It’s All Good!
The Democratization of
Intellect
Russell McNeil
Malaspina Great Books
Atmosphere of Venus
Hurricane Katrina
Karl Popper
One Ought to Do Good and avoid evil
We ought to seek the good and avoid the bad
The Good Life
1. Do the Right Thing – moral action
2. Seek the Truth – intellectual action
or
We ought to seek truth because we ought
to do good, and truth is the template or
standard we reference in moral action.
Titian, Adam and Eve, c. 1550
Entrance to Hell Drawing by Botticelli c. 1500
St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Heraclitus of Ephesos c. 535 BCE – Originator of concept of Logos
Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274)
Greek Virtues
Intellectual or Contemplative Virtues
(goal – seeking the good) – associated
with thinking well
Philosophic
Practical
Artistic
Scientific
Intuitive
Moral Virtues
(goal – doing good) – associated with
choosing actions well
Prudence
Justice
Fortitude
Temperance
Spear Bearer Polyclitus c. 420 BCE
I think, I am – Descartes
I think not, I am not – Implied by Stoicism
Christ as Logos
Christ’s Commandments
Strive for Truth and do Good?
Teacher, which is the great commandment in the
law?" Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind (editor: seek the Truth).'
This is the first and great commandment. And the
second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as
yourself (editor: do good).' On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets." Matt. 22:34-40
Primacy of Conscience
Democratization of the Intellect
1. Conscience is a universal activity
2. Conscience is informed by Truth
3. Truth is informed by conscience
What I Observed
• The idea of abstract universal law
• A wonder and desire to know why
• There must be government in the cosmos
The Idea of the University
John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890)
Max Born (1882-1970)
Lise Meitner (1878-1968)
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Cicero (104 BCE – 43 BCE)
Cicero to his son Marcus – a student at the Academy
The principle function of human reason, is the search for Truth.
This search is part of the Universal Nature of Man. Truth is the
good. And the search for truth - which lies at the root of all
wisdom -- defines our duty. Action in conformity with the
virtues of wisdom, justice, courage and moderation - or
decorum as I call it - is action in conformity with this duty …
Actions in conflict with these virtues are abhorrent (Editor:
anti-intellectual activities). Pain and pleasure are irrelevant
considerations in all actions done in accordance with this duty.
Moral goodness consists in being in harmony with the Universal
principles of nature - in doing the right thing - and doing the
right thing in accordance with the principles of human society.
This means that our duty to the gods, to our country, to our
parents and to the rest of society - in that order - are prior to
any duty to self. Self-interest can never be used as a yardstick
for action …
Zero tolerance for anti-intellectual attitudes
Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Myron 485 BCE
Polyclitus 450 BCE
Praxiteles 364 BCE
Venus 323 BCE
Aphrodite 200 BCE
Laocoon c.
1 BCE
Flemalle 1376
Weyden
1399
Angelico 1400
Christus 1416
Bellini 1430
Memling 1430
Mantegna 1431
Ghirlandaio 1450
da Vinci 1452
Gerard David
1460
Michelangelo
1475
Raphael
1483
Titian 1487
Correggio 1489
Holbein the
younger 1497
Vasari 1511
Caron 1521
Fontana 1552
Carracci 1573
Hals 1588
Gentilesche 1597
Bernini 1598
van Dyck 1599
Leyster 1609
Vermeer 1632
Giordano 1632
Beale 1632
Coypel 1661
Desportes 1661
Jacques Louis David 1748
Intellectual Tools
• Dante – how to lead an examined life
• Plato – nature of beauty, justice, and love
• Aristotle – how to think, search, persuade
• Christ – how to suffer and how to love
• Dostoevsky – danger of nihilism
• Kafka – danger of alienation
• Lucian and Swift – detection of pretentiousness
• Socrates – how to question and how to die
The Sacrifice of Isaac, Caravaggio, 1590-1610, Uffizi Gallery
Rubens 1577