A Contemporary Defense of the Good

​A Contemporary Defense of the Good
In spite of the modern rejection of a natural ethics as presented in the previous post, theologian John Haught argues for a morality rooted in nature. Haught argues that for us to connect our moral life to the natural world, we would have to “…discern in the cosmic process some general aim or purposiveness with which our own life might be morally aligned” (God After Darwin, 126). In the ancient and medieval worldviews of Aristotle and St Thomas, the connection between nature and ethics appeared to be obvious. Every natural creature as well as every human ethical act could be understood in terms of seeking an end or fulfillment.
 But Haught contends that in spite of the apparent chasm between nature and human ethical striving, we can develop a metaphysics, compatible with science, that presents the cosmos with meaningfulness coinciding with human striving. For this purpose he draws on the “process theology” that stems from the metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead.
 
            Haught acknowledge that the ruthlessness in nature seems to exclude the possibility of some overarching purpose in the universe. He mentions that most theologians attempted to find meaning in human experience in spite of the meaninglessness of the non-human natural world. But Haught credits Whitehead for developing a cosmology that unites our human striving with the whole history of the universe. Haught contends that Whitehead’s philosophy and the process theology that flowed from it perceives the universe as a process in which all the contrasting and conflicting occasions merge into harmony of contrasts that expresses an intense cosmic beauty.
            The shaping of the universe expresses an “aesthetic cosmological principle” by which the elements are being brought into harmony. This idea is different from what some have called the “anthropic cosmological principle,” which sees the whole universe as leading toward the emergence of the human race. The aesthetic principle sees the whole process as leading to the production of beauty of which the emergence of humanity constitutes an aspect. As Haught phrases it, the emergent beauty that stands out in our terrestrial experience is “…the emergence of life, subjectivity, freedom, consciousness, and community” (128).  As the universe grows in complexity, it most probably grows in consciousness, not only on earth, but throughout the universe.
 
The correspondence of complexity and consciousness was be taken up in earlier posts on consciousness (July 7-  September 6, 2018.) In this current post I am contending that  good can be seen beneath what appears as an overwhelming evil in the physical world. 
 
The point that I tried to make earlier, is that good consists in the fulfillment of the aesthetic principle. Consciousness slowly becomes embodied in nature. The process happens all too slowly in terms of a human life span, but it is happening. This embodiment of consciousness presents itself to us most obviously in the physical and cultural evolution of the human species.
 
            As stated in the earlier posts, consciousness while the most universal and familiar of topic, eludes attempts to provide analytical understanding. Yet, consciousness stands out as the most essential condition for anything that we might call good. Materialism reduces consciousness and therefore all good, to an accidental product of blind, indifferent, unconsciousness physical events. But my thesis affirms the reasonableness of holding that consciousness precedes the evolution of the human brain, which becomes a channel of consciousness. If this view, as opposed to the materialist view is correct, then goodness is real and the meaning of our life consists of promoting that which is good aesthetically and ethically   
 
In the following posts I will strive to show what the priority of consciousness has to do with Biblical religion, how it can also provide meaning for those without religion, and how it enhances our understanding of environmental ethics, economic, and social ethics.