Conatus: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

So there are purposes of the parochial kind that refer simply to our intentions to carry out various acts or whatever in our lives. So for example, a parochial purpose might take the form: ‘This is what my life is about and therefore I will aim to do X’. But earlier I discussed the contrast between this parochial purpose and the ‘deeper’ or ‘higher’ purpose that might be innate to the universe (or given by God). We could say that a universal purpose might take the form: ‘This is what the world is about and therefore this is where it is heading. My part in this is X’.

Purpose seems to suggest a temporal dimension in that there is an expectation that the purpose will reach some kind of conclusion. Individual purposes will inevitably be cut off because of our mortality — or sooner, due to changes in life circumstances. Our vulnerability means that inevitably we are not going to have anything but a very modest impact on the world! Belief in a cosmic purpose however carries with it a further worry over the terminal nature of purpose. In what sense could a purpose be eternal or infinite? This seems counter-intuitive to us, as temporal beings.

Following on from this, the paradox hit against when considering the universe as ‘the One’ is that the One cannot have purpose. This is a further aspect of the essential paradox of the universe when we try to contrast our limited view of it to any kind of ‘view from eternity’ or ‘God’s eye view’.

A further idea of purpose sits between our

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