Appendix A
II
Most theologians today have no problem accepting that God created the world through the process of evolution, and they usually invoke the argument from design, or the teleological argument, as proof. The Roman Catholic philosopher of the middle ages, St. Thomas Aquinas, first made the teleological argument part of church canon. There appears to be design throughout nature, and design implies a designer; Aquinas called this designer--God.
Once meaning or purpose enters into a discussion of evolution, teleology also slips in. It seems strange to hear someone say that evolution has "reasons" for what it does. Is this to say that intelligence is at work in forging the things of the world? While we can explain just about everything on a physical level, or as having a physical basis, science turns its head when reasons are given for the great designs of evolutionary masterpieces; as if reason lacked a reasoner, or design a designer.
Darwin discussed natural selection and the survival of the fittest without introducing any active agency operating on a higher plane. He saw it simply as a means of the struggle to exist as a species adapts through changing conditions. But he also recognized the ascendancy of the human intellect, and admitted his total ignorance of its place in the scheme of things. As he said:
"We must acknowledge. . . that man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system--with all these exalted powers--Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin."*
While Darwin was a man of his day, and the world ready for his ideas, I think Plotinus was a philosopher way before his time. With the knowledge of the Earth and universe available today, especially with the rapid growth of electronic information systems, his inner visions would have found welcome ground in our modern world through his keen intellect. I can only imagine how he would have explained the work of the `Third hypostasis and its grand result. There are no details in the Enneads, but I think if he had known the works of Darwin, it would have given him the clues he needed. I can only anticipate what Plotinus might have said on the subject, and apologize for any error or misunderstanding on my part.
The question arises as to the World Soul's generation towards the lower; that is, the point that living beings take form as a product of the World Souls "movement upon the face" of the Earth.
As has been shown, the system of Plotinus or the Divine Triad, with the ONE empowered as the sun, rises within that celestial structure we know to be the solar system. The planet Earth, the third hypostasis or World Soul, receives the "Idea" of creation through the Spiritual power of the ONE as supreme source. Living beings--ensouled through Spirit--take nourishment from the heat and light of solar energy.
There needs be, however subtle and sublime, an innate intelligence at work in the diverse and varied forms that take shape as living creatures whether plant or animal. As we have seen, the Second Hypostasis or Intelligible Realm, focused within the planetary spheres, contains the Ideal Forms or objects of thought, as individual entities. The World Soul, centered in the Earth, partakes of this realm in its higher movement, and in turn generates this intelligence to the processes working within the Earth plane at the level of matter. It is here that form unites with substance as Spirit shapes an image of itself in the generation of living things. Plotinus held that form never completely unites with matter to shape the physical object. He may have been thinking that form and matter unite yet remain separable, such as when the soul leaves the body at death. It must be so if intelligence is thought of as the source that guides the hand of creation, while at the same time not being dependent on it.
It seems obvious that the indwelling power of Spirit manifesting in physical form must be bound by the laws governing the physical world. But only dependent in terms of how the building blocks of matter are put together structurally, not that it is hampered in fulfilling its purpose in the design of nature.
As Spirit endows matter at the simplest and most basic level, living forms rise from this universal power enveloped from within the individual entity. Each primal being partakes of the manifestation of living Soul at the Universal level. Spiritual evolution channels and branches through physical evolution rising into more complex organic forms. Universal Soul takes on individuality as living entities evolve into higher sentient beings. Spirit as Mind carries with it the intelligence empowering living things, and bestows upon them its likeness; that is, to the fullness of their capacity to express it.
Every living tree in the forest is a spiritual entity evolving to higher levels through the Universality of Spirit. Not every tree can be said to possess an individual soul at this stage of evolution, yet nonetheless, each partakes of life given through Spirit. Within the plant realm, we might think of the Living forest itself as The spiritual entity rather than the individual trees.
Spirit takes on greater individuality within the animal kingdom, but is still not quite capable of holding on to Soul as distinct to itself. Intelligence marks the evolution of Spirit as sentient beings rise to ever higher levels of mental awareness. Soul finally breaks free from Universality and Knows Itself; thus, humanity as unique Spiritual Beings attain to an awareness of their potential God-Hood. The quest for spiritual enlightenment, and knowledge of creation, begins in earnest as Soul now recognizes its heritage and Spiritual Essence.
*Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species and Descent of Man. New York: The Modern Library, Random House, n.d.
Copyright © 1991 By JohnK Hammelton