Patterson in Pursuit

There’s a purely rational argument for the divinity of love. The core Christian claims can be translated into straightforward analytical philosophy without appealing to mystery, faith, or superstition.I am not saying this argument is true, merely that it’s reasonable, coherent, and understandable in the context of standard philosophy.Here’s the argument:1) Patterns are real and mind-independent (we’ll call them “Forms”).2) There is a metaphysical hierarchy of Forms.3) At the top of the hierarchy is the Form of the Good.4) The highest form is Love.5) Therefore, Love is the Form of the Good.We can break this argument into two parts: Propositions 1-3, which can be understood as a simple Platonism (using the word “patterns” instead of the usual term “universals”); and Propositions 4-5 which can be understood as an empirical Christian claim which clarifies and updates the Platonic idea.What I mean by PlatonismBy “Platonism,” I do not mean a faithful reconstruction of Plato’s ideas—rather, a metaphysical framework which says that patterns, abstractions and relations are real features of existence, separate from our minds. There are cats, and there is Cat-ness, the pattern which all cats have in common, which sits outside the material world in an abstract domain.The point of this article is not to make an argument for this kind of Platonism (which I’ve done extensively elsewhere.) The point is to say that within this view, there is a hierarchy of Forms. As you go up the abstraction ladder, you reach higher and higher forms. Eventually you’ll find the Form of Justice Itself, which is an extremely high-level, high-dimensional pattern that every just action participates in.Impersonal Form of the GoodAt the top of this hierarchy, the Platonist wants to say, is the Form of the Good. This form is so absolute, so fundamental, that it’s the Form which grounds all of our ethical judgements. The form of the Good isn’t something which can be judged “good” or “bad”—it is Goodness itself, the Form-that-we-use to determine goodness.Functionally, this Form plays a similar role to God in theism. However, the classical Form of the Good is critically impersonal. If there is a Creator-God (or “demiurge” in the Platonic vocabulary), he sits underneath the Form of the Good, participating in it. The theistic God, by contrast, has nothing above him; he sits at the apex of the metaphysical hierarchy.That gives us the meaning of Propositions 1-3 of the original argument. Now the Christians come along.Empirical RevelationThe Christian wants to say: by the way, it turns out the Form of the Good is not a distant, impersonal abstraction.The Form of the Good turns out to be Love.In other words, Love is The Good. Love is Goodness itself—it’s the thing which we use to determine the goodness of everything else; it’s the Value underpinning all other values; it’s the objective meaning of life; it’s the first and final cause of everything.And Love is in the Form of a Person. Love is alive.This is not an aprioristically-true claim. It’s an empirical claim—that is how we can understand the meaning of “divine revelation”—God reveals his face, not through a purely logical argument, but through Incarnation.The Form of the Good “comes down from [Platonic] heaven” to live among us.Immediately, if such a thing happened—or if it plausibly happened—we would find ourselves grappling with the same philosophical questions as the early Christians. Divine Love is fully instantiated by Jesus Christ. So, what was Jesus’s exact relationship with God? Clearly he was a man, yet divine at the same time... and suddenly we’re back in the 4th century.So that’s the claim. If there is a hierarchy of Forms, then the Christians are saying Love is the highest Form and the essence of God.Note:If we want to replace the Platonic conception of the “Form of the Good” with the Neo-Platonic idea of “the One,” the Christian argument still holds.So we can swap out premise (3) for the claim “At the top of the hierarchy is The One,” which would change the conclusion to: (5) Therefore, Love is The One. Either formulation works. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Original article here, from 2023: Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Dive into a thoughtful exploration of Christianity and philosophy, where love is highlighted as the core commandment in religious teachings. Discover the value of a personal relationship with God, free from institutional barriers. Jesus is portrayed as a living embodiment of love, while his critiques of authority provoke contemplation on power dynamics. The discussion also touches on the significance of suffering, the nature of existence, and the resurrection as a potent metaphor. Join this intriguing journey into the depths of faith and human experience.

Dive into an exploration of Marxism through a materialist lens. Discover how Marx views capitalism, portraying capitalists as non-productive entities. The discussion on labor theory reveals how physical labor shapes economic value. Challenge the notion of private property and explore class consciousness as a precursor to revolution. Delve into the nihilistic tendencies of extreme materialism and its impact on language. This intriguing analysis connects metaphysical ideas to contemporary issues, shedding light on Marx's enduring relevance.

Explore the enigmatic relationship between markets and complexity. Discover how the ham sandwich example falters with intricate products. Learn about hidden risks in additives that only reveal themselves over time. Delve into why short-term profits can fuel dangerous innovations. Understand the limitations of government regulation on market corrections. Finally, uncover the potential for independent safety research as a profitable venture for entrepreneurs, turning failures into learning opportunities.

Explore how GPT-4 may provide groundbreaking insights into philosophy and language. Steve contrasts formalism and contextualism, revealing how language embodies objective patterns akin to music. He discusses GPT-4's ability to uncover abstract structures without direct teaching, suggesting it lends support to Platonism. The conversation touches on the implications for restoring meaning in mathematics and even hints at language's powerful role in religious contexts, urging a scientific approach to investigate these profound ideas.

Patri Friedman shares his experiences and research about sleep apnea, after struggling with it for decades. Patri’s website: https://patrifriedman.com/ Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

The discussion tackles the implications of new language models and the hype surrounding AI. It explores how conversational machines might transform everyday interactions without the need for programming skills. The podcast details how these models operate as probability machines, generating creative outputs like poetry. It also argues that while they excel at conceptual reasoning, they lack true consciousness. Steve emphasizes the need to rethink our philosophy of language, comparing it to structural elements in the physical world, and advocates for more rational conversations about AI.

Eric Brakey joins me to talk about his recent experience getting detained at the border after returning from a cruise. His papers and electronics were searched, and the border guards told him that his Constitutional rights didn’t apply. A story we should pay attention to. Free State Project: fsp.org Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

The desire to understand mechanism has led scientists, doctors, and researchers into grave error—the “mechanism fallacy”—thinking that correlations are not causally connected if the mechanism is not understood. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe