Spring 2000
Part 3 - Developing Mental Acuity
| By | Father Robert J. Spitzer, S.J. |
| President, Gonzaga University |
(Originally published in the Spring 2000 edition of GONZAGA, the alumni publication.)
Welcome to the third and final part of my series on the Jesuit Educational Tradition. In the first part, I spoke of the Jesuit intellectual tradition, looking at the questions Jesuit universities explore through their core curricula: questions about life's meaning, the full dignity of the human person, contributory verses, comparative identity, the existence of God, and the love of God.
In the second part of this series, I spoke of the development of Agape (the empathetic love, inducing forgiveness, compassion, and self-sacrifice) which stands at the core of Jesus' teaching about the meaning of life and the fullness of humanity. I looked at how this is deepened through students' experiences in the residence halls, the classroom, retreat programs, and other parts of the Jesuit university.
This third part will concern developing mental acuity (the skill of thinking, reasoning, creating, and expressing oneself clearly).
If one assembles these three parts, an overarching theme becomes evident: The heart liberates the mind, and the mind liberates the heart. "Heart" is a metaphor commonly used to speak of the human capacity to pursue meaning, ideals, love and transcendence with spirit, enthusiasm, empathy, belief, and even passion. The heart directs the mind to meaning and purpose in life. It orients the mind toward the highest possible aspirations, to living life to the fullest, to the highest human emotions, and to our most creative expression. The mind, in its turn, guides the heart to what is reasonable and responsible. It examines the heart's objectives systematically, assesses what can be realistically done, and helps the heart to articulate its aims with clarity and precision. Educators in the Jesuit tradition commonly acknowledge Blaise Pascal's memorable phrase, "the heart has reasons that the mind knows not of." We also recognize that this attention to the heart is one of the most distinctive features of Jesuit education. Yet we hasten to add that the heart is in need of the clear, precise and systematic expression of the mind to bring its loves, ideals, and aspirations to an optimal and effective end.
So what does this cultivation of the mind consist in? In addition to the practical arts of writing and rhetoric (taught through individual attention in small classes), Jesuits have emphasized clear, complete, distinct, logical and systematic thought.
Frequently our students (out of respect for others) come into the university domain thinking that all opinions are equally valid. This view has threatened the intellectual development of students since the time of Socrates because it allows students to think that incomplete, illogical, and nonsystematic thought is "good enough." Unfortunately, it never is. The fact is Einstein's opinion about the universe is better than Newton's because it is more complete and systemic. Educators in the Jesuit tradition try to instill the habit of "good opinions" by addressing completeness, logic, and systematics.
With respect to completeness of opinions, there is an old philosophical adage: "There are far more errors of omission than commission." It is incumbent upon professors to show students methods for uncovering omissions, ways of ascertaining the completeness of databases, methods of research, and the use of technology.
With respect to logic, professors help students avoid the embarrassment of intrinsic contradictions manifest through formal and informal fallacies. They also show students how to construct sound arguments that will advance theoretical and practical knowledge toward the common good.
Finally, with respect to systematics, educators in the Jesuit tradition concern themselves daily with showing students road maps for the 10 categories of cultural discourse. These are truth, ethics, suffering, person, God, happiness, love, freedom, political philosophy, and economic philosophy. With respect to the road map about truth, for example, we speak of rationalists, empiricists, realists, etc. With respect to ethics, we speak about utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, etc. With respect to the meaning of suffering, we speak of Epicureans, Stoics, Orphics, etc. With respect to personhood, we speak of materialists, hylomorphists, transcendentalists, etc. The other six categories of cultural discourse are set out in the same way.
Why spend so much time on these road maps? Because the mind's guidance of the heart depends on knowing where one stands and where one wants to be amid the panoply of possibilities that the culture has to offer. Meaning in life, happiness, the pursuit of the common good, and even one's response to God depend upon clarity and precision in these 10 areas.
There is another reason why these 10 categories of cultural discourse are so important. It has to do with another famous Jesuit adage: "When arguing, never deny, seldom affirm, always distinguish." Intellectual progress will never occur if one completely denies the truth of an opponent's position. The same can be said for being too affirming. If you tell me in the midst of an argument, "Spitzer, I want to affirm you, affirm who you are and all that you are," and then walk away and think to yourself, "idiot," we will not have achieved intellectual progress. If intellectual progress is to be achieved, then we must know how to make good distinctions. Good distinctions, in their turn, rest upon higher viewpoints about the 10 categories of cultural discourse. Those who have been through Jesuit education know well the power of these "road maps" for articulating thought, directing our personal lives, and achieving the common good. They are indispensable for the mind's guidance of the heart.
Gonzaga accomplishes this mission well. It did this for me as a student and does it better than ever today.
