By DONALD DeMARCO
The problem with philosophy rests squarely with philosophers. Philosophy should be as natural as breathing. But philosophers, in order to write lengthy and obscure treatises, and create the impression of being original, have removed philosophy from the reach of ordinary human beings and claimed it for themselves.
Few people, however, are interested in reading academic treatises, and nothing is new under the sun.
Pope St. John Paul II was an exceptional philosopher in that he wrote and spoke about reality as it is, and not as it is twisted into a form that is either novel or consistent with the temper of the times. We can say that his basic philosophy can be summarized in two words: “anthropocentric realism.”
He was concerned with what a human being really is, something that is of vital interest to every living human being. The question, “What is Man” is of perennial interest because philosophers keep getting the wrong answer.
So let us begin from the beginning. Man (and I use the term generically) has four basic acts. He “is,” he “knows,” he “does,” and he “makes.” This is fundamental and should be free from controversy. In more academic terms, these acts correspond to metaphysics, epistemology, morality, and art.
First of all, man “is.” He stands outside of nothingness. This is a wonder. He is not self-generated, but relies on external factors for coming into being. He exists as a living being. Without life, he loses the manner in which he exists. In a word, he is dead. His life, therefore, precarious as it is, should be appreciated, cherished, and safeguarded.
From this platform, so to speak, of existence, he is able to perform additional acts.
Secondly, he knows. He is blessed with a mind that is able to conform to things so that he can assess what is going on. His mind is a microcosm set in a microcosm. He is not merely a “thinker” who cogitates without grasping the meaning of things. He is a “knower” whose mind can grasp the meaning of things. Therefore, he is at home in the universe since, to a certain degree, he can understand it. He is not an alien in an alien universe. He is not by nature, a skeptic, a cynic, or a relativist. He enjoys the exalted state of being a knower, not only of himself, but of the things around him.
Thirdly, he is a doer. Thus, he has a moral obligation to do things that accord with reality and what he knows to be true. Because man exists and is able to know things as they are, in their truth, he possesses a duty to act in accordance with truth. He is morally bound to the truth he knows. He has the freedom to act against that truth, but has no fundamental obligation to act in this manner. As a doer, he develops a fulfilling life for himself and assists others in doing the same. His doing is built on the twin facts that he exists and is a knower.
Finally, man is a maker. He is an artist who, on the one hand, makes what he needs to live in a practically demanding world, and to produce things of beauty that accord with his dignity as an existing person who knows what he needs to do and does it. His artistry is not severed from his nature as a existing moral agent who knows what he needs to know. His art, whether it is the home in which he dwells, or works of fine art that express his soul, is grounded and finds meaning in his nature as a living, knowing, and moral being.
As we develop these basic acts of existing, knowing, doing, and making, we provide in an existential way, the answer to the perennial question, “What is man?” and to its extended form, “What is man that God is mindful of him?”
In the United States, philosophy, to a large extent, has been usurped by politics. As more than one U.S. senator has proclaimed, the genius of America is that her political system endorses no particular conception of what is true. We should not want to impose any such notion on society. We prefer a freedom that remains free and is never bound to anything, including truth. Philosophy thus becomes a football which is kicked out of bounds.
It is difficult to appreciate the values of philosophy when it is consistently and effectively smothered by politics.
Philosophy that is built on the indisputable facts that man exists, knows, does, and makes, contends that man is free to do the right thing. American politics contends that man is free so that he can remain free and never advance to the point where he knows what he should do.
St. John Paul II was at pains to communicate the comprehensive notion of anthropocentric realism which is simply expressing what a human being really is, namely, a person who lives in harmony with his four basic acts, integrating his existence with what he knows, does, and makes.
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