What is Rational Thinking


Edward Feser is a well know philosopher who publishes frequently. He is a Catholic and his philosophical views reflect total faith that Natural Law explains all we need to know. He and another philosopher tangled recently about the rationality of humans. 

Feser's view of primitive man is he had rationality about the vastness of God. Only by coming to the truth about this could he understand how to find food and shelter. If God created man and provided him with what he needs, man must please God for his survival. That is rational thinking in Feser's view. 

A different view is that through evolution, man's brain was just a bit better than those of the smartest animals. Both man and animals faced a world of eat or be eaten. Those that figured out how to not be eaten continued on into the future. Man figured that out, plus figured out how to make stone tools that killed animals for food larger than himself. The "truth" from this history is that neither Feser's God nor any other god was not necessary for human survival. 

There is the question of who can we say rationally ranks at the top in the world of plants, animals and humans. In Feser's view we rank at the top with all plants and animals below us. To many of us who see the environment as the entity which keeps humans alive it is the opposite. How can it be rational that those which keep us alive, plants and animals, rank below us. The ranking of humans at the top, of course, comes from the Bible. It has set in motion human ways of living that is causing considerable damage to the higher ranking plants and animals. In time, I believe, the folly of the Bible and Feser will become more evident.

I have never understood the reluctance of some parts of Christianity to embrace environmentalism. It seem only rational to preserve the earth it God gave humans. A popular view says, instead, the world will end soon so why worry about a damaged globe? If we focus only on rationality, we would conclude the world might not end for a long time and until they we need earth to feed us.

Any improvement in rational thinking by religious people would be most welcome.

Comments

  1. tsmFebruary 7, 2021 at 10:50 AM

    I think that it was I who brought Feser to your attention. I gave you another Catholic thinker to demean. mea culpa. that aside, you apparently think that humans have no special standing among the creatures of the earth: that we, as rational beings, are no better or "higher" than garden worms. guess that has something to say about your vaunted human rights rhetoric. or, for that matter, the whole human drama. a question: do you ever think carefully/critically before you write nonsense like this? anyway, let's see if you censor this. like you did my earlier posts regarding whining atheists and the reality of voter fraud.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jon LindgrenFebruary 7, 2021 at 11:29 AM

      tsm --"I brought Feser to your attention." You did not tell me about Feser. I'm reading a book that lampoons him.

      "like you did my earlier post." When posters repeat almost verbatim what he wrote in a previous post I often deep six it. That's why you did not see your post go up.

      Delete

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