WE MODERN, WELL, WESTERNERS, WE
NORTH ATLANTIC SOCIETIES HAVE
SOMETHING PECULIAR THAT
HASN'T EXISTED IN OTHER-- THAT
IS, KINDS OF THE
NOTIONS OF GOOD WE
RELATE TO THAT DIDN'T
EXIST ELSEWHERE.
AND ONE OF THE
IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES
IS WE PUT THIS TREMENDOUS
EMPHASIS ON THE INTERNAL
AND WHAT'S DEEPENED
AND INTERIOR.
I THINK THIS DIDN'T COME
ABOUT JUST ALL AT ONCE.
IT CAME ABOUT VERY
SLOWLY OVER HISTORY.
ONE OF THE WAYS THAT I TRY
TO GET AT THAT IN THE BOOK
IS TO START OFF GETTING US
RIGHT OUT OF OUR PRESENT WORLD,
LOOKING AT ANOTHER
KIND OF WORLD.
AND FOR INSTANCE, I USE
PLATO AS A GOOD EXAMPLE.
IT'S VERY FAR AWAY, AND
IT'S VERY DIFFERENT,
AND IT'S VERY
INTERESTING WHEN YOU
TEACH PLATO TO
CONTEMPORARY STUDENTS.
BECAUSE, IN FACT, IT'S SUCH
A DIFFERENT WORLD FROM OURS,
AND THAT'S WHAT'S USEFUL
TO SHOW UP OUR WORLD.
BUT SUCH A DIFFERENT WORLD
THAT THEY OFTEN MISINTERPRET
PLATO IN THE PROCESS
BECAUSE THEY MAKE HIM MORE
LIKE US, WHICH IS
WHAT YOU NORMALLY DO.
I MEAN, FOR
INSTANCE, PLATO TALKS
ABOUT A VERY STRONG
DISTINCTION BETWEEN REASON
IN US AND DESIRE, AND HOW WE
SHOULD GO WITH THE REASON IN US
AND AWAY FROM SIMPLY THE
DESIRE, AND BE FOCUSED
ON THE RATIONAL, THE RATIONAL
WHICH IS THE LOVE OF THE GOOD.
NOW, VERY OFTEN IF YOU ASK A
STUDENT IF THEY READ PLATO,
WELL, YOU SUM THIS UP FOR
ME AND SAY WHAT HE'S SAYING,
THEY'LL SAY SOMETHING
LIKE, WELL, WE
SHOULD GO WITH A SENSE OF WHAT'S
GOOD THAT IS WITHIN US RATHER
THAN DESIRING THE THINGS
LIKE FOOD, AND SEX,
AND SO ON, WHICH ARE OUTSIDE US.
THEY'LL IMPORT THIS
INSIDE OUTSIDE DISTINCTION
BECAUSE IT'S SO MUCH ONE
THAT COMES NORMALLY TO US.
AND THEN YOU SAY, WELL,
LET'S LOOK AT THE TEXT.
LET'S SEE WHAT THE GREEK WORDS
ARE FOR INSIDE AND OUTSIDE,
AND DO THEY APPEAR?
AND THEY DON'T APPEAR.
AND THEY DON'T
APPEAR BECAUSE HE HAS
AN IDEA OF REASON, THE RATIONAL,
AS RELATED TO THE COSMOS.
THE COSMOS, THE WORLD AROUND
US, HAS A CERTAIN ORDER.
AND WHAT REASON IS IN US IS
OUR CAPACITY TO SEE THAT ORDER.
SO, THE IDEA OF
WHAT'S RATIONAL ENOUGH
ISN'T SEEN AS SOMETHING WHICH
IS FIRST AND FOREMOST WITHIN US,
BUT IT'S RATHER
A WAY OF RELATING
TO SOMETHING OUTSIDE US.
AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE RATIONAL AND THE DESIRING
IS WHAT WE RELATE TO OUTSIDE US.
WHETHER WE RELATE
TO THAT GREAT ORDER
OR WE RELATE SIMPLY
TO THE CHANGING
THINGS IN THE WORLD
AROUND US WHICH ARE
RELATE TO THAT ORDER
AS COPY TO ORIGINAL.
SO, I START OFF
THIS BOOK WITH PLATO
BECAUSE IT REALLY IS A POINT
WHERE YOU CAN WRENCH PEOPLE OUT
OF THERE PRESENT WAY
OF LOOKING AT THINGS
AND MAKE IT LOOK STRANGE.
SO, THE FIRST TIME WE BEGIN
TO SEE WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
BECAUSE WE HAVE A CONTRAST CASE.
NOW, I THINK THAT IN THE ROAD
FROM PLATO TO US, I PICK UP,
MAYBE ARBITRARILY, SOME
REALLY IMPORTANT NODAL
POINTS WHERE IT CHANGED.
AND ONE OF THE NODAL POINT
IN THE WESTERN CIVILIZATION
IS UNDOUBTEDLY AUGUSTINE IS
THE GREAT FATHER OF THE CHURCH.
BECAUSE WHAT'S REALLY
GOOD ABOUT AUGUSTINE
IS THAT HE WAS TERRIBLY
INFLUENCED BY PLATO.
SO, RIGHT AWAY WE'RE
IN PLATO TERRITORY.
OBVIOUSLY, HE WAS DRENCHED
WITH PLATO AND THE AUTHORS THAT
HAD WRITTEN CLOSER TO
THIS TIME, NEO-PLATONISTS
IS WHAT WE CALL THEM WHO
WERE INFLUENCED BY PLATO.
SO HE HAS THIS IDEA OF
A HIGHER AND A LOWER,
AND HE HAS THIS IDEA
OF WHAT'S CENTRAL
IN US, BEING ABLE TO GRASP
THE ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE,
AND SO ON.
BUT SUDDENLY, YOU SEE
HIM PLAYING THIS OUT
WITH A VERY HEAVY EMPHASIS
ON WORDS PRECISELY
THAT MEAN INNER AND OUTER
BECAUSE, FOR AUGUSTINE,
THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS RATIONAL
POWER TO SEE THE UNIVERSE
IS NOT SO MUCH JUST IT SEEING
THE UNIVERSE, BUT ITS SOURCE.
AND THE SOURCE OF THIS
POWER, HE THINKS, IS GOD.
SO, HOW CAN YOU GET TO GOD?
WELL, YOU CAN ONLY GET
TO GOD IF YOU TURN AROUND
AND LOOK AT THIS POWER IN YOU
SEE TO SEE THE ORDER IN THINGS
AND TRY TO TRACE
IT TO ITS SOURCE.
SO, BY GOING
WITHIN, THIS KIND OF
REFLECTS OF TURNING AND
LOOKING AT YOURSELF,
YOU GET EVENTUALLY,
AUGUSTINE THINKS, WAY ABOVE.
YOU GO THROUGH THAT AND YOU FIND
GOD AT THE ORIGIN OF IT ALL.
SO THERE'S A SORT OF
INVITATION TO TURN INWARD.
AND THERE'S THIS FAMOUS
LINE OF AUGUSTINE,
DON'T GO OUTSIDE, TURN WITHIN.
THAT IN THE INTERNAL
HUMAN BEING IS TRUTH.
THAT IS WHERE YOU
FIND THE REAL TRUTH.
AND THAT IS A VERY
CRUCIAL MOMENTS
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
WESTERN CIVILIZATION,
EVEN THOUGH IT HAPPENED
WAY, WAY BACK THEN.
ANOTHER INTERESTING
WAY TO PICK UP ON THIS
IS THAT AUGUSTINE WRITES A
REAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CALLED
THE CONFESSIONS.
AND EVEN WE MODERNS
READING THAT FEEL
THAT WE'RE ALMOST
WITH A CONTEMPORARY.
WE'RE SOMEBODY WHO'S
REALLY EXAMINING HIS LIFE,
AND PUTTING IT IN A STORY,
AND TELLING IT IN A WAY
WE FIND COMPLETELY INTELLIGIBLE.
AND HERE AGAIN,
STUDENTS ARE ASTONISHED
WHEN THEY'RE TOLD THERE WAS
NOTHING LIKE THAT IN HIS TIME.
AND IN A CERTAIN SENSE, THERE
WAS NOTHING REALLY LIKE THAT
UNTIL-- WELL, YOU MIGHT ALMOST
SAY JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU IN,
WHAT IS IT, IN THE 1770S
WRITES AN AUTOBRIOGRAPHY.
NOT BY ACCIDENT, ALSO
CALLED THE CONFESSIONS.
THE SAME NAME.
AND IT'S ALMOST
FROM AUGUSTINE IN,
WHAT IS IT, IN 400 AD TO
ROUSSEAU CLOSE TO 1800,
AND ALMOST 1,400 YEARS,
IN THAT IMMEDIATE PERIOD.
THAT THERE ISN'T THIS KIND OF
CAREFUL EXAMINATION OF SELF,
AND THE PUTTING OF THAT
EXAMINATION INTO A STORY,
A MEANINGFUL STORY,
GOING SOMEWHERE.
IT'S THAT WHOLE TURNING
TOWARDS THE SELF, WHICH I THINK
IS ONE OF THE BIG, IMPORTANT
TURNS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION.
THEN IN MY STORY, WHICH IS, OF
COURSE, VERY MUCH A STORY TOLD
IN ORDER TO ILLUSTRATE
TODAY, I JUMP,
AND I LOOK AT DESCARTES AS
THE NEXT PERSON TO LOOK IT.
AND DESCARTES IS
INTERESTING IN RELATION
TO AUGUSTINE, JUST AS AUGUSTINE
IS IN RELATION TO PLATO
BECAUSE IN EITHER
CASE, THEY TAKE
SO MUCH FROM THEIR PREDECESSOR.
DESCARTES IS
TERRIBLY AUGUSTINIAN,
AND HE USES A PROOF OF THE
EXISTENCE OF GOD, WHICH
HE DRAWS FROM
AUGUSTINE, AND HE'S JUST
DRENCHED IN AUGUSTINE.
AND THAT'S NOT
EXCEPTIONAL, BECAUSE
IN THAT WHOLE
RENAISSANCE PERIOD THERE
WAS TREMENDOUS DRAWING
FROM AUGUSTINE.
BUT AGAIN, JUST AS AUGUSTINE
IS IN RELATION TO PLATO,
NOW THE EMPHASIS
SUDDENLY SHIFTED.
AND GOD IS THERE, AND THE
PROOF OF GOD IS THERE.
ARE ALL THAT'S TRUE,
BUT IT DOESN'T QUITE
PLAY THE SAME ROLE, BECAUSE
THE REAL AIM OF THE EXERCISE
IS TO GET A KIND OF CERTAINTY,
TO FIGHT OFF SKEPTICAL DOUBTS
ABOUT KNOWLEDGE, AND
ABOUT WHETHER WE REALLY
KNOW THE WORLD, AND WHETHER
WE'RE NOT TOTALLY CONFUSED.
IT'S TO PUT A KIND OF ORDER
IN OUR INNER THOUGHTS,
WHEREBY WE CAN BE SURE
WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING,
AND EVENTUALLY THINGS CAN
EXTEND THAT CERTAINTY OUTSIDE
OF OURSELVES TO THE
PHYSICAL UNIVERSE
THAT WE MAYBE WANT TO KNOW.
SO IT'S LAYING DOWN VERY CLEAR
DISTINCTIONS AND BENCHMARKS,
WHICH ALLOW US TO GET
CONTROL OVER OUR THOUGHTS.
AND THAT TURNS OUT TO BE A
TERRIBLY IMPORTANT FEATURE
OF THE MODERN WORLD, SINCE OUR
DESIRE TO ORDER OUR THOUGHTS,
ORDER OURSELVES INWARDLY, ORDER
OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THINGS
BY ANALYTIC DISTINCTIONS,
BY CLEAR REASONING,
BY DISENGAGING OURSELVES FROM
JUST OUR PARTICULAR POSITION,
OR FROM OUR RELATIONS
TO AUTHORITY,
OR EVEN FROM OUR ORDINARY
EMBODIED EXISTENCE
TO HAVE A REALLY CLEAR
GRASP OF THE INNER WORLD.
THAT'S BECOME SO MUCH
PART OF OUR LIVES
THAT, AGAIN, WE FIND
IT HARD TO IMAGINE
DOING THINGS ANY OTHER WAY
THAN DESCARTES DID THEM.
BUT IT'S BY THIS
KIND OF STEP, SIPPING
FROM THE STRANGE AND
THE DIFFERENT TO WHAT
WE DO THAT I THINK WE
BRING OUT, AND WE GIVE
A CERTAIN DISTANCE, AND A
CERTAIN, HOW SHALL I SAY,
ALIENATION FROM WHAT'S
TERRIBLY FAMILIAR,
SO WE CAN REALLY
SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE.
AND HOW IN THE LIGHT OF
ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY,
HOW STRANGE AND
KOOKY IT REALLY IS.
THE FAMILIAR IS
ACTUALLY SOMETHING,
IN THE LIFE OF MOST HUMAN BEINGS
IN MOST TIMES, VERY STRANGE.
RATHER WEIRD.
