The mariner is not a sage pol. The mariner is neither democrat nor republican. He will concede that sometimes his political philosophy appears socialistic – but not like Bernie or Robert Owen or Albert Einstein or Bertrand Russell. It is true that socialism is driven by an idea centered on universal equality and assured fairness. However, socialism is a humanist philosophy.
Perhaps the mariner is a Universalist, that is, a believer in the natural law of the universe. It was Socrates and his progeny Plato who determined natural law.
We live in an orderly universe. At the base of this orderly universe or nature are the forms, most fundamentally the Form of the Good, which Plato describes as “the brightest region of Being”. The Form of the Good is the cause of all things and when it is seen it leads a person to act wisely. In the Symposium, the Good is closely identified with the Beautiful. Also in the Symposium, Plato describes how the experience of the Beautiful by Socrates enables him to resist the temptations of wealth and sex. In the Republic, the ideal community is, “…a city which would be established in accordance with nature.”
“The Form of the Good” is the foundation of every religion’s ethical framework. Ancient Buddhist writings described The Form of the Good to be a sensation generated within the brain. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Plato further described a sensation of unity with the universe. In modern times, Joseph Campbell describes The Form of the Good as a transcendent experience where one’s state of Being escapes duality[1] to be at one with the universe. In Christianity this experience is simultaneous with death and passing out of this dimensional world.
The mariner extends humanist philosophy to include environmental respect and equality. The universe, by any definition – from stars and planets to any indigenous existence including weather, planetary forces, biomes and creatures – is part of the universe and is granted equal influence in Homo sapiens’ unity with the universe via The Form of the Good.
Ancient Mariner
[1] See yin yang and western definitions at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_monism#Principles
Not boring at all. Very interesting. I’ve come to believe, more and more, in the interconnectedness of everything in the universe. Thank you for this succinct homily on order in the universe.
I have always remembered something you once told me as we were walking along Hilton St. near my home many years ago. I asked you why you believed in God, and you said something like, “Because of the order in the Universe.” I agree.