Anyone who reads this column regularly knows that I think we live in a very secular culture. This presents problems to anyone who professes religious faith. In every philosophy course I teach at St. John’s University, I begin by spending a few hours of class time explaining and discussing the philosophy of secular humanism, which claims there is no God.
I want the students to know the kind of culture they live in and how that culture may present views of the human person and of God that are totally different from what we are discussing in the classroom.
This semester, I am teaching two courses that I think directly challenge the philosophy presented by secular humanism. One course is titled “The Problem of God,” which may be the worst title in academia for any course dealing with the mystery of God, and the other is a seminar titled “Philosophy and Catholic Novels.” In both courses, we discuss the reality of God throughout the semester, and I want the students to realize that they may encounter outside the classroom philosophical views of God and the human person that are almost the opposite of what we are studying and discussing in class.
There is a philosophy called sociologism, which holds that every person is formed and shaped by the groups to which he or she belongs to the extent that no one is free. Each person is determined by the groups to which they belong. Whenever I try to explain this philosophy, I say that I disagree with it, that I believe we are free, but add immediately that I think the philosophy has an important insight, namely that we are greatly influenced by the groups to which we belong.
I suspect that all of us are more influenced than we realize. Family, friends, schools, and some other groups may have an influence that is so strong and pervasive that we may fail to be aware of how powerful these groups can be. To live in a culture as secular as ours opens the possibility that culture will influence us. As I am writing this column, I am wondering how much our secular culture has influenced my understanding of what being a Catholic priest means.
I love teaching the two courses dealing with the reality of God. Shortly after I was hired by St. John’s University many years ago, I was asked if I would be willing to teach a course that a professor no longer wished to teach. The course was “The Problem
of God.” I was tempted to say to the chairperson who asked me the question, “You are going to pay me to teach a course about God? I will pay you to allow me to teach that course. That course is about what is most important in my life.”
The seminar is a course I have long wanted to teach. For years, dating back to when I was a college student, I have been trying to persuade people, especially Catholics, to read Catholic novels. When I first started reading them I felt they were like a treasure hidden in a field. I still think so. When I told my friends that I was going to teach the seminar, they warned me about what I already knew, namely that contemporary college students have the reputation of being “nonreaders.” I have carefully chosen seven Catholic novels for the students to read for the seminar. So far, so good. The students seem enthusiastic.
Reflecting on how a culture can influence us a great deal, I am wondering if, to some extent, each of us should take responsibility for forming his or her own culture. I suggest each of us reflect on what in our culture influences us. Film Theater? Music? The Best Seller List? Painting? Television?
After reflecting on what influences us and how we can improve on what influences us, we take steps to improve our “personal culture.” When COVID-19 was raging a few years ago, I decided to read some history that was not directly related to what I was teaching. I felt my knowledge of history, or rather my lack of knowledge, was embarrassing. I read four or five books, and a vast vacuum in my knowledge was filled. Something similar happened when I read a few psychology books. Because of computers, the possibility of growing in knowledge seems unlimited. I guess what I am encouraging others and also myself to do is to take Socrates’ statement seriously: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
I am confident that anyone who begins to ask serious questions about how he or she is living and how to improve how we live will lead to important insights that might, in turn, lead to wonderful changes in our “personal culture.”
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.