59
his Critique of Pure Reason (1781)—and strike of bountiful contradictions, of intellectual, fructifying oppositions that defy dialectical logic. They hold to a persistent
evolution toward some kind of transcendent reality or surreality, or awareness, that
surpasses the latitude of normal rules and laws that may be either externally, or
internally, reconciled. Or both. What, in Socratic dialogues, was known as the elenchus tactic of refutations
8
in disciplines of natural history may take the form of
defiance of the rule of competitive exclusion, as with the unexplainable proliferation
of planktonic species.
9
7.2 Synderesis
But perhaps the most elusive and intriguing of all human classes of paradox involve
the conscience. The term “synderesis” derives from writings by St. Jerome
(347–419) as he elucidates the four beings found in Ezekiel’s vision in the Septuagint
at Ezekiel 1:10.
10
Synonymous with the “spark of conscience” said to have remained
in Adam’s heart post-paradise, it is the trail of tears leading to commiseration,
empathy, and humility; and which led John Milton, in the final Book XII of Paradise
Lost, to suggest “When this worlds dissolution shall be ripe, With glory and power
to judge both quick & dead, To judge th’ unfaithful dead, but to reward/His faithful,
and receave [sic] them into bliss, whether in Heavn’ or Earth, for then the Earth
Shall all be Paradise, far happier place/Then this of Eden, and far happier daies….”
Douglas Langston incisively abetted recruitment of every conscious and subconscious discipline—as might be ascertained in a Milton, or Boethius’ De consolation
philosophiae (524 AD)—by affirming one of the early mathematical puzzles of
Medieval theories of virtue and the human psyche. He did so by recognizing that the
Franciscan friar William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347), on the subject of the conscience, agreed with philosopher-theologian Duns Scotus (c.1266–1308), who held
that the “conscience can provide the entry into the seeming circularity of performing virtuous actions in order to develop intentions that seem to be required for
8 See Gregory Vlastos, ‘The Socratic Elenchus’, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy I, Oxford
1983, 27–58.
9 See Scheffer, M., Rinaldi, S., Huisman, J. and Weissing, F. J., 2003, “Why plankton communities
have no equilibrium: solutions to the paradox,” Hydrobiologia 491, 9–18.
10 See https://www.iep.utm.edu/synderes/, Accessed September 11, 2018. See St. Jerome, By Jean
Steinmann, Translated By Ronald Matthews, Geoffrey Chapman, London 1959; See also, Traditio
, Vol. 57, 2002 , Origen, Plato… Https://Www.Jstor.Org/Action/Showpublication?Journalcode=Tr
aditio,Journal Article, “Origen, Plato, And Conscience (“Synderesis”) In Jerome’s Ezekiel
Commentary,” Douglas Kries, Traditio, Vol. 57 (2002), Pp. 67–83, Published By: Cambridge
University Press, Https://Www.Jstor.Org/Stable/27832010?Seq=1#Page_Scan_Tab_Contents,
Accessed September 11, 2018; See also Oscar James Brown, Natural Rectitude and Divine Law in
Aquinas: An Approach to an Integral Interpretation of the Thomistic Doctrine of Law, Pontifical
Institute of Medieval Studies, Toronto, 1981, pp. 175–77.
7.2 Synderesis
his Critique of Pure Reason (1781)—and strike of bountiful contradictions, of intellectual, fructifying oppositions that defy dialectical logic. They hold to a persistent
evolution toward some kind of transcendent reality or surreality, or awareness, that
surpasses the latitude of normal rules and laws that may be either externally, or
internally, reconciled. Or both. What, in Socratic dialogues, was known as the elenchus tactic of refutations
8
in disciplines of natural history may take the form of
defiance of the rule of competitive exclusion, as with the unexplainable proliferation
of planktonic species.
9
7.2 Synderesis
But perhaps the most elusive and intriguing of all human classes of paradox involve
the conscience. The term “synderesis” derives from writings by St. Jerome
(347–419) as he elucidates the four beings found in Ezekiel’s vision in the Septuagint
at Ezekiel 1:10.
10
Synonymous with the “spark of conscience” said to have remained
in Adam’s heart post-paradise, it is the trail of tears leading to commiseration,
empathy, and humility; and which led John Milton, in the final Book XII of Paradise
Lost, to suggest “When this worlds dissolution shall be ripe, With glory and power
to judge both quick & dead, To judge th’ unfaithful dead, but to reward/His faithful,
and receave [sic] them into bliss, whether in Heavn’ or Earth, for then the Earth
Shall all be Paradise, far happier place/Then this of Eden, and far happier daies….”
Douglas Langston incisively abetted recruitment of every conscious and subconscious discipline—as might be ascertained in a Milton, or Boethius’ De consolation
philosophiae (524 AD)—by affirming one of the early mathematical puzzles of
Medieval theories of virtue and the human psyche. He did so by recognizing that the
Franciscan friar William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347), on the subject of the conscience, agreed with philosopher-theologian Duns Scotus (c.1266–1308), who held
that the “conscience can provide the entry into the seeming circularity of performing virtuous actions in order to develop intentions that seem to be required for
8 See Gregory Vlastos, ‘The Socratic Elenchus’, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy I, Oxford
1983, 27–58.
9 See Scheffer, M., Rinaldi, S., Huisman, J. and Weissing, F. J., 2003, “Why plankton communities
have no equilibrium: solutions to the paradox,” Hydrobiologia 491, 9–18.
10 See https://www.iep.utm.edu/synderes/, Accessed September 11, 2018. See St. Jerome, By Jean
Steinmann, Translated By Ronald Matthews, Geoffrey Chapman, London 1959; See also, Traditio
, Vol. 57, 2002 , Origen, Plato… Https://Www.Jstor.Org/Action/Showpublication?Journalcode=Tr
aditio,Journal Article, “Origen, Plato, And Conscience (“Synderesis”) In Jerome’s Ezekiel
Commentary,” Douglas Kries, Traditio, Vol. 57 (2002), Pp. 67–83, Published By: Cambridge
University Press, Https://Www.Jstor.Org/Stable/27832010?Seq=1#Page_Scan_Tab_Contents,
Accessed September 11, 2018; See also Oscar James Brown, Natural Rectitude and Divine Law in
Aquinas: An Approach to an Integral Interpretation of the Thomistic Doctrine of Law, Pontifical
Institute of Medieval Studies, Toronto, 1981, pp. 175–77.
7.2 Synderesis