{"id":1618,"date":"2020-12-16T21:07:31","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T21:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=1618"},"modified":"2020-12-23T01:31:30","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T01:31:30","slug":"death-diversion-and-the-credo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/16\/death-diversion-and-the-credo\/","title":{"rendered":"Death, Diversion, and the Credo"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Death, Diversion, and the Credo<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In the face of death, Tocqueville and Pascal saw two paths toward despair\u2014but Pope Benedict XVI offers a third way of confronting mortality.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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By Jacob Stubbs<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The French writer Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote, \u201c[M]an comes from nothing, traverses time, and is going to disappear forever into the bosom of God. One sees him for only a moment, wandering, lost, between the limits of the two abysses.\u201d Throughout history, most philosophers, theologians, and psychologists have, with Tocqueville, agreed that man\u2019s awareness of death plays a significant role in shaping his behavior. Death holds this prominence in shaping human life because of it is both inevitable and unpredictable. Recognizing the contingency of our lives, we develop an existential anxiety.<\/p>

The effects of this crisis Tocqueville is describing may be worse than death itself. Blaise Pascal focuses on how we may forfeit our enjoyment of life in our attempts to cope with mortality: \u201cWe never think of the present, and if we do it is simply to shed some light on the future\u2026 And so we never actually live, though we hope to, and in striving for happiness it is inevitable that we will never achieve it.\u201d The question facing Pascal and Tocqueville is whether we can come to terms with our mortality while preserving our humanity. Pope Benedict XVI responds to this question by arguing that we can come to terms with our mortality only through entering into a relation with the Triune God. In order to understand the radical nature of Pope Benedict\u2019s reply, we should first investigate Pascal and Tocqueville\u2019s understanding of how we respond to the contingency of our existence and the shortcomings of these responses.<\/p>

Pascal saw the misery of contingency in his cosmic insignificance: \u201cWhen I consider\u2026 the small space which I fill and even can see, swallowed up in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I know nothing and which knows nothing of me, I am terrified, and surprised to find myself here rather than there, for there is no reason why it should be here rather than there, why now rather than then.\u201d Likewise, Pascal sees the pursuit of happiness consisting in \u201cdiversions,\u201d futile attempts to escape our insignificance: \u201c[Man] wants to be happy, he only wants to be happy, and cannot want to be happy. But how will he set about it? The only way would be to become immortal. But he cannot, so he has to stop himself from thinking about it.\u201d While not a solution to the problem of his mortality, a man engaged in \u201cdiversions\u201d can avert his eyes from the problem and live in a moment of short-lived happiness.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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According to Pascal, the skeptic philosopher finds his grounding outside of himself in external reason and doubt.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Pascal\u2019s notion of \u201cdiversions\u201d is implicit in Tocqueville\u2019s examination of the differences between aristocratic and democratic poetry in Volume II of Democracy in America<\/em>. Tocqueville believes that in an aristocracy, the poet \u201cspeaks outside and above the human condition\u201d portraying the eternal, the good, and the spiritual rather than the temporal, the human, and the tangible. In democracy, the converse is true; the poet portrays the banal and the earthly. In the aristocracy, the poet is a member of the leisure class and has time to engage in an education that allows him to come to terms with his mortality. In a democracy, though, the poet is equal to all other men; he has no leisure through which he can receive such an education. Instead, the democratic poet must portray what will earn him a profit. The easiest way to do this is to portray the \u201cdiversions\u201d\u2014something simple that provides a distraction (however fleeting it may be) from man\u2019s mortality. Thus, Tocqueville describes the subject matter of democratic poetry by stating, \u201cDemocratic peoples will scarcely worry about what has been, but they willingly dream of what will be, and in this direction their imagination has no limits; here it stretches and enlarges itself beyond measure.\u201d The democratic poet, then, continually helps distract man from reflection on the past and the present through his depiction of the future.<\/p>

The distinction between aristocratic and democratic poetry has existential significance for Tocqueville. In the aristocracy, man grounds his existence in an order that is found outside of himself, be it in God, the Eternal Truth, or a Stoic natural order. Conversely, in democracy, man grounds his existence in himself. This grounding is not a tenable way of allowing man to reconcile himself with his mortality, because he has no way to understand death. Instead, the democratic man slowly becomes overtaken with a \u201cfeverish ardor\u201d that manifests itself in the form of material goods. Tocqueville states, \u201cHe who has confined his heart solely to the search for the goods of this world is always in a hurry, for he only has a limited time to find them, take hold of them, and enjoy them. His remembrance of the brevity of life constantly spurs him.\u201d Rather than coming to terms with his death, the democratic man distracts himself from his mortality and engages in a futile \u201cpursuit of happiness.\u201d<\/p>

For Pascal, the \u201cdiversion\u201d take\u2019s man\u2019s focus away from coping with his mortality to being distracted by something outside of himself. In doing this, the personhood of the \u201cdiverted\u201d man becomes related to an external object. Pascal uses the skeptic philosopher as the ultimate example of a \u201cdiverted\u201d person. According to Pascal, the skeptic philosopher finds his grounding outside of himself in external reason and doubt. By grounding himself in this outside framework, the diverted man can stably avoid confrontation with his mortality, for his gaze is not on himself. For Tocqueville, on the other hand, the \u201cfeverish ardor\u201d of the democrat takes man\u2019s focus away from coping with his mortality by making him focused on himself. This, for sure, is a far less stable grounding than the Pascalian diversion allows, for man cannot place himself in an external framework. Thus, the democratic man\u2019s gaze is on himself, and he becomes hyper-aware of his mortality. It is for this reason, then, that Tocqueville believes the democratic man so \u201cfeverishly\u201d pursues well-being.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The act of confessing one\u2019s belief in Christianity is the way in which a Christian can stably ground his existence.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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For Pope Benedict, Christianity serves as a way to overcome the Pascalian \u201cdiversions\u201d and the Tocquevillian \u201cfeverish ardor\u201d (this is something both Pascal and Tocqueville seemed to realize, as they mention the necessity of religion in solving man\u2019s existential angst). \u00a0As he begins to articulate his solution to Pascal and Tocqueville\u2019s understanding of mortality, Pope Benedict first returns to man\u2019s mortality: \u201c[We are] always threatened with the uncertainty which in moments of temptation can suddenly and unexpectedly cast a piercing light on the fragility of the whole.\u201d As Benedict says, we are stuck with this \u201cdilemma of being a man\u201d unless we encounter Christianity and join into a relation with the Triune God.<\/p>

The act of confessing one\u2019s belief in Christianity is the way in which a Christian can stably ground his existence. This is because his relational nature is ultimately grounded in man, but outside of man. Pope Benedict explains that the Christian belief \u201cstructures\u201d man\u2019s existence according to the full articulation of the \u201cword-made-flesh\u201d in Jesus Christ. Being both fully God and fully man, Jesus provides a stable grounding for man to plant his existence. This understanding of the Incarnation is the way in which man overcomes his fear of his mortality. Insofar as Jesus overcame death through the resurrection, man now has a way in which he too can overcome death by entering into a relation with the Triune God through the Christian faith.<\/p>

This relation with the Triune God through Jesus Christ specifically grounds man outside of himself, thereby rectifying man\u2019s desire toward eternity that Pascal understood to be the source of his \u201cdiversions.\u201d Likewise, this relation with the Triune God grounds man in a real, flesh-and-blood human being\u2014Jesus Christ\u2014who has overcome death. This grounding of one\u2019s existence in the humanity of Jesus Christ corrects the Tocquevillian tendency toward grounding our existence in ourself. As Benedict explains, grounding one\u2019s existence in only one of these two facets\u2014the Deity or the humanity of Christ\u2014at the expense of the other is an inadequate grounding for one\u2019s existence and ultimately leads to a dangerous notion of progress or a paralyzing existential angst.<\/p>

Through confessing the orthodox Christian faith, Pope Benedict shows that Christianity is the solution to the problem of man\u2019s mortality. Pascal\u2019s \u201cdiversions\u201d and Tocqueville\u2019s \u201cfeverish ardor\u201d can only be resolved if they are grounded in Jesus Christ. Through this understanding of the Christian faith, then, man has a framework through which he can come to terms with his mortality and seek hope in the life to come.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Jacob Stubbs<\/strong> graduated from Berry College in 2013 with a double major in Political Science and Philosophy. He currently is a fellow at the John Jay Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is seeking further education in theology upon completion of this fellowship.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the face of death, Tocqueville and Pascal saw two paths toward despair\u2014but Pope Benedict XVI offers a third way of confronting mortality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,10,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-essays","category-issue-6","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Blaise_pascal.jpg?fit=300%2C314&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1618"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2442,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618\/revisions\/2442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/i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