“Of things that exist, some exist by nature, some from other causes.”
Aristotle, Physics
Why is it that we tend to appreciate less and less that which we see often? Herein is surely one of the great banes and challenges of human life. We grow used to things.
There is no ready-to-hand solution to this problem. Perhaps it is part of the design that we simply must work at it. But work at it we can. And here again we discover that learning to see, really to see, is at the epicenter of human life. The choice is ours. What a drama!
Now, let’s ask a question: what is the first thing out there to discover? I know, this seems very strange. Perhaps an experiment will help. Picture a person parachuting into the world for the first time but already having the use of reason. Give the person a little time to get his bearings and observe things. What fundamental observations will he have of this world of ours?
There is no absolute answer to this strangely exciting question. Yet I offer this for starters: our person would notice the root distinction Aristotle makes in his Physics. Some things exist by nature, and some things don’t.
But wait, don’t tune out with a ‘ho, hum…’! We are already in the danger zone by using a word we are so used to that it barely functions as it could and should. Nature. Some things exist by nature.
In the name of all things good, we do well here to persevere. We will not immediately have an account of the precise meaning of ‘exist by nature.’ And we certainly might not grasp right away where such things have come from. That is alright. We can do now what is the prerequisite to pursuing these issues further.
We can wonder. And keep looking. And wonder some more. Some things exist by nature.
What are these things saying? So much! But we must not be in a hurry to demand to hear all at once. Our first apprehension of them is simply as existing. As given. As doing what they do. Insistently. Consistently. With an order so profound that it stuns; and then lulls to complacency. Unless we are vigilant.
Natural creatures and natural ‘communities’ are all around us. God grant us the wisdom to see and to hear. And perservere in wonder.
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I invite you to join me in a kind of mini-course on Nature: several Concepts Made Clear (CMC) videos, averaging 6 minutes each. Start with this one, CMC #13 then go on from there :
Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.
Nature is everything that man did not create or originate.
Dude – i love reading your stuff – my soul has been itching to connect more deeply with the beauty and reality of God in all that he has provided and i’m so thankful that you are being used for just that – respectfully and with envy & awe – cleary
Cleary,
I’m deeply grateful to be able to join you in your endeavor. The wonder of God’s works is a potent antidote to the growing ennui of our age.
I see myself as a part of nature, as the snow on the trees and the trees in the fields, although I say I can think, I can talk, and I can move, it does not change the fact that I am a part of the creation, God has created us all into His plan, co-exist with each other, in this world. Do you hear trees talking to each other? What does a bird fly in the sky? Although we don’t share a common language, we all have a reason to be living in this world and be a part of nature.
Tai-Ching, Thank you. I think it is one of our great challenges to discover how we are a part of nature, while also having an utterly unique place in it. God does indeed have a plan that includes all of nature, as He calls us to take our special place, exercising the incomparable gift of our rationality.
Just getting back into the habit of munching on some weekly ‘bacon.’ Really appreciated this post, and am glad to see you’re back to videos! Thanks for doing the perseverance!
Pax,
Bridget
Thank you, Bridget. I too am glad to be doing videos…
Professor,
Couldn’t help but notice that the trigger that drew me to this video was the cardinal in the tree. I have a cardinal that calls to me here in my backyard in Arlington, VA. He wants his peanut. He has also brought his mate, and what brought tears to my eyes, earlier this autumn, evidently three members of that family (the baby, since evidenced to be a female) came to my deck at the same time on a Sunday morning. When they, or one calls, I respond and break open a peanut, toss it on my deck. I also have squirrels and chipmunks begging for the same. Though I live in the city, I am blessed to see nature cross my back yard, raccoons, coyotes, ‘possums, even an unwelcome Cooper’s hawk. Deer and fox, though not passing through my back yard, I’ve seen within a few blocks.
I am jealous! Please continue to enjoy!
Have you posted cmc#14&15 to continue our thinking on nature.
I can’t find them.
Thanks
Hi Walt, They are posted; they are available at the member site. If you have not become a member you simply need to signup: here
The results of wondering before wandering into Newton’s Principia:
“This then is one account of ‘nature’, namely that it is the immediate material substratum of things which have in themselves a principle of motion or change.
Another account is that ‘nature’ is the shape or form which is specified in the definition of the thing.
…
We also speak of a thing’s nature as being exhibited in the process of growth by which its nature is attained. The ‘nature’ in this sense is not like ‘doctoring’, which leads not to the art of doctoring but to health. Doctoring must start from the art, not lead to it. But it is not in this way that nature (in the one sense) is related to nature (in the other).” Aristotle, Physics 2.1. Tr. by R. P. Hardie and R. K. Gaye