It is not so strange that the duality of body and mind became such a central structure of the Western civilization, and not only in our civilization. It is a thought than can emerge rather naturally from the human condition. But in any case in the West the role of the mind, of the abstract intellect, and thus philosophy and ideology has been very heightened, privileged. And our biological, animal nature much denied, abhorred, twisted.
Obviously, we now understand it, that duality was totally wrong leading to horrible abuses. We are perpetually intermixed: angels and beasts in one, love and lust and intelligenge and ethics in one varyingly chaotic bunch. All the aspects informing each other - but, one hopes, intellect and ethics fundamentally guiding the lustful beast in the last reckoning... So, there maybe after all is, if not duality, then a consciousness that does not deny our quite glorious urges but still controls them, keeps them within reason.
No comments:
Post a Comment