The Nature of Principles

By Steven S. Coughlin Ph.D.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 2, 2008
• ISBN: 9781465331847

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Copyright © 2008 by Steven S. Coughlin, Ph.D.

Cover photograph copyright © 2008 by Christie Eheman, Ph.D

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Contents

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Glossary

References

About the Author

Chapter I

Introduction and Background

The words principle and principles have several different meanings in philosophy, science, law, and common usage. Principles are sometimes taken to be basic truths, laws, or assumptions, as in the principles of democratic societies. Principles may also be legal in nature. For example, principles handed down from Roman law via Justinian’s Institutes (533 AD) include to hurt no one (neminem laedere), to give each his due (suum cuique tribuere), and to live honorably (honeste vivere). More frequently, in everyday usage, however, a principle is a rule of personal conduct or standard of good behavior (as in, she is a woman of principle who will not violate her principles). In moral philosophy, which is a major focus of this book, principles have more to do with the ethics, value systems, or moral codes that are accepted by society. In contrast to general moral (ethical) principles, some principles are said to be divine or metaphysical in nature, as noted in the literature on philosophy and theology. For example, the neoplatonic philosopher Damascius (458-c. 538), in his treatise on the Difficulties and Solutions of First Principles, explored the first principle of all things, which he concluded was an unfathomable and unspeakable divine depth. In his account, God is infinite and has attributes of goodness, knowledge, and power inferred through their effects. Aristotle (384-322 BC) had previously written about his own conception of first principles. Thus, in contexts as diverse as discussions of natural science, personal standards of conduct, law, morality, metaphysics, and divine characteristics or aims, principles are seen as basic qualities that determine intrinsic nature or characteristic behavior.

Metaethics—the analysis of the language, concepts, and methods of ethics—includes the clarification of ethical terms, such as principles and moral ideals. This book follows in the wake of philosophical inquiry from Aristotle’s discussion of first principles to reflections of contemporary philosophers and theologians who have attempted to identify and clarify general moral principles. This book also follows separate inquiries that have endeavored to identify characteristics of God and principles by which God exerts His influence in the universe (Whitehead 1933; Hartshorne 1948; Coughlin 2007). In the chapters that follow, these two areas of philosophical inquiry are examined separately and then conjointly, thereby highlighting their intersections and commonalities.

In the eighteenth century, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) identified postulates of practical reason, including the existence of God and the freedom of the will. Kant stated the practical necessity for a belief in God in the Critique of Pure Reason. As an idea of pure reason, Kant argued that we do not have the slightest ground to assume in an absolute manner… the object of this idea, but added that the idea of God cannot be separated from the relation of happiness with morality as the ideal of the supreme good. For Kant, the foundation of this connection is an intelligible moral world and is necessary from the practical point of view. Later, in the Logic, Kant argued that the idea of God can only be proved through the moral law and only with practical intent, that is, "the intent so as to act as if there be a God." Kant’s metaphysical insights have often been cited in more recent philosophical writings about God.

Philosophical inquiries into how God acts and principles by which God exerts His influence are based upon rational thought (for example, intuition and deduction, inductive reasoning, and logic) and are not directly equatable with theological inquiries into divine qualities and the nature of God that are based upon revealed truth and religious doctrine. This book is primarily a philosophical rather than a theological discourse and does not use as its starting point claims about God’s aims that are held to be true on the basis of faith (for example, revealed truths that are conveyed by sacred texts). However, the divine principles identified through intuition and deduction in this book, may be considered in the light of their coherency with important insights about God’s aims provided by major religious traditions.

In a recent book The Principle of Equal Abundance (Coughlin 2007), key principles were identified by which God directs or exerts His influence in the universe, which are consistent with testaments of religious faith and human experience for millennia. Intuition and deduction play a role in the identification of these principles, which include the loving nature of God—a divine, eternal being who loves humans—and the divine principle of equal abundance. The latter asserts that all people can have a direct relationship with God and that God is interested in having a loving relationship with everyone. The assertion that each person shares in the love that God has for humans can be restated as the assertion that everyone is important from God’s point of view. The love that God extends to humans is a defining characteristic of God; intuitive thinkers throughout history have emphasized the loving nature of God.

The evidence in support of a divine principle of equal abundance is multifold and includes its coherence with the beliefs and teachings of major religious traditions, its plausibility in the light of contemporary philosophical and theological scholarship, and its logical arguments, such as the implausibility of alternative formulations of the principle. For example, if it is instead claimed that only a few people can have a direct relationship with God or that God is only interested in having a loving relationship with people who have certain cultural or personal characteristics, such a claim is inconsistent with the principle of God’s love for all human beings. Similarly, a claim that people in one geographic region or time may have had a direct relationship with God, but this is not universally the case, is inconsistent with the notion of a divine, eternal being for whom love of human beings is a key aspect of how God directs His influence in the world. On the basis of coherence with major religious traditions and contemporary rational thought, we can reasonably conclude that each of us shares in the love that God has for human beings and that everyone is important from God’s point of view.

But what does it mean to say that God loves human beings? This metaphysical question is considered in chapter 2 of this book, along with related questions from philosophical theology. Chapter 2