Wednesday Wisdom

In the Book of Genesis from the Old Testament, God says to Adam after he has sinned, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust, you will return." (Genesis 3:19, NIV) "Ashes from ashes, dust to dust" is found in the Christian Book of Common Prayers and is based on this passage from the Old Testament.

WHO?

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) was a British-American poet, playwright, and literary critic who is considered one of the most important and influential writers of the 20th century receiving the Nobel Prize in literature in 1948. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States, but he moved to England in 1914, where he lived for the rest of his life. He achieved a Bachelor of Arts and master's degree from Harvard University and later studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris.

What he produced

Eliot is well known for poems like "The Wasteland", "Old possums’ books of practical cats", "The Love song for J Alfred Prudock, "The Hollow Men" and "Ash- Wednesday". He raised in the Unitarian church but was not particularly religious as a young man. At Harvard he got interested in the philosophies of the west and east and the religious traditions of Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Elliot studied the Greek philosopher Aristotle's works extensively, particularly his theories of tragedy, ethics, and metaphysics. In literature, he was particularly taken by the works of Christian writers Saint Augustine and Dante and their descriptions of sin and redemption led him to pursue a path for his own spiritual meaning. In 1927, at the age of 31, Eliot was baptized in the Anglican Church and his conversion to Christianity would be reflected in his future works.  

In 1930, Eliot wrote his poem "Ash Wednesday" which is a reflection on his intellectual and spiritual journey. It is broken into 6 sections and contains imagery across religion and philosophy. He crafts together faith and reason combining the tenants of ancient Greek metaphysical thinking with Christianity to help explain the universe.

Eliot writes in “Ash Wednesday”, "Teach us to care and not to care / Teach us to sit still / Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death / Pray for us now and at the hour of our birth." He draws on Aristotle's concept of the unmoved mover, which is from Aristotle's Metaphysics and is an explanation for the creation of the universe, that everything in it came from one primary source. Eliot references Plato's idea of the Forms or Ideas, which are eternal and perfect entities that exist beyond the material world, describing what is true from what is an illusion, equating Plato ideas to religious ideas of Heaven and Hell. Eliot writes, "Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood / Teach us to care and not to care / Teach us to sit still / Even among these rocks."

The poem also incorporates ideas from St. Augustine, particularly his emphasis on the human condition of sin and the need for divine grace. Eliot writes, "Teach us to care and not to care / Teach us to sit still / Without anguish of the spirit / Grant us thy peace." And finally referencing the work of St. Thomas Aquinas, Eliot unveils the concept of the beatific vision, which is the ultimate goal of human life, to see God face-to-face. Eliot writes, "Sight, Knowledge, The Holy Dark / The prayer of the publican and the prodigal / The lover's praise to the beloved."

2024 why do we care?

T.S. Eliot wrote "Four Quartets" between 1935 and 1942. The poem is considered one of his greatest works, and it reflects his deeply spiritual and philosophical reflections on time, memory, and the human experience. Once more influenced by Ancient Greek writings, Elliot draws parallels between his own search for spiritual meaning and the journey of Homer's main character Odysseus in the "Odyssey." He writes;" The hero of my tale, whom I love, soars like a star, and does not fall. He manifests his nature, and is not afraid of its own consequences. Is his journey significant? Everything that he does is significant."

In both "Four Quartets" and "Ash Wednesday", Eliot suggests that his own spiritual journey is both timeless and universal and that it is part of a larger human quest for meaning and purpose.

Elliot writing seemingly suggests that we are all on a Homeric journey, and it's significant...

And now you know...

Thank you, Dad, for the gift of curiosity.

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.