The incoherence of the theologians

 

The YouTube clip above is a surprisingly good introduction to the life, philosophy and (perhaps) mysticism of Muslim polymath Ibn Sina or Avicenna (980-1037). Unsurprisingly, it turns out that Avicenna wasn´t a very orthodox Muslim, at least not in terms of his philosophy. Rather, he was a Neo-Platonist.

His philosophical argument for God´s existence (which sounds very familiar still 1000 years later) goes something like this: all composite things are caused by another thing, the entire chain of composite things we call “the universe” must therefore also have a cause, the ultimate cause of everything must be simple. And that´s what we call God. Or rather: that´s not really the god of classical theism, but The One of Plotinus (whose ideas were known in the Islamic world through a paraphrase called “The Theology of Aristotle”). Avicenna did believe that the universe was eternal, but an eternal chain of composite things still needs an uncaused cause that´s simple. This is also derived from Plotinus, where The One eternally overflows and emanates various lower ontological levels, one of which is our universe. Thus, the universe is both eternal *and* dependent on The One as its eternal cause. The Avicennian-Plotinian god is a primordial and perfect unity and simplicity, which emanates the lower level as part of its very nature, while being completely blissful and unaware of the suffering and privation at the lower levels. This god only knows “universals”, never particulars. He, or rather It, stands outside time and space.

But how can this kind of god ever save anyone? It seems that he strictly speaking cannot – The One can be reached only through philosophical contemplation or perhaps mystical states. The One does emanate two levels in between itself and the universe: the Intellect and the Universal Soul. Strictly speaking, it is the latter that then emanates the universe. The god of classical theism could perhaps be assimilated to the Intellect, while the Universal Soul could be seen as the “anima mundi”. Or they could both be seen as the god of classical theism. But in this system, the apex of the ontological hierarchy is above Allah or God the Father. This makes it problematic when Christian apologists tries to use arguments derived from Avicenna to prove the Biblical God. You simply can´t go from “even the entire chain needs a cause that must be uncaused” to “that uncaused cause is Bible God”, since Avicenna´s whole point was that the uncaused cause must be simple and non-composite. But the god of the theologians is surely anything but simple: he is gendered, personal, can feel both anger and love, is recognized in three persons, one of the persons being born as a man in a specific location on Earth, and seems intensely interested in the behavior and ultimate fate of Homo sapiens. How is this “simple”? Note also that this god isn´t known through philosophical speculation but only through special revelation (or theological speculation on special revelation).

In the Orthodox Church, I suppose the three highest levels of the Neo-Platonist hierarchy are all considered “God”. The One is the dazzling darkness, the unknowable essence of God. The Intellect is God as he appears in the Bible. And the Universal Soul is perhaps the uncreated energies described by Gregory Palamas. But surely this is still composite by Avicenna´s standards? As for modern science, perhaps space and time aren´t “composite” and can hence play the role of uncaused cause Avicenna assigned to The One, but I suspect Ibn Sina would disagree with this. Space and time can certainly be conceptualized as composite. The One, presumably, cannot.

The religion with which Avicenna has most in common is actually Hinduism. The One has a family likeness with Brahman. In certain forms of Hinduism, Brahman brings forth Bhagawan – the personal god (such as Vishnu) – and Bhagawan then emanates Brahma, who creates the universe. This certainly sounds as a personification of the Intellect and the Universal Soul.

Personally, I have some kind of sympathies with both the panentheist-pantheist and theist camps, and mystics certainly report encounters with both kinds of god. Ultimately, humans probably can´t know these things anyway…

The entire history of philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato. And the entire history of theology is a series of footnotes to Plotinus.    

The immutability of the syllogism

Premise (1): Scientists have discovered that bears which live in the far north are white.

Premise(2): Polar bears live in the far north.

Question: What color are polar bears?

Soviet researchers once asked this question to Uzbek peasants. The correct answer/conclusion is "white". The peasants answered: "We don´t know. We have never seen a polar bear. We only talk about things we have actually seen".

I know, I know, the point of the exercise was to ascertain whether or not the poor Uzbeks understood syllogistic reasoning, which can be "right" even when "wrong". (A syllogism can be empirically useless, although still logically correct.) And without syllogisms, no Sputnik!

Still, it sounds like a conversation between a cranky apparatchik who wants to turn entire rivers around cuz formal logic, and a down-to-earth farmer who prefers a more concrete-operational approach...  

Dostum is safe

Is this the end of the Afghan "warlords"? Have they finally lost their social base? Dostum and some bloke named Noor escape to Uzbekistan as their regional power base apparently collapses.  

Afghan militia leaders escape "conspiracy"

He used to be so badass

What happened to this guy? Why can´t he do anything? He used to be so badass...

Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum

One of ours?

Googoosha is an Uzbek pop star. Nothing extraordinary with that, perhaps, except that…well, Googoosha's real name is Gulnara Karimova.

If that doesn't ring a bell, Ms Karimova is the daughter of the recently diseased Islam Karimov, the president (and virtual dictator) of Uzbekistan! She's also one of the richest persons in this ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia. Or was, since she is rumored to be in house arrest after a fall out with her father. Despite its authoritarian regime, or perhaps because of it, Uzbekistan seems to enjoy good relations with both the US and Russia, due to Karimov's strong stance against Muslim fundamentalism. Uzbekistan was important as a NATO staging area during the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban. We sure have some original allies along the Silk Road…

Although I don't like Googoosha's particular style of music, I admit that it's better than I expected. The video clips are available free on the web. And yes, the great star is wearing fashion and jewelry of her own brand. This could work in the Eurovision Song Contest, in the unlikely event that Uzbekistan is ever admitted to the European Broadcasting Union (which despite its name does include some nations technically situated on the Asian side of Mare Nostrum and the Black Sea). A Euro-song event in Samarkand might be interesting but, alas, I think the organizers of the contest are tired of the ex-Soviet theatre after Kiev, Moscow and Baku…

Besides, we don't want *everyone* to know that these guys are really on our side in the clash of civilizations, do we now?

Autopsy of a lake

"Aralkum: A Man-Made Desert" is a book dealing with one of the world's largest ecological disasters, the turning of the Aral Sea into a salt desert. The Aral Sea is, or rather was, situated in Central Asia. It used to be one of the largest lakes in the world, but Soviet irrigation projects diverted water from two of its largest tributaries, dramatically shrinking its size. From 1960 to 1990, about half of the Aral Sea disappeared, and in the two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the rest has disappeared, as well. The resulting desert is known as Aralkum.

This book is somewhat less technical than other volumes in the "Ecological Studies" series. It's nevertheless difficult to read for the layman, due to the excessively detailed information it contains. "Aralkum: A Man-Made Desert" should be treated as a reference work, not something you can read from cover to cover, unless you are a budding scientist who absolutely wants to do research on salt deserts!

Chapters deal with subjects such as geology, history, climate, flora, fauna, and attempts to restore the environment for the benefit of the local population. While animal life in and around the disappearing lake has taken a heavy toll, 368 species of plants have managed to establish themselves on the former lake floor, suggesting that Mother Nature will always find a way. If humanity will is another thing entirely. As usual, the scientists take an optimistic approach, reporting on how their experiments with planting various grasses and shrubs have increased the quality of life in selected villages in the area. Thank you.

The one thing missing from "Aralkum: A Man-Made Desert" is the feeling of moral revulsion. The whole book reminds me of an autopsy of the victim of some horrible crime: dispassionate, clinical, objective. I suppose we can't expect anything else from a reference volume...