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Overcoming Human Estrangement: Unity, Reason, and Religion in Philosophical Perspective

Explore the essence of human estrangement and unity, racial reconciliation, individuality vs. community, and overcoming conflicts through reason and religion. Dive into philosophical perspectives from thinkers like Plato, Rousseau, and Fyodor Dostoevsky on moral absolutism, organic unity, and the role of religion in bridging divisions. Discuss the need for a global society, the abolition of class distinctions, and the balance between radicalism, conservatism, and liberalism.

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Overcoming Human Estrangement: Unity, Reason, and Religion in Philosophical Perspective

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Estrangement and Unity

  2. Are Human Beings Estranged in Essence? • Is it possible to reconcile racial differences? Harmony and integration or uneasiness and suspicion? • Individuality versus community • Hobbes – psychological individualism – ontological separation as part of materialist philosophy • Aristotle – man is a political animal and only a beast or a god can live outside the bounds of society

  3. If human beings are not estranged in essence, why are there so many divisions and conflicts among them? • St Augustine – Original Sin – human will – unbridgeable state without Grace - Conservative • Rousseau – Institutions of property and centralized power – humans can overcome this estrangement - Radical

  4. Can Estrangement Be Overcome through Reason? • “Come, let us reason together” – the motto of the West • Can reason subordinate the superior? – Callicles and Thrasymachus • Reason as the basis of community – Plato – the Stoics • Edmund Burke – Customs, prejudice and traditions are superior to reason – estrangement is overcome through adherence to ancient customs, traditions, and institutions

  5. Can Estrangement Be Overcome through Reason? • Moral absolutism versus moral relativism • Uniformity versus organic unity • Radicalism versus conservatism • Feminism embraces intuition above rationality – the specific versus the universal

  6. Is Religion in Some Form Needed for Overcoming Estrangement? • The power of humanism and the rejection of religion • Unity among human beings depends upon unity with the divine – Classical and Christian philosophy • Platonic-Stoic bridge with the divine relies on human initiative • Christianity – seeks God’s action to bridge a gap unbridgeable by human efforts

  7. Is Religion in Some Form Needed for Overcoming Estrangement? • Fyodor Dostoevsky contrasts man-god and God-man • The man-god will not be compassionate but will be perverse and destructive • The God-man/Christ – Divine companionship saves us from this dark abyss – rejection of Christ sends us to our doom

  8. Should All People’s Be United in a Single Global Society? • Small Is Beautiful – Athens – Rousseau • Universal Empire – Romans – Christians – Mongols • Nation- State – Modern Solution – GWF Hegel

  9. Should All Class Distinctions Be Abolished? • Radical – Marx • Conservative – Burke • Liberal – Roosevelt and Kennedy

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