The article author closes by saying "an agnostic spirit actually broadens the mind." Well, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that concept insomuch as it seems to recommend a kind of helter-skelter inquiry rooted in skepticism. My guide in such matters is the more faith-based perpsective of Gerard Manley Hopkins, a priest-poet who coped with "doubt" (though I doubt if that is the correct word in his case) through assiduous examination of and reliance upon faith, which (in my humble opinion) seems to broaden one's mind rather satisfactorily because it is an intrinsically positive rather than negative (skeptical) approach to otherwise inexplicable matters.
and it seems that adopting a skeptical attitude is to adopt one's own thought processes as truth, yet in so many ways, from psychology to economics through science to math Man understands there are limits to his understanding.
So if agnosticism is ultimately grounded in "rationality" it is faulty precisely because it ignores the limits of rationality, and so limits one to only that rationality -- rather than including things like faith and emotions like hope and love -- all of which provide a bigger picture than simply limited rationality.
The article author closes by saying "an agnostic spirit actually broadens the mind." Well, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that concept insomuch as it seems to recommend a kind of helter-skelter inquiry rooted in skepticism. My guide in such matters is the more faith-based perpsective of Gerard Manley Hopkins, a priest-poet who coped with "doubt" (though I doubt if that is the correct word in his case) through assiduous examination of and reliance upon faith, which (in my humble opinion) seems to broaden one's mind rather satisfactorily because it is an intrinsically positive rather than negative (skeptical) approach to otherwise inexplicable matters.
ReplyDeleteand it seems that adopting a skeptical attitude is to adopt one's own thought processes as truth, yet in so many ways, from psychology to economics through science to math Man understands there are limits to his understanding.
ReplyDeleteSo if agnosticism is ultimately grounded in "rationality" it is faulty precisely because it ignores the limits of rationality, and so limits one to only that rationality -- rather than including things like faith and emotions like hope and love -- all of which provide a bigger picture than simply limited rationality.