The Soul of the World Paperback – March 22, 2016

Scruton’s arguments are rich, complex and lovely in their articulation. They are not easily summarized, but I will take a stab at doing so. Epistemologists in the early enlightenment often focused on the question of substance and focused upon its ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ qualities. Primary qualities are real, objective, and, ultimately, the subject of scientific study. Among them are number and extension. Secondary qualities are evanescent and subjective—such things as color, smell and taste. They hover at the surface of the primary qualities and are less ‘real’. They are not the subject of scientific investigation. When we say that force equals mass times acceleration we are not thinking about ‘its’ taste, smell or color.Berkeley challenged this dichotomy, arguing that if we try to conceive of, e.g., an apple, we should hold it in our minds and then divest it of all secondary qualities. What remains? Not the ‘real’, ‘substantive’, ‘actual’ apple but, in fact, nothing. We cannot actually ‘do’ abstraction and the materialism implicitly celebrated by the division between ‘real’ primary qualities and will-of-the-wisp secondary qualities must give way to an appreciation of what we might broadly call the ‘spiritual’.Scruton takes this construct and argues for cognitive dualism. On the one hand we apprehend the world scientifically, seeking to explain, predict and bring phenomena under the control of universal laws. At the same time we perceive the world as an object of our attitudes, emotions and choices. Dilthey called this activity ‘verstehen’. It constitutes a way of seeing the world that emerges from our interpersonal dialogue. That is the world that is closest to our actual experience (we don’t regularly see subatomic particles) and Scruton calls it the ‘lebenswelt’.He cites Spinoza who said that the world is one thing seen in at least two distinct ways and he cites Kant’s distinction between understanding and practical reason.Scruton then meditates on our experience of the lebenswelt, utilizing aesthetics, theology, and philosophy and places particular emphasis on human self-consciousness and the relational nature of personhood. Part of his argument is phenomenological as he meditates on such complex notions within our experience as ‘the sacred space of music’.There are other more direct and rationalistic arguments as in his critique of Darwinianism. The book is beautifully written. It contains a number of illustrations, including musical passages. The book is the product of an erudite reader in search of the sacred who is equally well-versed in the analytic and the rational.Highly recommended.

A profound reflection on science, its limits, beauty, love, morals, politics, music, dance, and religion. Scruton makes an impressive argument that there are limits to science, that things have emergent properties that science cannot know. Beauty is not defined by science, yet we think it to be significant. His argument for the truth of religion is suggestive . Ultimately, it is an argument that religion and God are not knowable by science. It is not a proof for the existence of God or the truth of religion.

While I agree with the author's premise that sacredness is an essential ingredient to human existance, I fail to see why he believes that the repository of sacredness is God and religion, with a particular bias toward Christianity. He claims that science cannot explain our conception of the sacred. When we experience intense emotions, a biochemical explanation of what goes on in our body and brain will never be able to explain the first person feelings these processes create. I don't believe science makes such a claim. When it comes to consciousness a reductive understanding of the sum of its parts will always be less than an understanding of the whole. It does not follow that the experience of the sacred is less profound if one does not believe in a higher power or not. Why is it too difficult to believe that sacredness cannot come from man? The Jewish philsopher Martin Buber believed, perhaps metaphorically, that the experience of God was manifested by man's I-You relationship with other sentient beings. I found similarities in the author's use of the I-You relationship with the philosophy of Martin Buber in his wonderful book, "I and Thou".As self conscious creatures we will always have a need to believe in something greater and bigger than ourselves. This is the mystery of existence that we all experience in different forms thoughout our lives. It is what makes being human so special. However, believing in God or going to church on Sunday is just one way to make your covenant. Some would even argue that religion may not be a very healthy alternative. In this book Scruton mainly focuses on enlightened examples of religious belief.I find it sad that many prominent philosopher's nearing the end of their lives often return to their earlier beliefs in God. This has happened to several prominant atheists (i.e., Mortimer Adler, Anthony Flew). While understandable, I believe it undermines the authority of all their earlier works. It also makes me question my own current beliefs and what they may become tomorrow.This is a great book written with wonderful insight and Roger Scuton's command of the English language is second to none. Whether you believe in God or not you will benefit from this book. I suspect it will be best received by those who believe in God.