30I found it gratifying to read A Guide for the Perplexed (Atalante, 2019) by E. F. Schumacher (1911-1977). His book Small is Beautiful (1973), focused on economics, was widely distributed and well received. Knowledgeable about development programs and interested in the macro problems of society, he proposed an economy with a human face and measure. His last book was A Guide for the Perplexed, published shortly after his death. He conceived it as a map to guide one through life in the midst of widespread fragmentation in many areas of knowledge and life. In this book his numerous readings, his professional experience and his personal biography converge. The result is a suggestive text that brings together the Greek and medieval classics, the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Saint John of the Cross and Eastern traditions. That is to say, he wrote a good guide to understanding the world in which we live.
Schumacher observes the utilitarian drift of contemporary culture: what do I gain, what is the use of this or that, how things are done, how can I maximize benefits. “The loss of the vertical dimension made it no longer possible to respond in a non-utilitarian way to the question: “What should I do with my life?” The answer could be more individualistic-egoistic or social-disinterested, but without ceasing to be utilitarian: either “live as comfortably as possible”, or “work to achieve the happiness of the greatest possible number of people” (p. 39)”. Faced with this loss of height, Schumacher proposes a vision that pays more attention to wisdom, that which focuses man’s happiness in the direction of the higher, developing his higher faculties, to expand his knowledge of gradually higher things and, if possible, “see God”. If he turns to the lower and develops only his lower faculties, those he shares with animals, he will become increasingly unhappy and may even reach the extreme of despair (p. 40).”
A first step towards understanding life is to distinguish the four levels of being:
- m: mineral level (matter)
- m + x: vegetal level (life)
- m + x + y: animal level (consciousness)
- m + x + y + z: human level (self-consciousness)
From level to level there is an ontological discontinuity, a jump in the level of being. Levels x, y, z are invisible; only m is visible; the first three are terribly difficult to learn, although their effects are continually reflected in everyday experience (see pp. 43-47). These levels of being (mineral, life, consciousness and self-consciousness) are therefore hierarchical, from less to more; in progression towards the higher. And, likewise, in progression towards depth, from the exterior to the interior. An inner world, invisible to the eyes, as the Fox would say to the Little Prince, but which is still real.
Schumacher maintains that reality can be known with its pluses and minuses. “What is it that allows man to know something about the world around him?” he asks. “Knowledge requires that the organ adapt to the object,” said Plotinus (d. 270 AD). Nothing can be known if the person trying to know it does not possess an appropriate “instrument.” This is the Great Truth of adaequatio (adequacy), which defines knowledge as an adaequatio rei et intellectus: the understanding of the person who wants to know must adapt to the object that is intended to be known (p. 77). Each dimension of reality requires an adequate approach to it, not everything is quantity. The progressive elimination of “science for understanding” – or “wisdom” – in Western civilization makes the ever-accelerating accumulation of “knowledge for manipulation” a serious threat. As we said in another context, “we are already too intelligent to survive without wisdom” (…). The growing concentration of man’s scientific interest on the “sciences of manipulation” has at least three serious consequences. The first is the absence of the ultimate questions, those of meaning: man does not live by bread alone. The second: we know the processes, how things work, but we give less weight to wisdom. The third: man’s higher faculties atrophy (cf. pp. 98-99).
Practical sciences are well-versed in the level of quantity, of what can be experienced and manipulated. We forget, however, that the various levels of being required a treatment appropriate to their own nature. Thus, for example, “a person who has never consciously experienced physical pain will not be able to know anything about the pain of others. He will see the external signs of pain – expressions, gestures, tears – like any other person, but he will be totally inadequate for the task of understanding them correctly (…). For such a person, the invisibilia of the other being – in this case, his painful inner experience – will remain invisible (p. 135).” Without an inner world rich in life experiences, we are hardly in a position to take charge of the inner world of our neighbor. Having increasingly better instruments to measure the vital signs of the human being and society does not necessarily lead to a complete knowledge of the human soul.
Our time demands that we be increasingly more refined in understanding the various dimensions of the human being, not only the quantifiable ones. The urgent need to develop good value-based skills to lead public and private organizations is also evident. “Global crises are multiplying,” Schumacher notes, “and everyone is complaining about the scarcity—not to say the total absence—of “wise” men and women, altruistic leaders, honest counselors, etc. But it is not reasonable to expect such high qualities from people who have never developed an inner activity and who would not even understand what these words mean (p. 137).” The expert is necessary, of course, and, along with him, the wise leader who knows that “happiness is the expansion of the soul. And if this is so, it is necessary for the politician to know, in some way, what refers to the soul (Aristotle).”
Problems will not be lacking, many of them have already been resolved, others will be resolved in due time. However, there are problems that cannot be resolved with a “correct formula,” but they can be overcome. Schumacher calls these latter problems divergent. “A pair of opposites – such as freedom and order – are such at the level of ordinary life, but they cease to be so at the higher, truly human level where self-awareness plays its proper role. It is then that higher forces, such as love and compassion, understanding and empathy, become available (…) as a regular and safe resource. Opposites cease to be so; they lie together peacefully, like the lion and the lamb in St. Jerome’s study (p. 193).” Life is full of these problems “refractory to mere logic and discursive reason, and constitute, let us say, an apparatus that strains and expands man in his totality (…). All traditional cultures have considered life to be a school and have recognized in one way or another the essentiality of this didactic force (p. 195).”
Human biography, life in progression, in healthy tension towards the highest; a restless heart, capable of loving God to be able to love one’s neighbor as oneself.
