The Meaning Of Life

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30901, 6 November 1965, Page 4

The Meaning Of Life

(KtvitUtA by J.O.i.t The Triple Abyss. By Warwick Fairfax. Geoffrey Bles. 465 pp. Warwick Fairfax, well known as an Australian journalist and a director of the "Sydney Morning Herald,” has attempted in this book to grappl* with the problem of the meaning of life in the light of the apparent meaninglessness of the life of many a twentieth century man. The result of his mental exercise is on the one hand to condemn modern British philosophy as too limited, and on the other to offer this book as a possible synthesis of philosophy, metaphysics and religion. At the outset he says, “The kind of synthesis I am attempting has certain implications. Not merely man but the whole cosmogony must embrace a universalised tendency and design towards a purpose; in human terms this must be a movement away from evil to good. It must admit the complete validity of knowledge, since a purpose that cannot make itself known does not make sense. Therefore both universal and individual purposes must entail free sources of action." The book is divided into three sections, the first of which discusses philosophy. Although one senses a certain nostalgia for the old 19th century Idealism now in ruins, the author is eager to join battle with the Oxbridge philosophers about their assertions of the nature and limitations of knowledge. His critical mind is focused on such problems as consciousness, matter and knowing, and epistemology is shown in both its old and new dress—the latter in his opinion hardly decent. This slight skirmish is only the preamble for a pitched battle with people like Ayer and Nowell-Smith on the subject of Ethics, which Mr Fairfax will not permit to be but statements about man—relative and not absolute. His major defence is centred on his certainty of the existence of the self and of some of its experiences. Among these is the awareness of the right and the good which are objective and not subjective—“the moral law has validity however, not because it interests, rather it interests because it has validity.” The existence of a self is the firm link in his chain of thought. Posing a question to Professor Ryle who has abandoned “the ghost in the machine’' he inquires whether it is logically necessary for the only possible types of existence to be empirical ones. Further he attempts a reply by asserting that deep analysis of our experience reveals that there is an active non-empirical self which determines through its awareness of objective values what it selects for it attention. In this section the author’s comprehension of the conflicts in modern physics on “how it all began" are factually enlightening. In moving to the second section on “Life” it is no surprise to read that evolution moves according to a certain pattern from the inorganic to the organic upwards through increasing specialisation to the stage where there can be the appreciation of values by the self. Such has been the decree of the Creator. Aesthetics, naturally interest Mr Fairfax who is both on the Board of the Elizabethan

Theatre Trust and al so had bis own plays performed in Sydney. Understandably, his chapter on “ Ae ? the ?sL is pure delight It breathes not only his love of the arts but also gives direction to the place of Art in the world of matter and form and to its claim on the lives of all who wish to live vitally rather than just to exist "It is the function of Art to heighten and intensify the emotional level at which we live, to deepen and quicken our interest In the whole of life.” As a result of our insight into Ethics and Aesthetics we should be motivated in the way of love. At this stage Mr Fairfax feels he has drawn the curtain for the third section devoted to religion. What does he say about God? God is both transcendent and Immanent As transcendent he is “God unmanifest" and naturally we know little about him. As Immanent we can by reflection on our experience be convinced of the existence of a cosmic force directed to some planned end. The self intuits that this end is of an ethical and spiritual nature. Thus it is that we are asked to consider the doctrine of Involution which attests that God injects into creation a spirit potential which is a necessary ancillary to His end. In short, God created the world to love Him and made it so it could. This theme has been presented in recent years by Professor A. A. Bowman who since he is a professional logician is slightly more convincing than our author. Yet it is interesting to observe that both draw freely from the Eastern religions. Christ is the visible expression of God’s completed purpose for creation. Mr Fairfax now becomes confusing when he tries to discuss the Incarnation of the Logos in Christ in Hindu terms. The Logos whilst being the cosmic person of God is somewhat impersonal and yet joins Himself to the Son of Man. The Adoptionist

heresy naturally colours hit view of redemption where Christ is made the ideal for us *<L and through his erup. tion into history eternally influences the external situation of man.

The response to the “Christ event” is a “soul response " By this Mr Fairfax means that it comes not from the etheric body which corresponds to the id, or the astral body which corresponds to the ego—but from the soul which is identical with the superego. (The Hindu terms here are not clearly defined and are strange to Western ears.) The self or soul recognises in Christ the end to which the cosmic force progresses and by repentance and faith commits its all to following in His way.

We can now view the author’s conclusion where there is the synthesis of the individual “I am” and its integration with the cosmos and its final resolution to the Divine “I am.” Such a true individual is not lost in the Absolute, but has thereby found himself completely. Naturally this work of 465 pages raises more questions that it answers both for philosophers and theologians, but none can fail to be amazed at the breadth of the author's knowledge and his painstaking diligence in integration and in estimating its value. It is for the future to assess its influence, but one hopes that it will encourage others to set sail for a new land of Metaphysics. The only major criticisms of the book are that the author fails to give the origin of a number of his quotations and does not supply us with an Index. If he had done this the reader would have been able to explore many a previously untrod path—a hope obviously dear to the intention of the author. Nevertheless it must be said that from beginning to end the book is always interesting and very well written.