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September 19, 2006
My classes are actually making me think
We read Kenneth Burke's "Definition of Man" for Communication Theory class. That class is so philosophical. I don't know how many people out there have actually read Kenneth Burke, but I think there were good reasons that I never read him in college: I was too busy reading Edmund Burke. All jesting aside, I find him an interesting read, but have some issues with him from a biblical standpoint.
Burke argues that humans are "symbol using, creating, and misusing animals." This part I can't dispute, although I would add that God created us to be that way. However, the point he makes that I have problems with is that "man is the inventor of the negative." His argument is that humans created the idea of negative with our use of symbols, and that nothing in nature itself is inherently good or bad. This point brought our class into a discussion about whether it was simply the effects of natural events that were either good or bad. For instance, we talked about the negative effects of Katrina, but also the positive. Talking about effects is not so difficult, but when we start to talk about natural things ontologically, it starts to get hairy for me. I'm not sure how Burke's idea corresponds with the Scripture verse that says all creation is groaning in expectation of Christ's return, or with the doctrine of all creation being tainted by the Fall. Reformed doctrine says that creation is in fact tainted by sin, and creation as well as human souls will be redeemed by Christ's work. So those are some thoughts to bite off and chew for a while.
When it comes to Burke himself, though, it turns out that every idea he espoused was driven by his distaste for developing technologies, and also later in life he declared that people who cannot communicate are not human, i.e. babies and people in vegetative states. However, he did write an article in the 30's about what the consequences of Hitler's ideas in Mein Kampf would be. But it was published in an obscure journal, so no one read it. Burke was a strange fellow.
| By heiders | 06:57 PM
