Essays in Critical Thomist Jurisprudence (Book)

Essays in Critical Thomist Jurisprudence
By
Anthony J. Fejfar, J.D., Esq., Coif
© Copyright 2007 by Anthony J. Fejfar
Introduction
This Book contains a number of Essays, many previously published,
individually, dealing with Critical Thomist Jurisprudence.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. A Hospital Patient’s Bill of Rights for Mentally Ill Patients
2. Abortion Law and Equity
3. Against a One Party Communist System
4. Being and Dasein in Heidegger
5. Boxer Shorts, Swimming Trunks, and Indecent Exposure
6. Chakra Stem Alignment
7. Charitable Contributions and Government
8. Christianity not Communism
9. Corporate Social Responsibility of Business
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10. Deconstructing Derrida: Deconstructing a Cliff
11. Equity and the Bible
12. Equity: Mom’s Higher Law
13. Form, Matter, Prime Matter, and Substance in Aristotle
14. Formal Operations, Abstraction, and Meaning
15. Freeflow
16. God, Being, and Intuition
17. I Anger Good or Evil?
18. Is Humility Good or Evil?
19. Is the Republican Party Nazi or Communist?
20. Jesus and Commitment
21. Jesus and the Da Vinci Code
22. Joseph the Father of Jesus
23. Judgment
24. Level Three Thinking
25. Liberty and Liberalism
26. Mental Incompetency and the Equitable Use
27. Metaphysics and Quantum Physics: An Analogy
28. Motivation, Management, and Consciousness
29. Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Schizophrenia
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30. Part Time Full Time Work
31. Penury
32. Persecution and Commitment
33. Psychiatry and Malpractice
34. Psychiatry and the First Amendment
35. Psychotic Psychiatry
36. Reality
37. Self-Actualization and Work
38. Sensory Deprivation and Psychiatry
39. The Active and the Contemplative Life.
40. The Dao and Jesus
41. The Lineage of Jesus Christ
42. The Equitable Use and Landlord Tenant Law
43. The Gates of Hell
44. The Good and the Common Good
45. The Individual Good, Autonomy, and Individual Ethics
46. The Inquisition is Unconstitutional
47. The Material World
48. The Middle Class Jesus
49. The Moderation Corporation
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50. The Multidimensional Jesus: Reincarnation or Resurrection?
51. The Multidimensional Mary
52. Value and the Ethical Matrix
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Chapter 1
A Hospital Patient’s Bill of Rights for
Mentally Ill Patients
By
Many years ago I took a Health Care Ethics course at Creighton
University. The Philosophy professor teaching the course was Charles
Dougherty, now the President of Duquesne University. In this course we
studied the American Civil Liberties Union, Hospital Patient’s Bill of Rights.
In this Tract Book Essay, I propose a Mental Health Patient’s, Hospital Bill
of Rights. For purposes of this Tract Book Essay, the term “Mental Health
Hospital” shall include but not be limited to any facility which provides
inpatient psychiatric care to a Mental Health Patient.
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Mental Health Patient”s Hospital Bill of Rights
1. All Mental Health Patient’s (MHP’s) are to be treated with
respect and dignity by the staff and psychiatrists, and psychologists
at all times.
2. All MHP’s retain all their Constitutional Rights at Law, and as
persons in need, also have additional rights in Equity.
3. All MHPs have a right to reasonable medical and psychiatric
treatment.
4. All MHPs have a right to reasonable dental care.
5. All MHPs have a right to therapy from a qualified psychologist.
6. All MHPs have a right to outside recreational activities, such as
going for a walk outside, going to a movie, going bowling,
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going shopping at a department store or bookstore, going out to
eat at a restaurant.
7. All MHPs have a right to have their stay at the Mental Hospital to
be as short as possible.
8, All MHPs have a right to a snack bar on the Hospital Grounds
where one can buy a snack or soda.
9. All MHPs have a right to a Day Room with comfortable recliner
chairs during the waking hours.
10. All MHPs have a right to a Day Room equipped with Online
Computers and at least two television sets with DVD, VCR capabilities.
11. All MHP have a right to Library access on a Daily basis at the
Hospital or within short walking distance.
12. All MHP have a right not to be over medicated.
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13. All MHP have a right not to be physically assaulted by the staff
or other MHPs.
14. All MHP have a right not to be subjected to “protection”
shakedowns, or extortion for money.
15. All MHP cannot be criminally prosecuted for any actions which
they take while in a Mental Hospital.
16. All MHPs have a right to a CD player to listen to music while in
the Mental Health Hospital.
17. All MHPs have a right of access to a library of Music CDs, DVDs,
and VCR tapes.
18. All MHPs have a right to good tasting, wholesome, nutritious,
bland, food for breakfast, lunch, and supper.
19. All MHPs have a right to meaningful group therapy.
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20. All MHPs have a right to art activities.
21. All MHPs have a right to fresh fruit as a snack in the Day Room.
22. All MHPs have a right to Catholic Mass, or other religious services
in the Mental Hospital.
23. All MHPs have a right to Spiritual Direction.
24 All MHPs have a right to sit in comfortable chairs in an outside
garden, weather permitting.
25. All MHP have a Constitutional First Amendment right to their
own personal religious, political, and philosophical beliefs, as long
as the MHP is not threatening physical violence to another person.
26. A MHP can only be involuntarily committed by a Judge, either
elected or appointed.
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27. Any initial involuntary commitment can only be initiated with
a confinement warrant issued by a Judge, based upon clear and
convincing evidence that the MHP is a clear and present physical
danger to himself or a third person.
28. Every MHP has a right to daily visits and also has a right to
go on visits and outings with family or friends, or a volunteer.
29. Every MHP has a right to a home visit once every two weeks.
The foregoing Rights can be supplemented. The foregoing Rights are
based upon Natural Law, Equity, and the prevention of Discrimination
against the Mentally Ill based upon the Equal Protection Clause of the
United States Constitution and in my opinion are enforceable against both
public and private actors.
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Chapter 2
Abortion Law and Equity
By
I am Pro-life Democrat on abortion. I generally agree with the
Catholic position that abortion should be illegal in all cases. At the same
time, however, I must admit that it is troubling that so many people, who
otherwise seem to progressive when it comes to social justice are Pro-choice
on abortion. The chief problem seems to be a concern with protecting the
mother’s life as well as that of the unborn child. If both the mother and
unborn child are destined to die, there seems to be an argument that the
mother’s life should be saved at the expense of the unborn child, if both
cannot be saved.
The other argument is that abortion is necessary to stop children
being born with major birth defects. I find this troubling. I believe in the
position which I describe as Catholic Reincarnation. With the help of the
Holy Spirit between lives many of us reincarnate, attempting to transcend
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Karma with the power of Christ. It has been written by several authors who
write about reincarnation that many very good people take on physical and
mental handicaps in a life so as to develop themselves cognitively and
spiritually. It seems a shame that any of these brave children should be
aborted and not given a chance to live their lives fully.
Additionally, some argue that it is wrong for persons with particular
religious beliefs to impose their views on others. It is argued that this
violates the social compact and freedom of religion. I respect this argument
although I don’t like the result.
So, in an effort to meet the above objections and still come up with
a Pro-life position, I propose the following position: Abortion at law is
outlawed, except to save the mother’s life, and, abortion by an Federal
Court order in Equity, based upon extreme need, where there is not adequate
remedy at law, is allowed. Some might consider this a Pro-choice
position, but I consider it to be Pro-life.
Now, there are two objections which can be raised. First, why save
the mother’s life, when she could be a saint/martyr, dying with her child?
The second objection is, why use Equity?
With respect to the first objection, I argue that everyone, including
a mother has a right of self-defense. I argue, for example that if a truck was
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coming straight at a woman, out of control as a result of the driver having an
epileptic seizure, with the driver’s foot involuntarily full down on the gas
pedal, that the first woman, if she could not move, would have a right to use
a rifle to shoot the driver to force her to swerve out of the way. An even
tougher version of this is a 3 year old child behind the wheel of the truck,
rather than an adult. Even in this case the woman has a right of self-
defense. In this tougher case, it may be that a woman would elect not to
shoot the child driver having the epileptic seizure because she emotionally
just couldn’t do it.
By analogy then, a woman would have a right, as a matter of self-
defense to have an abortion to stop the “truck” of the growing child from
“killing” her.
With respect to the Equity argument, it is asserted, following the
work of Jesuit philosopher, Bernard Lonergan, that the world is too
complex and changing to be sure that linear rules will be able to
appropriately fit every relevant circumstance. Put another way, if we want
a to make a rule as permanent as possible then we should allow for an
equitable exception as a safety valve, otherwise, ten years from now some
law professor will come up to an exception which everyone agrees is valid,
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and the statute will become unconstitutional again, bringing with it great
social unrest.
Finally, as a parting note, I would like to address the issue of why it
is important to protect the unborn child from the moment of conception.
Rather than use a religious argument I will use classical philosophy which is
of course pagan. Aristotle argued that before anything mortal exists in act
it must first exist in potency. Thus, the acorn of an oak is in potency to
become an oak tree in act. Similarly, the human fertilized ovum at the point
of conception is in potency to become an adult human being. It is perfectly
plausible that the legislature could find value in protecting human life in
potency at the point of conception in order to promote human life in act.
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Chapter 3
Against a One Party Communist System
By
One of the hallmarks of a Communist system is that there is only
one political party. I would like to argue that, metaphysically, it not only
unwise, but in the long run, impossible to have a one party system.
I have argued previously that the Level 2, level of consciousness or
reality, is a Daoist level. The Dao means, in essence that there are two
apposite principles which have been brought into a relational harmony. The
classical example is Ying and Yang, but other Daoist formulations are: hot
and cold, fast and slow, male and female, intuitive and analytic, red and
blue colors, conservative and liberal, up and down, etc.
In applying the Dao reality principle to politics, it is apparent that
there can never be one monistic, unitary, political system. Even in the
monarchial model, there was the Dao of King and Queen. In the medieval
period in Europe there was the Dao of monarchy and church. So, my
argument is that a one party system is contrary to natural law. Perhaps the
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most basic political Daoist principle is the Dao of the ingroup and outgroup.
Even where there is a one party Communist politburo, there are still
minority factions, that is the outgroup, on the politburo. I argue for a
Constitutional Democracy with the Rule of Law where there are two or three
major political parties. This works with either a Dualistic Harmonious Dao,
or a Trinitarian Harmonious Tao. Monism leads to disunity not unity.
Chapter 4
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Being and Dasein in Heidegger
By
In “Being and Time” philosopher Martin Heidegger discusses
Being and Dasein. Dasein is defined as “Being-in-the-world.” Heidegger
spends a great deal of time exploring the question of Being and ends up
arguing that Being is best known through a phenomenological analyis of
Dasein.
I argue, on the other hand, that Being is best known through
Intuition. Philosophical Intuition intuits Being in a direct ontological
fashion. So, I argue, based on Intuition, and Plato, that Being is “Form of
Form,” or, as Jesuit Philosopher Bernard Lonergan puts it, Being is an
“Unrestricted Act of Undertanding.”
Once we have come to an understanding of Being, ontologically,
based upon Intuition, then we can discuss Dasein, or Being-in-the-World, as
does Heidegger. As Heidegger points out, Dasein involves a certain
“thrownness” of Being into the World. When Being is “thrown” into the
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World the result is a kind of Authenticity. Authenticity involves Rational
Self Interest, Autonomy, and Self-Actualization. Authenticity is at once
selfish, but at the same time involves giving or, as Heidegger calls it, care.
The authentic person has his own projects, but those projects help others,
either directly or indirectly. Being, then, and Dasein, moves us toward
Justice and Social Justice.
Bibliography
Heidegger, Martin, Being and Time (1926).
Maslow, Abraham, Maslow on Management (1998).
Lonergan, Bernard, Insight (1956).
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Chapter 5
Boxer Shorts, Swimming Trunks, and Indecent Exposure
By
When I was in law school, in the first year, Professor Snowden
taught my legal process class. It was an interesting class. Among other
things, Snowden argued that the only really workable epistemology was that
of Coherence Theory. But, let’s save that for another day. The most
interesting thing that Snowden taught that semester was the jurisprudential
idea that asked, “Is X a Y for purposes of Z?” The idea here was, as I
will explain below, that any word X might have a different meaning in a
different context. “Poultry” in one case might include “ducks” and in
another case might only include “chickens.” Let us consider the example
below.
In this example, Joe is walking down the parking lot in the summer in
the city park, wearing boxer shorts underwear. The park has a swimming
pool, and some other kids are playing volley ball, wearing only their swim
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suits. A police officer walks up to Joe and says, “I see that you are only
wearing underwear for shorts, I guess I should cite you for indecent
exposure.” “But officer,” replies Joe, “my Dad is a lawyer and we reasoned
through this situation and decided it was ok.” “Really, why?” asked the
police officer. “Well,” said Joe, “I argue that it is ok to wear swimming
trunks in the park, and I offer as evidence of this the fact that those guys
over there playing volleyball in swimming trunks are not getting cited for
indecent exposure. I further argue that boxer shorts are analogous to swim
trunks and since swim trunks are not citable, neither should be boxer shorts.”
“Well,” said the police officer, “I guess I’ll have to radio my watch
commander.” (radio conversation) “Well, the watch commander agrees with
you, you are free to go.”
Now, let’s think for a moment about how Professor Snowden’s
formula applies to the above hypothetical situation, above. Recall, the
formula is the question, “Is X a Y for purposes of Z?” If we plug in some
ideas from above we get the following: “Are the ‘boxer shorts’ a pair of
‘swim trunks’ for purposes of the ‘indecent exposure ordinance’?” Here
we look to how close the analogy is and then to underlying public policy of
the statute or ordinance.
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With respect to the closeness of the analogy it is apparent that boxer
shorts and men’s swim trunks closely resemble each other. They are both a
type of men’s short, having approximately the same length of leg. Both
seem to be made out of cotton. The boxer shorts have a different design on
them, but this seems to be an incidental or “accidental” difference. Since
the two seem to be so close, let us now consider the underlying public policy
of the ordinance.
The basic idea of the ordinance as applied to a male, is that a person’s
male genitals are not to be exposed to public view. It is argued that since
both the boxer shorts and the swim trunks hide the genitals of the wearer,
then they should be treated the same for purposes of the ordinance. So, it is
argued that “the ‘boxer shorts’ are ‘swim trunks’ for purposes of the
ordinance, and since kids with ‘swim trunks’ are not cited, so too a kid with
‘boxer shorts’ should not be cited.”
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Chapter 6
Chakra Stem Alignment
By
I get a great deal of my information that I use in my writing from
my Intuition. My Intuition guides me and gives me insights. One of the
insights that I have come upon is that many of us, or perhaps even all of us,
have a Chakra Stem. If you are familiar with Eastern Spirituality, it is
asserted that the human body has 7 or 8 Chakras or Energy Centers which
are located from the top of the head down the spine to the pelvic area.
In my own inner work, I have discovered that the Chakras can be
programmed to accomplish different things, mentally, and spiritually. By
using self programming or hypnosis, it is possible to program one’s
Chakras. Previously, I have discussed levels of Consciousness. I have
programmed my Chakra stem so as to parallel these levels. The levels are
as follows:
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Anthony J. Fejfar’s Chakra Stem
Levels of Consciousness
12. Liberty
11. Wisdom
10. Being
9. Abba Being
8. Logos, Creative Form, Reason
7. Higher Love
6. Intuition
5. Creativity Hermeneutics
4. Gray Being Formal Operations
3. Judgment and Reflection
2. Understanding
1.1 Experience
1.0 Being, on illiteration The God of Being
0 Substance Holy Spirit
Now, you may wonder why God isn’t on my Chakra Stem. I have
found through trial and error, personal experimentation, that placing God
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directly on your Chakra Stem, especially at level 1, just does not work.
Most people have faith in God not knowledge of God. My system is
designed to produce a certain amount of Spiritual Knowledge, but not at the
expense of faith. Additionally, I experienced a very negative psychic
reaction to placing God at level 1 on my Chakra Stem. I felt I was under
psychic attack and felt very sick. So I changed it back what it is now.
If you are interested in having a Chakra Stem alignment, you may
wish to pattern your Chakra Stem after the alignment that I am using. I find
it to be very positive.
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Chapter 7
Charitable Contributions and Government
By
Some people hate government and want to dismantle it. Others love
government and want it to do more. I argue that non-corrupt government is
basically a good thing following the Thomistic tradition. Thomas Aquinas
argued that government was a natural and good outcome of human
sociability.
Given that good government is good, I would like to argue that
people should be able to make monetary contributions to individual
governmental units, and, that those monetary contributions be tax deductible
as a charitable expense. For example, in the Pittsburgh, Allegheny
County area we have Mayview, a State Mental Hospital, although there is
talk about closing it. If I think that Mayview is doing a good job of helping
people then why shouldn’t I be able to make a charitable contribution to
Mayview to help with their programs. Similarly, there are typically city or
county general hospitals in many cities, why shouldn’t I get a tax deduction
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for contributing money to them. What if the local prosecutor is tough on
consumer fraud and is doing a great job. Why couldn’t I make a charitable
contribution to the local prosecutors office so that they could give raises or
bonuses to the attorneys working there?
Some might argue that the charitable contribution to government
policy would cause corruption. As long as the check says, “no strings
attached,” then I don’t think it should be considered a bribe. If we can
make campaign contributions to politicians then we should certainly be able
to give money directly to government. I don’t think that this kind of
influence is corrupt.
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Chapter 8
Christianity not Communism
By
In the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx quotes the German
Socialists for the proposition, “To each according to his or her need, from
each according to his or her ability.” If Communism means anything at all,
it is that which is found in the above quote. I would like to argue, however,
that the real source of “to each according to his or her need, from each
according to his or her ability” finds its roots in the Christian Gospels,
written long before the Communist Manifesto.
Let us first consider the idea, “to each according to his or her
need….” This proposition is simply a statement of the principle of Equity
which is found in the Christian Gospels and the the work of the Greek
Philosopher Aristotle. In the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana of
Galilee, Mary asks Jesus to intervene in Equity so as to save the Wedding
Feast from disaster. The hosts were running out of wine and didn’t know
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what to do. Jesus performed a miracle turning water into wine as an
Equitable Exception to the General Rule that it was not yet his time to
perform miracles.
Similarly, in the parable of the Good Shepard, Jesus points out that the
Good Shepard will leave the flock (with minimal needs) and go out and find
a lost sheep (in great need). Once again Equity intervenes to provide a
unique solution to a problem where someone is in great need. Thus, I argue
that the idea of “to each according to his or her need” comes from the
Christian Gospels, not the Communist Manifesto.
Similarly, the second half of the the statement taken from the
German Socialists and the Communist Manifesto, is the proposition, “from
each according to his ability.” Once again the roots of this proposition can
be found in the Christian Gospels. In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus tells
us that to the extent we are given talents, we have a responsibility to develop
them. From the foregoing comes the ethical rule, “to whom much is
given, much is expected.” Once again this is a statement of moderate
relativism. The person with money and talents is expected to use them to
promote the Good and to Self-Actualize (Maslow). Once again, this
proposition comes from the Christian Gospels and not from the German
Socialists nor the Communist Manifesto.
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Chapter 9
Corporate Social Responsibility of Business
By
Previously, David Engel wrote an interesting article dealing with
social responsibility of business (David L. Engel, An Approach to
Corporate Social Responsibility, 32 Stanford Law Review 1 (1979)). I wrote
a response to that article, entitled, Anthony J. Fejfar, Corporate Voluntarism:
Panacea or Plague, A Question of Horizon, 17 Delaware Journal of
Corporate Law 859 (1992). In this Essay I will summarizing some of
those arguments and will be presenting some new arguments in favor of
Social Responsibility of Business.
In his Book, John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971), Rawls argues
that a rational and autonomous person in an “Original Position,” would
make certain choices. I we place an ideal shareholder in the Original
Position, it is argued that a Property oriented Liberal would choose to
maximize profit at the expense of everyone else. It is even argued that the
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Property oriented Liberal would favor corporate lobbying which would
result in “unjust” laws which would enable the corporation to make even
more money. In such a situation, it is argued that corporations would be
placed above the law in violation of Liberal principles such as equal
protection and fair legislative representation, and, that this is unjust.
On the other hand, Duty-Conscience oriented Liberals take the
position that they can act autonomously in a socially responsible manner,
even if this is not profit maximizing, at least in the short term. The idea is
that persons are not supposed to harm others and that the law cannot regulate
every circumstance. Therefore, business ethics are needed to ensure that the
corporation is acting properly. The counterargument to this, however, is
that ethics are subjective and that ethics should not be used at the expense of
the profits which should be going to the shareholders.
A third approach to the foregoing is to argue that Liberalism that
works, is based upon Natural Law and Metaphysics. On this approach,
every corporation has a duty to be ethical and responsible, objectively using
the Natural Law decision-making tool, known as the Ethical Matrix. The
Ethical Matrix utilizes four complementary Natural Law Principles:
Reciprocity, Utility, Proportionality, and Equity.
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Reciprocity can be used in a variety of different ways as an ethical
principle. In the first instance, reciprocity means, “treat another as you
would wish to be treated in similar circumstances.” In other words, never
do something to someone else unless you would like to have it done to you
in similar circumstances. Additionally, reciprocity means, “as you judge,
so you shall be judged.” Finally, reciprocity means, “as you treat others so
you shall be treated.” This is a variation of the law of Karma, the law of
cause and effect.
The second Natural Law Ethical Principle is that of Utility. Utility
means, “maximization of Value.” In order to maximize value, you must
have a scale of values against which to measure your conduct. As a Liberal,
my highest value is Rational Self Interest. My second highest value is my
Autonomy. My third highest value is to help others, especially those in
need. I suggest that you stick with the first two values, as locked in, and
then experiment from there on your own. I find the Old Testament Book of
Isaiah to be very persuasive, so I choose as my third value, trying to help
others, especially those in need.
The third Natural Law Ethical Principle is that of Proportionality.
Proportionality is a mathematical ethical concept. Perfect proportionality is
found in a 1:1 ratio, and geometrically in the idea of an equalateral triangle
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dissected down the middle by a line which is perpendicular to the base of the
triangle. The two sides mirror each other perfectly and are perfectly
proportional. Proportionality is found in the idea that the amount a person
is damaged should be equal to the amount of damages paid to the person by
the wrongdoer. Proportionality also mean equality before the law. All
other things being equal, two similarly situated persons should be treated
equally, or the same, before the law.
Finally, the last Natural Law Ethical Principle is Equity. Equity
favors the one in need, especially the poor, the mentally handicapped, the
physically handicapped, the elderly. Equity makes an Equitable Exception
from a general rule at law, based upon need. While it is true that Equity
follows the Law, it is also true that the Law must be Equitably interpreted.
Equity abhors an injustice, especially when there is no adequate remedy at
law.
The way the Ethical Matrix works, then, is that one places oneself in a
position, reciprocally based upon certain values flowing from Utility.
Typically, then, you try to generate a general rule using Proportionality.
Finally, one double checks with Equity to see if there are grounds for an
Equitable Exception from the rule generated at law. I argue that, all other
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things being equal, this approach will produce a profit for the business
decisionmaker.
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Chapter 10
Deconstructing Derrida: Deconstructing a Cliff
A Satirical Allegory
By
Let us imagine that a law professor has gone up to Harvard and has
sat in on a seminar dealing with deconstruction ala Derrida. Professor Jones
comes back to Widemount University School of Law and begins a faculty
presentation about deconstruction. Jones begins by arguing that linguistics
are the basis for reality. Put another way, linguistic deconstruction shows us
what reality really is. Jones then takes the example that he learned at
Harvard, that a “Cliff” could be linguistically deconstructed to show the
ultimate nature of the Cliff. Jones starts out with a nice picture of a cliff
face of rock at the base of the Grand Canyon. He points out that the word
“Cliff” is culturally subjective and in a sense does not really exist.
Undoudtedly, “Cliff” was a word which developed in a racist, patriarchal
society and must be exposed by deconstruction for what it really is, that is, a
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culturally arbitrary covention which lends a certain trajectory of meaning
regarding a rock face.
Unfortunately for Professor Jones, Professor Fejfar, a Critical
Thomist at Widemount University School of Law raises a few awkard
questions. “Professor Jones, aren’t you taking a remarkably one sided
idealist approach to this question. Over 400 years ago Shakespeare asked
“would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?” In this context, I would
ask, “would a cliff by any other name stop being a steep rock wall?” The
answer is no.
Professor Fejfar argues that linguistic deconstruction does not really
by itself disclose the nature of reality. It may say something useful, but not
enough to persuade us that deconstructing the word “Cliff” actually
deconstructs ‘Cliff’ itself. So, for example let us say that there are several
different words for the word “Cliff,” such as cliff, cliffo, rocko, etc. I
suggest that however much we deconstruct the words, cliff, cliffo, and
rocko, that all other things being equal the real cliff itself will be there the
next morning. If Professor Jones insists upon deconstructing “cliff’ right in
front the real cliff rock face, I think that he will find that if he walks into the
cliff face he will break his nose. In fact, I would argue that to prevent this
from happening over and over again, Professor Jones would have to get into
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a backhoe or other machinery and physically dig out the cliff face until it no
longer exists. This is real physical deconstruction as opposed to linguistic
deconstruction. Think about it.
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Chapter 11
Equity and the Bible
By
The notion of Equity is first found explicitly in the work of the
philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle asserted that an equitable exception must be
made to a general rule to avoid an absurd or wrong result. In Western
history, however, Equity combined with ecclesiastical law, that is Christian
church law, in the medieval period. Ecclesial law often finds its origin in
the Bible. When one looks at the modern Equitable doctrine of
Unconscionability which renders certain contracts void, it is clear that
Equity favors those who are disadvantaged, or in need. The notion that
Equity favors those in need is based both on Natural Law, which is Higher
“Mom” Law, as well as the Christian Bible.
In the Old Testament, in the Book of Isaiah, it is clear that Judges are
to favor and protect the poor and the handicapped. Similarly, as I have
argued before, in the Christian Gospel in the story of Mary, Mother of
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Jesus, at the Wedding Feast at Cana of Galilee, it is clear that Mary
intervened in Equity to have Jesus perform a miracle, turning water into
wine, and saving the wedding reception from disaster. Jesus could only act
in Equity, he was forbidden, at Law, by God the Father at that point in his
career to perform miracles.
Finally, Jesus himself shows that he acts in Equity in the story of the
lost sheep. In this parable, Jesus points out that a good shepard leaves his
flock of good, healthy, sheep, in order to find and rescue a lost sheep who
has strayed from the flock. Obviously, the lost sheep was in some sense
liable at Law for getting lost or wandering off. The good Shepard, acting in
Equity, favors the sheep most in need and goes after him, leaving the
healthy, law abiding sheep to take care of themselves.
Jesus, of course, is the good Shepard. Jesus will leave his flock of
followers in the church to seek out a straying or lost sheep who has left the
flock or the church. Strictly, speaking, this means that Jesus, and those of us
who follow him are instructed to go after the “fallen away” Catholics or
Christians who have left the church. In a more secular setting, we are to
help the poor, the elderly, the working poor, the sick, the handicapped, even
those in jail. This is real Equity.
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Chapter 12
Equity: Mom’s Higher Law
By
Ken Wilber argues that there are two levels of female
consciousness, the first is the smothering mother level, the selfish mother of
level 2 consciousness, and the second is the Goddess or Feminine Wisdom
level of level 5 Consciousness. I argue that Equity is a manifestation of
the Goddess or Higher Feminine Wisdom of Level 5 or perhaps even
level 11. Instead of starting with rights, as Law does, Equity starts with
need. Equity favors those most in need. Equity favors the poor, the
working poor, the working middle class, the handicapped, the elderly. All
other things being equal, Equity will favor a little old lady plaintiff over a
sophisticated rich businessman. Now where does all of this come from?
Well I would like to contrast two different types of Mothers. The Spider
Mother, and the Equity Mother.
The Spider Mother bases her instinct and life on that of the female
spider. The female spider devours her male mate after copulation and then
39
devours as many of her children as she can before they can run away. The
human Spider Mother is the same. As soon as the children are born she does
everything in her power to destroy her husband, even poisoning him if
necessary. Her attention then focuses on her children. She is an abusive
mother with a control complex. Her children must be perfect, and perfectly
obedient or she is tempted to take them to Mexico and sell them into white
slavery. She has no problem turning her children into prostitutes. If she
has a sick child, she makes that child fend for him or herself. She never
nurtures a sick child. If the child gets even sicker and dies, the Spider
Mother sees this as the problem of the weak child. Any compassion is
seen by her as a sign of weakness.
The Equity Mother, on the other hand follows higher Wisdom. The
Equity Mother favors those in her family most in need, typically, her
children. The Equity mother takes care of and nurtures the slow or sick
child. In fact, it might seem that the Equity Mother loves her sick child
more than her healthy children. To the healthy children, this may seem
unfair.
If one has a difficulty understanding Equity, then, one need only look
around and find an Equity Mother. I argue that Equity was the first, most
basic law on this planet, preceding individual rights based upon merit. In
40
our society we find the balance between law and equity in the formulation
that equity makes an equitable exception to a general rule based upon need.
41
Chapter 13
Form, Matter, Prime Matter, and Substance in Aristotle
By
In Aristotle’s Ethics, in the Appendix, Form, Matter, Substance, and
Prime Matter are discussed. Substance is in Greek, Ousia, which is often
referred to as the word associated with the Holy Spirit. In the Nicean
Creed, we find that the Father and the Son share the same Ousia, or
Substance, or Holy Spirit. Unfortunately in the Catholic mass, this has
been changed to the Father and Son share the same Being, which argues for
a different notion of unity in the Trinity. Being is the metaphysical quiddity
associated with God the Father. The unitive principle in the Trinity has
traditionally been thought to be the Holy Spirit. Logos is the metaphysical
quiddity associated with Jesus the Son of God.
In the appendix to Aristotle’s Ethics, it is pointed out that that which is
essentially a person or thing is that person’s substance. As I have argued
previously, the Holy Spirit is the substance or Soul or Oversoul of God
which manifests as the individual soul of each person.
42
Similarly, the Council of Nicea also discussed the doctrine of
transubstantiation, that is, the transformation of the bread and wine of the
Eucharist into the Body and Blood of Christ. Now, as far a material
accident is concerned, the bread and wine maintain the apprearance of bread
and wine and in fact are materially still bread and wine, however, what has
also happened is that the bread and wine has been transformed into the
Substance of Jesus Christ, that is, His Substantial Body and Blood, not his
material body and blood. In fact it may very well be that the Glorified
Body of Jesus Christ after the ressurection was and is his Substantial Body,
not his material body. Substance can be physical but not material.
Presumably, in the tomb, the material body of Jesus went Quantum, became
Quantum Energy, and was transformed into His Substantial Body or
Quantum Body.
Finally, it is interesting that Aristotle rejected the existence of Prime
Matter. I argue that Prime Matter is not Substance, but is another
metaphysical quiddity altogether. Interestingly, modern science seems to
have made the mistake of equating substance with matter. I argue that
Prime Matter and Substance are close to being the same concept and that
perhaps Prime Matter does exist. If Prime Matter does exist, perhaps it is a
manifestation of the Quantum Field.
43
Chapter 14
Formal Operations, Abstraction, and Meaning
By
I have an interesting argument to make. I argue that some people
simply cannot conceptualize the idea that an individual word can have more
than one meaning. This is a sort of cognitive fundamentalism. Let us
take an example. Consider these two words “black cat.” Now, the
fundamentalist will assume, naively, that “black cat” is simply a four legged
small animal with dark fur. However, there is at least one other meaning,
and that is “fireworks.” In some parts of America, on the Fourth of July,
inch and a half firecrackers called “black cat” are sold and used. So, if I,
on the Fourth of July said to my buddy, “hey give me a black cat,” I most
likely will be give a firecracker and not a small dark animal. I argue that
the ability to understand that one word can simultaneously have more than
one meaning is a type a abstraction which involves a kind of formal
operations, cognitively. People who cannot abstract using formal
operations should not be lawyers, judges, law professors, or legislators.
44
There is another type of abstraction that is also important. If I see tall
“plant” 25 feet tall with a trunk, branches, and leaves, then this is most
likely a “tree.” However, in Spanish it would be an “arbol.” Similarly, as
I have argued previously, a small plant with branches and leaves could be
called a shrub, or a bush, or some scrub. Once again, for some people it is
impossible for them to understand that a given object might have more than
one word which describes it. This is, again, a type of cognitive
fundamentalism. Those with formal operations can see that one object
might simultaneously be a bush and a shrub.
Now, this is a serious matter because in law, the same word or words
can have different meanings in different contexts. So, for example, the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a “Concealed Weapons” criminal
statute. Without reading the statute one might think that if I carried a
hunting knife or a lock blade knife under my shirt I would be violating the
statute and could go to jail. However, if one were to read the definition of
“Concealed Weapon” actually found in the statute, one would find that the
only type of knife prohibited for a person to carry by the statute is a “switch
blade knife.” Obviously the statutory definition and the “commonsense”
definition are not the same. The commonsense definition is wrong. Once
again, if one cannot understand the difference between a commonsense
45
definition and a statutory definition, then one should not be a lawyer, a
judge, a law professor, or a legislator.
46
Chapter 15
Freeflow
By
Often, authors are asked where their ideas come from. The mundane
mind seems to think that ideas always come from someplace else or
someone else. Original writing is inspired. Without wanting to imply too
much, I can honestly say that all of my writing is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
My creativity comes from the Holy Spirit.
How does the Holy Spirit work? Well, as I have said before, I have
a “True Self” which is at once both myself and the Holy Spirit, in a very
deep spiritual way. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit is often arational, and
curvelinear, not strictly speaking, rational. The inspiration of the Holy
Spirit becomes irrational only when irrational Love is involved, rather than
arational Wisdom. My philosophy is largely arational, somewhat rational,
and rarely irrational. As far as I can tell, the only irrational aspect of my
philosophy, Critical Thomism, is Love. Love can get you to do some
47
pretty crazy things sometimes. Love takes risks. Love dares to go where
no one has gone before.
I don’t talk about Love very much in my work, but it is definitely
there. It is Love which forces the author to go beyond mundane
constrainsts of conventional morality and try something different, even at
some personal risk to oneself. Anytime someone comes out with a new or
different philosophy it is often subject to mundane ridicule. Love, and the
Holy Spirit inspires the author to move beyond such idiocy and to write that
which should be written.
Now, you might ask, where does the Holy Spirit come from? Well,
of course, the Holy Spirit is one Person of the Trinity of God, but even more
can be said. The Holy Spirit is Substance. The Holy Spirit is the basis for
the Real, even more so than Being. Substance is “Formless Form.”
Substance is the Absolute, ala Bergson. The Absolute is Absolute
Relationality. The Holy Spirit is Absolute Relationality.
Of course Substance and the Holy Spirit also involve Love. How
many of us would have taken the risk of getting married if we had not been
inspired by the Love of the Holy Spirit? It is the Holy Spirit that not only
asks us to take risks, but forces us to take risks. It was this Holy Spirit that
guided and inspired the Disciples of Jesus to go from town to town
48
preaching the Good News of the Gospel, with only the clothes on their
backs and little or no money. It was this same Holy Spirit that drove Jesus
into the desert for 40 days to take the Spirit Journey and do battle with
Satan. If we listen to the whisper of the Holy Spirit in our Hearts, we will
do better.
49
Chapter 16
God, Being, and Intuition
By
For some people, I suppose, the God question never comes up. It
simiply isn’t on the radar screen. I suppose such people somehow have not
reached the stage of development where meaning becomes important. It is
at Stage 5, the hermeneutic level of consciousness that meaning becomes
important. The person desires meaning both personally and ontologically.
The level 5 person wants his or her existence to be meaningful.
As the Buddists tend to suggest, conventional people are in some
ways asleep. Instead of searching for meaning, they search for conventional
acceptance and conventional power. Coventional “meaning” and power are
the antithesis of meaning. Mundania is not meaningful. So, the Liberal at
level 4 and the artist and poet at level 5 seek meaning in a different way.
Liberal meaning at level 4 is better than mundane conventional
“meaning.” Real Liberals, however, believe in Being and metaphysics to
ground their Liberalism rather than convention. Liberalism which is
50
grounded in Being and metaphysics is Classical Liberalism. Classical
Liberalism is not based upon convention or extreme relativism, but instead
is based upon moderate truth, moderate idealism, moderate realism, and
moderate relativism.
When one begins to intuit Being at level 6, then the search for
meaning and the search for God begins to reach fruition. When one intuits
Being, one begins to be spiritually in touch with God the Father. Being is
objective and impersonal while God is a person and personal. Being
manifests God the Father and God the Father manifests Being. Being is the
Mind of God the Father. Being is the Mind of God. If you find God, you
will eventually find Being, if you find Being, you will eventually find God.
God the Father is the God of Being. To find God the Father, then, meditate
on Being.
Chapter 17
51
Is Anger Good or Evil?
By
In the Summa Theologica, Part II-II, Question 158, Thomas
Aquinas considers whether anger is good or evil. In Question 158, Article I,
Aquinas defines anger as the desire for revenge. He then continues on to
take the position that anger in accordance with right reason is good, while
anger not in accord with right reason is evil. Similarly, in Question 158,
Article II, Aquinas asserts that anger whose end is Justice, is good while
anger which promotes injustice is evil. Finally, Aquinas argues that only
moderate anger is good and that immoderate anger is evil. Id.
I argue that for anger to be good, it must be ethical anger directed
toward the Good as an end. I also argue that the purpose of anger should be
a proportional response to an injustice, not revenge. Anger which abhors
that which is unethical is good. That which is unethical is that which is not
in accordance with the natural law principles of reciprocity, utility,
proportionality, and equity. Ethical anger is just anger. Ethical anger
which is directed toward social injustice is also good. Finally, however, as
52
Aquinas notes, one should never allow one’s anger to become so strong that
one loses one’s ability to reason. Anger which clouds good judgment and
reason is not good, but evil.
Chapter 18
53
Is Humility Good or Evil?
By
In the Summa Theologica, Part II-II, Question 161, Thomas
Aquinas takes the position the humility is a virtue, or good. I argue on the
other hand, that the only humility is false humility and that humility is evil.
Now, for the human being to be moved to act, the intellect or the emotions
must move the will and then the will moves the body. I argue that one
cannot have a strong intellect without having a positive sense of Self-esteem
or Self-confidence. Self-confidence is the virtue which should be extolled,
not humility. On the other hand, it is equally true that a puffed up sense of
egoistic pride is also evil and non-productive and should be avoided.
The True Self of the Holy Spirit produces Self-confidence. Without
Self-confidence the Holy Spirit could not operate. The Holy Spirit teaches
us to love Justice and Equality and to hate injustice and conventional
morality and conventional authority. One cannot be competent at what one
54
does, vocationally, without Self-confidence. Self-confidence and the Holy
Spirit abhors humility and obedience to conventional authority.
I have never met a person who is genuinely humble, but rather, have
only met hypocrites who pretend humility. Humility needs to be replaced
with Self-confidence. Pride needs to be replaced with Self-confidence.
This should be our goal.
55
Chapter 19
Is the Republican Party Nazi or Communist?
By
Is the Republican Party Nazi or Communist? That is the question.
The answer? Well, let’s see. Let’s do a comparison of particular political
positions and policies and see what we come up with.
Now, the Communist Party only allows for a one party state. What
about the Republican Party? Well, how can we tell? I guess we can tell
this by figuring out how the Republicans treat the rival Democrats. If the
Republican rhetoric is one which seems to suggest that Democrats have no
right to exist, rather than being collegial, then it would seem that the
Republicans are trying to get rid of the Democrats. Now, it is fairly obvious
that if there are two parties, one Democrat and one Republican, and you
take away one party, the Democrats, then you are left with one party, the
Republicans, or is it the Communists? The problem of course is that the
Nazis also believed in a one party state run by the Nazi party, so could it be
that the Republicans are really Nazis?
56
Now, you might object that the Republicans are not trying to destroy
the Democratic Party, but there are a few problems with that. Richard
Nixon, a Republican was perfectly happy to use former C.I.A. employees to
engage in political espionage against the Democrats during the Watergate
era.
Also, Ronald Reagan was quite fond of saying that liberal
democrats are evil. Even Republican Catholic priests, giving homilies from
the alter to Catholic Democrats, had no problem calling liberal democrats
evil. It has gotten so bad that Archbishop George, presumably a republican,
has stated that liberalism is dead.
Now, the most interesting people out to destroy legal democracy are
the republican or is it communist or nazi, Critical Legal Studies professors
at Harvard Law School and elsewhere. In fact I have heard, first hand, a
Critical Law professor refer to liberalism as fascism. Now, if you
remember World War Two at all, you might recall that Mussolini, the
Italian Dictator was a fascist, and he was aligned with Adolph Hitler, a Nazi,
both totalitarians. The people who fought the fascist and Nazis were
American soldiers who believed in liberal democracy. The Critical Legal
Studies crowd are a bunch of cowards. They never fight for reforms for
justice and social justice that would help the poor or working poor or
57
middle class, instead they argue that the Rule of Law doesn’t exist, rights
don’t exist, instead these are “reified” concepts which are illegitimate.
Now, I have argued previously in a published academic work that
“reification” is an incoherent, false concept. Only one professor bothered
to respond and, the article was about his work, that is Peter Gabel. Since I
published that article in the Capital Law Review, I have come up with a
shorter proof, also previously published. Try this on for size:
“Reification is itself a reified concept, and therefore invalid.”
So, once again, how is it that Critical Legal Studies professors,
supposed radicals, spend all their time trashing liberal democracy using the
reification concept? Perhaps these Critical Legal Studies professors are
Republicans, or is Communists, or Nazi? Food for thought.
58
Chapter 20
Jesus and Commitment
By
Unless you are really in the groove, it is hard to make a commitment.
Sometimes you have this intuitive feeling that you can commit to doing
something for a long time, maybe forever. Often times when we think of
commitment we think of a marriage commitment or a commitment to
religious life. There is a more fundamental commitment, however, that this
one’s commitment to God.
Everyone knows that if you believe in God you will have your ups
and downs, your good days and your bad days. Saint Ignatius of Loyola
saw this, and named these swings in spirituality consolation and desolation.
Even modern psychiatry has the ideas of manic inspiration or consolation,
and depressive desolation or depression or deep sadness. When one feels
God or the Spirit in one’s heart and soul then one is experiencing
consolation. When God or the Spirit seems absent then one is experiencing
desolation.
59
Ignatius said, however, that even desolation can be a gift. In periods
of spiritual dryness or sadness it is typically the case that the soul is
undergoing some type of conversion. Although it may be that in some cases
medication is necessary to help overcome desolation or depression, with
good spiritual direction it is sometimes possible to ride out the situation and
transcend it. As Dr. Larry Dossey points out, the mind-body connection is
a two way street. The mind can affect the body and the body or medication
can affect the mind. Moreover, the mind can affect the mind.
To return to my earlier discussion here, I guess my point is that you
have learn to be patient with yourself and understand that however horrible
it may be at the time, it may be spiritually necessary for one’s inner growth
to experience some desolation or depression. You have to transcend the
depression or desolation, however, at keep at your goals and your life. You
simply have to gut it out and stick with your faith in God even though your
spiritual experience is total anguish.
Jesus was very outspoken in his criticism of those who “flip-flop.”
Flip-floppers are those who blow with the wind, Catholic one week,
Episcopalian the week after, atheist the next. Providentially, God can work
with us even when we are atheists or bigoted.
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His plan may not be the one we like but nevertheless it is still a plan
that will work, providentially. Jesus said in the Christian Gospel, “I will
take them cold, I will take them hot, but the luke warm I will spit out of my
mouth.” So, while we should strive to be spiritual, loving, persons, and
love God, at the same time we must be careful not to be wishwashy. If we
change faith under persecution, severe persecution, then God can exercise
equity and forgive us. But if we change faith for reasons of selfishness, or
power, or greed, then God is not very forgiving. So, even in times of
difficulty do your best to stick with your faith. If you leave the faith for
what you see is a good reason, then don’t come back unless you really mean
it. Maybe it is better for you to try to make your new faith work. Don’t be
a Catholic one week and an Episcopalian the next week. Make a
commitment and God will work with you.
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Chapter 21
Jesus Christ and the DaVinci Code
By
In the book and movie, the DaVinci Code, it is asserted that Jesus
of Nazareth was married to Mary Magnalene, and had a child, a daughter. I
want to argue for a more radical interpretation of the Gospels. I argue that
Jesus was a Jewish Lawyer, a member of the Sandedrin, on Mary his
Mother’s side, the grandson of Cleopatra (Anne) (Egypt) and Marc Antony
Caesar (Rome). I argue that Jesus was married to a woman of stature in the
community and had 5 children, both boys and girls. I argue that Jesus was
an establishment player up until his 40 th birthday, at which point he became
a social justice advocate. Jesus argued that slavery should be abolished.
He argued that all Jews should have Roman Citizenship. He argued that
there should be hospitals to take care of medical needs of the middle class
and poor. He argued against unjust taxation. As a result of all of this, Jesus
was penured by the Sandedrin, and disbarred from law practice. Jesus sent
his wife and children to Byzantium to be safe and then began his public
62
ministry as a prophet, healer, and preacher. Both the Jewish and Roman
authorities could take only so much of this and Jesus was crucified, died,
and was buried. Jesus rose from the dead, using his Quantum Abilities,
spent time with his disciples and then ascended into the sky, the heavens.
Jesus then flew bodily to the outskirts of Byzantium and rejoined his family,
with a change in identity, Joshua Zimmerman. Jesus made furniture part
time and practiced Roman Civil Law, having obtained Roman Citizenship.
He had 5 more biological children and stayed on earth for a long time.
The foregoing is my intuitive account of what really happened.
63
Chapter 22
Joseph the Father of Jesus
By
Since I was a kid I always wondered a lot about Joseph, the earthly
Father of Jesus of Nazareth. It is clear that Joseph was around the house
during the early childhood of Jesus. Joseph and Mary have to get Jesus
back from the Temple where the young Jesus was debating theology and
philosophy with the Jewish elders. After this incident with the elders,
Joseph is seemingly no longer mentioned in the Gospel, although Mary is.
It is argued by some that Joseph died while Jesus was still young, and
thus the lack of discussion of Joseph in the Gospels. I would like to
propose another interpretation of the biblical data, I would like to argue that
Joseph, like Jesus after him, was subjected to persecution for the charge of
penury. Rather than stay in Nazareth and face persecution for penury, it is
my argument that Joseph left town and went to Jerusalem to start a new life.
I argue that later in the Gospel, Joseph reappears as Joseph of Arimethea.
Apparently, if one survives penuring, then one can become rich, as was
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Joseph of Arimethea. Joseph of Arimethea was a disciple of Jesus, and
apparently was present at the crucifixion of Jesus, and later had enough clout
to ask Pilate for Jesus’ body, so that it could be buried in a tomb owned by
Joseph. Jesus was then buried in the tomb provided by Joseph of
Arimethea.
So, I argue that Joseph did not abandon Jesus, but rather was
compelled to go to Jerusalem under the assumed name of Joseph of
Arimethea, rather than Joseph of Nazareth. Joseph was thus a follower
and supporter of Jesus, was present throughout the public ministry of Jesus,
and was with Jesus at his death on the Cross. I argue that Joseph was a
strong Father figure, and a positive influence in the life of Jesus.
65
Chapter 23
Judgment
By
In the Christian Gospel, the Book of Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples
not to judge others harshly, that is, not to be judgmental, “For as you judge,
so you shall be judged, and the measure which you measure will be
measured out to you.” In this teaching, Jesus shows us that he is a
moderate relativist. Jesus does not deny that truth of some sort exists,
neither does Jesus assert that absolute truth exists, instead, he tells us that we
will be judged (an absolute) by the same standards we use to judge others (a
relative standard).
Jesus also says that the measure or standard you use to measure or
analyze others will be the same measure that is used to measure or analyze
you. Now, the situation is made even more interesting because of karma.
The law of Karma states that we will eventually be reciprocally placed in a
situation which parallels the situation that we have found others. If I am
rich and treat the poor well or poorly, I will eventually live a life where I will
66
be poor and will be treated well or poorly just as I treated the poor in this
life.
Later in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about a man
who owed a debt to his King. Debtor A, was taken before the King and
was questioned. The man has no way to pay the debt. The King ordered
that Debtor A and his family be sold into slavery to pay the debt. Debtor A,
begged for mercy, and the King relented, forgiving the man’s debt. Debtor
A was on his way home, happy that his debt had been forgiven, when he
came upon another man, Debtor B, who owed him, the King’s debtor, a
small amount of money. The forgiven debtor, now creditor, Debtor A, had
the man, Debtor B, thrown into debtor’s prison. Soon, word got back to the
King as to what had happened. Following the teaching of Jesus, the King
applied the same judgment and measure to the King’s debtor, Debtor A, that
Debtor A has applied to Debtor B. Thus, the King handed the original
debtor, Debtor A, over to the torturers for punishment.
It is clear, then, that if Debtor A has given Debtor B additional time
to pay, or had forgiven the debt the same judgment would have been applied
to him, Debtor A, by the King, rather than torture. Torture obviously
symbolizes a kind of Hell. So, I argue that good judgment, tempered with
compassion is best, but that, now judgment at all is better than a sort of
67
vindictive judgmentalism, which is all some people are capable of since they
lack good judgment.
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Chapter 24
Level Three Thinking
By
Bernard Lonergan, in his work, discusses the Cognitional Structure
of Experience, Understanding, Judgment and Reflection. I would like to
take a few moments to develop Lonergan’s work using phenomenological
analysis.
It is difficult to consider the level of Experience without at the same
time considering the Level of Understanding. The best idea that I have
come up with so far is to imagine that you are a one year old child who is
just learning to speak. You do not know the name of the various objects in
the room. In order to learn you are accompanied by a parent (or friend) and
you simply point at various objects in the room saying “That…” So, you
see a “lamp” and you point at it and say “That…” You see a picture on the
wall and you say “That…” You say that because you are trying to stay on
the level of Experience without going to the level of Understanding and
naming or categorizing the object with language.
69
On the Level of Understanding you take your sense experience and
try to categorize it. So, let us say you have pointed to an “apple” and an
“orange,” saying “That…” Now, let us say you point to the “apple” saying
“That…” and your friend then says “apple” to you to give you the name or
category that fits. Next, you do the same thing with “orange.”
You are now aware at the level of Understanding of the categories of
orange and apple. Next your friend tells you that both an apple and an
orange are fruit, while green beans are a vegetable. You now distinguish
apple from orange as two different types of fruit and analogize them as two
similar types of fruit. So, by analogy, apple is to orange as green beans are
to yellow beans. Similarly, you can analytically distinguish an apple from
an orange saying they are two different types of fruit. All of this is done on
the level of Understanding, at level 2.
Finally, there is Level 3 Judgment and Reflection. Both Judgment
and Reflection are Intuitive functions. Intuition, at a particular level of
probability directly intuits both the object “orange” as well as the ideal
“orange” of Level 2 which is a linguistic category. Intuition then tests the
two for a proper “fit,” and then Judges the orange to really be an orange.
Additionally, Intuition at level 3 Judges that the apple is not an orange and
that the orange is not an apple.
70
Thus, using phenomenological analysis it is apparent that
Lonergan’s Cognitional Structure is valid.
71
Chapter 25
Liberty and Liberalism
By
For some reason, Ronald Reagan started bashing liberalism and
in certain circles the idea of liberal bashing became popular. What is
liberalism? Well, if you look carefully, the word “liberalism” has the same
root, “liber” as the word “liberty.” Thus, liberals are persons who support
liberty. Now, who could be against liberty? That is, genuine freedom?
Well, fascists, I suppose. Those people who reject liberal, individual rights
in favor of evil, authoritarian rule. Why would anyone in their right mind
be against liberty?
I suppose that there once was a time when certain liberals, who were
logical positivists, felt that liberalism meant or means atheistic materialism.
This is no longer the case. With Critical Thomism, liberalism is now firmly
grounded in classical metaphysics. Liberty is an Immutable Platonic Form
and a Substantial Form. Liberty exists, and subsists, independent of any
knower. Liberty is real. And, for the liberal metaphysician it is no big deal
72
at all to move from aatheistic metaphysics to theistic metaphysics.
Aatheism, being the metaphysician’s agnostic approach to God. Agnostics
are still free to dream the dream of God, while atheists aren’t. Liberty is
worth fighting for. As Patrick Henry has stated around the time of the
American Revolution, “Give me Liberty or give me Death.”
73
Chapter 26
Mental Incompetency and the Equitable Use
By
I once met a psychologist who asked me whether a person who
was adjudicated judicially incompetent to stand trial for a mental health
disability would have the right to practice law if the person was an
otherwise licensed attorney. I responded that such a mental health-legal
status was irrelevant as long as the person did not violate the Legal Ethics
rules in the requisite jurisdiction. An attempt by the Bar or Judiciary or
legislature to prevent some one from practicing law based on his status of
having a mental health disability would be a violation of the Federal
Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Protection clause of the United
States Constitution, and 42 U.S.C.A. section 1983.
Now, another argument I have heard made is that a person who is
mentally ill and judicially incompetent to stand trial does not have the legal
capacity to own property or to contract. Once again this argument fails. I
argue that once a mentally ill person adjudicated judicially incompetent to
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stand trial, that that person holds an equitable use in all of his or her property
and can contract in Equity under the theory of in Quantum Meruit, that is,
he can contract for the reasonable value of property or services, in Equity,
enforceable at Equity. Bare legal title at law, subject to the person’s
equitable use could be held by a guardian or by the attorney general in his
capacity of parens patria, that is, one who is responsible for representing to
best interest or rational self interest of minors or incompetents in Equity.
Obviously, a mentally ill person who is adjudicated judicially incompetent to
stand trial can contract in Equity with a Bank or a savings account or
checking account.
Now, the only counterargument that I can see to the position taken
above, is that the Statute of Uses, enacted by Parliament in 1538, would
apply. The Statute of Uses states that any equitable use is converted to a use
at law. Now, while this may seem to hurt the argument for a person holding
an equitable use, it really does not. What happens instead is that the
mentally ill person can hold a law license, practice law, contract at law, hold
title to property at law, hold a savings account at law, and hold a checking
account at law, instead of in Equity. If this is somehow challenged by a
Guardian or another, then the use at law reverts back to an Equitable Use,
and the Statute of Uses is inapplicable.
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Chapter 27
Metaphysics and Quantum Physics, An Analogy
By
Plato and Aristotle both discuss the metaphysical concept of Being
in their academic works of philosophy. As I define Being, Being is an
unrestricted act of understanding, Form of Form, The Good. Being is
sometime thought to be like an Energy field, not unlike the idea of Ether
that 19th century scientists used. Some are skeptical about Being, arguing
that it does not exist. The typical response is that Being is the Unmoved
Mover, and as such is a necessary concept needed to avoid an illogical,
result of infinite regress.
Here, however, I would like to make a different argument for the
existence of Being. I argue that Being or the Being Field, is analogous to
the Quantum Field. The Quantum Field has been scientifically proven to
exist outside of Space-Time, and by analogy it can be argued that Being or
the Being Field, exists outside of Space-Time. Similarly, the Quantum
Field is said to involve meaning, and by analogy it can be argued that
Being or the Being Field involves meaning or understanding. The Quantum
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Field is said to involve Moderate Relativism, and by analogy it can be
argued that Being or the Being Field involves Moderate Relativism.
Therefore, it appears that, arguing by analogy, an argument can be
made that Being does indeed exist.
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Chapter 28
Motivation, Management, and Consciousness
By
Abraham Maslow is famous for his theory of motivation. Maslow
asserts that there are five different levels of motivation for the person. They
are:
1. Survival
2. Safety
3. Belonging
4. Esteem
5. Self-Actualization
Survival needs deal with basic physical needs such as food,
clothing, shelter. Safety needs involve freedom from harm and often
involve the use of law to protect one from harm and to protect one’s
freedom. Belonging needs are needs related to relationship and love such as
friendship, parent-child, marriage partners, etc. Esteem needs involve the
need for positive affirmation for a job well done. Finally, Self-
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Actualization needs relate to the need to express your True Self, your Holy
Spirit Self, in a vocation.
Socially responsible management of a company must structure its
employment programs so that its employees are properly motivated. By the
way, just because one Self-Actualizes does not mean that there is no need
to be paid well for a job well done, for example. You are not required to
take a poverty vow in order to Self-Actualize. Self-Actualizing people still
have survival, safety, and esteem needs just as much as anyone else. Having
said this, however, it is also true that Self-Actualizing people are willing to
take risks in order to find work which is Self-Actualizing, sometimes putting
up with the inconvenience of lower pay. Ideally, the Self-Actualizing
person desires a job which promotes his or her Self-Actualization and which
pays well. Self-Actualizing people hate high paying jobs which do not
promote Self-Actualization. When forced into such a situation the Self-
Actualizing person typically is very unhappy.
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Chapter 29
Neuro-linguistic Programming and Schizophrenia
By
I would like to suggest a new profession for lawyers who hold a Juris
Doctor degree, that is Jurisprudential Counseling. What is Jurisprudential
Counseling? Well, Jurisprudence, real Jurisprudence is interdisciplinary. It
involves philosophy, theology, quantum physics, psychology, psychiatry,
even neuro-linguistic programming. It is Wisdom.
As a Jurisprudential Counselor, for example, I argue that some forms
of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, can be cured using neuro-
linguistic programming or neuro-heuristic programming. The argument is
that mental illness is caused by faulty cognitive programming, not by
biology or chemistry.
Schizophrenia, is defined as a thought disorder. Some
schizophrenics have a hard time being logical. I argue that by putting the
patient in a deep trance state using neuro-linguistic programming, or
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mediation relaxation, that one can discover the unconscious roots of
schizophrenia and other mental illnesses and cure them.
I have to examples that have been used successfully. In the first case
the patient was suffering from severe depression. The patient was given the
neuro-linguistic “double bind” command “I find pleasure in depression.”
The patient experienced substantial relief from depression.
In the second instance, the patient had the subjective experience of
“reality” shifting in his mind periodically. The patient was given the neuro-
heuristic command taken from Neo-Thomist philosophy, of “substantial
form,” and was told to meditate with this. The patient experienced dramatic
relief from the reality shifting phenomenon.
Since psychiatry seems unable to get beyond atheistic materialism
in it’s approach to treating mental health problems, I suggest that lawyers
engaging in Jurisprudential Counseling, take the lead.
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Chapter 30
Part Time Full Time Work
By
I have heard in Germany that they are going to a part time work
week for everyone, required by law. In the United States there is, for some
reason, the rather idiotic idea that if you do not work a 40 hour work week,
or longer, that you are somehow mentally ill. In fact, in some law firms,
attorneys work 80 hour work weeks. I know of one guy who worked in a
big firm who supposedly was pulling down a big salary, and, do you know
what? When you looked at the huge amount of hours he was required to
work and divided that by his salary, you found out that he was only making
around $5.50 an hour, about minimum wage at that time. It is completely
absurd that a person goes to school for four years undergraduate studies,
three years of law school, and then ends up making the same hourly rate as a
kid right out of highschool who is sacking groceries at the local grocery
store.
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But the problem is even deeper than what I have discussed.
Somehow we have found ourselves in a workaholic culture. It is so bad
that some lawyers will even brag that they missed their son’s baseball game
because they were putting in hard hitting hours. It is sad. I argue that the
normal work schedule for a human being, especially on doing intellectual
work, should be around 20 hours per week or less. Intellectual people
perform best in an environment where there is little stress. Long hours
produces stress. Long hours and stress produces mistakes.
Human beings evolved from tribal culture. In tribal culture the male
spent most of his time at home relaxing or doing odd jobs such as repairing a
bow or sharpening an arrowhead. Work was hunting. If the tribe lived in
the right area a warrior hunter might go out and hunt for two or three hours
once every two or three days, and that was it.
In medieval culture it was the same way. People were layed back.
They took time to talk to each other and took rest breaks. There was
typically one religious holiday a week where no one was allowed to work.
Most jobs were part time.
Finally, in science fiction and in the new age literature there are
discussions of highly evolved societies on other planets. In these societies
people work part time. Part time is full time. Part time pays full time. If in
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a law firm for example, the senior partners would accept a sensible salary
cap in instead of maxing out profit, then the money saved could be
distributed throughout the firm and everyone could work fewer hours.
In my own case, I worked at a large law firm for two years and then
left to go into the Jesuit Novitiate. For me, full time legal practice was not a
satisfying lifestyle. I left the Novitiate and went into legal academia. As a
law professor I had flexible hours and could excel. Because I was not
required to work a 40 hour week in the office I could spend time at home
reading or meditating or later spend time with my kids. While some people
took 4 hours to prepare for a one hour class, it took me just 45 minutes to
prepare once I had taught the class a few times.
Now I work part time as an attorney and I write. I am basically poor.
I am saving money to buy a car. I enjoy my law practice, but I know I
could never do it full time. I live in a one bedroom apartment by myself.
Even though I do not make much money I am basically happy. I like my
clients. I have basically a street law plaintiff’s practice. I have time to
meditate and to write. Although Divine Providence dealt me this hand, it is
working out just fine. I suggest part time full time work for everyone.
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Chapter 31
Penury
By
I have a sociological hypothesis. I argue that penuring is a universal,
natural law, sociological phenomenon. Penury, in its’ strict meaning,
according to Black’s Law Dictionary, means “poverty.” However, penury
as has a double meaning in the word penior, or point, or dagger. As a
universal phenomenon, I argue that when a male reaches the age of
approximately 40 years old, and is married with children, reality reacts
against this person my penuring him. Penury may also apply to a woman,
but I think the process is somewhat different. With respect to the male,
penury can mean either withdrawl to a life of relative seclusion and poverty,
that is, simple living, or in the extreme to the torture or execution or
assassination of the male by society, traditionally through having the throat
slit or being stabbed, or crucified. In modern times, the assassin’s bullet
seems to be the typical method of penuring a male. Alternatively, a live of
enforced poverty by reason of the male being “framed” and put in prison or
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a psychiatric ward is also a possibility. Lastly, poisoning of the victim of
penury is another technique.
Now, penury, as a process, is made more intense when the male is a
spiritual person, a “good” person, or a person who believes in justice or
social justice. The natural cause of penury is twofold. First, stemming
from ancient culture, when a male reaches the age of 40 it is unconsciously,
and perhaps consciously thought that he is using supernatural means to stay
alive. It is speculated that the male is an immortal. A male in good health
in his late 40’s is a target for penury. Arguably, his health should be failing,
but it is not. The inauthentic way of avoiding penury is to join a satanic cult
and worship conventional evil. The authentic way of avoiding penury is
more complex and will be discussed below.
The second natural cause of penury is the phenomenon of
ressentiment. Ressentiment, according to Bernard Lonergan, is the
personal and societal reaction of hatred and jealously against a person who
argues for and lives a life of, higher values. So, I argue that history has
shown that men who live lives arguing for justice and social justice are
penured. Examples include, Jesus Christ (state execution by crucifixion),
Thomas More (executed by beheading), William Wallace (state execution
by being hung, drawn, and quartered), Abraham Lincoln (assassinated),
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Ghandi (assassinated), Jack Kennedy (assassinated), Bobby Kennedy
(assassinated), Martin Luther King, Jr., (assassinated). In my own life, I
argue that I have been penured, although I will not go into the details here.
Now, let us talk about the ways of avoiding penury. First of all, if
one’s skin is literally pierced by a needle or a knife, then this counts as a
technical penuring. I suspect that the medieval practice of self flagellation
with a barbed whip was a form of self penuring to avoid something worse.
Namely, crucifixion or being burned alive for heresy. A second technique is
retirement to a monastery or the equivalent thereof. I argue this is a
universal phenomenon. In India, if a spiritual male is married, this is called
the way of the householder. Upon reaching age 40 the houselholder is
expected to leave his home and live the rest of his life in an ashram or
monastery. Curiously, I, personally, was forced to leave my home of my
wife and two children, and now live in a one bedroom apartment in a
different city. Perhaps the reason that there are so many divorces in the 40
year old age bracket is because of the penuring phenomenon.
If the spiritual male seeking justice and social justice does not retire to
a life of seperateness, simple living, and partial seclusion, then it is likely
that he will be penured. As stated before, penury can include: being framed
and put in prison on false charges; being framed and executed by the state;
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being burned or crucified by the mob or Klu Klux Klan; being hit or
murdered by the mafia; being poisoned; being assassinated, being
involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward.
I, of course, hope that I am completely wrong about about the
hypothesis that I have presented here, but I do not think that I am.
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Chapter 32
Persecution and Commitment
By
When we make a commitment to God we are expected to stick
with it. Traditionally, those who reject God, after having accepted or
believed in Him were thought to be apostates and condemned to Hell. In
ordinary times when the Church is functioning the way it should, and so is
society, it is typically not very difficult for most people to maintain their
religious faith. It is perhaps the most difficult test for many during
ordinary times when a loved one dies unexpectedly. This often produces a
crisis of faith because we miss the person so much.
Not all times are ordinary, however. Through much of the
history of the Catholic church, Catholics have been subject to persecution by
those of other religious backgrounds. In fact, it is simply the case that
Catholics are sometimes tortured in an effort to get them to give up their
faith.
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For example, during the time of the Crusades, when Catholic
Knights were captured by Moslems, the Knights were often tortured to force
them to give up their faith and become Christian apostates. Similarly,
during the reign of Queen Elizebeth the 1st of England, Catholic priests
who were captured were typically tortured and executed, often by being
hung, drawn, and quartered.
The reason that many Catholics went to their deaths under torture
was the official policy of the Church was that there was never an excuse for
apostacy. If you were tortured you were expected to resist until death and
become a martyr rather than to deny your faith under persecution.
There is a new rule, now, however. Now, it is my position, that it is
acceptable to retain an internal reservation in favor of one’s faith and to
outwardly reject your faith rather than submit to extreme persecution or
torture. You remain Catholic internally, and as soon as reality has
normalized, then you go back to being a professed Catholic again. In the
present day church God chooses survivability over martyrdom. However, it
should be noted that minor name calling or other such minor forms of
persecution are not sufficient for rejected one’s faith.
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Chapter 33
Psychiatry and Malpractice
By
The legal standard for malpractice is negligence. A Psychiatrist,
as any other Doctor, has the legal duty to act reasonably when treating a
patient. Unreasonable conduct on the part of the Psychiatrist breaches the
duty of care and is actionable as negligence for which damages should be
paid.
There is a whole new generation of atypical anti-psychotic
medications which have minimal side effects. Both Geodon and Seroquel,
given in the proper dosages are effective in treating schizophrenia, shizo-
affective disorder, and bipolar disorder (manic depression), and have been
approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration for those uses.
Unfortunately, some Psychiatrists seem to be following the
antiquated practice of prescribing the oldest known medication first, which
typically has significant side effects. For example, if a patient is placed on a
psychiatric ward based on alleged delusional thinking or hallucinations,
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many psychiatrists prescribe haldiperol or haldol as the first line of treatment
even though haldol has significant side effects. Instead, the competent
psychiatrist would start with Geodon or Seroquel, the most effective drug,
with the least amount of side effects.
Similarly, with bipolar disorder (manic depression), many
psychiatrists start with lithium as the first treatment, and then go to depakote
(valproic acid) even though both of these medications have significant side
effects. Instead, the competent psychiatrist would start with Geodon or
Seroquel, the most effective drug with the least amount of side effects.
Psychiatry must change. The most effective medications with the
least amount of side effects must be prescribed first. If the psychiatrists
won’t do this voluntarily then the legal system will have to put them out of
business using malpractice tort law, if the government won’t intervene.
This Essay is based upon my legal opinion as legal academic involved in
the area of law and psychiatry.
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Chapter 34
Psychiatry and the First Amendment
To the United States Constitution
By
It is interesting to note that most professions are licensed by the
state and regulated. This is true of law as well as medicine, including
psychiatry. I would like to argue that medicine in general, as well as law,
constitute private action for constitutional purposes. In law, in particular, a
lawyer is an “officer of the court” only for the limited purpose of disclosing
perjury by a client. Only lawyers whose practices involve state action for
constitutional purposes are those lawyers who work for government directly,
such as a United State Attorney, the local prosecutor, the head or counsel of
an administrative agency.
Psychiatry, however, is a different story. Psychiatrists, directly or
indirectly, have the power of involuntarily committing a person to a
psychiatric ward for a long period time, and a psychiatrist also has the power
to force a client to take psychiatric medication. The only reason that a
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psychiatrist has this power is because of state statute. Force of state law
and state coercion give psychiatrist power, and thus political power, even,
religious power.
Now, when we understand that a psychiatrist operates under the
umbrella of state action, it is apparent that certain legal rules come into play.
First of all, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution states
specifically that there can be no state sponsored established church. The
First Amendment also provides that persons are to have the free exercise of
religion and spirituality, which cannot be interfered with by the state.
Finally, 42 United States Code Annotated Section 1983 provides both civil
and criminal penalties for a psychiatrist who infringes upon a client’s
constitutional rights, including First Amendment rights, under the color of
state law.
Let us consider the following hypothetical. Twenty five year old,
Bill, tells his psychiatrist that he “feels the Holy Spirit in my Heart,” and
also feels inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi to give all his property away to
the poor and go into religious life in order to serve others. Bill’s
psychiatrist, at the suggestion of Bill’s parents, diagnoses Bill with manic
depression and involuntarily commits Bill to a psychiatric ward. On the
ward, Bill reaffirms his previous religious ideals and his psychiatrist
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reaffirms Bill’s diagnosis on manic depression and decides that Bill is
delusional as a result of religious mania. Without knowing it, Bill’s
psychiatrist has violated both the First Amendment and 42 U.S.C.A. Section
1983.
Here is the argument. Bill’s intention to sell his property and go into
religious life involves the free exercise of religion for purposes of the First
Amendment. United State Supreme Court precedent states that the state
can only interfere with constitutional rights if there is a compelling state
interest, and if the means used to further that interest are narrowly drawn to
accomplish an important governmental objective.
Now, the typical involuntary commitment statute states that a person
can be involuntarily committed if he or she is a immediate physical danger
to himself or another. This would seem to be the only legitimate state
objective. Is this a compelling state interest? Is the requirement narrowly
drawn to accomplish an important governmental objective? It would seem
that saving the life of either Bill or a third person would be a compelling
state interest, but, the problem is that Bill is simply planning to sell his
property and go into religious life. Bill is not really planning to hurt
anyone. I suppose that it is remotely possible that Bill might starve to
death if he sells everything and is then kicked out of religious life. If this
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is indeed the concern, the state can only intervene in a narrow way to
prevent this possibility from happening. This can be done by asking or even
requiring Bill to place his property in a Trust until Bill has taken final vows
in religious life, or perhaps, has died.
So, condsidering the foregoing, the psychiatrist should not
involuntarily commit Bill, but instead should seek legal means to have Bill’s
property placed in Trust for Bill’s benefit. Involuntarily commiting a
person in Bill’s situation violates both the First Amendment and 42
U.S.C.A. Section 1983. The wise psychiatrist would seem to want to
avoid the type of legal penalties associated with Section 1983. The same is
true of a police officer acting in a similar capacity.
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Chapter 35
Psychotic Psychiatry
By
It used to be that philosophy or perhaps natural science were
considered to be the disciplines most concerned with truth. Now, however,
psychiatry is attempting to steal the stage. Psychiatry purports to be able to
recognize that which is psychotic; psychotic being defined as “out of touch
with reality.” The corollary of the foregoing, is, of course, that psychiatry
must know what “reality” is in order to be able to distinguish it from non-
reality.
The problem is that psychiatry itself is totally out of touch with reality
since it typically uses conventional morality and atheistic materialism as
normative. It has gotten so bad that some psychiatrists think that
metaphysics, the study of ultimate reality, is delusional or psychotic.
Here is the best though. Do you know that if you tell a psychiatrist
anything which he or she thinks is out of the ordinary that you will in all
likelihood be diagnosed delusional or psychotic? Take this for example. It
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is well known that the Mafia is active in the Kansas City area. I grew up in
Nebraska and this was generally understood as being true. Let us say
however, that I grew up and got a job in Kansas City and I was being
rousted out of my job with no explanation. Let us also assume that I have
been previously diagnosed as having Bipolar mental illness. I go to my
psychiatrist and tell him that I suspect that I am being rousted in my job
because I won’t pay protection or join the mafia. My psychiatrist, having
grown up in Pakistan, immediately assumes I am delusional and diagnoses
me with Schizophrenia without bothering to investigate the underlying facts.
Now, it is painfully obvious that every psychiatrist should employ a
private detective to check out the underlying facts of the patient’s story. In
point of fact people do get persecuted by not only the mafia, but also the
F.B.I. and the C.I.A. It is so obvious because it is in the newspaper. For
example, the local newspaper in Pittsburgh, PA, published a story about the
new C.I.A. station chief in Pittsburgh. Now, this is interesting because at
the last time that I checked, 50 U.S.C.S. section 401, et seq., known as the
National Security Act, prohibits the C.I.A. from spying domestically in the
United States.. I think that it is a felony under federal law. Under the
National Security Act, the National Counter Intelligence Agency (N.C.A.)
is responsible for domestic spying.
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Now, back to psychiatry. How about this for an interesting move?
Joe Smith discovers that his wife is planning to run him in onto a psychiatric
ward for treatment. She is keeping a careful list of all of Joe’s behaviours so
that she can give this to the psychiatrist. Joe discovers the list and decides
to get a crew cut, hair cut and grow a beard so that his cannot be accused of
having cognitive dementia. Joe’s wife proceeds with her plan anyway.
The next month she has Joe involuntarily committed on a psychiatric
ward for not combing his hair or shaving. Of course Joe does not need to
shave because he has grown a beard, and, Joe does not need to comb his hair
because he has a short crew cut, hair cut. Although this is perfectly absurd,
I suspect it happens fairly often. Think about it.
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Chapter 36
Reality
By
The Nature of Reality is difficult to grasp. Some, naively, think
that they know reality first hand, without reflection. Others simply ignore
the question, perhaps even denying that reality exists. At the deepest point
in existence reality is Substance. Substance is the reality principle or
quiddity par excellence. Realists start with Substance and finish with
Substance.
Idealists on the other hand start with the idea of idea. For an
idealist the explanatory principle is Idea. In fact, this is so true that an
Idealist will even insist that Idea is the basis for the real. For the Idealist,
Reality is based on ideas. The problem, of course, is that ideas are not real,
they are abstract, almost imaginary. In fact, we even have full books full of
imaginary ideas which are called fiction. So, this seems to be a problem
for the Idealist.
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Linguistic Deconstruction is also a problem for the Idealist.
Deconstructionists spend a great deal of time trying to break down Ideas or
words into meaning categories which may or may not have anything to do
with a word’s dictionary definition. Let us take Liberty, as an idea, for
example. Liberty is based upon the idea of Freedom. The idea of Liberty
is that I should have that amount of Freedom which is coextensive with a
similar amount of Freedom for others. So, my Freedom to practice
boxing stops with your nose. To some, however, Liberty is simply
deconstructed and seen as anti-social selfishness, denying “relationality.”
Perhaps, even the idea of idea itself can be deconstructed. What is
an idea but a word? What is word but a cultural convention? Aren’t all
cultural conventions relative and contingent, and therefore unreliable?
Thus, Idealism as the basis for reality just does not work.
On the other hand, it must be noted that ideas do affect reality. The
ideas contained in an architectural blueprint, for example, show a plan for
the real construction of a building. Instructions in prefabricated book shelf
kits help us to assemble the book shelves, making them real, not just an idea.
Also, it should be noted that from a Critical Thomist or Critical Realist
perspective, ideas can be considered real. However, real ideas have
substance and are not mere accidents or illiterations. So, I argue that the
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realism of Critical Thomism or Critical Realism works, while idealism
does not.
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Chapter 37
Self-Actualization and Work
By
Industrial Psychologist, Abraham Maslow, asserts that the highest
level of human motivation to work is that of Self-Actualization. As I have
argued elsewhere, the Self of Rational Self Interest, and Self Reflection is in
fact the True Self of the Holy Spirit in the heart and mind of the individual
person, which is, at once, both truly the person in the deepest sense and is
also the Holy Spirit. It is this same Self which is the Self of Self-
Actualization.
A Self-Actualizing person is motivated by the Self to a particular
vocation in life, whether, artist, doctor, priest, lawyer, carpenter, or plumber.
The person Self-Actualizes by being the best the person can be in
performing his or her Self-actualized work or vocation. As Maslow puts it,
“Salvation is a By-Product of Self-Actualizing Work and Self-Actualizing
Duty.” (Maslow, Abraham, Maslow on Management 9 (1998). Self-
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Actualization “resolves the dichotomy between selfish and unselfish.” Id.
This is because the person, by the power of the Holy Spirit, selfishly pursues
a vocation which helps others, whether doctor, lawyer, priest, or plumber.
Further, “self-actualization work transcends the [ego] without trying to, and
achieves the kind of loss of [ego-consciousness] that” eastern philosophy
such as Zen, seeks to attain. Id.
So, the Holy Spirit, in a positive way, encourages us to selfishly
pursue our vocation and Self-Actualization. In using such selfishness, we
paradoxically help others. So for example, I love to write and to practice
law. I am doing both now, each part time. I believe that I have a vocation
to be both an author and an attorney. I love doing both, and, I Self-
Actualize doing both. I find my True Self, practicing law and writing.
Most of my clients are poor, or working poor, or on disability, and I
enjoy helping them solve their problems. When I was a law professor,
teaching, we used to discuss what it meant to be a lawyer. I agree with the
position that a lawyer is primarily a problem solver. The client comes to
you with a problem and it is up to you, the lawyer, to try to solve it, and,
hopefully make enough to pay your grocery bill and your book bill. (As an
author I buy books online to get background information for my writing. I
usually buy used books on Borders or Alibris).
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The trick is to find your vocation. I suppose that some of these
standardized tests might help or maybe reading novels about people in
particular lines of work. You have to have the faith, that somehow,
someway that if you follow your vocation, you will be able to make ends
meet financially, and will have a fulfilling job or career.
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Chapter 38
Sensory Deprivation and Psychiatry
By
If one happens to be a well read person, one has encountered the
concept of “sensory deprivation.” Sensory deprivation is a kind of torture
used to break the will of the person or to cause the person to have a nervous
breakdown or hallucinate. A classical example of sensory deprivation is in
a prisoner of war camp where prisoners are place in “the hole” or “the
cage” or “the cooler.” Similarly, in ordinary civilian prisons, “solitary
confinement” is used to torture or punish prisoners who disobey authority.
Perhaps the most common form of sensory deprivation in our
country is found in a psychiatric ward. Patients often spend most of their
days in a day room with no distraction other than a television set which play
bland crap. Visits from family or friends are often not very often. I suspect
that if a normal person ended up on a psychiatric ward that he or she would
soon become psychotic because of sensory deprivation. Perhaps it is too
much to say that patient’s are being tortured, but in the end it may be that the
result is the same.
106
Chapter 39
The Active and the Contemplative Life
By
In the Summa Theologica, Part II-II, Question 182, Thomas Aquinas
discusses and contrasts the Active Life with the Contemplative Life.
Aquinas argues that Practical Reason is ordered toward the Active Life,
while Higher Reason is ordered toward the Contemplative Life. Aquinas
also argues that the Active Life helps to bring balance to the Contemplative
Life.
I argue that Level 3, Judgment and Reflection is the Practical Reason
that Aquinas refers to. Level 4, Formal Operations, on the other hand is a
first move toward a higher type of reason. While Practical Reason tends to
be adaptive, formal operations are a type of abstract reason which is in some
sense transcendent.
The real transcendent Higher Reason, however, if found at Level 8,
which is the Logos, Reason, Creative Form level of consciousness. Level 8
Reason integrates Level 7 Higher Love and Level 6 Intuition. Higher
107
Reason at Level 8 is not adaptive, but rather is transcendent. Level 8
reasoning focuses on Higher Values and transcendent abstraction. The
Insights found at Level 8 transcend those insights found at levels 3 and 4.
Without Level 8, Reason, for example, I doubt that we would know anything
about Euclidean Geometry or Newtownian Calculus, both very abstract
systems.
Finally, it should be noted that I argue that the Highest Level of
Understanding is the Wisdom found at Level 11 of consciousness. Level 11
Wisdom is alinear, arational, fractal, knowledge which involves a higher
degree of complexity than Logos Reason. Level 11 Wisdom brings one
“back to earth” in a different way.
108
Chapter 40
The Dao and Jesus
By
In the book, The Tao of Jesus, Joseph Loya, et. al., discuss
both a saying of Lao Tzu and a saying of Jesus regarding social justice.
Although the Daoist verses by Lao Tzu are more abstract, still they are
instructive:
The Tao of Heaven is comparable to an outstretched bow:
When high, lower it;
When low, raise it;
When excessive, reduce it;
When deficient, supplement it.
The Tao of Heaven reduces what is excessive,
Supplements what is deficient….
(Tao Te Ching, 77)
Interestingly, Lao Tzu seems to come to the same conclusion as
Aristotle. Aristotle argues that the Good is found in moderation. Lao Tzu
109
argues that the Tao, or the Good, is found in supplementing that which is
deficient, and reducing that which is excessive. With respect to wealth, it is
obvious that Lao Tzu and Aristotle both argue for moderation. Excessive
wealth should be reduced and deficient wealth should be supplemented.
Similarly, Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke, says:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
and let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
(Luke 4, 18-19).
Thus, Jesus asserts that the poor and the mentally ill are to be
liberated. Those imprisoned unjustly and inhumanely are to be set free.
The rich are to help the poor, either through direct financial help or by
investing in programs and business that will provide services to the poor, or
employ the poor. The same is true of the Poor in Spirit, the mentally ill. It
is immoderate and excessive for the rich to selfishly keep their money and
spend it on luxury goods. As Jesus says, it is easier for a camel to pass
110
through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of
Heaven.
111
Chapter 41
The Lineage of Jesus Christ
By
There has been much speculation about the lineage of Jesus Christ. I
argue that Jesus of Nazareth, is, and was, the Logos, the First Cause. I
argue that the First Cause is Multidimensional and so that those who are one
in Christ can themselves become a First Cause. I also argue that Jesus was,
and is, the Quantum Jesus. Jesus was, and is, One with the Quantum Field.
I argue that Jesus, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, Fathered himself,
biologically, with Mary as his Virigin Mother. Jesus came into the womb of
Mary as a Quantum Field and then manifested materially as male sperm and
impregnated Mary as a Virgin. I also argue that the template Jesus used for
his sperm was that of Joseph, his adopted father, and that Jesus took on the
genetic characteristics of his cousin, St. Jude, Thomas Judeas, Thomas
Didimous, Saint Thomas the Apostle, Doubting Thomas. Jesus was the
genetic twin of his cousin Thomas Judeas. The two were boyhood friends.
112
Chapter 42
The Equitable Use and Landlord Tenant Law
By
An Equitable Use is an equitable possessory interest which is
enforceable in Equity and not at law. An equitable use is only enforceable at
law by reason of the Statute of Uses as a legal use.
Law courts have legal rules which begin conceptual with legal
rights, Equity courts have equitable rules which begin with the concept of
need. Equity favors the one in need. Equity favors the poor, the elderly,
incompetents, and minors. Equity begins with the pagan philosophy of
Aristotle and then matures in the church Equity courts of the late medieval
period, especially in England.
An Equitable use gives a person the equitable right of owning
property and contracting in Equity. Since all courts of general jurisdiction
have both law and equity jurisdiction, and equitable use can be enforced in a
trial court such as a District Court or a Common Pleas Court, and on appeal.
113
By reason of Natural Law, every Court of General Jurisdiction has Equity
jurisdiction and can grant equitable relief.
Since an Equitable use in a car, for example is enforceable in Equity,
it is true that a person who steals a car owned by Equitable use can be
criminally prosecuted for stealing equitable property. Similarly, one can
hold an equitable use in personal property such as a copyright, and an
infringement of that right in equity constitutes both a civil and criminal
offense. Minors and incompetents can hold and own property as an
equitable use.
Additionally, it should be noted that a minor or incompetent can
own property in equity even in the absence of an equitable use. Common
Stock, for example is an equitable interest, and thus a minor or incompetent
can own Common Stock in a Corporation in his or her own name.
To form an Equitable use one must have a bare Legal title at law
vested in another person, whether alive or a corporation. In theory, there is
nothing to prevent an incompetent from forming a closely held corporation
and owning the corporation through equity Common Stock shares and then
having the bare Legal title at law of the incompetent conveyed to the closely
held Corporation.
114
Bare Legal title at law subject to an Equitable use is analogous in
some ways to the landlord tenant relationship. Recall that in a landlord
tenant relationship the land lord holds bare legal title at law subject to the
tenant’s possessory interest in Equity. The only reason that tenant was not
given more protection in Equity courts was that in the medieval system
economics favored tenants as the dominant party rather than landlords.
Similar to the landlord tenant relationship, the holder of a bare
Legal title at law is subject to the possessory interest in equity of the holder
of the Equitable use. Just as a tenant can assisgn or sublease a possessory
interest in a tenancy, so too can the holder of an equitable use sell, gift, or
dispose of in any way he or she wants the property held in and as an
equitable use, without the interference of the bare Legal title holder at law.
The only right and duty of a bare legal title holder at law is to defend that
bare legal Title at law against third parties, and to defend the equitable use
against third parties.
For the most helpful discussion of the Equitable use and the Statute
of Uses, see, Moynihan and Kurtz, Introduction to the Law of Real
Property (2002).
115
Chapter 43
The Gates of Hell
An Allegory
By
Once upon a time, it was known that if you did horrible things to
people in your life on Earth, you would go to Hell in the afterlife. By the
end of the Middle Ages, however, there were so many people in Hell that it
as beginning to get crowded. About this time, certain scientists and apostate
philosophers got together and decided that there was a way out. They
decided to create a whole new world view called atheistic materialism and a
philosophy to back it up, called logical positivism.
These demonic souls went to Satan and said, “Listen we don’t even
believe in God, so God should not be able judge us. Also, we believe in life
on planets other than earth and the Bible does not recognize this, so under
the Universal system we should be entitled to leave Hell and go to other
planets since the system here only applies to Earth. Satan agreed and freed
10 million demonic souls to colonize other planets as Aliens.
116
Soon the Demonic Souls found hominid races who were very close
to being Earth Human on other planets. They ensouled the children of
those hominids are gradually took control of those planets, with the demonic
souls losing their human nature. Since they were no longer human, they
and others, took the position that they were not subject to God’s law and
God’s judgment.
For thousands and even hundreds of thousands of years these
Demonic Aliens did everything they could to develop space craft which
could travel faster than time and take them to Earth during the time of
Christianity. They are here, on Earth, even now, doing everything they can
to destroy us, especially Catholics and Christians who originally put them in
Hell for their evil deeds.
(This should be a movie in Holly wood).
AN ALLLEGORY
117
Chapter 44
The Good and the Common Good
By
Plato argued that the end of man, both as an individual and as a
society, was the Good. Aristotle, on the other hand argued for the Common
Good as did Thomas Aquinas. In the Treatise on Law, in the Summa
Theologica, Thomas Aquinas argued that the end of law is the common
good. I argue that Plato was right and that the end of law is the Good.
In theory, the common good means something more than just the view
of a conventional majority. Unfortunately, with extreme relativism the
tendency is to interpret the common good not as a heuristic or a principle or
a metaphysical quiddity, but instead to interpret the common good as a
conventional majority.
It is clear that the Good does not represent the will of a conventional
majority. The Good is defined as the Truly Worthwhile. In the first instance
the Truly Worthwhile means that the scale of values of all participants in
society is assumed to begin with Rational Self Interest, and the to proceed
118
with Autonomy as fundamental values. Rationality implies the use of
Logic. The Self is the True Self, where deep in one’s heart one is at once
both oneself and God, the True Self is me, as the Holy Spirit in me. It is the
True Self in my heart that I follow.
Autonomy means Self directed. An autonomous person is one who
follows the Self in him or her. A Self directed person chooses to voluntarily,
and creatively help others. An autonomous person rejects authority as
invalid. Reason is the only authority, not some authoritarian person. The
autonomy of all persons must be promoted. This means the provision of
meaningful work in a well ordered society that works. It is assumed that if
a person pursues Rational Self Interest and Autonomy, that that person will
choose rationally, Constitutional Democracy, individual rights, a regulated
economy, and a right to self defense.
Bibliography
Bernard Lonergan, Insight
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
119
Chapter 45
The Individual Good, Autonomy, and Individual Ethics
By
Plato argued that the end of man, both as an individual and as a
society, was the Good. Aristotle, on the other hand argued for the Common
Good as did Thomas Aquinas. In the Treatise on Law, in the Summa
Theologica, Thomas Aquinas argued that the end of law is the common
good. I argue that Plato was right and that the end of law is the Good.
The problem, is, however, that some people tend to conflate the Good
with the Common Good. For those using conventional morality, the only
Good is the Common Good. So, to clarify, I argue that the Good is an
Individual Good. The Individual Good starts with you (or me) the
individual person and works outward from there. The Greatest Good is my
Rational Self Interest. The second Greatest Good is my Autonomy. The
third Greatest Good is my use of the ethics of the Ethical Matrix.
Now it may appear that in choosing the Individual Good that I am
being egoistic and selfish. This, however, is not the case. The Self, of my
120
Rational Self Interest, is, the True me, The True Tony, and, at the same time,
the Holy Spirit in me. This is a type of Spirit Mysticism. My True Self is
totally and completely me and totally and completely God, at the same time.
So, for John Doe, for example, his True Self is the True John, in him, and at
the same time, the Holy Spirit, in him.
The Common Good, on the other hand, can only be pursued with
caution. Unfortunately, the Common Good is typically interpreted as a
matter of Conventional Morality, based upon inauthentic authority, not upon
some type of metaphysical Good.
Autonomy is similar to Rational Self Interest. Literally, Autonomy
means to be Self Directed. Once again the True Self of Autonomous Self
Direction is both simultaneously the True me, and the Holy Spirit. In this
sense I can be Selfish and ethical but not selfish and ethical.
This leads to the final notion, ethics over conventional morality.
I argue that morality must give way to individual ethics. The ethical
principles of Reciprocity, Utility, Proportionality, and Equity found in the
Ethical Matrix should control.
121
Chapter 46
The Inquisition is Unconstitutional
By
The Inquisition is Unconstitutional. What is the Inquisition? The
Inquisition is a judicial proceeding where the Judge runs the proceeding and
there is no need for a plaintiff’s attorney or a prosecutor. Even the attorney
for the defendant is not allowed to fully participate.
The Inquisition is a total denial of Procedural Due Process. For
example, let us say that the Inquisition is being used in a criminal case and
the defense attorney files a motion to exclude certain evidence because it
was unconstitutionally obtained. A judge who was sitting as the Inquisition
clearly would have a conflict of interest in deciding the motion. The judge
is essentially both the prosecutor and the judge and thus has an interest in
allowing the the arguably unconstitutionally gathered evidence to be
admitted. This conflict arises with every motion or objection that he
defense might file or raise. If nothing else, the conflict of interest problem
renders the Iquisition unconstitutional.
122
Additionally, the 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution
guarantees a jury trial in all civil cases involving the common law. I argue
that the Inquistion is based upon and follows the common law. Therefore,
the Inquistion is invalid since the judge cannot replace the jury.
Finally, the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Fuentes v.
Shevin, cited Magna Carta, the British Constitution with approval. I argue
that Magna Carta is applicable in the United States as a common law
provision, if not a Constitutional one. Magna Carta, which was enacted in
approximately the year 1215, long before the Spanish Inquisition became
active, provides that a person cannot be disposed of life, liberty, or property
with a trial based upon due process or a jury of one’s peers. Due process,
as the “law of the land,” is basically based upon Natural Law and cannot be
abrogated by the courts or the legislature . Magna Carta means the end of
the Inquistion in the United States. Additionally, a person cannot be exiled
without due process and a Magna Carta jury. I argue that every United
States citizen is entitled to a trial with due process and a trial by one’s peers,
as one chooses them, under Magna Carta.
123
Chapter 47
The Material World
By
In a Song, the singer Madonna talks about being a “Material
Girl.” That seemed sort of sad to my because it seems to me that most
materialists are atheists. Materialism is a form of Idolatry. But, first
things, first, where did the material world come from and what is its’ nature?
I am not a Gnostic in the heretical sense. Gnostics believe that
God is evil and that God created the world evil. The Catholic tradition,
which I subscribe to, on the other hand, teaches that God is Good and that
the material world is flawed. The material world is flawed, not because of
God, but because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, described in the Book of
Genesis. Adam and Eve both had real knowledge of God and Spirituality in
the Garden of Eden, they also had real intellect. Because of the Fall, Eve
first, and then Adam chose Original Sin and the conventional knowledge of
good and evil. Adam and Eve were plunged into a world beset by
conventional morality and conventional knowledge, the Material World.
124
The Material World is the World of random statistical probability.
In the Material World, Shit Happens. Although God, Angels, Saints,
Archangels, and we ourselves can intervene in this world providentially, it is
difficult. Only Catholic Wisdom, which is able to understand Fractal
Complexity, intuitively, ever really does very well with the Material World.
In classical terms, the Material World is based upon material
accident, structured by material form, and put in motion by material cause.
In terms of law, human law finds its place at the material level of existence.
Natural Law and Divine Law are found through the use of Substance,
Substantial Form and Substantial Cause. This is the World of Substance
where one’s physicality is God like. The most obvious example is that real
human beings have a Substantial Soul, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, not
just a material soul, as argued by Aristotle. Perhaps we do not receive a
Substantial Soul until Catholic baptism.
Chapter 48
125
The Middle Class Jesus
By
I have a radical argument to make. I argue that Jesus of Nazareth
was a middle class person, not poor. Let us first look to the home which
Jesus most probably lived in. Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus was a
carpenter and a furniture maker. In every culture, even today’s culture, a
carpenter doing finish carpentry or a hand made furniture maker is a skilled
tradesman, and middle class. I argue that Jesus grew up in a middle class
household and received a middle class education. Jesus’ education was
probably that of a Hellenistic Jew, giving him a very good classical greek
education in addition to the Torah.
I also argue that Jesus was a Jewish lawyer with a graduate education,
perhaps even a Sadducee. I argue that the Saddducees believed in
reincarnation rather than life after death in “Heaven.” I argue that Jesus
not only was a rabbi or teacher, but was also a member of the Sanhedrin. I
argue that Jesus was a radical lawyer who dedicated his life to the call of the
book of Isaiah for social justice. By the time of his public ministry, Jesus
126
from probably disbarred or expelled from the Sanhedrin for heresy. In any
event, as an adult, I argue that Jesus of Nazareth was a professional, with a
professional education and a middle class lifestyle. Some may think my
argument that Jesus was a lawyer is unfounded, but it is no more unfounded
than the argument that Jesus was an illiterate, itinerant preacher.
Chapter 49
127
The Moderation Corporation
By
Some people argue that ordinary Corporations have a duty to maximize
profit for the shareholders. People who say this then assert that
Corporations should not be socially responsible or ethical because the only
certain standard for them is profit maximization. While I have argued
elsewhere that ethical corporate decision making utilizing the principles of
reciprocity, utility, proportionality, and equity, will result in greater profit
maximization than selfish profit maximization, as such, here I want to make
a different argument.
I argue that if a Corporation really wants to maximize profit
ethically, then the Corporation should have a Corporate charter which
provides that the Corporation seek as an end “moderate profit using
moderate means.” Such a Corporate charter provision would ensure that
Corporate management could engage in humanistic, ethical management.
Many “borderline” management decision making areas such as tuition for
employees to pursue graduate degrees, etc., would clearly be allowed or
even encouraged even if the graduate degree did not directly relate to the
128
employees employments tasks. Christmas gifts to employees would be
permissible. First class, total health insurance for employees would be
permissible. Environmental conservatism and recycling would be
encouraged. And more.
I encourage any Corporation interested in getting the “ethics edge” as a
profit maker to consider changing to a “for profit” moderation Corporation,
seeking moderate profit.
Chapter 50
129
The Multidimentional Jesus: Reincarnation or Resurrection?
By
I have argued previously, with support from Quantum Physics, that
Jesus of Nazareth incarnated multidimensionally. In this sense his life did
not necessarily turn out quite the same way in every reality frame or parallel
universe. The same can be said, of course, about his death. Perhaps in one
reality frame Jesus used Jedi type power and popped the nails out of his
hands and feet and levitated off the Cross, conquering death in a different
way.
Let us assume for the sake of argument, however, that Jesus did in fact
die on the Cross and ended up in the tomb for Easter weekend. What if in
one reality frame Jesus did not literally ressurrect from the dead, but did
something different instead? What if in one reality frame, Jesus died, was
buried, and then immediately did a “rollover” and reincarnated as a new
Jesus with different parents the week after his death in his previous life.
Let us say that this new Jesus had all the gifts and powers of the
original. Let us say that Jesus only appeared to the disciples after the
130
crucifixtion as an apparition, speaking with them through elocutions by the
power of the Holy Spirit, and then immediately reincarnated? The new
Jesus, by age 6, would certainly be able to talk to people and be a leader in
the new church. The story of the resurrection was a “coded” story which
hid the real fact of the reincarnation of Jesus from his enemies, trying to
prevent the slaughter of infants which took place the last time around by the
order of King Herod.
By age 18, Jesus would be seen as an adult again, with even more
power than before because he had already fulfilled the messianic prophecy
by reason of the crucifixtion. Jesus only had to be crucified once, and only
once to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah.
After the coded cover story of the resurrection was in circulation
long enough, I argue that the probability field or Quantum Field changed in
such a way that an actual resurrection became not only believable, but
probable. Both the reincarnational account and the resurrection account are
multidimensionally true. Food for thought.
Chapter 51
131
The Multidimensional Mary
By
By Catholic Tradition, Jesus of Nazareth was born by way of a
Virgin Birth by his Mother, the Virgin Mary, at Bethlehem of Judea. I have
argued previously that reality is multidimensional. I argue that because
Mary is multidimensional, that in one reality frame there was a virgin birth,
and in another reality frame something different, although perhaps, equally
extraordinary happened.
I have argued previously that the maternal grandparents of Jesus of
Nazareth, that is, the parents of his mother Mary, were Marc Antony Caesar
of Rome, and Cleopatra Plotemy, of Egypt. Although Marc Antony and
Cleopatra are said to have committed suicide in Egypt, I argue that they
faked their suicides and fled to Judea where they converted to Judaism and
“went to ground.” I argue that their child Mary had a large number of
brothers and sisters and that the son of them was Saint Jude, Thomas
Judeas, Thomas Didimous, the cousin of Jesus.
I also argue that Joseph, the Father of Jesus, was a Jewish Royal,
being from the House of David, which was really the House of Joseph, the
132
Seer. I argue that in the Old Testament that Joseph the Seer not only
became the overseer of Egypt under Pharoah, but became the next Pharoah
after his sponsor died. I argue that this Pharoah, if the dates line up
correctly, is referred to in Egyptian history as the Pharoah Atenkehton, who
worshipped the God of One, or Aten, or as the Hindus call him Atman. I
argue that Moses was brought up as a monotheist in Pharoah’s household,
and taught to worship Aten as God. Ken Wilber says something similar in
his work.
Taking this back to New Testament times, I argue that Joseph of
Nazareth was a lineal descendent of Joseph the Seer, Pharoah of Egypt.
Thus, Jesus, in this reality frame was the biological child of Royals on both
sides of his family.
Now, given the fact that Octavias Caesar and then Caesar Augustus
were in charge in Rome, it makes sense that the Gospels would not openly
discuss the lineage of Jesus on his mother’s side, let alone his father’s, for
fear of being persecuted or exterminated. So instead we have the House of
David, (coded language,) and the Virgin Birth, (coded language,) used to
symbolize the fact that Jesus was in fact a Royal on both sides of the family
and could make a claim to be Caesar or Pharoah.
133
Finally, I argue that after a thousand years or more of church
tradition having taught that Jesus was a Virgin Birth, there was a shift in the
Quantum Field, and reality “shape-shifted back” multidimensionally so that
there was in fact in one reality frame, multidimensionally, an actual Virgin
Birth of Jesus by the Virgin Mary took place. Argue that both accounts
presented here are equally true multidimensionally.
Chapter 52
134
Value and The Ethical Matrix
By
The Second Natural Law Principle under the Ethical Matrix is
Utility. Utility is defined as “Maximization of Value.” Value is
apprehended by utilizing a scale of values as a utility preference scale. As I
have asserted previously, my highest value is Rational Self Interest, while
my second highest value is Autonomy. My third highest value is Self-
Actualization, and my fourth highest value is helping others, especially those
in need.
Rational Self Interest is my highest value because I want to be sure
that no one else is choosing my values for me. Rational means logically or
causally determined, Self means the True Self, Who I really am inside, and,
Interest means those things which I value for myself. Autonomy means
Self-Direction. Self-Actualization means that one actualizes one’s self in a
way which is at once selfish and spiritual. Self-Actualizing people follow
the Self or Holy Spirit in them. Finally, helping others is based upon the
Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament.
135
There are other options of course, for one’s highest value. One might
choose God, for example, as one’s highest value. This is problematic
because religious authority figures might very well claim the right to say
what God is or God requires for me. This is a denial of my religious
freedom and my Autonomy.
Another choice for one’s highest value might be family. However,
once again, it is quite possible that some family member might define
“family” for you to your detriment. Additionally, is it right to say that one
should favor one’s family above all else? What if I and my family were
billionaires and all those living in the neighborhood next to me are starving?
Is it right that I should have an opulent life style using my family as an
excuse? I don’t think so. Following the Old Testament account of the
Patriarch Abraham, it is clear that if one places one’s family ahead of The
Good, then one has committed a form of idolatry.
Finally, one might choose money as one’s highest value. Once again
this presents problems. If money is one’s highest value then it would seem
that one would be authorized to steal from others or cheat others in order to
get more money. This is ethically problematic from the point of view of
reciprocity.
136
THE END
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Essays in Critical Thomist Jurisprudence

Anthony J. Fejfar, J.D., Esq., Coif

© Copyright 2007 by Anthony J. Fejfar

This Book contains a number of Essays, many previously published,

individually, dealing with Critical Thomist Jurisprudence.

1. A Hospital Patient’s Bill of Rights for Mentally Ill Patients

2. Abortion Law and Equity

3. Against a One Party Communist System

4. Being and Dasein in Heidegger

5. Boxer Shorts, Swimming Trunks, and Indecent Exposure

6. Chakra Stem Alignment

7. Charitable Contributions and Government

8. Christianity not Communism

9. Corporate Social Responsibility of Business

11. Equity and the Bible

12. Equity: Mom’s Higher Law

13. Form, Matter, Prime Matter, and Substance in Aristotle

14. Formal Operations, Abstraction, and Meaning

16. God, Being, and Intuition

17. I Anger Good or Evil?

18. Is Humility Good or Evil?

19. Is the Republican Party Nazi or Communist?

20. Jesus and Commitment

21. Jesus and the Da Vinci Code

22. Joseph the Father of Jesus

24. Level Three Thinking

25. Liberty and Liberalism

26. Mental Incompetency and the Equitable Use

27. Metaphysics and Quantum Physics: An Analogy

28. Motivation, Management, and Consciousness

29. Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Schizophrenia

32. Persecution and Commitment

33. Psychiatry and Malpractice

34. Psychiatry and the First Amendment

35. Psychotic Psychiatry

37. Self-Actualization and Work

38. Sensory Deprivation and Psychiatry

39. The Active and the Contemplative Life.

40. The Dao and Jesus

41. The Lineage of Jesus Christ

42. The Equitable Use and Landlord Tenant Law

43. The Gates of Hell

44. The Good and the Common Good

45. The Individual Good, Autonomy, and Individual Ethics

46. The Inquisition is Unconstitutional

47. The Material World

48. The Middle Class Jesus

49. The Moderation Corporation

51. The Multidimensional Mary

52. Value and the Ethical Matrix

A Hospital Patient’s Bill of Rights for

Mentally Ill Patients

Anthony J. Fejfar, J.D., Esq., Coif

© Copyright 2007 by Anthony J. Fejfar

Many years ago I took a Health Care Ethics course at Creighton

University. The Philosophy professor teaching the course was Charles

Dougherty, now the President of Duquesne University. In this course we

inpatient psychiatric care to a Mental Health Patient.

1. All Mental Health Patient’s (MHP’s) are to be treated with

respect and dignity by the staff and psychiatrists, and psychologists

2. All MHP’s retain all their Constitutional Rights at Law, and as

persons in need, also have additional rights in Equity.

3. All MHPs have a right to reasonable medical and psychiatric

4. All MHPs have a right to reasonable dental care.