The late and very much lamented Tom Buford, a good friend and a great philosopher, kindly wrote this Foreword for the collection In the Sphere of the Personal: New Perspectives in the Philosophy of Persons, which James Beauregard and I edited back in 2016.
FOREWORD
Personalism has deep roots both in India and in the Western world.
In the West its roots lie in the theological controversies in Christianity.
There the word ‘person’ came into use when speaking of the three persons of the
Trinity. Soon it was used when speaking of individual humans created by God
and, bearing God's image, acquiring a dignity not possessed by any other
creature. As thought continued and Western science developed, the theological
understanding of nature and persons was deeply undercut. It was in this context
that Personalism formed to combat what became known as Impersonalism. The
latter presented itself in two forms, a substructure such as materialism, as in
the hands of Samuel Alexander, or a superstructure, such as Absolute Being or
God whose nature manifests itself in all found within it and to which all else,
including persons, is subordinated. Spinoza’s thought is a case in point. Over
a period of time, grand metaphysical systems lost their appeal, and
philosophers became influenced by scientific developments in brain sciences and
mental health, in language studies, and political developments that subordinate
persons and their freedom to the state, as in totalitarian systems. Such
developments also called for rethinking the nature of the person.
Since the formation of the International Forum on Persons,
philosophers have presented a plethora of papers, whose central focus has been
to defeat Impersonalism in all its forms, and to gain a clearer understanding
of persons. Those papers have come from many fields of study, including
Philosophy, Political Science, Linguistics, Psychology, and Physics. In this
book, we find a wide range of topics, similar to previous meetings of the
International Forum. Occasionally, a paper appears that attempts a new
formulation of a classic aspect of Personalism. Such a case is Burgos’ search
for a full epistemology, which he believes has not been done by Personalists in
any thoroughgoing manner. He references Borden Parker Bowne’s Personalism
and ignores A Theory of Thought and Knowledge, which is a full account
of Personalist epistemology, deeply influenced by Kant. Burgos, on the other
hand, is building within Thomism and ultimately Aristotle. From that
perspective, he provides a new formulation and is to be congratulated.
Regarding a new formulation of persons, Richard Prust continues to develop a
theory rooted in resolve. Thus, making an original contribution. These
strengths are offset by the omission of transhumanism, and global bioethics. Obviously,
no conference can cover all topics, and we can hope that in future conferences,
many more of significant contemporary importance will be addressed.
It is a good and enlightening introduction, Simon. The philosophical background is particularly well taken.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we could add something about how in literary studies the notion of person has offered a way that avoids two pitfalls: on the one hand the excessive individualism that stumbles over itself when we realise how much we are alike; and on the other the dull and blunt structuralism that disallows any difference that isn't strictly related to any of the recognized social structures (class, sex, race). In ancient Greece the persona was a mask; not fully individual, and yet not completely robbed of *personal* distinction.
Take care, -tor
Thanks Torgier, much appreciated. Your point is very well taken likewise; and your reference to Greek mask-persona is both apt and delightful. I couldn’t agree more: literature, indeed, all forms of art, provide a meaningful sense of self which goes far beyond the dualisms and abstractions, which have been so damaging to Western philosophy – damaging, perhaps, even to the point of making philosophy virtually irrelevant. Interpersonality is the key: the self that becomes a self in community. Better than that, we should be talking about the self that becomes a self in and through the shared stories and images of community.
ReplyDeleteLovely. It is interesting how, in this respect, we can speculate as to how the substance of the Spirit is always actualised in real, living relationships, so that the Spirit is kept alive in so far as we act as if it exists. With love, "I am where two of you love each other." Keep posting!
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