Oxford Wrap Up : The Theology Pugcast Episode 301 

Source for contemplation/enjoyment, Samuel Alexander, Space, Time and Deity.

I read the Discarded Image this year, as well as the Timaeus (both inspired by references in the Pugcast) and I'm struck by the parallels.

12:35 I think that contemplation vs enjoyment paradigm explains some of my experience when taking philosophy classes at university. I was excited to discuss and argue the ideas and often felt disappointed in the way the subject was taught or the way the discussion topics were framed. Looking back, I think that as a Christian with a definite and well-defined worldview I was maybe "inside" the ideas more than some of my instructors or classmates who were perhaps looking at the ideas more from the "outside." You could argue that it probably also made me more biased, and I'm sure it did, but it also gave me some skin in the game. I didn't just want to talk about what Aristotle was saying, but whether he was right and what impact that would have on my own beliefs. And I think Aristotle would appreciate that approach. I think that distinction is also very much at play in architecture between the historical preservationists and the new classicists. The preservationists contemplate the traditional styles as artifacts to be understood and preserved, whereas the classicists engage the traditional styles as something to be used and enjoyed.

I resonate with Chris' despair regarding our inability on a human level to resist the influence of AI and transhumanism. But I remind myself that God is still in the equation and he often brings down systems and ideas and institutions and nations that seem invincible. I've heard someone say (I can't remember if it was one of you gentlemen) that most dystopian films and horror films only work because God is absent. Also, I'm encouraged by Gavin Ortlund's observation that one of the lessons of the Lord of the Rings is that evil doesn't have to be defeated, it just has to be resisted. Given enough time, it will destroy itself.