2.1.3. The Within of Things
The tremendous explosion of thought on the surface of the
earth presents itself as the most peculiar and intriguing aspect of the human
phenomenon, the human phenomenon being, for Teilhard de Chardin, the most
intriguing aspect of the cosmic
I Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Science and
Christ, New York, I969, p. 80.
phenomenon. Teilhard de Chardin's scientific approach to
reality then, includes the crucial concept of interiority or, as he says,
the within of things. If we are to know something we must know it within
as well as without.
We shall cover this concept more fully below, but it suffices
to say here that a study of this within of things involves a question of
purpose. An example will illustrate the importance of this. Let us imagine some
extra-terrestrial scientist studying one of our automobiles. He may examine it
bumper to bumper, delineating such things as its weight, size, chemical
components and even the wavelengths of its color. He will not however, have
discovered that it is a car until he comes upon the fact that it is
meant to be driven, that is to say, that this conglomeration of metals and
plastics is a vehicle. So is it with the phenomena of the cosmos and,
especially, with the phenomenon of man: they will only be understood once their
purpose is discovered. Teilhard de Chardin recognizes this and includes in his
scientific, cosmic phenomenology the question of a thing's end; to use an
Aristotelian term, Teilhard de Chardin addresses the issue of a thing's
entelechy.1
Beyond the issue of entelechy, this withinness can also be
described broadly as consciousness. Teilhard de Chardin believes that there is
a level of consciousness, albeit minute, present at even the molecular level.
His scientific phenomenology seeks to take account of this and does not limit
itself simply to what is measurable externally.
2.1.4. Beyond Phenomenology
Despite his scientific methodology, Teilhard de Chardin always
shines through his words, cadences, and images. In this light, David TRACY
asserts:
To read Teilhard de Chardin is less like reading a
philosopher or theologian or scientist, though he was all three, than it is
like reading a great visionary, at once a poet and a
mystic.'
The problem with visionaries, poets and mystics is that so
often their feet are far from terra firma. Teilhard de Chardin avoids
this error by articulating and adhering to a rigorous methodology
throughout The Phenomenon of Man.
In other writings Teilhard de Chardin employed other methods,
crossing fully into theology, poetry, mysticism and even philosophy. The
Phenomenon of Man is admirably consistent; however, the only real
exception is his epilogue, "The Christian Phenomenon." Henri de LUBAC has noted
that the description of this chapter as an epilogue was utterly intentional for
here and here alone he significantly strays from his phenomenological inquiry.
Speculating on the nature of Christ within his evolutionary scheme, Teilhard de
Chardin appeals unabashedly to revelation displaying a side suppressed
throughout the rest of The Phenomenon of Man.
In his methodology, Teilhard de Chardin aimed at literally
taking everything into scientific account. It is an audacious project which has
annoyed some even while enrapturing others. Bernard Towers, one of the latter,
and goes so far as to compare Teilhard de Chardin's work, in scope and in
quality, to the great Thomas Aquinas himself. At the end though, Teilhard de
Chardin's vision was higher than his achievement and he knew it. In proposing
such a sweeping project, the point was not so much to get it right as to simply
try it.
Theologians, philosophers and scientists have all found
legitimate grounds upon which to contend with Teilhard de Chardin. His great
phenomenology proves unsuccessful at some points. Teilhard de Chardin knew his
vision was incomplete and as a scientist, he expected and even hoped that it
would be amended:
I David Tracy, Christian Spirituality:
Post-Reformation and Modern, New York, Crossroad, I996, p.I53.
It is up to others to try to do better. My one hope is
that I have made the reader feel both the reality, difficulty, and urgency of
the problem and, at the same time, the scale and the form which the solution
cannot escape.'
For this reason, Doran McCarty says that, "a very important
part of Teilhard's methodology is his dynamic form."2 Like
everything in Teilhard de Chardin's world, his vision is subject to
evolutionary forces: his vision itself is moving somewhere, onward and
upward.
| 
