Posts Tagged ‘Teilhard de Chardin’
Man’s place in nature
27
Oct
Edgar Morin we’ve already done some posts here. However, we
want to dialogue with the anthropocentric concept that dominates many studies and increasingly we see that it is a limitation since nature has its own course, and the brutal interference of man can modify and harm this course.
According to Ways (1970) cited in Chisholm (1974) there is a tendency in Western epistemology to objectify nature to see it “from the outside”, and this is responsible for the arrogant and insensitive way of dealing with the natural world, according to the author’s own attitude of separation of man from nature constitutes the basis of the growing human knowledge of nature, being, therefore, an anthropocentric interpretation of the evolution of the natural world.
On the other hand, the complexification of nature in man is undeniable, as an animal that is aware, or in other words aware of its own conscience, which can lead to another extreme, which is the “internalization” where culture and nature are confused , where subjectivism can be a responsible trend for this aspect.
The paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin, in his work “The Human Phenomenon”, observes that there is no anatomical or physiological trait that distinguishes man from other higher animals, on the other hand, it has the zoological characteristic that makes it a being apart in the animal world. , is the only one that inhabits the entire planet, another characteristic that comes from its form of consciousness is its organization as consciousness and thought structure, which Teilhard de Chardin calls “noosphere”, a sphere of thought that is also world-wide.
As for man, it remains to be seen, and even science does not know, if it is a mere superficial accident that has happened or if there is an intention in him since the Universe was created, whether Big Bang or not, reflects Teilhard Chardin: “that we should consider it – about to sprout from the smallest fissure anywhere in the Cosmos – and, once it has arisen, unable to waste all the opportunity and all the means to reach the extreme of everything it can reach, outwardly of Complexity, and inwardly of Consciousness” (CHARDIN , 1997).
CHARDIN, T. (1997) Man’s place in nature, trans. Armando Pereira da Silva, Ed. Instituto Piaget, Lisbon.
CHISHOLM, A. (1974) Ecology: a strategy for survival. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar.
Teilhard Chardin and the Christian worldview
26
Oct
The writings of Teilhard de Chardin, whose writings 
were given a “warning” by the Vatican in 1962, had this mark removed from their records by Pope Francis in 2017. This year there was a plenary session of the Pontifical Council for Culture where, unanimously, the petition sent by Pope Francis asking him to renounce the “monituum” (warning) of the writings of Father Teilhard de Chardin, with this “The Future of Humanity: New Challenges for Anthropology” has been updated.
The participants, who included high-level scientists as well as bishops and cardinals from Europe, Asia, America and Africa, not only approved but applauded the Pope’s text.
Furthermore, texts were mentioned with “explicit references” by Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI to the paleontologist, philosopher and priest Teilhard de Chardin, with this finally Christian anthropology and worldview can be updated and placed within the current scientific vision, which also evolves into a broader view of the universe and life.
To conclude, they also cited that the lines throughout Pope Francis’ own Encyclical Laudato Si helped “this act would not only recognize the genuine effort of the pious Jesuit to reconcile the scientific view of the universe with Christian eschatology, but would also represent a formidable stimulus. for all philosophers, theologians and scientists willing to cooperate with a Christian anthropological model” which is already described in the outline of Laudato Si, and “fits naturally into the marvelous plot of the cosmos”.
Father Teilhard de Chardin was constrained by disciplinary sanctions from the Holy Office in the 1920s, for his opinions expressed in his unpublished writings, but this did not prevent him from his work, from where he conceived the idea of Omega Point (one level maximum complexity and awareness in the direction that the universe evolved) and added to the concept of Christ as the Logos, or “the Word” that embodies human vision through language, in addition to its central concept of the Noosphere (the sphere of thought).
At a time when the anthropologies of original societies, of colonized peoples in search of their true identities along the path of decolonization, are re-discussed, on the religious side Chardin responds to the cry of voices of Christianity that ask for a necessary anthropological update, without losing unity and Christian consciousness Christocentric.
Among Chardin’s works, the following stand out: The human phenomenon, The place of man in nature and The divine environment stand out in his works.
Many times in life he revealed the wish to die on Resurrection Day (Easter Day), his wish was granted. He died on April 10, 1955, an Easter Sunday after attending Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, and his writings began to gain great popularity.
