
The tradition of folk-magic, of ‘superstition,’ and of magic in general is old and endemic to humanity. Its philosophical bones appear in modernity, in the medieval era, and in ancient times, in materialism, in mysticism, in simple superstition. To make
Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, Book II: Of the Rights of Things commences with a brief discussion of the origin of property. Therein he states, quite rightly, that the Dominion Mandate of Genesis 1:28 is “the only true
The prefaces to this consideration of The Princess and Curdie are two. First, I must highly commend the book to you, together with its prequel. MacDonald is a skilled teller of tales and includes many gems of insight in his
As per last week, the universal man does exist, for we must have a universal which the word ‘man’ refers to. The universal man does not exist, inasmuch as (contra liberalism) men are not interchangeable without regard for their history
Some define liberalism as being founded on a belief in a ‘universal man’, some common essential which, unless obscured by its refusal, is present in all persons. On this ground, liberalism asserts, no actual difference is discernable between Englishmen, Pakistanis,
Parts One and Two laid out the usefulness of a metaphor for civilizations in history, the metric Scripture gives for understanding civilizations (I), and why several of the common genres of such metaphors are less than suited for purpose (II).
The Imperfections of the Competition As intimated in the first entry to this triple-feature, mankind has many, many metaphors to describe civilization. Coming up with one is a common part of promulgating a theory of history. Today, we’ll consider four
How do you conceive of a civilization or a society? When you discuss history, does a society rise and fall? Is it young or old, solar or lunar, a part of a season-cycle? How do you picture a society’s lifespan?
Last week covered the foundations of symbolism (symmetry, sameness, and difference), as well as the levels of intentional present in narrative uses of symbolism. This week I promised to discuss…. Analogy Analogy is symbolic, though it is not symbolism proper.