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WEB 4 - ARCHIVE
Commentary 27 - Page 3 |
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PRAXIS NOW
Darkness of
the psyche The Hermit's Message
Way of Theosis Psychological method Prayer of the heart
praxis studies
Introductory studies
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THE STATE OF THE PSYCHE
The
necessary step in evolution is one in which humanity must emerge fully
from domination by its animal origins. But humanity at large is as yet
proving itself incapable of making the effort necessary to complete
this step. This situation is at least in part a result of
certain historical accidents.
What is specific to the human psyche, and is not shared in the same way with other animals, is what is currently beginning to be described as our semantic nature. It is this that organises our thoughts and in doing so gives us the power of choice. But without special help, it is easily influenced in ways that prevent individual autonomy. The context in which Toynbee speaks is that earlier in the same book he says that the characteristic of human nature not present in animals is the ability to choose. For it is in our choosing that the struggle develops which we now see as between head and heart, common sense and desire. But the early Christian would have seen this particular struggle very differently. Saint Paul saw it as between the human and spiritual on the one hand, and the animal and purely physical on the other. So different was the state of the human heart in their society that they perceived its role in a way quite different from how we see it today. |
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