Posted by Phil on January 12, 1999 at 06:23:09:
In Reply to: The 4 Loves & Truth, Beauty and Goodness - anthropocentrically speaking posted by John Sobert Sylvest on January 05, 1999 at 17:31:19:
You have certainly hit upon the basic transcendental orientations of human nature, which Lonergan and others have written about extensively. The problem, of course, is that these all get attached to something less than the Ultimate, and so manifest in many aberrant ways. But, yes, before the religions of explicit faith have anything to say, there is the human spirit in its hunger for Ultimate fulfillment in these existential directions- - which is precisely why the various religions speak to us as they do, n'est pas?
Perhaps what is most critical in all this is that one must be in touch with these existential imperatives for religion to make any sense. Otherwise, it's just more food for the Superego.
Thanks for the contribution!