A Spiritual Philosophy of Life

A Spiritual Philosophy o£ Life By MILTON BENNION Dean of the School of Education, University of Utah ii The Nature of the Creative Process I > creation cess? a continuous pro- T\7E are aware of the fact that de- vv votees of natural science meth- What are its moving causes? Is reality a unitary being in which all parts are submerged, or is it constituted of a plurality of at least semi-independent parts? Philosophy attempts to answer these questions by applying reason to the facts of experience. Unless the facts of experience are to be re- well, and at the same time offers a better explanation of these facts. This theory holds that it is the life ods are much opposed to any Con- or life principle itself in the germ sideration of final causes; that is, plasm or seed that determines the they have been ruled out by the form and the functions of the de- presuppositions of natural science, veloping organism; that its de- No objection is here offered to a velopment is not, therefore, wholly study of the facts of nature from determined by forces from behind the standpoint of efficient causa- — by mechanical forces — but that tion only, provided that the the end to be realized determines the course of development. garded as mere appearances or illu sions there can be no doubt that XHIS theory can best be illus- reality is all the time in process of trated [n the development of becoming, changing, or developing, human personality. Do not pro Any observer of nature, of a hu- man life, of society, or of his own mental processes, must be con gressive individuals commonly set up goals to be attained, and do not these goals then become powerful vinced of this as an indisputable factors in determining their course fact. Creation is all the time going on, and, if we may new assume, without further argument, the conclusions reached in the first article of this series, creation is go- ing on by the spontaneous activity of many living creatures, whose forms, functions, and activities are determined conjointly by their own natures and their relations with nature as a whole. Whether of action and their final attain ments? Have not the dreams of youth something to do with the scientist does not assume, forth- with, that this is the only legiti- mate way of conceiving nature, and that everything that is, includ- ing human life and conduct, must also be conceived after the method of physical science, which would require that however convincing one's experience of the reality of final causes may be, this experience must be set aside as an illusion. The student in the field of ethics has just as good reason for assum- accomplishments of mature life? It in2 fhe reality of final causes in is one of the primary functions of certain aspects of human conduct as education to stimulate youth to ha.s the physicist for assuming ef- create high ideals and to develop ncient causes exclusively in relation ambition to realize these ideals. It to the facts with which he deals. is also a function of teachers, social workers, preachers, and statesmen to help create community ideals, or not this may also be true of in- and to lead in community organ- animate objects such as crystals, ization and activity toward realiz- planets, or stars, is a matter of spec ulation. T*HE mechanistic view assumes TT should not be inferred that all possible forms of causation are exhausted in efficient causation and final causation in the form of con- sciously set up ends to be realized. Experience indicates that many new things appear that can be ac- counted for solely neither by efficient causes nor by conscious ing these community ideals. This development of individual and community purposes, purposes that determine courses of action is a that everything in nature is most important factor in human purposes. A certain type oTgenius! operated by a force from behind, progress. If we may speak of for instance, may compose a poem figuratively speaking; that the causes here as determining the form and functions, for instance, course of development, these are of any given creature are deter- final causes, as contrasted with the mined wholly by the mechanical efficient or mechanical causes with forces that preceded it, which are which physical science deals, conceived as having brought it into being. Its life, therefore, is prede- termined by these me- chanical forces. Life is thus regarded as a by- product of form and physical functions. There is, however, an- other theory that fits the facts as observed just as D, 'EAN MILTON BENNION, the author of this series, studied philosophy with John Dewey and James H. Tufts at the University of Chicago in 1898; philosophy with Nicholas Murray Butler, psychology with J. McKeen Cattelt, and sociology with Franklin H. Giddings, Co- lumbia University, 1900-01; philosophy with J. E. McGilvary and Frank C. Sharp, University of Wisconsin, 1912-13. He has taught various branches of philosophy in the University of Utah since 1901. without having planned to do so; another type of genius may produce ■ a musical composition without conscious plan or purpose. If these facts are disputed it must be admitted in any case that the plan or purpose itself is not always con- sciously planned; that is, many new things arise spontaneously in the hu- man mind, and it is in this manner, in large measure, that life de- velops. The mechanist may claim that these facts

The Improvement Era for December, 1929 121 lend support to his theory, that these seeming spontaneous produc- tions are in reality merely the result of brain combustions or other phys- ical forces hidden from ordinary observation but always available to the mechanist as a means of ex- planation. The answer to this, in the first place, is that this is an unproved assumption on the part of the mechanist; and, in the sec- ond place, that it requires a much greater stretch of imagination to believe this than it does to accept the explanation that is more in accord with experience; that is, that persons are themselves as unitary beings, active causes, and, as such, giving direction to their own creative functions. Is phys- ical energy consumed in doing so? Again an affirmative reply does not mean that the direction of the activity or its outcome is wholly determined by the physical energy consumed. It is evidently not so in the expenditure of physical energy in a man-made machine, however necessary the expenditure of such energy may be in running the machine. n AUSATION may, therefore, be ^ conceived as occurring under three general forms: a — Efficient causation, mechanic- ally conceived and taken into account in all physical science and the practical applications of science in industry. In the latter case it should be noted, however, that ends or purposes are injected into the processes of industry and commerce by the ingenuity of man. b — Final causation, conceived as ends consciously set up to be realized, which ends determine the course of development or of action. These are operative in more or less degree in the more distinctly human sciences, e. g., ethics, civics, economics. c — A third variety which we may call, for want of a better name, vital causation, is illustrated very extensively at least in the higher forms of life, and prob- ably in all living things. In this case it seems probable that the end determines the activity, even though that end is not consciously set up. TN human life the activities of the poet and the musical composer, under certain conditions, have al- ready been cited as examples. It is of course true that one may con- sciously set about to write a poem or to compose music. This, how- ever, is no assurance that the product will be superior to that which comes to genius spontane- ously, if not irresistibly. This manner of conceiving certain types of creative activity is at least akin to Henri Bergson's "elan vital" (vital impetus) and to Frederick Paulson's conception of World Soul, thought of as primarily voli- tional and ever striving toward new forms of expression. In this connection Bergson says: "Matter is necessity, consciousness is freedom; but though diametrically opposed to one another, life has found the way of reconciling them. This is precisely what life is, — freedom inserting itself within necessity, turning it to its profit. Life would be an impossibility were the de- terminism of matter so absolute as to admit no relaxation."* HHHESE three varieties of causa- *■■ tion are noted in explanation of the facts of experience in the very complex world of which man is a part. What are the conse- quences, in our thinking, of recog- nition of this variety in causation? It enables us to understand and to appreciate the methods and the re- sults of all sciences, human as well as physical ; the world of apprecia- tion, as experienced in the various forms of art; and also the world of values which passes under the names of ethics and religion. It makes conceivable and reasonable our most fundamental notions con- cerning human life and human re- lations— moral obligation, moral freedom, and personal and social responsibility. Upon these, sub- ject to such limitations as experi- ence reveals, the social structure of civilization rests. These concep- tions are foundational in govern- ment and law, in business and commerce, in the family, and in the church. Mistakes have some- times been made because of failure to recognize the limitations under which some people live. This fact, however, should cause no one to overlook the further fact that much more individual and social failure results from inadequate recognition of moral obligation, moral freedom, and personal and social responsibility. *Mind-Energy, Lectures and Essays, pp. 17-18, Henry Holt « Co., New York. TJ^7HAT are the consequences of " denying the validity of final and vital causes? These conse- quences are manifest in mechanistic materialism with all that this im- plies— absolute mechanical prede- termination of everything that is or ever will be, making life, mind, and science itself mere passing by- products of the blind and inexor- able forces of nature, from nebulous mass through nature as we know it to a final dissipation of energy, at least, so far as the solar system is concerned, resulting in extinction and final disappearance of all that we know and value. If these are, indeed, the cold facts the philosopher will not seek to escape them. Most philosophers are not, however, convinced that the world is thus constituted; this is also true of many of the most eminent scien- tists from Sir Isaac Newton to Robert A. Millikan. Furthermore, some very eminent natural scientists are of the opinion that there are many evidences of purpose even in the inorganic world. Lawrence J. Henderson, Professor of Biological Chemistry in Harvard University in his "The Fitness of the Environ- ment" and "The Order of Na- ture," calls attention to the many provisions in the inorganic world that have made plant and animal life possible; i. e., the abundance of water, oxygen, and carbonic acid gas, the latent heat and solvent properties of water, and the re- markable fact that cold causes water to expand at the point of its solidification, contrary to the gen- eral rule of nature. This makes possible the continuance of rivers in their channels in winter and the preservation of life in these waters. It is easy to imagine what would happen should ice sink as formed. These illustrations are evidences in support of the thought that pur- pose may have been an important factor in preparing the earth to support life. This, in no sense, discredits the view that efficient causes were also operative. The two points of view supplement each other, as do ends and means gen- erally. In developed human life it seems evident that under some circumstances all three forms of causation are operative at the same time, which fact well illustrates the complexity and the multiple aspects of reality. In this connection it should also be noted that there are also processes of decay, but that

122 The Improvement Era for December, 1929 decay is often an important factor in re-construction. AS to the question, Is the world ■**■ to be conceived as one or many, philosophers are divided. There are monists and pluralists, each class rigorously contending against the opposite point of view. What do the facts of experience seem to indicate? The results of scientific inquiry thus far indicate that every part of the material universe is related in some way to every other part. This conclusion is well illustrated in the law of gravitation. This law, as thus far understood, leads to the conclusion that no part of the physical universe is absolutely independent of the whole. Whether or not these parts have some de- gree of independence will depend in large measure upon whether or not they are conceived as having any degree of self-activity, or whether they are conceived as wholly me- chanical in their action. In the latter case they are thought of as absolutely dependent upon the whole, resulting in a monistic theory with reference to the inor- ganic world. Assuming some de- gree of self-activity on the part of the individual constituents of in- organic matter, however, one might be led to regard the parts as having some degree of independence. TN case of the organic world, ■*■ where observation and the most intimate and certain experience of the individual convinces him of the reality of final and vital causes, the case is different. Here there seems to be little reason to doubt the fact that, in the higher forms of life, at least, there is some measure of independence on the part of indi- viduals. This does not mean that any individual can live and develop out of relation to the rest of the world. Relations among individ- uals and between them and the physical world are as real as are the individuals themselves, but these relations are variable, and, in case of the more highly developed in- dividuals, relationships may be in some degree a matter of choice. Thus an individual may vary his relationships in such a way as to make a very great difference in his own future development, or lack of development. This fact gives him some degree of independence; that is, from this point of view he is not merely a cog in the machine (using this figure of speech with reference to the world conceived as absolutely one — called by some monistic philosophers, The Abso- lute) . TTiE mental power that man has developed, enabling him to transform and to utilize the phys- ical world for his own purposes lends further support to the thought that he has at least some measure of independence of the world as a whole; that his course of development is not rigidly pre- determined either by the so-called forces of nature or by the world as a whole. There is, of course, no thought here of asserting the abso- lute independence of the individual, of denying the limitations his own nature puts upon his activities and his future possibilities. He is also limited by the activities and the interests of his fellow individuals. That is, both nature and human society set limitations over the in- dividual, but so also do both afford him his opportunities. Looked at from the standpoint of his devel- opment, it is his opportunities that should be emphasized. The limi- tations, after all, are often harmless or for his own moral good. With- out the creative opportunities which nature affords, and without the associations of his fellows, his moral and religious development would be impossible. A FURTHER fact of experience *• relates to the problem of evil in the world, and the seeming ir- rational elements that often stand in the way of developing the ra- tional. Many monists are in- clined to set aside these facts as illusions, from the standpoint of a fully reasoned philosopy, mere appearances; or they regard evil as good in process of becoming and the irrational as the rational in the making. The pluralists, however, generally take a much more realistic view of the world. John Stuart Mill and William James, for in- stance, accept the fact of evil in the world and of irrational as well as rational elements. They accept the challenge these offer and regard it as the moral duty of individuals and of society to join forces in a real battle for the supremacy of the good and the rationalization of the world. 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