0:12 - The Essence of Love
7:09 - The Future of Humanity
7:59 - The Cost of Dependency
9:34 - The Danger of Empty Charity
11:07 - The Challenge of Kindness
26:29 - The Journey to Maturity
32:18 - The Reflection of Truth
In this lecture, we explore the profound themes present in 1 Corinthians 13, commonly known for its message about love. This biblical passage is often recited at weddings yet holds deeper significance that transcends romantic love. The discussion begins with an examination of the text, highlighting its eloquence and depth, particularly as it contrasts the notions of eloquence devoid of genuine affection, identifying those who may speak beautifully yet lack substance.
The lecture delves into the implications of knowledge and proficiency without love, positing that such attributes can lead to emptiness and even manipulation, rather than virtue. Through examples, the speaker illustrates how the pursuit of knowledge can become a tool for power and control when divorced from a love for truth and humanity. This is articulated through the lens of both personal and societal issues, emphasizing how the lack of love can contribute to societal chaos and dependency rather than foster meaningful charity.
As the speaker examines specific verses, he emphasizes the characteristics of love: its patience, kindness, and enduring quality. This portrayal of love challenges the listener to consider the goodness within humanity amidst its often cruel and vindictive nature. The speaker reflects on his own life experiences in philosophy and the complexity of maintaining optimism and kindness in the face of hostility and opposition, recognizing the struggle to uphold love for humanity's potential.
The lecture addresses the theme of envy, discussing how it serves as a barrier to growth and personal achievement. The speaker contrasts positive behaviors inspired by others against the destructive nature of envy, urging the audience to channel admiration into motivation rather than resentment. This exploration continues into the characteristics of love, noting its humility and selflessness, asserting that true love does not seek personal gain or recognition.
The consideration of good and evil is a recurrent motif, with the speaker advocating for a moral approach to both personal conduct and broader societal constructs. He critiques superficial actions purported to be charitable when they lack genuine love and virtue, drawing attention to the unintended consequences of such actions. The nuances of kindness, forgiveness, and the morally uplifting power of love arise throughout, urging the audience to endure hardships and maintain hope.
Transitioning to an analysis of how perceptions evolve from childhood to adulthood, the speaker reflects on the importance of developing a moral understanding that transcends simplistic, childlike views of the world. This maturation process ties back to the scripture, illustrating how personal growth and ethical reasoning are essential in transitioning from a self-focused existence to one characterized by broader awareness and empathy.
Ultimately, the lecture culminates in a poignant reminder of the enduring power of love, which stands as the greatest virtue above faith and hope. The discussion reinforces that without love, the foundations of understanding and morality weaken, emphasizing a call to action to embrace a life grounded in truth, sincerity, and authentic compassion for others. The reflection concludes by encouraging listeners to resist bitterness and cultivate a love that not only acknowledges human flaws but also seeks to elevate humanity towards its highest potential.
[0:00] Now, of course, one of the most famous Bible verses, and you hear this, of course, a lot at weddings, is 1 Corinthians 13. This is from the New King James Version.
[0:12] The old one is more Shakespearean, and it talks about charity rather than love, which is interesting. But we will read this. Yeah, let's read it first, and then we'll go through it. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
[1:14] Love suffers long and is kind love does not envy love does not parade itself it is not puffed up does not behave rudely does not seek its own is not provoked thinks no evil does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
[1:51] Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail. Whether there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
[2:27] When I was a child I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things. For now we see in the mirror dimly but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three. But the greatest of these This is love.
[3:22] It's a beautiful passage. It's a beautiful passage.
[3:32] Now, love, of course, is one of these words that is manipulated a lot. So it starts when he says though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal, so those who are very eloquent those who are sophists but who do not have love, are discordant and you've seen people like this who are sort of very passionate speakers, but are kind of empty and manipulative and looking to seek often material gain or dominance over others. And when Corinthians speaks of love, and the Bible speaks of love, certainly in this context, it's very clear. Love rejoices in the truth. This is love of the truth.
[4:37] So, if you are incredibly eloquent, but you do not love the truth and virtue, love of virtue is the greatest good. And he says, Corinthians says, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, But have not love, I am nothing. So the pursuit of knowledge without the love of virtue is really, when stripped away, the pursuit of power. Sort of a typical example would be the pursuit of knowledge in the creation of weapons of war. Well, you understand all mysteries and all knowledge. You have a belief that you can achieve such deadly knowledge. But you're nothing because you do not love virtue.
[5:57] A cruel, cold-hearted person who studies the human heart in order to gain control over those with a deep conscience and high levels of empathy is understanding the mysteries of personality and gaining great knowledge over how the mind works. But he does so in order to gain power over other human beings. Politicians understand what motivates the lizard brain what motivates the base heart of people and they do that of course, in order to gain power over people advertisers will use people's sex drives and desire for status and beauty and so on in order to get them to buy useless crap that is thrown into landfills just as they are thrown into graves. The gift of prophecy is to see the future.
[7:09] But believing you can see the future, or actually seeing the future, without love is terrible. because we see the future in order to change it for the better. I see the world and the future of the world is a barren, perhaps irradiated wasteland, without solving the problem of child abuse. The world just gets worse and more powerful. The chaos in adult life that results from child abuse creates both a supply of and a demand for totalitarianism.
[8:00] Just as children who don't listen and do dangerous or violent things, often cause an adult to become aggressive and controlling. Stop that. Come here. Sit down.
[8:23] Children playing with random fire in a flammable environment are both inviting and, supplying control and totalitarianism. Totalitarians always want to breed chaos and the best way to breed chaos is to abuse children. So, knowing what the future is is not helpful if you don't have love. The semi-tyranny of the COVID era was, to a large degree, achieved through knowing how people were going to respond to particular emotional and sociological cues. So they knew the future if they propagandized enough they knew that future, but they did not love the truth or humanity or virtue.
[9:34] And he says, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burnt, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
[9:49] Well, if you give goods to feed the poor without any love or virtue, you will actually just create dependence. This is the great danger, well it's not just the danger now, this is the Moynihan report of the 1960s that the welfare state, and this is of course Charles Murray's warning, that the welfare state breeds dependency. And this is the violation of thou shalt not steal that is the foundation of what should be the foundation of Christian opposition to the welfare state. Jesus certainly did not say or mean sell your children on the economic altar of foreign banksters in order to buy votes in the here and now and we'll call it charity. So, if you are giving things to people without love of virtue and truth and the people that you are giving the goods to, it is an empty gesture that creates dependence and aggression.
[11:08] And then, verse 4, love suffers long and is kind. Yes, that hits me in the feels. It is not easy at all to love the potential of humanity.
[11:31] And to retain, joy and optimism and enthusiasm in the face of endless exclusion, undermining, attacks and cruelty. Love suffers long and is kind. Yes that is true and in this, it is not referring to romantic marital sexual love it is talking about, the love of humanity because humanity is so often cruel and vindictive and petty and censorious and aligns itself with power and mocks and attacks those who try to save it from itself. And to love the potential of humanity means to hold your nose often in the face of current humanity.
[12:50] Yeah, love suffers long and is kind. To retain kindness after 43 years in philosophy. And philosophy has bestowed the greatest injuries and the greatest goods upon me. There's no question of that. It has given me the most wonderful marriage and a great relationship with family and friends. And it was also summoned in the black hearts of malevolent people the greatest attacks and harm.
[13:27] So yes, love of virtue, love of truth, suffers long and is kind. See, the great, I mean, this is really the great challenge when you do good in the world is to avoid the trap of becoming bitter and to, drown in the endless acid waves of other people's hatred and calumny. Because that is the great temptation. You want to do good in the world, you love humanity's potential, and you want to bring virtue and love and happiness to the world. And you, of course, endlessly undermine attacks and threatened. And then the great temptation is to fall into a hatred and bitterness, which then, of course, destroys the perception of the value of virtue in the world. Oh, yeah. Oh, that guy claims to be such a philosopher. Oh, look how bitter he is. Look how angry he is. Look how malcontented. Look how hostile. Look how mean, right? To love the potential of humanity, which is to love the essence of humanity. Humanity in its current state is propagandized and brutalized and mentally tortured and taught to hate and punished for love of truth.
[14:48] So, to love the potential of humanity and to maintain that love even while humanity as a whole either strikes out against you or stands by, watches idly or occasionally claps, is rough, man. It's rough. And to maintain your optimism and your love for the truth and the potential of humanity is to escape the trap of bitterness set by those who wish to discredit the pursuit of virtue. Oh, look at this guy. Look at Stef, man. He got into philosophy. Look what happened to the guy. Yeah, alienated, bitter, whatever, right? That's where philosophy leads you, right? That's the trap to dodge and evade. Not the easiest thing in the known universe, the temptation to black pill and bitterness is not small, is not small, but to love what humanity could be.
[15:48] Is not the easiest musculature of willpower in the world. So yeah, love suffers long and is kind. It goes on, Corinthians goes on to say, love does not envy. Yes. Envy is a great sin, one of the deadly sins. And I think I've done a show on the philosophy of envy at some point over the last 20 years.
[16:20] Envy is when you want to have what others have, but rather than working to achieve it you hate and resent them envy is when, someone has what you do not have and you are tempted into the belief that they stole it from you so if you envy a wealthy person then, wanting what someone else has that is a reasonable good, right? I mean, having some money is fine. You can do a lot of good with money and have security. So if you look at a wealthy person and.
[17:05] You then build a bridge to cross the world into prosperity, then that envy is a positive thing. But if you don't feel like you can get there, or if you know everyone in your life will hate and resent you for getting there, or trying to get there, you'll have to leave everyone behind.
[17:27] Then you're kind of trapped where you are, and you can't get to that which you want. Like if you have a bunch of fat friends and you envy a slender person's physique, then if you really work to try and achieve that physique, then a lot of people will say, oh, you're just falling prey into Western standards of beauty or, you know, you hate yourself. You don't accept yourself for who you are. You're just falling prey to advertising. You're just doing it to get a man or like whatever you'd say that people sort of harp on you and may reject you. Well, then you resent the better things that you could get in life. You resent those who have the better things you could get in life because you can't get free, of the quicksand of your current environment. Envy is when you resent someone for having something better and wish to tear them down, that you don't use them as an inspiration to do better yourself. Yeah, love does not do that. Love does not parade itself.
[18:38] Right. That's virtue signaling. Oh, I love all the people on the other side of the world so, so much. That's parading, right? Love does not parade itself. Is not puffed up. Does not behave rudely. Does not seek its own. And is not provoked. So love and virtue are not there to make you look good.
[19:05] Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked. Yeah, so generally provocation arises from insecurity and vanity. And vanity is when you have a personal attribute that you substitute for the achievement of virtue.
[19:32] So if you say well I'm virtuous because I spend other people's money to help people on the other side of the world without actually inquiring whether I'm helping people right I support foreign aid that goes to the government of xyz country said foreign aid is not yours it is taken usually in debt from the unborn and it goes to a government which often uses that charity to further oppress its own people. Well, I support food aid to this country, which just destroys the local farmers and gives the government more power over the citizens because they are now reliant upon the government for food, right? So, when you have an attribute, and it could be beauty, it could be, I don't know, musical ability, it could be popularity, charisma, sleeping with girls, So whatever you have that is a substitute for actual virtue is a very thin-skinned and easy-to-provoke brittle shell.
[20:37] Thinks no evil.
[20:42] So when you are tempted, as I am, as I think everyone is, by evil thoughts, desires for vengeance, pettiness, and so on, it doesn't mean that you don't have those thoughts. It doesn't mean that you don't try and understand evildoers.
[21:01] But you do not indulge in evil plans. It does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. So rejoicing in iniquity is, iniquity is unjust distributions, right? I mean, I'll sort of take a silly example, right? So guys who are tall, right? Guys who are tall who think that they're better. That makes me better, right? Guys with great hair, maybe they think that's better. Or guys who have great skin, as opposed to just guys who, unfortunately, genetically, hormonally, or whatever, have acne, or whatever, particularly as teenagers. Guys with great speaking voices, as opposed to guys who sound bad. Guys who happen to be born into a wealthy family that gives them lots of opportunities, as opposed to guys who are not. Guys who remain slender as children and thus often into adulthood because their parents care about their diet and exercise as opposed to, kids in bad homes with only access to bad food and no particular access to easy access to exercise and so on. So does not rejoice in iniquity means does not take pride in accidental good fortune that produces positive attributes.
[22:27] This is an old comedian oh god this is a comic writer dave barry dave barry was like you know you see these hair commercials and you know obviously they're lying to you because the best way to have great hair is to be born with great hair right that's it that's it just i'm not saying this things not things that you can do to to change things but you don't rejoice in iniquity.
[22:56] But rejoices in the truth, right? So there's a joke that teenagers have these days, like skill issue, right?
[23:06] So if someone has lactose intolerance, right, the kids might say, skill issue. And that's funny, because of course, lactose intolerance is not a skill issue. It's a biological issue, I assume a genetic issue. So laughing and making a joke that something is a skill issue when it's not, right? Some guy's sure to say, skill issue, right? It's a joke, right? And it's sort of pointing out that in a reverse way that it's not skill, but all of that, like some kid's born into a poor household, skill issue, right? So bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. So all things here refers to morality. So bears all things means you have to find a way to surf the injustice of the world to get you to a better destination, right? So there's an old approach within Christianity, which says that you use the temptations of the devil to achieve greater virtue.
[24:19] If the devil tempts you with greed, become more ascetic. if the devil tempts you with lust, become more monogamous, right? So, bears all things means find a way to turn the hatred and hostility of the world as a whole, which really came out under COVID, of course, to take the hatred and hostility of the world as a whole and turn it into a greater pursuit of virtue.
[24:46] Bears all things. Believes all things. All things virtuous. Hopes all things. Now, of course, I just did a speech like I don't do. I don't do hope in my life, right? I don't do hope in my life, but I certainly have hope for the future of humanity. Endures all things, yes. Love never fails.
[25:10] But where there are prophecies, it says whether, but it basically means where there are prophecies, they will fail. Because not all prophecies come true. Where there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. So, if love is virtue, virtue is universal and eternal. If love is of the truth, as Corinthians says, then truth is universal and eternal. Guesses about the future fail people die, knowledge vanishes away in terms of the individual human brain turning to dust, and what people know, quote, know to be true often turns out to be false for we know in part and we prophesy in part, right, so all human knowledge is incomplete except for universal objective truths and virtues. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. So, UPB is a perfect proof of universal morality, and that which is in part will be done away.
[26:29] So when I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child so why is this in Corinthians, what children generally lack are universals, and so much of what we teach children is to train them in universals, in abstractions, in the truth, right? So, children will grab the toy of another child, and what would we say to that child? We will say, well, how would you like it if someone grabbed that toy from you? So, we're teaching them to enter the mind and consciousness of another to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and to learn some kindness, right? So brothers don't want to share, like if one has candy that could be shared, right? And doesn't want to share, wants to keep all the candy for himself. He said, well, if your brother had candy, wouldn't you want him to share with you? Well, yeah.
[27:39] So, we are teaching them universals, we are teaching them mathematics, we are teaching them moral ideals, we are teaching them words that are universal, right? Everything that we call a tree is a tree.
[28:00] So when you're a child you are born, local, immediate, selfish and selfish of course is a moral judgment when it's not, I mean it's not a moral judgment it's just that children focus on the self and their own pleasure, and I remember when I was feeding my daughter when she was a baby she at one point grabbed the food and put it in my mouth. So that's, oh, I like eating, I'm sure my father will too. So that's sort of teaching that empathy, right? So when you were a child, you love your own pleasures and you want to consume. At the expense of others, it doesn't really matter. You focus on your own pleasures, on the greed of the body, on the greed of acquisitiveness, on the greed of possessions, on the greed of food, you focus on the greed of your own body, I have absolutely zero issue with that. No issue with that. I mean, that is actually very helpful. If the baby was selfless, if the baby thought of the sleep of the mother rather than the needs of his or her own body, the baby would get ill or malnourished or die.
[29:19] So the baby being selfish serves the needs of the mother which is to keep the baby alive so it's not selfish in that way, not that a baby can be selfish I'm just sort of analyzing the lack of consideration for others as a baby is actually the greatest consideration for others, so after talking about love as the truth and of virtue right because love thinks no evil therefore love must be thinking on virtue and rejoices in the truth right so love is virtue and truth because truth uncombined with virtue is a seeking of power.
[30:09] So, like, if you understand human nature and you love virtue, then you will strive your best to grow virtue in the hearts and minds of others. Certainly has been my goal these many decades. But if you study human nature without virtue, then you gain power over people, and that's your goal as a whole.
[30:36] So, it says, when you focus on your own mortal, imperfect, selfish beliefs, that's all going to vanish. For we know in part and we prophesy in part but when that which is perfect has come then that which is in part will be done away right so when that which is perfect has come then that which is in part will be done away, so UPB as opposed to virtue signaling.
[31:16] Or if coercion is the wrong way to achieve, if the initiation of force is the wrong way to achieve our goals in society, then the law which initiates the use of force for the most part must also be open to moral question. But then when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. And so the in part is childish, it's immature. Now it's not immature for children, right? When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child. That's the in part, that's the fragment, that's the bits, that's the manipulation. And children are highly manipulative in order to gain resources, in order to survive, in order to grow into adulthood, where they can get the perfect, the universal, the true, the virtuous. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. Example, when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
[32:19] For as a child, we see in a mirror dimly, but then as an adult, face to face.
[32:28] So you see yourself objective. A mirror is when you see yourself objectively. And, of course, it's very interesting to me, I've thought of this from time to time over the years, it's very interesting to me, of course, that for most of human history, people could really not see themselves. I mean, you might see yourself in an oil painting if you were very wealthy, You might see yourself in a stream or a river or a pond, I suppose. But mirrors were not very common for most of people throughout almost all of history. But now we see ourselves all the time. I spend hours, I can see myself in the video. It's the videos that I make. For now we see in a mirror dimly. Now being not current, but now is childhood, then is adulthood. For now we see in a mirror dimly. You can't see yourself objectively. You can't try to develop a third eye, observing yourself, because you cannot, you cannot achieve virtue without evaluating yourself objectively, right? I was talking about this with someone the other day about like, how many people do you know in the world who have an objective moral standard they compare their actions to and constantly strive to close that gap.
[33:55] So as a child, you can barely see yourself objectively because your focus is on your internal wants and preferences and pleasures. I want candy, right? See in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. So then you have a way of looking at yourself objectively, which is your really only chance to achieve morality is to look at yourself objectively and say, how am I doing relative to the values that I hold? As a child you cannot see yourself objectively as an adult you can and therefore you have judgment you can evaluate yourself you can what's called a gap analysis right which is you can analyze, your ideal virtues and values and you can but you can hold your ideal virtues and values and you can analyze how far you are away from closing them, So for me, in my late 20s, early 30s, I went through all of these paroxysms where I had these ideal virtues and values. I was pursuing them in my personal life, but they were not manifest in my social or family of origin life. So I had to see that, and that was hard to close that gap, which gave me the life that I have now.
[35:25] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, as a child I know in part, but as an adult, I shall know, just as I also am known. We always think of how we regard virtue, but we don't as often think how virtue regards us. And now, abide faith, hope, love, these three. but the greatest of these is love. Love of truth and virtue. You can't love virtue without loving truth but you can certainly love truth without loving virtue. Faith, hope, love. And without love, we have nothing.
[36:23] The note of thinks no evil is keeps no accounts of evil, and certainly you do have to ignore the slings and arrows of outrageous attacks, because if you focus on how unjustly you're treated then the seeds of bitterness grow and the pursuit of virtue is discredited, because I do get this question a lot on live streams and also in my inbox which is, how do you keep your optimism and your happiness in the face of the world that is? So, I never answered it. So, I hope that this helps. I really do appreciate your support of what I do, freedomain.com, slash donate to help out the show, to support, I think, the greatest philosophy conversation in history to date. And I look forward to your interest and feedback on what I do. Lots of love from up here. I'll talk to you soon.
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