Oregoncoug's Blog Positive Aryan Kristian Philosophy Positive Philosophy, by Msgr, Jean-Joseph Gaume (1835) (Chapters Twenty-Three and Twenty-Four of Du Catholicisme Dans L Education by Msgr. Jean-Joseph Gaume) Translated by: Brother Francis Chapter Twenty-Three: On Positive Philosophy Let us not hide the fact: Unless there is prompt and fundamental reform in the teaching of philosophy, and the fight will long remain in doubt, perhaps the balance will eventually err on the side of rationalism. Since the Sixteenth Century there have been great errors in both the idea and nature of this important science. First of all, in some schools philosophy is presented not as the means to develop truths already known, but as the means to discover truth as such; what should be given as the creation of intelligence is instead presented as a kind of machine for the invention of truth. What is this saying? Only that every teaching of social or religious authority is but a prejudice that must be rejected with great care, thus emptying the soul, and allowing nothing to enter there unless clearly demonstrated: False definition that is contradictory in its terms. False: Because, as we have already said elsewhere, as a contingent being man has no truth in him, he must receive it; only after receiving truth can he be given to develop it and be nourished. Belief is the first law of his being: To know, the second. Well! What constitutes philosophy is the effort of reason to pass from faith to the intelligence of truth, that is what constitutes philosophy. She invents nothing, she develops. Let someone tell Page 1 of 14
us what truth has she invented through her three thousand years of research? Many societies existed before the first philosophers, yet the existence of society requires knowledge of every truth necessary for mankind. Weak mortals, what can you invent, and what else can be said? Who cannot understand that otherwise the atom would claim to invent truth! Then tell us on what day was the soul invented and which philosophy invented God? Contradictory: And in fact, to exist, to live for intelligence is to know, yet those who exist can only know what is, which is the truth. Thus for any created intellect to exist it must first receive the truth: The revelation of its creation. And what results from that? Only that for intelligence to have invented truth, the intelligence would have had to be invented and would then not have existed, since to invent, to act, one must be; at the same time the intelligence would not have existed since it had not yet possessed truth, the essential condition for its existence. The schools whose error we fight against contain in some sense within themselves the disastrous consequences of their own teaching and also the counterpoison against their principles. A glance suffices to judge them. Abject materialism, fierce atheism, sad scepticism inspire horror for the mother who gives them birth and outraged reason is avenged. Prohibiting every kind of faith as an unworthy hindrance, this philosophy is essentially hostile to Catholicism whose first word is: I believe. But there is another way of envisioning and teaching philosophy that, less anti-christian in appearance, is in reality perhaps no less erroneous or fatal. We wish to speak of the philosophy that, without rejecting revelation, declares her foreign. Reason, and reason alone, is the sole oracle this philosophy queries, the only authority it recognizes: It claims to prove everything with the assistance of reason, and on this sole basis claims to sit in judgement of ontology, morality, physics; in its eyes a proof is not admissible and valuable if the proof in some way takes its force from revelation. Thus how can we not see that to present philosophy in such a way is to confirm and perpetuate the fatal divorce between reason and faith? Because is this not implicitly to say to youth that there exists a true philosophy outside religion, that this philosophy is a sure means to know the entire truth and that therefore religion is useless since reason alone suffices? It is true according to the Council of Trent that since the Fall of Man the will has not been destroyed, but only wounded and weakened, fracta ac debilitata; thus man can know some truths without the aid of the Gospel revelation, as he may without grace do some good in the natural order. Thus is it not an anachronism to take as the basis of a veritable philosophy, which is to say of a general satisfactory explication of God, man and the world, those imperfect rudiments and those feeble givens of a reason so impoverished by the original dualism, rather than the teachings of enlightened reason, divinized by Christianity? Is this not to leave behind the bright light of the sun for the uncertain light of a sepulchral light? Is it not to turn the Page 2 of 14
human spirit retrograde? Already Christian, actual reason must draw from the Gospels to explain the universe. The time has come to do justice to all these useless or dangerous philosophies that learn nothing or learn only to dispute and doubt everything. Here, as in every part of teaching, religion must regain the rightful place belonging to her: On this depends the salvation of youth and the progress of philosophy. Thus this role of religion in science in general and in philosophy in particular is admirably defined in this beautiful passage of Saint Thomas: Theology, says the great doctor, commands the other sciences because she is the most elevated among them, she makes them work by receiving her orders, thereby entering into her service because she is responsible for placing them in order such that the end, the goal, the object of every philosophy is contained within the goal of theology and thus coordinated with respect to this end. Hence theology must guide every other science and put their every teaching into its proper place. (1) (1) Theologia imperat omnibus allis scientlis tanquarn principalis, et utitur in obsequium sui omnibus allis scientiis, quasi usualis : sicut patet in omnibus artibus ordinatis, quarum finis unius est sub fine alterus, sicut finis pigmentariae artis, que est confectio medicinarum, ordinatur ad finem medicinae, qui est sanitas, unde medicus imperat pigmentario, et utitur pigmentis ab ipso factis ad suum finem : ita ut cum finis totius philosophiae sit intra finem theologiae, et ordinatus ad ipsum, theologia debeat omnbus allis scientiis imperare, et uti iis quae in eis traduntur. That said, what should be the point of departure, what should be the purpose of this salutary philosophy? The synthetic sequence of our ideas, as well as the character of this book does foretell it. In our view, there is currently only one authority that can provide the basis of a philosophy truly in rapport with progress and current discoveries, that is to say, truly complete and truly social. We shall name her: the Church of Rome. Infallible voice of every generating truth, she alone has the words of life; infallible authority because she summarizes the authority of mankind by completing it, and also because the special assistance of God is evidenced by obvious miracles guaranteed to her through the duration of the ages. Formerly she was the rule of truth, the authority of mankind and depository of the primitive revelation, a fact once seemingly impossible to attack, but at present what need is there to have recourse to it? We have the Church that is also mankind, and more than mankind. Who does not believe in the Church does not believe in mankind. For those who wish to reflect on it, in consequence this latter authority is less impressive than the first, its teachings less exact, its doctrines less complete and less satisfactory. However after admitting the fundamental truths that compose the teachings of the Church in principle or establishing by their natural proofs, the counter-proof is, so to speak, to show those truths to Page 3 of 14
exist in germ in every ancient tradition as the only way to avoid some subterfuge of bad faith and some cloud covering truth, thereby allowing no doubt about the crowds of idle or sick minds that, although reluctant to swear on the word of the apostles or the Church alone, yet find no difficulty believing whatever is in agreement with those of Socrates or Plato, India or Egypt. Such was the forward march of the Fathers of the Church; it is enough to be convinced to read, among other things, the treatise of St. Augustine On The Trinity, the Apology of Tertullian, the Defense of Christianity by Origin, the Stromata of Clement of Alexandria, as well as the writings of Arnobius and those of Minutius Felix. They always speak Christian truths, and show that the light of reason, the discoveries of science, the very beliefs of the pagans themselves, render those truths their homage. Why have we abandoned their footsteps? Why, in the teaching of philosophy, do we constantly treat young Christians as if they were pagans and sceptics? Why do we teach them to despise the Fathers when our foremost care should be to teach them to respect the authority of the Church, the Christian teachings of the domestic hearth? What good all these oblique ways to bring them to faith? Do we not seem even to want to surprise them? Oh! To us it seems more honest, more loyal, more advantageous to begin with the doctrine of Christianity, and make that the basis of universal explanation! Moreover we must end with one of two things: Either the young people with whom we speak have the faith, or they do not. If they have the faith, then it is clear that the direction we indicate is the only one that suits them. They do not ask us for proofs, but for explanations to make them see what they have previously believed. If, on the contrary, they do not have faith, the only way to give it to them is to establish the truths in which they must believe first by their natural proofs, and if that does not suffice, then they will find the verification of our teachings in the authority of every tradition, in the lights of reason, in the discoveries of true science invoked under the authority of the Church, that is to say, their analogy, their necessary connection with every law of human intelligence. They will recognise, apart from imbeciles, the truth of the evidence without which every explanation, every philosophy is radically impossible. And in fact when we ask every philosophy foreign to Christianity, which is to say that does not take the Christian revelation as its foundation: Present them with the simplest questions such as these: What is God? What is man? Where does man come from? Where is he going? What are his duties? What are his relations with his maker, with his fellows, with the creatures subject to his empire? What is society? What is power? Contradictions. Absurdities, words empty of sense, empty of intelligible phrases, at most some incomplete answers, that is all we get. For proof take a look at the writings of Hermias, about which we Page 4 of 14
spoke before, or at the Helviennes of Fr. Barruel. The teaching of the Church is where we have the basis of philosophy. As for the social purpose, what should the last word be on this general explanation of things? We have indicated it when discussing the philosophy of the Fathers: To show unity in trinity, and trinity in unity. This point is of the utmost importance, which is why we do not fear to give it some new explanations. Chapter Twenty-Four: Continued From the Previous Chapter The universe is a manifestation of God. God can only manifest what He is: Unity and Trinity. The universe is therefore an immense unity, an immense trinity. Such are the two great characteristics that must be reproduced, and which reproduce themselves in every part of creation. To discover them, such is the vocation, the end, the perfection of human intelligence. Such has Providence engraved on the forehead of every creature. They are so prominent that a pagan, Aristotle himself, was amazed to meet them throughout his vast researches, and somewhere cried out: Porro omnia unum sunt et tria. Trinity and unity himself, man carries them written in the depths of his being, and imprints them on every one of his works. In a word, everything here below is unity and trinity: Everything that exists is one, and every unity results from a trinity of causes; such is the generating principle of every thing, such is the universal law for the conservation and accomplishment of which everything must concur, because on it depends the conservation and perfection of beings. Such is also THE GREAT TRUTH to find, develop and put on the level of each intelligence coming into the philosophical world. Do not think that in pursuing this goal philosophy pursues a chimera or simply a truth no doubt beautiful but merely speculative. No, she does not chase after a chimera, since she searches for what is necessary in this world; the result after which she aspires is not merely a result without practical utility, but on the contrary the most important and practical truth possible to imagine. In effect, the presence of this truth among the various sciences is what preserves them from error, the influence of it on the spirits of the nations makes their glory and determines their progress. Understood and practiced, she constitutes every intellectual and moral perfection of the individual. (2) (2) This philosophical idea makes us aware of the meaning of a famous word in the history of holiness. For over ten years the vast countries of the East resounded with this mysterious word. It was like the battle cry of the most prodigious man of modern times. To excite the gigantic struggle he had undertaken against East Indian paganism, Francis Xavier was Page 5 of 14
content to pronounce this admirable word: O sanctissima Trinitas. Then a divine fire came upon him, his chest heaved, tears flowed from his flashing eyes, he hurled himself towards strangers, toppled idols, sowed prodigies, re-established everywhere the disfigured image of the Holy Trinity, and neither death nor hunger nor thirst nor men nor hell could stop him, or cool his zeal to restore everywhere the altered image of the Trinity. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to the little ones. (Matthew 11:25) History in accord with reason offers compelling evidence. Wiser than we because they were more religious, which is to say more docile to faith, and in consequence more completely, more intimately in rapport with the truth, our fathers made this capital dogma the principle and beacon of their philosophy, the basis of their political theory; and everywhere they proceeded from unity, the result of a triple cause. And indeed in the universe and in every part of the universe, on each of the various levels, the religious level, the intellectual level, moral level, physical level, political and domestic society, in every simple and collective being is found unity resulting from a trinity of principles. We have already said and I repeat: It cannot be otherwise. This is the way it is; to seek anything else is to chase a chimera, to reason from another principle is to be on route to every error. The law that presides, if we may be allowed the expression, over the formation of the uncreated Trinity, presides over the creation of every creature created triune; the genealogy of the first is the model and cause of the genealogy of every other. For in God there is power, intelligence, love. The power is that in which the Father contemplates Himself, and through this contemplation He engenders His adequate and consubstantial image, His Word, His Son. From their mutual regard is born Their love, and we say that, as the substantial love of the One for the Other, the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and Son; from this trinity of persons results God, perfect, complete, indivisible unity. The same throughout creation: the emanation and manifestation of this first Trinity. We look first into the intellectual order. The human soul has three distinct faculties: memory, intelligence and love or the will, so that the human soul and every of its faculties is the result of a trinity. First, God, truth, informing principle; secondly, in us, the faculty to receive and conserve truth; third, the union of truth with that faculty: memory. God or truth, faculty of knowing, union of the one and the other: intelligence. God or the good, faculty of loving or being, giving birth to our intelligence or our word; from their mutual regard, love Here a point of division, separation, and dualism: everything is unity and trinity. We descend further: human soul, human body, Divine Word; union of one with the other: Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, mankind, union of the one with the other: regenerated man. Truth, Page 6 of 14
supernatural faculty of knowing; union of the one with the other: faith. Supernatural God, faculty of loving; union of the one with the other: love. In the Church: form, informing principle or Papacy, episcopacy; union of the one with the other: the faithful, and in consequence the Church. In the political order: power, magistracy; union of the one with the other: the State. Church, State; union of the one with the other: Christian political society. In the domestic order: father, mother; union of the one with the other, child, and family. In the inferior creation: informing principle or form, matter; union of the one with the other: special organic or inorganic being. Thus in the divine work, Trinity everywhere, ABSOLUTE DUALISM NOWHERE. As the principle of life, only trinity is fruitful, whereas absolute dualism is infertile. Result of the Trinity: real indivisible, permanent unity. And now, from this universal fact, what are the consequences and applications in the teaching of philosophy? Here are some formulaic axioms: 1) The plurality of CONSTITUENT principles in any being whatsoever does not prevent that it is really ONE. Thus although in the different examples cited above one finds several constituent principles, as in the human soul there is memory, intelligence, love, yet the human soul is not any the less really and necessarily one. What can be said except that under any hypothesis one cannot detract any of its elements without destroying the object and that to reason about it with justice one must necessarily take every one of them into account? 2) In created beings the constituent principles are not equal among themselves and do not contribute in the same way to the formation and operations of the being that results from their union. In effect, among these principles there is necessarily one that represents God, the radical power, and that in fact enacts them: He is the form or informing principle, first and determinative cause of being. Hence the strongest principle contributes actively, the weakest passively, to produce the effect. For example, where truth communicates itself and the faculty of knowing receives truth through faith, the first contributes actively, the second passively, to the formation of human intelligence. It is the same in all the rest. One would be mistaken if, as a consequence of what we have said, one denied any real influence to the passive principle on the production of being. This principle is passive only in the sense that it is dependent on the stronger principle, and submits to its action. Page 7 of 14
3) The active principle, form or the informing principle, does not draw its strength or its mode of action from the passive principle of the instrument or matter, but rather the instrument or matter from the power or form. Hence it follows that the weaker principle cannot actively resist the stronger principle, matter against form, the faculty of knowing against truth; otherwise a sudden annihilation would result, because the weaker is given to resist passively by opposing its inertia as a limit on the exaggerated action of the superior principle. From these principles there result a host of corollaries of the utmost importance. Here are several: - In the philosophical order, we must not separate natural truth, and therefore the natural faith of intelligence. Otherwise we give way to scepticism. - In the religious order, supernatural truth, and as a consequence faith, of the intelligence. Otherwise we give way to Deism and indifference. - In the religious order, the Papacy and episcopacy. Otherwise we give way to schism. - In the social order, the administration of power. Otherwise we consecrate the right to revolt, and we give way to anarchism or despotism. (Translator This despotism is another name for Marxism.) - In the family, the father and mother. Otherwise we consecrate divorce. - In the physical order, the informing principle of matter. Otherwise we fall into materialism. Deplorable errors! Why must they ravage contemporary society? Who has retrieved them from the dark abyss into which Christianity once cast them? If we ask history, she will show us LUTHER. Father of modern dualism, he is in fact the one who, first having presented doubt as a principle in the bosom of Christianity, then prohibited the great law of the world, the fundamental principle of universal unity and trinity. Banished from the highest realm, the religious order, this great idea has little by little ceased to be the basis and object of investigation in the lower orders and absolute dualism has invaded every science. (3) (3) Et revera, ex quo protestantismus, infando scelere, quod Deus conjunxerat separare et unitatem inter revelatam veritatem et intellectum negare, seu christianae fidei naturam corrumpere ausus est : unitatem quoque omnem inter humanam et divinam in Christo Page 8 of 14
naturam, inter pontificem et episcopos, inter reges et optimates, inter maritum et uxorem, inter Statum et Ecclesiam, inter philosophiam et theologiam apud easdem gentes, et eodem tempore, abrogatum fuisse novimus Errant ego qui putant a protestantismo in Ecclesia dumtaxat, constitutum a Christo ordinem perturbatum fuisse : cum protestantismus amplissimum atque immane divortium fuerit, quo omne compositum sive intellectuale, sive scientificum, in duas partes scissum est : et partes ipsae primum dissociatae atque disjectae denique penitus deletae : quidquid enim est in se ipsum divisum desolabitur. De Methodius philosop. CVII. Then instead of the conserving principles of Christian wisdom we have the strange principles of the returning pagans that being in resulting substantially from several principles is not one real, indivisible and permanent unity, but only fictitious and accidental. Thus the constituent principles of a being are independent from one another and separated legitimately and without danger. Their union is only the result of certain laws that can be modified or even repealed, so that each of these constituent principles have the same power and rights. Father Ventura has said, From there we borrow several ideas on these matters, and then into the philosophic order come those questions as dangerous as they are absurd: Is intelligence within truth or truth an aspect of intelligence? In the religious order is the supreme power within the Sovereign Pontiff, or in the bishops? In the social order is the Church within the State, or the State within the Church? Is the nation superior to the king, or the king superior to the nation? Father Ventura continues, Hence also as a consequence of the purely accidental union of the constituent principles of beings, the following teachings: Truth can be separated from understanding, the Pope from the bishops, the husband from the wife. From whence finally those so-called laws that regulate and provide for cases of separation between everything that God had indissolubly united. (4) (4) Hinc, sicut in ordine theologico quari et constitui caeperunt leges commercii inter rationem et revelatam veritatem (systema de capessenda revelatione) : inter Verbum et assumptam ab eo humanitatem (novus nostorianismus) : inter pontificum et episcopcs (gallicanismus) : inter theologiam et philosophiam, seu inter divinas et humanas disciplinas (leges universitariae vel de publica instructione) : inter martium et uxorem (leges divortii) : inter religionern et politicum imperium (concordata) : certae quaedam commercii et relationum leges investigari, optari et sanciri caeptae sunt : commercii, inquarn, leges priscis omnino ignotae eorumque principiis plane pugnantes : nullae enim relationes, nulla ratio commercii concipi potest ubi duo principia ita sunt inter se substantialiter copulata, ut (divini Verbi persona excepta) neutrum eorum completum actum suum habeat, nisi quatenus Page 9 of 14
alterum est alteri principio conjunctum, cum eoque unum efforrnat. De Methodius philosop. CI. And while the ancients related every action of being to the constituent principles (actiones sunt CONJUNCTI), the moderns attribute them to one or the other of these principles only, rejecting the others as unnecessary. Thus, some give everything to revelation without the assistance of the intellect, which is Quakerism; others, give everything to intellect without the support of faith, which is Protestantism in religion and rationalism in philosophy; some everything to the husband or everything to the king, which is domestic and political despotism, etc. Thus we see that, once forgotten, the violation of the great law of unity and trinity is the source of every fatal error and every crime now afflicting the earth, whereas the faithful maintenance and observation of that same law has been and should still be the sole cause of every truth, every virtue and every progress. That said, here is how we conceive a course in philosophy: We begin with teaching the catechism and we say to the young people the first truth they come to stutter on the knees of their mothers is this: There is only one God in three persons, the creator of everything. Well! This truth is the basis of all science. This unity and divine trinity is the principle, the model and law of everything that exists in finding the image in man, in his body and in each of his faculties; in the religious order, the political, civil and domestic order; in material creation, the animals, plants and even in inorganic being; seen as the necessary action in the formation of man and religious, political, civil and domestic society, and in the world of bodies, that is to say, to evidence that everything that is owes its existence to it; in a word, the goal of our labours is to seek the Trinity, which is to say God, in His works, and to prove his perpetual action on the world. We must in some sense see that truth which we have previously believed. Such is the object and glory of philosophy. Thus for the understanding; thus for the will. But our task in not confined to this. The observation of this great law of the trinity is the source of every perfection, and in consequence the basis of morality. Everything is truth in the intellectual order, everything is charity in the intellectual order, everything is charity in the moral order, and everything is also peace and harmony in the religious, political and domestic orders, when this great law of unity and trinity is faithfully fulfilled. Why? Because every thing is good when in order, yet they are in order when they are under the fundamental law of their being. If instead the holy law is unknown, then man, society, the family and the world are no more than a broken trinity, and everything is error, crime, disorder, war and misfortune. Therefore since the perfection of creatures, images of God, consists in their resemblance to Page 10 of 14
their model, our duty is to maintain and perfect this image in oneself, in our fellows, in religious, political, civil and domestic society, as well as in the inferior creatures whose ends we must provide when governing them with justice and equity and we must defend it against those who attack it, honour it before those who despise it and we must defend it against extreme dualism in ourselves as well, in our souls, in religion, in society, in the family, regarding as erroneous, as fatal everything that tends to alter it. Thus unity and trinity, the type and law of everything, is the great principle to which we must testify, that must be defended, that must be developed with the assistance of science. This is the whole man. Young people: This great principle is a touchstone by which to judge infallibly every philosophical, political, religious, scientific theory. Do they tend to the maintenance or the alteration of the trinity in the different orders? The affirmative or negative response fixes all your uncertainties, adjusts your thoughts and engraves the direction of your will. This is not all: In this principle you find the means to assess the relative importance of each order, each state, each duty of every creature. Indeed every trinity is not created equal, that is, does not represent the same perfection of the uncreated Trinity. There is a real hierarchy between them. Thus, next to the angel, man is the first trinity created and man is the soul, living image and true likeness of divine trinity. As practical consequence from there the greatly unequal esteem and care that each deserves. So in this one principle the fertile seed of every truth, the basis and key to a universal explanation, with the means to judge with great hauteur every work of the spirit and every action of the human heart. Hence a sure rule to think, judge, estimate, love and act, which is to say, the true philosophy. In good faith we ask what is more complete, more elevated, more able to enlarge the soul and nourish the heart? What more necessary at the present time, more appropriate to the requirements of the age? Between the current situation and the state of the world at the birth of Christianity, what striking analogy! Now as then, is not nothing God but God Himself? Now as then, is not false dualism everywhere? In the intellectual order, rationalism; in the moral order general revolt against the divine law; in the political order, theories of the sovereignty of the people and despotism; in the family, divorce; in the sciences, materialism, fatal separation between the physical and spiritual creation? Well, let us say it, must not the same evils have the same remedies? The principle of unity and trinity presented by Christianity, initially supported, developed and applied by the Fathers of the Church, once saved the world and can alone save the world again in the present day. Do we know a more effective way to bring God into the world? But here the point of delusion: We shall never bring God back or make Him reign in the world, if we hide His august image away in the secret sanctuary, if we only show forth the trinity, which is to say God, in the religious order and not in everything that constantly strikes the eyes of the learned Page 11 of 14
and ignorant alike, in MAN, SOCIETY, FAMILY, THE WHOLE OF NATURE. Outside this there is no salvation, because how else to renew the superb alliance of heaven and earth, to make science serve faith more magnificently, to bring more directly and more infallibly to every creature and every science the principle from whence they originate? But for us to commit ourselves to the search for this magnificent Unknown, what Guides are there to lead us? When those abroad want to explore a land they do not know, they call to their aid the men who have gloriously explored the same regions. Fathers of the Church, immortal geniuses the world no longer knows, whom the world disdains, you must take us by the hand, show us the route. Faithful guides, you are the ones we name. May your philosophy become ours! Young people, may you refresh your cisterns that now hold only muddy water. We beseech you to come drink from these sources of living waters quenching every thirst both of your intelligence and your heart. No, we know nothing, we understand nothing, we are not worthy of the name of philosophy, when we do not know the Maestros. We can affirm that everything there is that is good, great, true among the moderns is found first among the Fathers. They were the source, we are only the rivers: Learn to know them and judge. (Translator: We should understand the Great Maestro who has best summarised and most clearly presented the Fathers of the Church to us is none other than Novalis, the founder and Maestro of German Romanticism. In German and European music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has done the same.) Page 12 of 14