"Wojtyla and Kant" part 1

Just before I read, I want to say this: I'll be very interested to see the comparisons between JP2 and theology of the body and Immanuel Kant. I remember learning briefly about him in history of psychology. And you know, when you're in college and still learning about the social sciences, you can be very... what's the world I want... moldable I guess? You're just soaking in a whole lot. That's how I felt, and sometimes feel about my psychology class. This is what these people teach, but what is truth?

Well, I have now reached the half-way point (?) in the section, and I'm ready for bed. Which I guess is good int he way of there's a lot to take in. First of all: what I know. Descartes, who was a philosopher who had a lot of influence on Kant's ideas, believed in mechanism and dualism. Mechanism is where the body is pretty much completely mechanical. Dualism is where the body and soul are separate, but sometimes interact. Now there are a few things here, some of which I read and some of which I just don't think I've gotten to yet. First of all, humans are body and spirit. We were never meant to be separated, but a certain person had to eat a certain apple and now we're in a fallen world. In fact, if you look at a dead person at a funeral, they look strange. It's as if something important is missing. Also with mechanism: that can often lead to reductionism which is a person is just blood and tissue and bones. It really demeans the human person. And that can lead to Eugenics (I am skipping a few steps), which is more or less breeding people like you would breed dogs. On the less severe side, you get rewards for marrying someone "genetically superior". On the severe side, you get Nazi Germany and concentration camps.

And with Kant, one big thing I have is that he said that he had to abandon his reason to keep his faith. I have not gotten to what JP2 says on that yet, but I know that's not necessary. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote on logical faith, and I have been in several religion classes and youth group sessions where we have gone over it. Here's my thing: God created the world. So science and religion should be compatible. If there is something that seems to deny God, either you don't understand it completely or it is wrong. And honestly, there is nothing wrong with admitting that you will never understand everything. But that's the beauty of life, and I think specifically the Catholic Church. I could spend my whole life studying the Bible, church doctrine, and Theology of the Body and never finish. It's because God is so immense... so real that we just can't wrap our little minds on him. We can't just put him in a box and label him. God is just way too big for that.

Yeah, I guess this sounds a little more academic... I think I'm going to blame the 10 page paper on philosophy and physiology that I had to write for History of Psychology. Anyway, hopefully I'll finish up on Kant tomorrow and we'll get to see what JP2 says about Kant's philosophies.