What is Bahá’í Philosophy?

In her first post, Keri described philosophy as follows: “Philosophy, as I approach it now, sheds light on our assumptions, our patterns of thought and thus actions, the mental structures that guide how we understand our world and act within it.”  After discussing this idea with her in the subsequent days, it became clear to us that this was part of what philosophy does in the Plan, but not all.  In fact, it seems that there are at least four things that philosophy does, each one being vitally important for the progress of the Plan.  We can tentatively call these four moments 1) the practical, 2) the scientific, 3) the critical, and 4) the metaphysical.

1.  The Practical

Plato and Aristotle

Most people would find it surprising to consider practical knowledge an aspect of philosophy.  But even Aristotle counted practical knowledge an essential part of philosophical reflection, so this is by no means a new idea.  We develop practical knowledge by constantly acting and constantly reflecting upon the outcomes of our actions.  As we develop in our practical knowledge, we acquire a better feel for things, a greater sensitivity for what is right in a given moment, and what is really going on in a particular situation. It is practical knowledge that allows us to listen to the promptings of the heart.  Practical knowledge also enables us to discern between a purely theoretical issue and one that will impact the development of our community.

A Bahá’í community’s practical knowledge grows as it struggles day in and day out to learn the subtle dynamics of individual and community capacity building.  It is this firm foundation in practical knowledge that allows our scientific, critical, and metaphysical insights to bring about lasting transformation, that prevents them from beginning and ending with words.  At the same time, our scientific, critical, and metaphysical perspectives allow us to direct our practical efforts towards the most worthwhile ends.

 2.  The Scientific

For the ancient Greeks there was no difference between science and philosophy.  To put it more precisely, they held the sciences to be branches of philosophy.  I will follow the ancients in considering science to be a part of philosophy, but in order to know what this means, we must to answer the question, “What does science do?”  This is not an easy question, though, and there are libraries full of books written by philosophers more knowledgeable than I trying to answer it.  For our purposes, though, we can say that science seeks to systematically develop a conceptual framework that can explain and predict the things we experience.  This conceptual framework evolves through a process of hypothesis formation, experimentation, and reflection.

Science emerges from practical knowledge when our activities become too complex to manage informally, their further development requiring systematic and conscientious learning.  If we see science in this light, then we can have a science of more or less anything.  Even the Bahá’í community’s efforts to learn the dynamics of expansion and consolidation, social and economic development, and participation in the discourses of society are scientific, and we are being asked to pursue them in a scientific manner.

3.  The Critical

In its proper usage, critical thought is simply the attempt to become aware of the conceptual frameworks underlying our patterns of thought and action, and then to evaluate and improve these conceptual frameworks.  This is the description of philosophy given by Keri in her first post, and it is an absolutely essential capacity for those working in the Plan.  If you have ever said anything like, “Wait, I have been assuming the whole time that spirituality has nothing to do with social and economic development!” then you have already tasted the kernel of critical thought.  Today, the idea of critical thought or criticism has become equivalent with fault-finding, and we thus consider someone to “understand” a situation when he is able to point out its faults.  It is vitally important for us to develop a practice of critical thought oriented towards building the good and not destroying the bad.

We are constantly asked as Bahá’ís to engage in critical thought, to become aware of our conceptual frameworks, to evaluate them in light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, and to align them more fully with His vision.  Critical thought also serves both our scientific and practical endeavors, as it allows us by become aware of the false dichotomies and assumptions that we often pick up from society and to constantly improve and expand our approaches.

4.  The Metaphysical

"Reflection" (1910), by Odilon Redon

Though the word “metaphysical” may bring chills to some, the meaning of this concept for the ancient Greeks was in fact fairly straightforward.  Aristotle’s metaphysics, for example, asks about how things can exist, about God’s nature, and about the patterns that structure reality as a whole.  For many of those following Plato and Aristotle, most notably the Neoplatonists, metaphysical thinking was inseparable from spiritual discipline meant to bring the soul closer to God.  All Bahá’ís are involved to some extent in this kind of metaphysical thinking, as they contemplate the Writings and pray every morning and night.

As we deepen our souls and expand our minds, we become greater receptacles for the spiritual force that alone can build the civilization we seek to construct.  Bahá’ís are called to deepen their metaphysical capacities through daily prayer, meditation, and study of the Writings.  Philosophical metaphysics simply pursues this task more deliberately and with greater discipline.

Bahá’í Philosophy in the Plan

Each of these four kinds of philosophical reflection already plays a role in the Bahá’í community.  I am only trying to name them.  To draw on four recent examples of Bahá’í literature, consider: your reflections gathering reports fall under the practical moment, the document Attaining the Dynamics of Growth prepared by the International Teaching Center would fall under the scientific moment, Mr. Lample’s Revelation and Social Reality aligns most with the critical moment, and Mr. Dunbar’s Forces of Our Time more with the metaphysical moment.  I believe that a distinctly Bahá’í school of philosophy will emerge as these four tasks of thought develop harmoniously alongside the advancement of the Plan.

In order to think clearly about what philosophy can and will do for the Plan, we must first understand that there are distinct ways of being philosophical.  I have suggested four, but others could also be given.  These four ways should not be read as hard and fast categories under which all intellectual endeavors will neatly fall.  I offer these distinctions simply as orienting generalizations, as they are broad enough to interpret a great deal of literature.  They have helped me to orient my studies more coherently and to understand how certain seemingly unconnected ideas can contribute to my efforts in the Plan.  This is the task given us by Shoghi Effendi, and I share these ideas in a spirit of service to those who seek to fulfill it:

“It is hoped that all the Bahá’í students will … be led to investigate and analyse the principles of the Faith and to correlate them with the modern aspects of philosophy and science. Every intelligent and thoughtful young Bahá’í should always approach the Cause in this way, for therein lies the very essence of the principle of independent investigation of truth.”

- 6 August 1933, on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer

Shoghi Effendi’s remarks on philosophy as a discipline