From Dust We Are . . . Is This Our Self?

June is, among other things, Mud Month. Naturally, when I applied my theological brain to that name, I thought of Genesis 3:19. Previously, I've talked about the self and how it has been conceptualized over time. This week, I dug a little deeper (pun intended). It took months, but I was finally able to interview Husband for this post! You are in for a treat.

The Modern Self and Expressive Individualism

In the last few years to decades particularly, the dominant view of the self in intellectualism and percolating into society has been of the "psychological self." That is, the essence of who someone is, their identity, is in their mind or what they think and feel about things. Carl Trueman has traced the post-Enlightenment history of this concept in a longer and a shorter book. Embracing a psychological self often goes along with expressive individualism.

In addition, many people today, particularly many Christian philosophers, consider themselves substance dualists. In their concept of dualism, each person is composed of substances (= something possessing properties but not completely defined by those properties, in philosophical terms) existing in a dualistic relationship (i.e., in 2 distinct categories that together describe the whole). In contrast, others consider themselves monists. That means that each person exists in a single substance.

What are the implications of the psychological self idea as held by an expressive individualist?

• My thoughts and feelings are what define me, so they are essential to my identity.
• My body isn't essential to my identity, so it can be changed without consequence.
• I can't be a whole person without my body matching my thoughts and feelings.
• If I'm feeling a conflict between my thoughts/feelings and my body, it's my body that is the problem/I'm living in the wrong body.

What are the implications of substance dualism?

• Since my self is more than my body, if there's no reincarnation I should fear death
• Misinterpretations of passages like 1 Corinthians 15:44 ("natural" body is often a mistranslation of the more accurate "soulish") and multiple passages in Romans and elsewhere ("flesh" is mis-assumed to exclude the mind)

The Biblical Self Through Early Christianity

Plato preceded the development of Christianity, coming onto the scene around 370 BC. His thought was developed by the first few generations of church fathers by around AD 200. In Plato's conception of the self, several concepts were excluded (like memory) from what we now would consider essential to the self or identity. Early thinkers who engaged with Plato included the Gnostics (heretics), Augustine, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen.

However, Paul--with a Jewish mindset and background--had a different concept of the self (which Aristotle was more consistent with). The Hebrew thought pattern was closer to non-substance dualism: that the soul, self, and essence were equivalent, but none included the mind. (Opponents of this view cite 1 Samuel 28 about Samuel summoning up the spirit of Samuel which expressed thoughts consistent with Samuel's mind.) His use of psyche to translate nephesh indicates that the "soul" is the "self" throughout the Pauline epistles. He may have been influenced slightly by Platonist anthropology in the Wisdom of Solomon as supported by his description of the armor of God.

Developing Paul's thought, the biblical conception of the self can best be stated as: my identity is found in my relationships--first to God, then to family, then to others in society. I relate to others through my God-given callings, or vocations, whether as sister, daughter, mother, wife, and/or other.

Recommended Reading on the Self Over Time

This was the easiest question for Husband to answer, citing Anglican philosophers and theologians:

• After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre
• After You Believe (titled Virtue Reborn in the UK) by N. T. Wright
• Anything by Carol Newsom
• Anything by Michael Gorman
• N. T. Wright's commentary on Galatians
• Richard Hays' work on New Testament oral tradition

Final Thoughts

Some comments didn't quite fit under the other interview questions I had for him. However, they bring fresh thought to the theme of the self-as-dust:

• Freud was the major thinker to modify the concept of the Platonic "self" so that it could eventually become the "psychological self." Descartes, in particular, developed a statement of the idea of a physical-nonphysical dichotomy where the physical and nonphysical were separate but touching, like halves of a sandwich.
• Descartes' concept of dichotomy enabled the development of the concept of mechanism. This was excellent for the progress of empirical science, but has been overused by physicalists.
• Many thinkers today are moving away from both monism and dualism, toward a modified dualism essentially saying "There's more to matter than what we can empirically discover." This view is lethal to methodological naturalism. For further reading, check out Anglican philosophers Timothy O'Connor and Lynne Rudder Baker.
• Martin Luther was not a strict dualist. His concept of soul sleep, which a number of contemporary Lutherans have moved away from, communicates the idea of unconsciousness from the time of bodily death until the time of bodily resurrection, and is consistent with N. T. Wright's work on the new creation.