Contentment in Contention: Acceptance versus Aspiration

221 Pages·2012·0.88 MB·English

by  Beverley Southgate (auth.)

Contentment in Contention
AlsobyBeverleySouthgate:
‘COVETOUSOFTRUTH’:TheLifeandWorkofThomasWhite,1593–1676(1993)
HISTORY:WHAT&WHY?Ancient,Modern,andPostmodernPerspectives(1996;
Secondedition,2001)
WHYBOTHERWITHHISTORY?(2000)
POSTMODERNISMINHISTORY:FearorFreedom?(2003)
WHATISHISTORYFOR?(2005)
HISTORYMEETSFICTION(2009)
Editor(andauthorofIntroduction)ofDorotheaKrook,JOHNSERGEANTAND
HISCIRCLE:AStudyofThreeSeventeenth-CenturyEnglishAristotelians(1993)
Contentment in
Contention: Acceptance
versus Aspiration
Beverley Southgate
©BeverleySouthgate2012
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-35459-3
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
For Ellen and Thomas, Lily and Hannah, Natasha and Lucy,
and especially for Sheila, who gives me much more than
‘contentment’
God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take
whichyouplease–youcanneverhaveboth.Betweenthese,asapen-
dulum,manoscillates.Heinwhomtheloveofreposepredominates
willacceptthefirstcreed,thefirstphilosophy,thefirstpoliticalparty
hemeets–mostlikelyhisfather’s.Hegetsrest,commodity,andrep-
utation;butheshutsthedooroftruth.Heinwhomtheloveoftruth
predominateswillkeephimselfalooffromallmoorings,andafloat.
Hewillabstainfromdogmatism,andrecognisealltheoppositenega-
tions,betweenwhich,aswalls,hisbeingisswung.Hesubmitstothe
inconvenienceofsuspenseandimperfectopinion,butheisacandi-
datefortruth,astheotherisnot,andrespectsthehighestlawofhis
being.
(RalphWaldoEmerson,‘Intellect’,inTheComplete
ProseWorks,London,WardLock,1890,p.85)
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xii
1 Introduction 1
Introduction 1
‘Twoclassesofmen’ 4
BenthamandColeridge 10
Synthesisandsubversion 12
Conclusion 16
2 Contentmentwith‘Reality’and‘Common-Sense’ 19
Introduction 19
Realityanditsrepresentations 25
History,myth,and‘reality’ 30
Creatingrealities:History,identity,and‘humannature’ 33
Conclusion 38
3 ContentmentwithinCages(i):Science,Ethics,Politics 42
Introduction 42
Cagesinscience 48
Cagesinethics 52
Conclusion:Cagesandpolitics 55
4 ContentmentwithinCages(ii):LanguageandHistory 61
Introduction 61
Thecageoflanguage 62
Thecageofhistory 70
Conclusion 82
5 Cages:DogmatismandEscape 84
Introduction 84
Cagesandthedangersofdogmatism 87
Escape(i):Cage-consciousness 92
Escape(ii):Art,poetry,andhistory 94
Conclusion 100
vii
viii Contents
6 AntidotetoContentment:TheSublime 103
Introduction 103
The‘sublime’:Abriefcontextualisation 106
God/Christianity/Transcendence 114
Aspirationinthearts:Poetryandplay 116
Theneedforasublime 122
Conclusion 124
7 EducationforContentment?Utility,Conformity,
Dissent 127
Introduction 127
Educationforcontentment 128
Educationandaspiration 131
Individualism,conformity,anddiscontent 135
ArolefortheHumanities:Againstcontentment 137
Knowledgeandwisdom 138
Disturbanceandperturbation,sanityandslavery 141
Gardensandvolcanoes 146
Conclusion 148
8 Conclusion 152
Introduction 152
Contentmentadvocated 153
Discontentadvocated 159
Now,afterthedeathofGod 162
Conclusion:Truth,modesty,andradicalhope 166
Postscript 171
Notes 177
Bibliography 197
Index 204
Preface
This book is concerned with the tension between two modes of being,
two ways of living: on the one hand, the embrace of contentment by
accepting the ‘reality’ (and so the inevitability) of our situation as it
is; and on the other hand, the need felt for continual striving towards
somethingpreferable(thoughoftenindefinable)thatseemsforeverjust
outofreach.
Thattensionhasbeenexperiencedandexpressedfromthetimeofthe
earliest Western philosophies, and is in certain respects exemplified in
thetwomajortraditionsofthoughtrepresentedbyAristotleandPlato,
who famously in Raphael’s painting of The School of Athens (1510–11)
focus their attention respectively on the earth and on the heavens.
As Socrates’ pupil, Plato diverted attention from what we would call
the natural sciences to a concern with how best to live; and the basis
foramorallifehefoundthroughconsiderationofanidealworld,tran-
scending the here and now, to which we should aspire. Aristotle then
broughtphilosophybackdowntoearth,hisinterestfirmlyinthephys-
ical;andhehimselfdistinguished(atleastbyimplication)betweenthe
practitionersofasubjectsuchasHistory,whichwasconfinedtoacon-
siderationofwhatis(orhasbeen),andPoetry,whichwasfreetorange
imaginativelyoverwhatmightbe–ormightbetterbe.
That distinction continues to be seen today in the twenty-first cen-
tury, where we daily witness, in both public and private life, a sharp
andsometimescontradictorydichotomybetweenpragmaticacceptance
andaspirationalidealism.So,forexample,politicians,whileoftencon-
cerned to avoid any accusation of visionary idealism, emphasise the
‘realistic’ and down-to-earth nature of their policies, but at the same
timerepudiateanyhintof‘complacency’andevidentlystrivetoeffect
major transformations in the world at large. And private individuals,
withaseeminglyobsessiveregardfortheirownidentitiesandselfhoods,
while seeking an unidentified ‘happiness’, demand to be accepted ‘as
they are’ (‘take me as you find me’), but simultaneously engage in an
endlessquestto‘findthemselves’(anendlesslyelusiveselfhood).
The matter of ‘contentment’ has recently become a major political
and personal issue, with some seeing the ‘global economic crisis’ as
providing a chance to take stock and re-evaluate our lives. Maybe, it
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