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... antithetical, polar and opposite entities co –exist or thrive together and in fact are inseparable from each other; such as body and soul in man, equality and inequality in society, freedom and obligation, rights and duties of citizens. Separation of the body from the soul means, for instance, the death of a human being. Accordingly, conflicts between the church and the state, if any, should be resolved not by the divisive spirit of contradiction but by the harmonizing principle of paradox. Moreover, when viewed under the light of the totality of human nature and its purpose, the two, far from separating themselves from each other, unite to procure for man the attainment of his over-all purpose – temporal happiness in this life and eternal happiness in the next.
Man: Duality and Antithesis
A philosophical discussion on the seemingly metaphysical paradox in man. The essay presents some examples of living paradoxes present in man and the view of some philosophers regarding the duality and antithesis in man.
Details
| language |  | english |
| wordcount |  | 3619 (cca 10 pages) |
| contextual quality |  | N/A |
| language level |  | N/A |
| price |  | free |
| sources |  | 3 |
Table of contents
Body and Soul: A Classic Paradox 2
Paradox, Not Contradiction 3
The Metaphysical Paradox in Man 4
Essence and Existence 5
Man: The One and the Many 5
Some specific examples of paradox 7
The Divine Paradoxes 7
Pascal on the Paradox of man 8
Application of paradox in the solution of human problems 8
Contradiction vs. paradox 9
The problem of church and state conflict 9
References 11
Preview of the essay: Man: Duality and Antithesis
Man is “The living paradox “. Indeed, man is the exemplification par excellence and the paragon of paradox, as well shall presently show in this discussion. Now what is paradox? The greatest of the existentialist writers, Soren Kierkiegaad, figuratively describes paradox as the passion and perfume of human thought. To him, thought without paradox is like a flower without scent or color. However, this is only telling what paradox is like, not what it is. To understand the meaning of paradox, let us focus on the two words flesh and spirit and the phrase divided union in the above-given passage on man. Clearly flesh and spirit are antithetical realities: the first is a tangible and material substance, while the second is just the opposite. Yet the two seemingly contradictory concepts are realized and united intimately in man. Hence, they are not yet divided, conjoined yet disjoined in man. Hence man, paradoxically speaking, is the “divided union” the disjunction- conjunction of opposites. The paradox just ...... antithetical, polar and opposite entities co –exist or thrive together and in fact are inseparable from each other; such as body and soul in man, equality and inequality in society, freedom and obligation, rights and duties of citizens. Separation of the body from the soul means, for instance, the death of a human being. Accordingly, conflicts between the church and the state, if any, should be resolved not by the divisive spirit of contradiction but by the harmonizing principle of paradox. Moreover, when viewed under the light of the totality of human nature and its purpose, the two, far from separating themselves from each other, unite to procure for man the attainment of his over-all purpose – temporal happiness in this life and eternal happiness in the next.
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