In post 1, I highlighted the apparent tension between the biblical account of man's fallenness pervading his reason, and the phenomena of seemingly very smart people using their practical reason very well. Practical reason, as mentioned previously, is reasoning with respect to what to do; it has to do with the actions we perform. In part 2, I suggested a way to look at this problem by drawing a distinction within the realm of practical reason itself, namely, the distinction between
(a) how we should achieve our goals/desires/aims (instrumental reason), and
(b) the kinds of goals/desires/aims we should have (telic reason).
I suggested that there's basically not that much a problem with people with regards to (a) - that is to say, most people function not to badly with respect to their instrumental reason. Sure, there are those who are subject to conditions such that even with instrumental reason, they fail to act rationally. One might take for example, a person suffering from depression who actually desires to get well, and believes that the best way to do that is to seek medical attention, and somehow just cannot find the motivation to do it. (There is, of course, to a lesser extent, the same phenomenon whenever we just want to laze in bed despite all reason not to.) But these are the exceptions rather than the norm. For most of us, fallen as we are, we nevertheless function ok in being motivated to do the things to achieve our goals.
Now in this 3rd part, I want to say what has gone wrong with our telic reason. I wish to highlight just how fallen this aspect of our reason is, and also why it is a part of our reason as opposed to merely our desires. Consider first a simple case, The Incredible Sulk.
Here, it seems that Tommy prefers his own unhappiness as long as others around him can be made unhappy as well. We might say that he was rebellious, recalcitrant, or incorrigible, even. But at the same time, it seems that his desire is irrational, unreasonable. One might want say to Tommy, "Hey, look here boy. It's silly to do that!" And by "silly", we don't just mean something that is morally wrong, but rather that there's something intellectually, rationally deficient about him. And this is the point I wish to highlight here. It's downright foolish of Tommy to have such desires. What good might be gained from making everyone, including himself, unhappy?The Case of The Incredible Sulk:
Tommy (5 years old) is unhappy that his mother did not buy him the $3 million Ferrari he saw zooming past on the street. As a result, he wants everyone around him to be unhappy as well. So he tries to sulk for the whole day, knowing that his parents do not like it. He also knows that by doing that, he would have to miss his favorite dinner as punishment. Moreoever, it is pretty tiring to sulk the whole day and pretend no one else exists. Yet, he simply wants to do it to spoil everyone's mood.
But on further reflection, don't we do that all the time? We desire temporal comfort more than eternal security - many would rather laze around on Sunday than go to church when invited. We desire things that we know would lead to short-lived pleasure and long-term consequences. We do and say things that hurt others and don't benefit ourselves. Our desires are directed to the immediately pleasurable rather than the ultimately good, to convenience rather than right principles. Our goals become the mere satisfaction of current desires, without reflection on whether these are worthy, righteous, honourable, commendable desires. Indeed, these words have been rendered almost 'out-of-fashion' by the relativistic, do-whatever-you-want, respect-my-rights (including my right to be downright stupid, we might add) culture of today.
In fact, the whole question of life's purpose, or teleology, is swept aside under the carpet. (Only to re-emerge in the angst of teenage life, the stark reality of mid-life and the quiet desperation of old age.) Ask the question today, "what kinds of goals/desires/aims should I have?", and you are likely to get a strange reply along the lines of, "do whatever you really want. Follow your heart." Which sounds oh-so-nice, until you realise the question hasn't been answered at all. Phrased another way, the original question is simply "What should I want? What should my heart desire?", and the reply becomes just "Want what you want, and desire what you desire." Some help that gives.
The modern world is particularly prone to this paralysis of purpose. And it is not surprising, because we have lost the ability to reason properly with ourselves what is best. We either think that there is no best, that the best is unknowable, or that everyone's best is up to them. We are blind, in fact, to the all-surpassing worth of Christ, to the glory of the eternal God, to the satisfaction of our deepest needs in Him. At least, until He does a special work in us.
And that, I think, is the crux of the fallenness of practical reason. We can diagnose it in many ways, we can identify it's failings as we did above; we can also sum it up in 4 words: we don't desire God. And that is the worst kind of answer one could give to the question in (b): what should I desire?
The one object that is supremely good, righteous, loving, glorious and worthy, we have failed to seek Him and want Him. We have irrationally rebelled against Him, to our own detriment. The telic aspect of our practical reason is found sorely wanting. Of course, this is inseparable from the moral dimension. But it is also a matter of reason. So then, the Biblical writer reminds us,
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10
