I find this interesting in that, following the Augustinian tradition, which assumes creation's derivative posture towards the Creator, choice belongs to the fundamental essence of being a human, so long as we remain derivative of our Creator. Granted, as we strive to be like our Creator, we also long to leave behind some things that create distance between ourselves and our Creator. Yet, as choice was instituted and blessed in Eden, choice can be celebrated as a gift of our humble posture.
I believe that we must appreciate (in an active sense) the blessing of choice in a world that exploits choice for selfish gain. The excess of choice in a consumer culture can weary the spirit, as well as demean the true purpose of our duty as choosers. God never intended us to value our selection of which bread to buy in the same way we can esteem one choosing to invite a hungry person to dinner. God knew to give the Israelites one meal's worth of bread per day, which becomes apparent to me as I spend an hour sifting through so many brands, flavors, etc... trying to buy a loaf of bread in the grocery store. Choice can be a celebrated gift, as well as an exploited misappropriation. Rather than demean our exploitation of choice, I would exhort humanity to give it proper respect. We would be wise to attend to those things which make us human.
Told you I'd comment, hahah.
ReplyDeleteThere's a deeper struggle than just to make the right choices on their own terms. It's less about choice as such, but about what we see as valuable. People don't deliberately choose bad things for themselves; they choose according to what they know and value. If we see the homeless man as more valuable than bread in the store, then charitable choices cannot but follow.
It sounds like you're defining choice as the ability to make an arbitrary decision. To dismiss the idea that choice is made according to nature (which the first paragraph seemed to do with regard to God) is a very narrow view of it. Disinterested choice springing from no nature would be essentially random, and that's not human at all.
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ReplyDeleteMoreso, I would distance choice from God's nature and as our nature is inherently different than God's nature. Again, assuming a Platonic/Neo-Platonic model of God, that nature is a part of our not being God. Thus, choice is something within our nature, as much as change. In fact, my point is exactly the same as yours, that choice is based on our human nature as it differs from God's nature. I would even argue that disinterested choice has no existence outside of a model of causation/determinism, which primarily places no value upon choice.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree that choice is as dependent upon our human nature as it is dependent upon our philosophical grounding. Thus, people choosing "bad" things would depend upon the definition of the term "bad". I disagree that all humanity would choose only "good" things in utilitarian terms, as some (blessed) sectors of humanity still believe in teleology. I believe making a choice for the homeless man over the bread is based in value, but value leading towards an end (the end of the homeless man actualizing his potential as a man).