Chauncey C. Riddle
14 August 1992
We human beings live in four realms:
The first is the natural realm; our physical bodies and activities share this realm with the earth, plants and animals, and the events of the atmosphere.
The second realm is the artifactual; this is our tools and machines, and all that we humans do with them to create our own non-natural environment and to provide comforts for ourselves.
The third realm is the realm of imagination and ideas, the special province manipulated using symbols which records the hopes and fears, dreams and aspirations, the amusements and indulgences of the human race.
The fourth realm is the spiritual wherein each human being struggles with good and evil and makes the choices of his or her mortal existence.
The interactions of these four constitute the whole person, and the more developed each of us is in each of these areas, the more powerful a person we are. We in the humanities specialize in the third realm, that of ideas and imagination.
I now wish to make a number of points about the humanities and their place in the mortal scheme of realms.
- Contrary to the oft asserted idea, the humanities cannot and will not save the world. It is popular to contrast the progress of science and technology, which seem to develop unfettered, with the humanities, which must catch up with and give a conscience to science and technology. This cannot and will not happen, because the humanities is the realm of possibility, and by itself encompasses all possibilities, good and evil. The humanities may feed science and technology with new ideas for creative achievement, but cannot harness or control.
- Contrary to what many in the humanities believe, the humanities is not the most real of all the realms. Each realm is real, including the humanities. It is the natural realm which is the ground of our being. We do our work in the artifactual realm. We contemplate in the intellectual realm of the humanities, and we choose in the spiritual realm. The ultimate proof of our choosing and our imagining of ideas is found in what we do in the artifactual realm; in this latter come the fruits of all that we are, and by these fruits we shall be judged. The natural realm will claim us at the end of our mortal probation.
The special mission of the humanities and the realm of ideas is to explore what is possible. We loop out from the natural and the artifactual to see what could be. Our flight of fancy always returns to the natural and artifactual realms to achieve that of which we first dream and choose. It is this dreaming through the use of symbols which makes us specifically human. And if we choose good over evil in our dreaming, that means we have accepted the invitation to join the gods in their celebration of all is possible and good. Those who pursue the humanities see the humanities as an end in itself at their peril. One of the pernicious teachings of our world is the notion of art for art’s sake, treating the humanities as if they were autonomous and could indulge in anything without answering to anyone. - Those who pursue the humanities see the humanities as an end in itself at their peril. One of the pernicious teachings of our world is the notion of art for art’s sake, treating the humanities as if they were autonomous and could indulge in anything without answering to anyone.
Every human idea eventually has an impact in the artifactual world. If we celebrate evil in the intellectual world, we will do evil in the artifactual world. Satan is very real, and those who glorify evil are in concert with him. No one ever established a heaven by consorting with a devil. The freedom the humanities enjoy must be matched by responsibility in each person. Superb technique does not sanctify service to Satan. Rather it makes it more devilish. - Thus it is overwhelmingly important that those who pursue the humanities come to grips with the spiritual realm. To come to grips with the spiritual realm is to learn unerringly to discern good from evil and to identify correctly which is which. Only then can one choose the good. We humans were placed in this mortal probation with the possibility of doing both good and evil, but we are under strict command not to choose and do the evil. To pretend that there is no difference between good and evil, or that we must carefully give equal time to both in our creation and consumption in the humanities is to have capitulated to evil.
The most difficult and demanding intellectual task facing any Latter-day Saint is to discern unerringly between the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and the enticings of Satan. By careful attention and constant experimentation any of us can solve that problem. Only then can we depart from the ways of the world and join forces with all others who have chosen the good over evil. - The solution to what to do in the humanities is for each person who partakes of the humanities to become Christ-centered. Our Savior is the source of all that is good and true in this world. If good and truth are beautiful to you and to me, we will choose him as our master and celebrate and promote only his good and his truth. But we are agents unto ourselves. We are free for the time being to call evil beautiful if we so choose. But for that, we will answer.
There are many in the humanities who do not believe that we will need to answer for promoting evil. These are they who are not mature in the spiritual realm. They match power in the humanities against only wishful thinking is the spiritual realm, and some of them carefully lead their brothers and sisters down to hell. But no one leads or is led to hell who does not somewhat enjoy the process. Whatever we enjoy tells the state of our spiritual progress. - We latter-day Saints have a mission to establish Zion. Zion cannot and will not be established without the support of the humanities. To work for Zion is to be a revolutionary, rebelling against everything in this world which is degrading and degraded. No revolution can succeed unless it is carefully articulated in the symbols of language, and music and art add that much more. When our use of the humanities becomes wholly Christ-centered, we become fit participants in this most glorious of all revolutions.
- Finally, we note that not to work for Zion is to fight against Zion. Those who are not for Christ are against him. Those who believe in equal time for good and for evil are promoting evil and are fighting against Zion. Hopefully each of us will seek after and celebrate all that is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy.
In the fairly near future, all of us here today will meet at another commencement exercise as we commence our individual eternal existences. All that each of us has done in our probation will be publicly reviewed. If we sought good, good will be rewarded to us; if we sought evil, evil will be our prize. Let us hope that there will be no weeping and gnashing of teeth among us on that great occasion.
Thank you.