© 2024 François Audet
© 2024 Urantia Association of Quebec
Francois Audet
Gatineau
The Urantia Book speaks often of philosophy, and this in all four parts of the book. The word “philosophy” appears 369 times, “philosopher” is found 64 times, and the adjective “philosophical” appears 123 times. For comparison, “mota” appears 40 times and “consciousness” 474 times.
Although one cannot swear to the importance of a concept by its number of occurrences, there is often a correlation. For philosophy, this importance is confirmed by numerous passages. We are told, among other things, that even after reaching Paradise, one will be instructed by primary supernaphim, masters of philosophy (UB 27:6.1): “Next to the supreme satisfaction of worship is the exhilaration of philosophy. Never do you climb so high or advance so far that there do not remain a thousand mysteries which demand the employment of philosophy in an attempted solution.”
These supernaphim will help us to think the truth, conceptualize the Ultimate, and attempt to grasp the techniques of the Absolute. (UB 27:6.2): “The master philosophers of Paradise delight to lead the minds of its inhabitants, both native and ascendant, in the exhilarating pursuit of attempting to solve universe problems. These superaphic masters of philosophy are the “wise men of heaven,” the beings of wisdom who make use of the truth of knowledge and the facts of experience in their efforts to master the unknown. With them knowledge attains to truth and experience ascends to wisdom. On Paradise the ascendant personalities of space experience the heights of being: They have knowledge; they know the truth; they may philosophize—think the truth; they may even seek to encompass the concepts of the Ultimate and attempt to grasp the techniques of the Absolutes.”
Philosophy plays such an important role that an administrative department of the local system (Grand Universe Philosophy) is devoted to it. (UB 46:6.11).
It is on the third world of mansions that we undertake the study of cosmic meanings, as well as to coordinate mota and human philosophy.
“. . . On this third mansion world the survivors really begin their progressive morontia culture. The chief purpose of this training is to enhance the understanding of the correlation of morontia mota and mortal logic, the co-ordination of morontia mota and human philosophy. Surviving mortals now gain practical insight into true metaphysics. This is the real introduction to the intelligent comprehension of cosmic meanings and universe interrelationships.” (UB 47:5.3)
This study continues throughout the morontia life. (UB 48:5.6) :… “On the mansion worlds such schools are organized in three general groups of one hundred divisions each: the schools of thinking, the schools of feeling, and the schools of doing. When you reach the constellation, there are added the schools of ethics, the schools of administration, and the schools of social adjustment. On the universe headquarters worlds you will enter the schools of philosophy, divinity, and pure spirituality.”
Philosophy becomes increasingly important as a planet evolves toward its destiny of light and life. (UB 71:7.2): “In the ideal state, education continues throughout life, and philosophy sometime becomes the chief pursuit of its citizens. The citizens of such a commonwealth pursue wisdom as an enhancement of insight into the significance of human relations, the meanings of reality, the nobility of values, the goals of living, and the glories of cosmic destiny.”
Education recently passed from the control of the clergy to that of lawyers and businessmen. Eventually it must be given over to the philosophers and the scientists. Teachers must be free beings, real leaders, to the end that philosophy, the search for wisdom, may become the chief educational pursuit. (UB 71:7.4)
The epoch of philosophy and brotherhood. When mortals learn to think and begin to profit by experience, they become philosophical—they start out to reason within themselves and to exercise discriminative judgment. The society of this age becomes ethical, and the mortals of such an era are truly becoming moral beings. Wise moral beings are capable of establishing human brotherhood on such a progressing world. Ethical and moral beings can learn how to live in accordance with the golden rule. (UB 50:5.8)
Philosophy, aided by revelation, plays a fundamental role of unification and coordination between science and religion. Many passages from the book enlighten us on this subject:
Reason is the proof of science, faith the proof of religion, logic the proof of philosophy, but revelation is validated only by human experience. Science yields knowledge; religion yields happiness; philosophy yields unity; revelation confirms the experiential harmony of this triune approach to universal reality. (UB 101:2.8)
Scientists assemble facts, philosophers co-ordinate ideas, while prophets exalt ideals. (UB 101:5.9)
Unity is best found in human experience through philosophy. And while the body of philosophic thought must ever be founded on material facts, the soul and energy of true philosophic dynamics is mortal spiritual insight. (UB 102:2.6)
When man approaches the study and examination of his universe from the outside, he brings into being the various physical sciences; when he approaches the research of himself and the universe from the inside, he gives origin to theology and metaphysics. The later art of philosophy develops in an effort to harmonize the many discrepancies which are destined at first to appear between the findings and teachings of these two diametrically opposite avenues of approaching the universe of things and beings. (UB 103:6.2)
A logical and consistent philosophic concept of the universe cannot be built up on the postulations of either materialism or spiritism, for both of these systems of thinking, when universally applied, are compelled to view the cosmos in distortion, the former contacting with a universe turned inside out, the latter realizing the nature of a universe turned outside in. Never, then, can either science or religion, in and of themselves, standing alone, hope to gain an adequate understanding of universal truths and relationships without the guidance of human philosophy and the illumination of divine revelation. (UB 103:6.5)
“The union of the scientific attitude and the religious insight by the mediation of experiential philosophy is part of man’s long Paradise-ascension experience. The approximations of mathematics and the certainties of insight will always require the harmonizing function of mind logic on all levels of experience short of the maximum attainment of the Supreme.” (UB 103:7.4)
This quest requires effort, courage and honesty! (UB 101:7.2) :… “The soundness of philosophical conclusions depends on insight, honesty and discrimination in the way of thinking in relation to sensitivity to meanings and correctness of evaluation. Morally cowardly beings never reach high levels of philosophical thought. It takes courage to penetrate new planes of experience and to attempt the exploration of unknown domains of intellectual life.”
Furthermore, an atheistic or pantheistic philosophy, denying the transcendence of God, the source of all personality, would lose its usefulness. (UB 103:8.6) : “To render maximum service to science and religion, philosophy should avoid the two extremes of materialism and pantheism. Only a philosophy which recognizes the reality of personality - permanence in the presence of change - can have moral value for man and serve as a link between the theories of material science and those of spiritual religion. Revelation compensates for the weaknesses of evolving philosophy.”
The Urantia Book tells us that it is important to be in contact with other types of religious experiences. (UB 103:1.3): “While your religion is a matter of personal experience, it is most important that you should be exposed to the knowledge of a vast number of other religious experiences (the diverse interpretations of other and diverse mortals) to the end that you may prevent your religious life from becoming egocentric—circumscribed, selfish, and unsocial.”
The same is true, I believe, of philosophical systems; it is important to approach many of them with an open mind. In the chapter on the philosopher Jaspers,
Jeanne Hersch presents this attitude of openness to us as a deliberate choice of accompaniment: “If we want to understand a certain philosopher, it is absurd to begin by refusing him. To understand him, we must first agree to think with him, by ”lending“ him our own freedom.” (Jeanne Hersch, L’étonnement philosophique, Gallimard, coll. “Folio-Essais”, 1993). The Urantia Book also tells us that to know God, we must love him, and that to love men, we must know them (102:111). This applies in particular to the study of a philosopher; by learning about his life, his family context and his time, we come to find him endearing. This makes us more receptive to his thought, and willing to follow him in his approach.
I hope I have sparked your interest in philosophy! This quest for meaning and wisdom is important for our spiritual journey. But how can we embark on this path when faced with the multitude of philosophical systems? To narrow down our choices, we could, as a first step, stick to the study of believing philosophers whose lives were inspiring; philosophers who “thought their lives and lived their thoughts,” to paraphrase the French philosopher André Comte-Sponville, and who developed a philosophy that avoids the pitfalls of materialism and pantheism. This is precisely what I propose to do with you over the coming months.
To conclude this column, here are some reading suggestions for those who would like to learn about philosophy:
- André Comte-Sponville, Présentations de la philosophie, Albin Michel, coll. “Le Livre de Poche”, 2000. A marvelous little book of 180 pages whose 12 chapters cover themes such as morality, politics, God, death, etc. The last thirty pages of the book constitute a very useful bibliography with abundant commentary which, in itself, is worth its weight in gold for continuing the study of philosophy.
- Karl Jaspers, Introduction to Philosophy, Plon, coll. “Bibliothèque 10-18”, 2002. A German philosopher (1883-1969) who impresses with his honesty and loyalty. This small book (180 pages) is superbly translated from German by none other than Jeanne Hersch, whose thesis director Jaspers was. Jaspers also deals with the idea of God, faith and the philosophical meaning of life. A very stimulating read!
- Jeanne Hersch, Philosophical astonishment, a history of philosophy, Gallimard, coll. “Folio-Essais”, 1993. A 460-page book, the reading of which requires a little more concentration than the previous ones. Hersch covers the history of Western philosophy from the pre-Socratics to the present day. Most of the chapters deal with the life and philosophy of a particular philosopher; a beautiful introduction to the thought of a multitude of philosophers.