Science and Freedom

Originally written on 28^th April 2020

What is a philosophical concept of value?

Interestingly, the concept of science can be traced back to the great western philosopher Plato, who, however, did not speak of actual science, but of so-called dialectic,¹⁾Dialectic originally means the art of conducting a conversation, with discourse and counter-discourse, in order to find the truth. which is a kind of methodology of conscious conceptual research. Science centres its attention on the rational, orderly comprehension of a chosen phenomenon, for example material calculations in physics or living nature in the sense of biology, the exploration of the human being in psychology and medicine, or the science of materials in chemistry. In contrast to philosophy and its original scientific approach, which eventually extended to all areas of research, catholic theology is portrayed with firm beliefs and dogmas in that it largely avoids the explorative, truth orientated ways of thinking which function according to causal principles. Instead of striving for the highest universal validity and rational comprehensibility with the most logical order possible, theology is content with monocausal, non-disputable explanatory models.

Human endeavour in research towards the world and towards life’s existences of being²⁾Translator’s note: The German used here is Seinsexistenzen des Daseins, both human as well as animal, vegetative and dead matter, not only leads to valid, understandable, communicable and explainable knowledge that qualitatively enriches people’s lives, but also allows them a growing freedom. Freedom, however, never means an unrestrained life without a sense of responsibility, rather, it is in its bounteous outward form a result of an individually matured existence and is usually expressed through the achievement of a great many insights into truth. The mystery of this research is that although it is often focused on matter, the human spirit is active and ultimately a spiritual root must be thought as a real dimension. All manifestation, in order to recognise it in its truth, requires a thinking that in no way denies the spirit as real reality. In relation to an entire culture, true freedom therefore does not lie in a banal hedonism that procures emotional advantages in the pleasure of life, but it is shown above all in mature responsibility and sociability with the greatest possible wisdom in mutuality³⁾Translator’s note: German word here is Gegenseitigkeit. and actual universal unity with world creation. Freedom must awaken, through a constantly acquirable solid knowledge, to a level outside or above the polarities of existence.

Self-extinction of the Italian nation

The question of how, for example, a whole country can suddenly be completely diminished by a so-called pandemic, in its natural forms of relationship, in its already weak economy, in its jurisprudence and finally with its needs for activity, for an observer who studies the phenomena from various angles and who achieves a solid assessment is not understandable. In Italy, children are now placed in front of the television to protect them from the outside, for example from running on the grass, and thus from infection. The elderly have no visiting rights and are held as if captive in rooms, and finally, for two months now, healthy natural outings for walks, sports and activities have been prohibited. What science, what verified wisdom and which presented research, over this long period of time, can justify the drastic freedom restricting measures? However, if someone observes the phenomenon of freedom, not in this sense dependent on lockdown and laws of applied epidemiology, but relates it entirely to people and their souls, their spiritual possibilities of developing their own knowledge and with this the resulting responsibility, they will find that it is precisely these inner qualities that are most at risk. People lose their mental and spiritual feeling for life and their independent possibility to research truths. Both the scientific nature of our time, as well as freedom is in the greatest decline imaginable.⁴⁾Today, viruses are almost exclusively researched in the laboratory in connection with the search for vaccines. However, there is no question as to how humans are linked to a virus in terms of development and what significance a disease can have for the maturing of the character.

In Italy, many, being grasped by nihilism, meanwhile say that they would prefer to die rather than live for longer ignominiously and eventually slowly become emotionally and ultimately even physically devastated by the effects of isolation. In Germany, on the other hand, there are renowned scientists, such as Prof. Sucharit Bhakdi, Dr. Wodarg, Dr. Köhnlein, Prof. Streeck and many others who want to explain the phenomenon of the coronavirus factually and ultimately want to shed light on it. Where does the spiritual dimension, that extends beyond the entire polarity, live? It already lives in research, but has not been named yet. The true scientists are faced with a number of opposing voices that, if carefully checked with regard to their factual statements, do not yet have an applicable and shareable research background. Numbers may be numbers, however, it seems difficult to determine the context in which these numbers have their reality. The freedom of people can only be achieved if actions are not led by suggestions, assumptions, terrifying fears or even by external economic interests. A norm that says that you have to give up all the values of everyday life and above all relationships to stay healthy, and that also demands that you have to give up freedom to save yourself from possible death, is definitely not a solution. On the philosophical and anthropological level, these approaches, which now lead the Corona period, give rise to growing helplessness, both in politics and among the people.

The call for real science

For the corona crisis, the call for a really scientific approach is necessary both on the level of medical research and also on the expanded levels of comprehensive psychology or even spiritual science. Whoever researches a phenomenon turns to a visible or perceptible object of world creation. The mystery, however, in this orientation means that they do not only devote themselves to matter, but also to the spirit, the truth, the inner relationship, the origin and source of this phenomenon. But if this orientation is missing, perhaps due to ignorance, weakness and fear or from a collective proliferation of suggestive influences, people experience a growing veiling⁵⁾Translator’s note: the German word here is Verhülltsein which is literally translated at “to be veiled/covered” and an inescapable feeling of helplessness. The suggestions of the time show most clearly the mutually reinforcing lostness in the world.

The potential and, in the West, outstanding culture of scientific quality, which is necessary for freedom, relates to the researchers themselves, but it cannot stop with only a few, rather it must even ignite the individual citizen to wisdom. It cannot be overlooked that passive hopes without knowledge govern the phenomena of our time and strange beliefs, which stem more from theology, take the lead. A euphemism that everything should be like it was again, and maybe could become even better, is expressed without specifically conceived objectives and aims of approach. Because the inner depletion, without a goal orientation, can be so readily observed in Italy, people begin to denounce each other and insult each other like they did in the middle ages as “untore”, as carriers of a serious illness, when at night they give in to their needs to move, and go for a walk alone in the forest.

It is very beautiful to examine a phenomenon such as a virus, pathology or behaviour that appear and find an adequate explanation with causality, consequences and logic. People are freed from the monistic, narrow beliefs that are doctrinated onto them and they develop the courage not to fight against the conditions of the time and not to condemn those who propagate fear, but to learn to relate to the various explanations and ultimately they discover causes and effects, new phenomena and new backgrounds, and they feel protected due to their own growing strength in substance from methodical as well as spiritual research.

The position of the human being in the corona crisis

The real way to confront corona is to face the suggestions that arise today, through many weaknesses of thinking and mistakes in thinking, with clear, logical reason. Research centres around the virus and unfortunately it is overlooked that the focus ought to be on human beings and their health. This is the error in thinking that underlies the crisis. People need this freedom, for they must not become a supposed victim of a microorganism, strictly speaking a victim of fear of a microorganism, but can face this little being, its causes and maximum consequences, and thus face themselves and their own inner weakness undaunted. The freedom of researching and building knowledge, as well as of communicating their insights and their struggle for truth must not be denied to people. If the first article of the Constitution⁶⁾This refers to the German Constitution. speaks of dignity, people must rise up towards this dignified inner attitude of thinking.