Improving the world
Ours is the age of meliorism as blindly unquestioning as medieval fatalism. Meliorism is the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment. The improvability of the world cannot be justified by reason (e.g., see Rescher's essay
http://www.readperiodicals.com/201103/2328809701.html)
It is always an article of faith. Like much in the modern thought, it is a secularized form of Arminianism and Calvinism. However, it was not invented by the Protestants.
For thousands of years people lived without this belief. There is no evidence that it is necessary for "progress." The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans built empires, discovered arts and sciences, made countless inventions - all without subscribing to this tenet. The concept of improving the world (tikkun olam) is Judaic in origin; it was developed in the early rabbinic period; around the same time it crept into the prayer books. Its name suggests a grand vision.
...The Hebrew verb “t-k-n” is generally translated as “to fix,” but can also mean “to establish.” The word “olam,” usually rendered as “world,” also signifies eternity. http://www.zeek.net/706tohu/
The first human-inspired improvements of the world were laughably modest (a few minor laws that were not derived trough exegesis), but ambitions quickly rose sky high:
...The phrase tikkun olam is included in the Aleinu. The Aleinu praises G-d for allowing the Jewish people to serve Him, and expresses hope that the whole world one day will recognize G-d and abandon idolatry. The phrase tikkun olam is used in the longer expression l'takken olam b'malkhut Shaddai, "to perfect the world under G-d's sovereignty."
Aleinu is the true mother of universalist progressivism. In the most general form, it goes like this - The world is improvable; its cardinal imperfection is that not everyone believes in X. The improvement will occur when the entire world partakes of this belief, and this shared conviction becomes part of better human nature. Only then things shall become better. This improvement will be permanent, opening the new messianic age. Small-scale experiments are bound to fail; it must be all or nothing. Woe to the one standing in the way.
In the above, X can be anything; that isn't important. The concept had a slow start, because it was problematic theologically. Nowhere does the Bible hints at the improvability of created world. How is this improvement possible when G-d multiply declared it to be good? Here is where meliorism became stamped with Judaic reasoning. The first chapter of Genesis has an oddity:
...G-d does not proclaim “it was good” at the end of the second day of creation. This absence indicates that something created on the second day was, in fact, not good. R. Chanina said, ‘Because on that day, a schism was created, as it is written, ‘let it divide the waters.’ R. Tavyomi said, ‘If because of a division made l’taken olam and to stabilize it, ‘it was good’ is not written in connection with that day, how much more so should this apply to a schism that leads to the confusion of the world.’ (B’reishit Rabbah 4:7)
So one of the possibile midrashic readings is that our world is mostly good, but not quite. Something bad was intentionally introduced into it on the second day of creation, so there remains room for improvement.
Here is the idea that forever stayed with meliorism: the imperfection that requires improvement has something to do with divisions and boundaries. Divisions are intrinsically bad; progress equals elimination of these divisions. Kabbalah takes this consideration to a new level. Unlike optimistic theologies denying the reality of evil, it admits the existence of metaphysical evil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelipot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohu_and_Tikkun
By necessity, creation required establishing boundaries between divine emanations [sefirot] and the reality; some of these vessels shuttered; the improvement of the world is redrawing these boundaries. Divine is not immutable, it changes in response to human behavior. Human task is to gather and separate the holy that grew out of the shards of the broken boundaries.
For centuries, these ideas languished in the shadows of Rationalistic tradition, but then they resurfaced before the Reformation. Aristotle and scholasticism fell out of fashion; the void was immediately filled with Neoplatonism. The latter always fosters exactly this kind of thinking.
People are entitled to their beliefs. I just want to remind (hearing for the millionth time about the progress destroying all divisions and fostering a brighter future, etc.) where this stuff is from, and why it is what it is.
http://www.readperiodicals.com/201103/2328809701.html)
It is always an article of faith. Like much in the modern thought, it is a secularized form of Arminianism and Calvinism. However, it was not invented by the Protestants.
For thousands of years people lived without this belief. There is no evidence that it is necessary for "progress." The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans built empires, discovered arts and sciences, made countless inventions - all without subscribing to this tenet. The concept of improving the world (tikkun olam) is Judaic in origin; it was developed in the early rabbinic period; around the same time it crept into the prayer books. Its name suggests a grand vision.
...The Hebrew verb “t-k-n” is generally translated as “to fix,” but can also mean “to establish.” The word “olam,” usually rendered as “world,” also signifies eternity. http://www.zeek.net/706tohu/
The first human-inspired improvements of the world were laughably modest (a few minor laws that were not derived trough exegesis), but ambitions quickly rose sky high:
...The phrase tikkun olam is included in the Aleinu. The Aleinu praises G-d for allowing the Jewish people to serve Him, and expresses hope that the whole world one day will recognize G-d and abandon idolatry. The phrase tikkun olam is used in the longer expression l'takken olam b'malkhut Shaddai, "to perfect the world under G-d's sovereignty."
Aleinu is the true mother of universalist progressivism. In the most general form, it goes like this - The world is improvable; its cardinal imperfection is that not everyone believes in X. The improvement will occur when the entire world partakes of this belief, and this shared conviction becomes part of better human nature. Only then things shall become better. This improvement will be permanent, opening the new messianic age. Small-scale experiments are bound to fail; it must be all or nothing. Woe to the one standing in the way.
In the above, X can be anything; that isn't important. The concept had a slow start, because it was problematic theologically. Nowhere does the Bible hints at the improvability of created world. How is this improvement possible when G-d multiply declared it to be good? Here is where meliorism became stamped with Judaic reasoning. The first chapter of Genesis has an oddity:
...G-d does not proclaim “it was good” at the end of the second day of creation. This absence indicates that something created on the second day was, in fact, not good. R. Chanina said, ‘Because on that day, a schism was created, as it is written, ‘let it divide the waters.’ R. Tavyomi said, ‘If because of a division made l’taken olam and to stabilize it, ‘it was good’ is not written in connection with that day, how much more so should this apply to a schism that leads to the confusion of the world.’ (B’reishit Rabbah 4:7)
So one of the possibile midrashic readings is that our world is mostly good, but not quite. Something bad was intentionally introduced into it on the second day of creation, so there remains room for improvement.
Here is the idea that forever stayed with meliorism: the imperfection that requires improvement has something to do with divisions and boundaries. Divisions are intrinsically bad; progress equals elimination of these divisions. Kabbalah takes this consideration to a new level. Unlike optimistic theologies denying the reality of evil, it admits the existence of metaphysical evil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelipot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohu_and_Tikkun
By necessity, creation required establishing boundaries between divine emanations [sefirot] and the reality; some of these vessels shuttered; the improvement of the world is redrawing these boundaries. Divine is not immutable, it changes in response to human behavior. Human task is to gather and separate the holy that grew out of the shards of the broken boundaries.
For centuries, these ideas languished in the shadows of Rationalistic tradition, but then they resurfaced before the Reformation. Aristotle and scholasticism fell out of fashion; the void was immediately filled with Neoplatonism. The latter always fosters exactly this kind of thinking.
People are entitled to their beliefs. I just want to remind (hearing for the millionth time about the progress destroying all divisions and fostering a brighter future, etc.) where this stuff is from, and why it is what it is.
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