# The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature

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> The Bahá'í                                 according to him, is inescapable for in-
> dividuals and societies. Such theories
> Philosophy of                              are present whether they are held con-
> sciously or unconsciously in the mind,
> Human Nature                               communicated explicitly or implicitly
> in a text, expressed in traditional cus-
> toms and folktales, or embedded in
> IAN KLUGE
> religious beliefs and ceremonies. They
> may be embryonic or fully developed.
> At the beginning of The Blank Slate:       They may be embodied in myths and
> The Modern Denial of Human Nature,         legends or expressed in philosophic
> cognitive scientist and philosopher        treatises such as Plato's Republic, Au-
> Steven Pinker asserts that                 gustine's The City of God, and Marx's
> The Communist Manifesto. However
> [e]veryone has a theory of human         they may be couched, these theories
> nature. Everyone has to anticipate       tell us what to expect from people in
> the behavior of others, and that         regards to such vital issues as aggres-
> means we all need theories about         sion, or even outright violence, help-
> what makes people tick. A tacit          fulness, reliability, good will, and spir-
> theory of human nature—that              ituality. Beyond these, philosophies of
> behavior is caused by thoughts           human nature consider meta-issues
> and feelings—is embedded in the          related to human nature such as, for
> way we think about people. . . . Ri-     example, the role of intrinsic nature
> val theories of human nature are         and extrinsic nurture, the different
> entwined in different ways of life       kinds of needs shared by all humans,1
> and different political systems,         personal and collective psychopathol-
> and have been the source of much         ogy,2 and the degree of universality
> conflict over the course of histo-       of mankind's physical and mental
> ry. (1; emphasis added)                  constitution. Philosophies of human
> nature also deal with the meaning and
> For millennia, the major theories        purpose of life in this world and the
> of human nature have come from re-       next, mankind's relationship to the su-
> ligion… every society must operate       pernatural or nonmaterial world, and
> with a theory of human nature.           the role, if any, of messengers and
> (3; emphasis added)                      prophets. Finally, they set the basis
> for morality by providing a standard
> A "theory of human nature," as Pink-       for deciding which behaviors we can
> er conceives it, refers to the intrinsic
> or "natural" ways of thinking, feeling,      1 See Abraham Maslow's Toward a
> and acting that distinguish human          Psychology of Being.
> beings from other forms of life and,         2 See Robert B. Edgerton's Sick Societies.
> 8                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> expect from all humans, which can be         that human nature is shaped by the
> considered natural for the kind of be-       environment and concludes, therefore,
> ings we are, which are acceptable, and       that we must overthrow all the old
> which are not.                               social structures in order to create a
> One of the most vigorously debated        new kind of human being.5 Human
> issues about human nature is the ex-         environmentalism—the belief that it
> istence of an intrinsic, predetermined       is possible to shape human beings any
> nature or essence. Is what we call           way we like by controlling the kind of
> "human nature" the product of envi-          experiences people have—was an idea
> ronmental influences, a set of innate        promulgated most famously by B. F.
> attributes and potentials, or a mixture      Skinner and other behavioral psychol-
> of both? The terms of this controver-        ogists. Perhaps one of the most star-
> sy have been most famously formulat-         tling results of Locke's "blank state"
> ed by John Locke, who maintains that         theory is the claim that sexual identity
> the human mind has no inherent ideas,        is not intrinsically constrained and
> attributes, capacities, tendencies, or       determined by biology but is, rather,
> potentials—a view that is now known          a matter of preference because there
> as the tabula rasa or "blank slate" the-     is no particular human nature to limit
> ory (2.1.2).3 According to this notion,      our choices.
> everything in the mind is added after           Two globally influential modern
> birth by worldly experience and the          philosophers reinforced Locke's tabula
> education provided by others. Locke's        rasa doctrine and this line of thinking.
> theory suggests that because human           One was the atheist existentialist Jean-
> beings are shaped entirely by their en-      Paul Sartre, who elaborated his views
> vironment, the "perfectibility of man"       most famously in Being and Nothing-
> is contingent on the manipulation of         ness. In this work, he observes, "As we
> the social environment. This idea was        have seen, for human reality, to be is
> taken up by others, among them Jean-         to choose oneself; nothing comes from
> Jacques Rousseau, who popularized            the outside or from within which it can
> the idea that human nature can be
> improved by strictly natural, non-re-           5 In Soviet Russia, this philosophy led
> ligious means.4 Marxism also holds           to Lysenkoism, a belief that rejected ge-
> netics and natural selection and claimed
> 3 Locke actually uses the term "white     a plant like rye could be transformed into
> paper." This idea was already present in     wheat if raised in the proper environment
> Aristotle (De Anima, 429b29–430a1). See      and treated appropriately. In other words,
> also Stoic philosophy and, in the eleventh   the nature of rye was determined by its
> century CE, Ibn Sina.                        environment and not by genetics—a be-
> 4 See Rousseau's A Dissertation on the    lief echoed in today's denial of human na-
> Origin and Foundation of the Inequality of   ture and the view that environment is the
> Mankind.                                     only relevant factor in its shaping.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                                 9
> 
> receive or accept" (518–19). There is           powerful and widespread consequenc-
> no "pre-made" human nature (or any              es, as can be seen in current legislative
> other nature); there are only individ-          and legal battles over sexual and gen-
> uals making themselves. Elsewhere,              der identity and, on a larger scale, in
> Sartre states, "For if, indeed, existence       the history of the twentieth century.
> precedes essence, one will never be able        The Russian Revolution of 1917 was
> to explain one's actions by reference           an attempt at creating a new society
> to a given and specific human nature;           by remaking human nature into the
> in other words, there is no determin-           "New Soviet Man" (Bauer et al. 157).
> ism—man is free, man is freedom... We           Communist efforts were based on
> are left alone, without excuse. That is         two principles—that human nature is
> what I mean when I say that man is              almost infinitely malleable and that
> condemned to be free" ("Existentialism"         humans are entirely shaped by their
> 295; emphasis added).6                          natural, social, and, above all, econom-
> Michel Foucault, one of the premier         ic environments. There is no innate,
> postmodernists, concurred with Sar-             pre-determined human nature to be
> tre. He explains that he is "suspicious         overcome. On 22 June 1941,7 this ma-
> of the notion of liberation" because            terialist and radical environmentalist
> "it runs the risk of falling back on the        philosophy of human nature found
> idea that there exists a human nature"          itself at war with its diametric op-
> that somehow exists "apart" from us             posite, German National Socialism,
> and that we can rediscover and regain           whose philosophy of human nature
> (76). He rejects the existence of any           combined three main principles. First,
> such essence or nature: "behind things          it accepted Joseph Arthur, Comte de
> [there is] not a timeless essential se-         Gobineau's belief that race is the de-
> cret but the secret that they have no           termining factor in history and that
> essence" (353). Sartre, Foucault, and           Aryans—white and mostly Europe-
> their followers assert that any con-            an—are the superior race.8 Second, it
> cept of human nature is intrinsically           taught that the stronger races were
> tyrannical and dangerous because it             in a Darwinian struggle against the
> marginalizes and oppresses whoever              numerically superior but weaker rac-
> does not fit into the parameters of its         es whom it considered ultimately un-
> definition of human ontology.                   fit to survive or rule. The concept of
> Beliefs about human nature have
> 7 The official launch date of "Opera-
> 6 Unfortunately, Sartre's view is un-         tion Barbarossa," the code name for Ger-
> dermined by the observation that if, unlike     many's invasion of the Soviet Union.
> other creatures, a human is "condemned to          8 Comte de Gobineau's widely read An
> be free," then, in effect, s/he has a partic-   Essay on the Inequality of the Races identifies
> ular identifiable nature with at least one      the Aryans as the white race of northern
> unique attribute.                               Europe.
> 10                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> "survival of the fittest" was applied to       eventually challenged by yet a differ-
> national and international politics, so-       ent theory of human nature endorsed
> cieties, cultures, and, of course, races.9     by politicized radical Islam.13 The im-
> Third, it believed that human nature           portance of philosophies of human
> was genetically determined and that            nature—and of the clashes between
> superior gene pools should not be              them—is clearly visible in daily news
> "polluted" by mixing themselves with           reports.
> inferior ones.10 The one principle that           In sharp contrast to Locke and his
> united Communism and National So-              successors, many of the world's major
> cialism was that the value of the indi-        religions agree about the existence
> vidual is determined by his or her use-        of an innate, divinely created human
> fulness to the state. Individuals have         nature. Some of these religions sub-
> no rights against the state and the            scribe to the belief that human ontol-
> supposed welfare of the majority. On           ogy is dualistic—on the one hand, we
> 7 December 1941,11 a third theory of           are not what we could and should be;
> human nature emerged in the midst of           on the other hand, we can "merge with
> war—one that held that the individual          the divine command, walk in its way"
> has intrinsic value and, therefore, in-        (Guru Nanak qtd. in Gill). In other
> herent fundamental rights against the          words, these religions assert that ev-
> state and society in general. Although         ery human has a perfectible nature, but
> the liberal capitalist theory of human
> nature emerged victorious,12 it was            Western liberal democracy as a permanent
> achievement. He did not foresee the rise of
> 9 See Richard Weikart's From Darwin         radical political Islam as a challenge to lib-
> to Hitler. It should be noted that in no way   eral democratic capitalism.
> can one rationally blame Darwin for the           13 Two of the foundational theorists
> abuse of his findings by others.               of radical Islam are Hassan al-Banna,
> 10 It is important to understand that a     founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and
> belief in the basic genetic determination      Sayyid Qutb, the latter of whom advocates
> of human nature does not in itself make        for, among other things, a Muslim version
> anyone a National Socialist. That belief is    of Vladimir Lenin's doctrine of the evo-
> a necessary, but far from sufficient, condi-   lutionary elite to lead the attack on the
> tion for being a Nazi.                         West. He also calls for isolation from all
> 11 This is the date of the surprise         non-Muslim learning and the establish-
> Japanese military strike at the American       ment of rigorous Sharia law. In his best
> naval base at Pearl Harbor. This attack is     known book, Milestones, he calls for cease-
> officially considered the turning point that   less violent jihad against all non-Muslims,
> led to the entry of the United States into     but especially against the West. Samuel P.
> World War II.                                  Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and
> 12 Francis Fukuyama's The End of His-       the Remaking of World Order is an in-depth
> tory and the Last Man sees the victory of      study of this incipient conflict.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                         11
> 
> unlike their secular counterparts, they       skeletal anatomy; by the possession
> believe that achieving such perfection        of a larynx, enabling speech; by a fun-
> requires the assistance of divine grace       damentally similar physiology (e.g.,
> and guidance by the Manifestations of         blood types) that underlies all medical
> God: "Without training and guidance           studies and practice; by the human life
> the soul could never progress beyond          cycle; and by a brain with a particu-
> the conditions of its lower nature,           larly human structure. While human
> which is ignorant and defective" ('Ab-        nature is not limited to our physical
> du'l-Bahá, Promulgation 297). More-           existence, the body helps shape hu-
> over, human nature has free will—the          man nature vis-à-vis its potentials and
> capacity to choose the way to perfec-         limitations for action in the material
> tion or to reject it—and must there-          world.
> fore take responsibility for its choices.        Further evidence for the existence
> These attributes of human nature              of a pre-given universal human nature
> entail moral and spiritual obligations        comes from anthropology. Professor
> rather than comfortable privileges.           of Anthropology (Emeritus) Donald
> It is important to note that belief        E. Brown's Human Universals has be-
> in the existence of an intrinsic human        come one of the central texts in the
> nature is not confined to religions           growing field of universal human
> and political ideologies. Evidence for        nature.15 The work of Pinker sup-
> a universal human nature, based on            ports Brown's thesis. He explains the
> observation of its physical aspects,          "bridges between [human] biology
> is found in the studies of genetics,14        and culture" with evidence from ge-
> medicine, anatomy, physiology, and            netics, brain science, cognitive science,
> neuroscience. For example, humans             and evolutionary biology (31).
> are characterized by an identifiable              In his book The Blank Slate, Steven
> Pinker provides a list of Brown's more
> 14 The ability for all human ethnic        than two hundred universal human
> groups to intermarry and produce viable       attributes (435–39), and expands on
> offspring also indicates the underlying       some of them—such as the universal
> physical oneness of mankind. The Human        ability to learn language—and ex-
> Genome Project is perhaps best under-         plores and critiques the intellectual
> stood, not as the genetic determination of    concepts underlying the rejection of a
> all thought, feeling and behavior but rath-   universal human nature.16 Among psy-
> er as the recognition of the physical basis   chologists, Abraham Maslow is per-
> for Bahá'u'lláh's teaching on the "oneness    haps most influential in the scientific
> of mankind." Details on the National Hu-
> man Genome Research Project, can be
> found on its official website https://www.      15 See also Donald E. Brown, "Human
> genome.gov/10001772/all-about-the--           Universals, Human Nature, Human Culture."
> human-genome-project-hgp/                       16 Chapters 6 through 11.
> 12                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> study of human nature.17 Although it        concepts and terms were originally
> has undergone some relatively minor         theorized by Aristotle in Physics, De
> modifications, Maslow's list of a uni-      Anima, and Metaphysics as a method of
> versal hierarchy of needs remains a         analyzing and understanding reality.18
> familiar part of psychology and edu-        According to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, analyz-
> cational psychology courses. Evidence       ing and understanding reality are the
> for a universal human nature is also        purposes of philosophy: "Philosophy
> available in evolutionary psychology        consists in comprehending, so far as
> which maintains that human nature           human power permits, the realities
> developed by evolutionary pressures         of things as they are in themselves"
> to make humans what they are now.           (Some Answered Questions 59:7).
> For example, Robert Wright's The               The fact that Bahá'u'lláh and
> Moral Animal, Why We are the Way We         'Abdu'l-Bahá extensively employ these
> are: The New Science of Evolutionary        terms, concepts, and even arguments
> Psychology examines not only the evo-       confirms them as valid tools for
> lutionary origins of selfishness but        interpreting the Bahá'í Writings as
> also of altruism, and mankind's social      well as for understanding reality.
> nature.                                     This validation applies only to the
> In this paper, we shall focus on the     Aristotelian materials present in
> philosophy of human nature as pre-          the Writings and not to everything
> sented in the Bahá'í Writings. To do        Aristotle said; for example, his
> this most effectively, we must equip        views on gravity or women have no
> ourselves with the philosophic con-         support in the Writings. Moreover,
> cepts, terminology, and arguments           by introducing them into the sacred
> that are pervasively and consistently       texts, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> used throughout the Bahá'í Writings         imply that familiarity with this
> to explain relevant key concepts.           terminology can assist in obtaining a
> fuller understanding of the Writings.
> THE PHILOSOPHICAL TERMINOLOGY              If these terms had no relevance in
> OF THE BAHÁ'Í WRITINGS                 this context, their introduction would
> make no sense.
> Unlike the sacred texts of most other          It should be noted, however, that
> religions, the Bahá'í Writings contain a    the use of Aristotle's terminology
> large number of passages that explic-       does not necessarily restrict Bahá'í
> itly develop philosophical arguments
> and employ a specific set of philosoph-       18 For a detailed analysis, see Ian
> ical concepts and terminology. These        Kluge's "The Aristotelian Substratum of
> the Bahá'í Writings" in Lights of Irfan
> 17 See Abraham Maslow, Towards a          Vol. 4, 2003, and "Bahá'u'lláh's Toolbox."
> Psychology of Being and William G. Huitt,   Both are available at https://www.baha-
> Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.                iphilosophy.com/.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                           13
> 
> philosophical thinking to the third cen-        they are used in the Bahá'í Writings.
> tury BCE. Perhaps the best illustration            "Essence" refers to the identity of
> of this point is Werner Heisenberg's            a thing—that which makes it the kind
> use of "potential" in "the sense of             of thing it is and, conversely, that
> Aristotelian philosophy" in his discus-         which makes it different from other
> sions about quantum mechanics (Phys-            kinds of things. In other words, it re-
> ics and Philosophy 154). As indicated           fers to kinds or classes as well as to
> earlier, interest in and application of         differences among members of kinds
> Aristotle's versatile theory of human           or classes; it does not refer to differ-
> nature have undergone a serious re-             ences in degree such as the distinc-
> vival.19 Its ongoing usefulness can be          tions between water, steam, and ice or
> seen in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's logical proof of         those between a tall person and a short
> life after death as well as His solution        one. Mankind has a particular essence
> to the centuries-old mind-body prob-            that makes us different in kind from
> lem.20 In light of these developments,          animals, a distinction that explains
> it is reasonable to expect that with the        why behaviors that are acceptable in
> guidance of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation,           animals are not necessarily accept-
> significant further developments will           able or "moral" in humans. As shall
> be possible.                                    be demonstrated below, essences are
> The Bahá'í Writings confirm sev-            static insofar as they do not change or
> en key Aristotelian concepts relevant           merge into one another—one of the
> to the subject of human nature: es-             reasons why 'Abdu'l-Bahá rejects the
> sence, potential, attribute, substance,         theory that humankind has evolved
> form, fourfold causality, and teleology.        from ancestral apes.
> These terms constitute the foundation              According to the Bahá'í Writings,
> on which Aristotle bases his method             all things have an essence, an axiom we
> for analyzing and understanding real-           can discern in Bahá'u'lláh's statement
> ity, and they apply to all phenomenal           that "the light of divine knowledge
> beings, including mankind. We shall             and heavenly grace hath illumined and
> examine these terms and show how                inspired the essence of all created things"
> and in His reference to "the inmost es-
> 19 See, for example, Tuomas E. Tah-           sence of all things" (Kitáb-i-Íqán 29,
> ko's Contemporary Aristotelian Metaphysics      30; emphasis added). In short, accord-
> or Daniel D. Novotný and Lukáš Novák's          ing to the authoritative Bahá'í texts,
> Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives in Metaphysics.   everything in creation possesses an
> See also James Madden's Mind, Matter,           "essence."21
> and Nature and the ethical studies by G. E.
> M. Anscombe, Rosalind Hursthouse, and              21 See also 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Some An-
> Alasdair MacIntyre.                             swered Questions, 95:3, and Gleanings from
> 20 Both are found in chapter 66 of            the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 15:1. For a
> Some Answered Questions.                        complete list of essences see Kluge's "The
> 14                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> So it is that humans possess an es-         light. The inner essence of man
> sence, as demonstrated, for example, in        is unknown and unfathomed but
> Bahá'u'lláh's statement, "Consider the         it is known and characterized by
> rational faculty with which God hath           its attributes. Thus everything is
> endowed the essence of man" (Glean-            known and characterized by its
> ings 83:1). Even nature has an essence         attributes and not by its essence...
> as indicated by Bahá'u'lláh's references       the reality of the Divinity, too,
> to "the essence of all created things" and     must be unknown with regards to
> to "the inmost essence of all things"          its essence and known only with
> (Kitáb-i-Íqán 29,30) both of which             respect to its attributes.
> include nature. Indeed, God the Cre-           ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered
> ator has an essence, as indicated by           Questions 59:4)
> Bahá'u'lláh's allusion to His "Divine
> Essence" as well as Bahá'u'lláh's de-        Two points should be noted here.
> scription of Himself as its "Manifes-        First, the translation of "essence" as
> tation" (Gleanings 13:2; 'Abdu'l-Bahá,       "reality" is an important indication of
> Some Answered Questions 53:3).22             how the latter term is used at times
> In this connection, the Bahá'í Writ-      in the Writings. Second, it is the
> ings inform us that the essences of          Manifestations Who provide us with
> things cannot be known directly in           knowledge of the divine attributes,
> themselves (being essentially meta-          and on the basis of this insight we can
> physical) but can only be known indi-        reason about God.
> rectly via their attributes or qualities:       Every essence—except God's—has
> two kinds of attributes: essential or
> the inner essence of a thing can           necessary and accidental or non-nec-
> never be known, only its attri-            essary.23 This distinction underlies the
> butes. For example, the inner              doctrine of progressive revelation:
> reality of the sun is unknown,
> but it is understood through its             the divine law has two distinct
> attributes, which are heat and               aspects or functions: one the es-
> sential or fundamental, the other
> Aristotelian Substratum of the Bahá'í          the material or accidental . . . The
> Writings," section 5.6.                        essential ordinances of religion
> 22 As distinct from "emanation"—the          were the same during the time of
> Manifestation is not a "part" of God, nor      Abraham, the day of Moses and
> does the Manifestation possess the same        the cycle of Jesus, but the acciden-
> essence as God, though He can reflect or       tal or material laws were abrogated
> manifest the divine qualities inherent in
> that Divine Essence of the Creator. (See        23 God cannot have accidental attri-
> chapter 53 of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Some An-        butes because it makes no sense to say that
> swered Questions.)                           a divine attribute is not necessary.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                       15
> 
> and superseded according to the            accidental attribute temporarily need-
> exigency and requirement of each           ed for living in the phenomenal world.
> succeeding age. ('Abdu'l-Bahá,             The death of an accidental attribute,
> Promulgation 97; emphasis added)           such as the body, does not imply the
> death of the soul (the substance or es-
> Essential attributes are necessary for a     sence) any more than adult-onset hair
> thing to be what it is, and they cannot      loss diminishes our humanity.
> be changed, whereas accidental attri-           To understand 'Abdu'l-Bahá's dec-
> butes are optional and/or temporary.         laration, we must bear in mind that
> For example, being human requires            Aristotle also uses the word "sub-
> a "rational soul," which, 'Abdu'l-Bahá       stance" to refer to "essence." Unless
> says, "distinguishes man from the ani-       indicated otherwise, the latter usual-
> mal" but having red hair or green eyes       ly alludes to the makeup of a thing,
> is "accidental" (Some Answered Ques-         whereas the former usually refers to
> tions, 55:5; 55:4). 'Abdu'l-Bahá uses        its ontology as being independent or
> this distinction between essential and       dependent. However, it must be re-
> accidental attributes to prove the im-       membered that every substance has/is
> mortality of the human soul:                 an essence and every essence is a sub-
> stance. This meaning of "substance"
> Some hold that the body is the          as "essence" is noted by the translator
> substance and that it subsists by          of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's "Tablet on the Unity
> itself, and that the spirit is the ac-     of Existence," who states, "The term
> cident which subsists through the          'substance' (jawhar) is roughly equiv-
> substance of the body. The truth,          alent to essence (mahíyya) and reality
> however, is that the rational soul         (haqíqa), which refer to 'that by which
> is the substance through which             a thing is what it is'" (note 2). Thus,
> the body subsists. If the acci-            when 'Abdu'l-Bahá refers to the hu-
> dent—the body—is destroyed, the            man spirit or "rational soul" as a sub-
> substance—the spirit—remains.              stance, He is describing it as both an
> (Some Answered Questions 66:2)             independent reality and the essence of
> human beings.
> The wording of the new translation              With these two uses in mind,
> of Some Answered Questions makes the         we will find it easier to understand
> Aristotelian connection clear insofar        Bahá'u'lláh's statement that the spir-
> as it explicitly identifies "substance" as   itual aspect of the Manifestations "is
> that which "subsists by itself "—that        born of the substance of God Himself "
> is, independently—and "accident" as          (Gleanings 27:4). Here, "substance"
> that which depends on the substance.         emphasizes both God's absolute inde-
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá's argument is straight-         pendence as well as His divine essence,
> forward: the soul is the substance (es-      from which Manifestations originate.
> sence) of mankind, and the body is an        This demonstrates the ontological
> 16                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> uniqueness of the Manifestations in         of thing, and general and universal
> Their relationship to God—emanat-           terms have no corresponding reality.
> ing from God's essence and sharing          For example, there are only individual
> in His absolute independence—which          dogs, like Barko, Queenie, and Wag-
> provides a rational basis for accepting     ger, and what we call their "essence"
> what the Manifestations say as God's        or "class" is merely a term of conve-
> Word. Furthermore, a substance is a         nience to lump together apparently
> separate or distinct individual that        similar things. Their alleged "essenc-
> "operates according to its own logos"       es" and "kinds" are nothing but verbal
> or final cause and for that reason is       conveniences to facilitate discussion;
> also a source of motion and change          they do not really exist as such.
> in itself and sometimes others (Edel           The Bahá'í Writings reject nomi-
> 116). A substance exists as a "natural      nalism, not only in direct statements
> unit," that is, as an integrated whole      about this issue but also in the argu-
> (Edel 119). Each of these descriptors       ments they present to explain the
> is valid for God, Who is a natural unit,    Faith's teachings. For example, 'Ab-
> Who is distinct from creation, and          du'l-Bahá refers to the "abundant
> Who has His own logos.                      grace of God's oneness that is shed
> "Substance" is also something that       upon the essences of all created things,"
> can possess attributes but cannot exist     which make up the phenomenal world
> as an attribute of anything else. For       (Selections 266; emphasis added). Fur-
> example, a starfish is not an attribute     thermore, the Bahá'í Writings assert
> or quality of something else, nor are       that phenomenal reality is divided into
> my pet ducks, Jack and Jill. In addition,   four classes—mineral, vegetable, an-
> a "substance" is objective and real; it     imal, and human ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some
> does not depend on human perception         Answered Questions 64:1)—that these
> for its existence, nor is it a mere term    classes of extant realities each pos-
> of convenience. Finally, the word "sub-     sess distinct essential natures, and that
> stance" in the Writings (and in Aris-       these categories are not man-made
> totle's works) may refer to matter, the     constructs. This Bahá'í concept thus
> material "stuff " of which the things in    underscores the belief that because
> the phenomenal world are composed.          human beings are a unique creation,
> An example of "substance" being used        it follows that there may well be a
> in this way is the admonishment to          moral imperative or ethical necessity
> "consume not the substance of others        for us to behave in a way appropriate
> wrongfully" (Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle 25).      to our essential reality. 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> Nominalist philosophers deny that        also explains that essences can only be
> essences are ontologically real. In         known or perceived by their attributes
> their view, only individual entities are    or qualities, indicating, therefore, that
> real, and, therefore, classes of things,    essences are real because "[a] non-ex-
> essences that allegedly identify a kind     istent thing, it is agreed, cannot be
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                           17
> 
> seen by signs" (Paris Talks 90). In ad-        of a thing to change in certain ways,
> dition, He teaches that mankind's dis-         which is to say to reveal or actualize
> tinguishing feature, the rational soul,        previously hidden and often unforesee-
> "encompasses all things and, as far            able attributes. Potentials are unique
> as human capacity permits, discovers           to each kind of thing at two levels—a
> their realities and becomes aware of           collective level, such as "duck-kind,"
> properties and effects" (Some Answered         and an individual level, like that of my
> Questions 55:5). If the essence—that           pet ducks, Jack and Jill.
> which distinguishes one kind of thing             Potentials allow a pupa to change
> from another—is not ontologically              into a butterfly or a seed into a tree
> real, it would not be able to act, as          ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Ques-
> noted in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's example: "In           tions 51:4). Human nature is a unique
> order to write a man must exist—one            combination of potentialities and the
> who does not exist cannot write" (Paris        Bahá'í Writings discuss them exten-
> Talks 92). Furthermore, His argument           sively. 'Abdu'l-Bahá points out that the
> about "the essential reality underlying        various aspects of a tree do not come
> any given phenomenon" makes it clear           from nowhere: "All these virtues [of
> that in Bahá'í ontology, all things have       the tree] were hidden and potential in
> an essence, whose attributes appear in         the seed" (Promulgation 90; emphasis
> the phenomenal world (Promulgation             added). The leaves and branches "ex-
> 421; emphasis added). A final example          isted potentially, albeit invisibly, in the
> showing the reality of essences is the         seed" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered
> teaching that mankind's essence does           Questions 51:4; emphasis added). In
> not change during the evolutionary             short, there is more to reality than
> process: "the development of man was           what we can immediately see or even
> always human in type and biological            discover empirically. This is even de-
> in progression" (Promulgation 358).            monstrable in science. No amount of
> Elsewhere He explains that "[t]he              physical analysis of hydrogen and ox-
> essence of the species and the innate          ygen atoms can detect their capacity
> reality undergo no transformation at           to form water or predict the attributes
> all" (Some Answered Questions 47:10).          of water itself, such as its expansion
> The aforementioned concept of po-           when frozen. These potentials were
> tential is closely related to that of es-
> sence.24 Potential refers to the capacity      ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions
> 16:3). However, potentials exist because
> 24 Potentials are not physical "things"—    "[a] non-existent thing, it is agreed, can-
> like raisins embedded in a bun—that can be     not be seen by signs" and because changes
> identified by empirical scientific analysis.   cannot come from nothing: "it is impos-
> Instead, potentials are virtues or "intel-     sible that any effect should appear from
> ligible realities" that have "no outward       absolute nothingness" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris
> form or place and which are not sensible"      Talks 91; Some Answered Questions 60:5).
> 18                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> "latent and potential in the world of na-        final cause. So this chair has a creator
> ture" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation 310;           who is a carpenter, a matter which is
> emphasis added). The same is true of             wood, a form which is that of a chair,
> the earth as a whole: "the terrestrial           and a purpose which is to serve as a
> globe was created from the beginning             seat" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered
> with all its elements, substances, min-          Questions 80:3).25 The final cause is the
> erals, parts and components but these            chair's purpose, without which there
> appeared only gradually" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,          is no point in having a formal cause
> Some Answered Questions 51:5). In other          (design), a material cause from which
> words, the potential to form living or-          to actualize the design, and an effi-
> ganisms was already in the earth itself          cient cause to do the work.26 It is also
> and only required the right time and             important that 'Abdu'l-Bahá does not
> conditions to become actualized. In              limit fourfold causality to man-made
> humankind as well, 'Abdu'l-Bahá says,            objects; rather, He explains, it pertains
> "our Creator . . . has deposited . . . certain   to "the existence of. . . every thing"
> latent and potential virtues. Through            (Some Answered Questions 80:3). The
> education and culture these virtues . . .        final cause influences the operation of
> will become apparent in the human re-            the efficient cause by limiting the ef-
> ality (Promulgation 90; emphasis add-            fects it can have. Iron filings will rust
> ed). Building on this concept, Shoghi            when watered but will not produce
> Effendi states that "man must always             daisies. The final cause is implicit in
> try to develop and reveal the qualities          the nature of the materials—iron and
> that are to be found potentially in him.         water—which only lets certain effects
> It is an urge to self-improvement and            take place. This limiting function is
> individual progress" (qtd. in Hornby             the final cause in action. Because all
> 479; emphasis added).                            things have a final cause, they have a
> The development of potentials in             purpose, a reason for their existence.
> all things including humanity points             This includes humankind and the uni-
> to another key Bahá'í teaching, name-            verse itself: "If man did not exist, the
> ly, that all parts of creation are tele-         universe would be without result, for the
> ological in nature and therefore have
> an inner purpose and a goal for which               25 See Aristotle's Physics (2.7.198ab)
> they strive. The teleological, goal-ori-         and Metaphysics (5.1.1013ab).
> ented, purposive impulse in all things,             26 Fourfold causality offers one way of
> including the universe itself, is shown          harmonizing science and religion. Science
> directly in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's validation            deals with material and efficient causes,
> of Aristotle's concept of fourfold               whereas religion deals with formal but,
> causality: "For the existence of each            above all, final causes. As 'Abdu'l-Bahá and
> and every thing depends upon four                Aristotle indicate, all four are necessary
> causes: the efficient cause, the mate-           for the existence of every thing, whether
> rial cause, the formal cause, and the            it be man-made or natural.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                         19
> 
> purpose of existence is the revelation of   the good of the soul.27 It also affects
> the divine perfections" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,      education policy in such areas as cur-
> Some Answered Questions 50:4; empha-        riculum development because ques-
> sis added). In other words, the uni-        tions of spiritual education cannot be
> verse is incomplete and lacks purpose       circumvented or ignored. Likewise,
> without humankind, which gives the          recognizing the primacy of the spirit
> universe a purpose, just as "the noblest    in our political constitutions will affect
> part of the tree, and the fundamental       our personal and collective scale of
> purpose of its existence, is the fruit"     values and rights, which in turn affects
> ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions      societal decisions at every level and
> 50:5).                                      turn. If, for example, large numbers
> With this philosophical terminol-        of people were to believe that the re-
> ogy in mind, we are ready to exam-          wards of this life are "the virtues and
> ine human nature as explained in the        perfections that adorn the human re-
> Bahá'í Writings.                            ality" instead of material acquisitions,
> then the nature of economies, govern-
> HUMAN NATURE: SPIRITUAL,               mental planning, and even law would
> UNIVERSAL, IMMUTABLE                  be profoundly changed ('Abdu'l-Bahá,
> Some Answered Questions 60:3).
> Were it not for the fundamentally
> The most fundamental Bahá'í teach-
> spiritual essence of mankind, it would
> ing about human nature is that "[m]
> be difficult to explain why 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> an is, in reality, a spiritual being, and
> places such emphasis on recognizing
> only when he lives in the spirit is he
> immortality as an essential aspect of
> truly happy. This spiritual longing and
> human nature:
> perception belongs to all men alike"
> ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks 73; empha-
> The conception of annihilation
> sis added). Virtually everything else
> is a factor in human degradation,
> that may be said about the Bahá'í phi-
> a cause of human debasement and
> losophy of human nature is predicated
> lowliness, a source of human fear
> on the principle that human nature
> and abjection. It has been condu-
> is essentially spiritual. This spiritual
> cive to the dispersion and weaken-
> essence brings in its train a host of
> ing of human thought, whereas the
> profound practical consequences for
> realization of existence and con-
> the conduct of individual lives and the
> tinuity has upraised man to sub-
> management of society. For example,
> limity of ideals, established the
> it enlarges our perspective on what is
> foundations of human progress
> meant by "doing good" or "reducing
> harm" because we must consider not
> 27 It is interesting to reflect on the
> only the good of the body, but also
> meaning of "harm reduction" in light of
> our spiritual nature.
> 20                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> and stimulated the development           is why anthropologists and historians
> of heavenly virtues. (Promulgation       have not found a culture at any stage
> 89; emphasis added)                      of development without spiritual and
> religious beliefs and practices. While
> Belief or disbelief in immortality af-     there may be individual exceptions to
> fects how we deal with social issues       this innate desire for transcendence,
> that involve a clash between immedi-       there are no collective or societal ex-
> ate, short-term solutions and solutions    ceptions to it. Even militantly atheistic
> that consider spiritual well-being in      revolutions and regimes can be said to
> this world and the next. For example,      do no more than replace one kind of
> while supplying free drugs to addicts      religiosity with another—though they
> may solve some problems, enabling—         eventually and invariably fail in this
> and, thereby, perpetuating—a self-de-      endeavor. For example, the French
> structive behavior suppresses the ac-      revolutionaries realized that people
> tualization of other, more important       needed some form of spirituality and
> human capacities in this life and also     devised the militantly atheistic and
> affects the next life. When we reflect     humanistic cult of reason. The project
> on human problems, immortality must        failed at least in part because it could
> be taken into consideration.               not satisfy the intrinsic human incli-
> Other teachings that make no           nation to transcendence. The same
> sense without implicitly or explicitly     failure was experienced eventually by
> assuming mankind's spiritual nature        militantly atheistic Marxist-Leninism.
> are the importance of prayer, the          Presenting a list of similarities be-
> revelation of God's names in human         tween Marxism and Christianity, Ber-
> nature ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks 26),     trand Russell notes that "Bolshevism
> and—since God is not a material be-        is not merely a political doctrine; it is
> ing—mankind's nature having been           also a religion, with elaborate dogmas
> created in the image of God. Without       and inspired scriptures" (8).
> mankind's essentially spiritual nature,       Spiritual longings—our inclination
> there would be no need for religious       to transcendence—also express them-
> teachings to strengthen and develop        selves as ersatz or substitute forms
> mankind's "spiritual susceptibilities"     such as the pursuit of limitless wealth,
> over the course of progressive Reve-       power, youth, sexuality, risk, drugs—
> lation ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation 7).     anything that can, if only briefly, make
> Moreover, only humanity's essentially      us forget the iron limits of material ex-
> spiritual essence explains the "spiritu-   istence.28 People find it easier to offer
> al longing[s]" felt, in varying degrees,
> by virtually all human beings and cul-       28 See, for example, Abdu'l-Missagh
> tures ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks 73).      Ghadirian In Search of Nirvana for an
> This universal need to connect with    analysis of the use and abuse of drugs
> some form of transcendental reality        and alcohol as chemical substitutes for
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                            21
> 
> "[t]hat willing suspension of disbelief       that there is only one human nature
> for the moment, which constitutes po-         common to all people from all times
> etic faith" to the supernatural in films,     and places, regardless of the vast di-
> novels, television series, and comic          versity of individuals and cultures. In
> books rather than to God (Coleridge           regards to the universality of human
> 2). Forms of divination such as tarot         nature, 'Abdu'l-Bahá also states, "For
> cards, crystals, and rune stones may          instance, man is distinguished from
> also be described as attempts to ful-         the animal by his degree, or king-
> fill our inclination to transcendence.        dom. This comprehensive distinction
> Finally, in a more general way, the           includes all the posterity of Adam
> human inclination to transcendence            and constitutes one great household
> is also evident in the large numbers          or human family, which may be con-
> of individuals who describe them-             sidered the fundamental or physical
> selves as "spiritual" as distinct from        unity of mankind" (Promulgation 190).
> "religious" in an institutional sense.        Elsewhere He affirms, "The foremost
> In different ways, these people feel          degree of comprehension in the world
> that there is more to existence than          of nature is that of the rational soul.
> the material world and that our bodily        This power and comprehension is
> existence does not represent the sum          shared in common by all men, whether
> total of our lives. These expressions         they be heedless or aware, wayward
> of the spiritual aspirations may all be       or faithful" (Some Answered Questions
> summarized by the bon mot that when           58:3). 'Abdu'l-Bahá explicitly identi-
> you push God out of the door, He              fies "the rational soul"29—which, ac-
> comes back in through the window.             cording to Him, distinguishes humans
> Because humanity's inherent spiritual         from animals—as a possession of all
> longings are based on our nature as           humans, even if they are not conscious
> spiritual beings, they are impossible to      of it or deny its existence.30 Human-
> suppress. They will always be present
> to challenge the atheistic and material-         29 See Kluge, "Reason and the Bahá'í
> istic mind-set.                               Writings" in Lights of 'Irfán 14, 2013, and
> According to the Bahá'í Writings,         "Philosophy and the Bahá'í Faith." "Rea-
> human nature is not just spiritual            son," "reasonable," and "rational" in the
> but also universal, as evident in 'Ab-        Bahá'í Writings refer to (1) inferential rea-
> du'l-Bahá's statement about the essen-        soning from premise to conclusion, either
> tially spiritual nature being true for "all   explicitly or implicitly; (2) appropriate or
> men alike" (Paris Talks 72); elsewhere        fitting to the subject matter being exam-
> He states that "God created us all of         ined; (3) in harmony with logical thinking
> one race" (Paris Talks 148). And if all       though arrived at by intuition and other
> humans are part of one race, it follows       ways of knowing.
> 30 Denying human rationality is, logi-
> transcendental experiences.                   cally speaking, a lost cause since denying
> 22                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> ity's rational capacity not only rein-        are merely accidental rather than es-
> forces the universality of rationality        sential attributes of human nature.
> in mankind, but it also establishes the       Indeed, racism is reduced to a logical
> basis for world unification insofar as it     category mistake, an unsophisticated
> can bring people together through the         confusion between what is permanent
> power of reason.                              and meaningful and what is ephemeral
> Compared to the essential oneness          and insignificant. Third, it provides
> of mankind, the racial, cultural, and         an objective foundation for a universal
> individual differences are accidental—        code of ethics by considering morality
> which is to say, contingent products          on an objective rather than a personal
> of time, place, and circumstances—            and culturally subjective basis, thus
> whereas human nature is permanent             undermining the concepts of ethical
> and universal. The existence of such          and cultural relativism. The ethical
> enormous diversity within humankind           principles implicitly embedded in our
> emphasizes the need for a universal           divinely created nature are universal
> human nature, without which it would          and binding for all.
> be impossible to establish the unifica-          Another fundamental aspect of hu-
> tion of mankind, where "[a]ll men             man nature, according to the Bahá'í
> will adhere to one religion, will have        Writings, is that it is permanent; it
> one common faith, will be blended into        does not change over time. There may
> one race, and become a single people"         be changes in the potentials that are
> ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions        manifested at different times, but the
> 12:7).                                        human essence as created by God does
> The oneness and universality of            not change. In other words, human na-
> humanity's nature as created by God           ture has unity and coherence in time,
> are essential to the Bahá'í philosophy        in space or location, and in circum-
> of human nature for at least three            stance. 'Abdu'l-Bahá affirms that "the
> major reasons. First, they establish          originality of the human species, and
> the foundation for the eventual unifi-        of the independence of the essence
> cation of mankind in a federal global         of man are clear and evident" (Some
> commonwealth. Without such a fun-             Answered Questions 47:11). This posi-
> damental oneness and universality,            tion is maintained even in regards to
> it is difficult to envision humankind         human evolution:
> achieving such unity. Second, it ne-
> gates the ontological basis for racism          This anatomical evolution or pro-
> insofar as the characteristics used to          gression does not alter or affect
> differentiate ethnic groups or races            the statement that the development
> of man was always human in type
> reason requires us to employ it in order to     and biological in progression. For
> establish our point. The argument against       the human embryo when exam-
> reason is a self-refuting proposition.          ined microscopically is at first a
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                        23
> 
> mere germ or worm. Gradually as              Revelations (Promised Day 108). If
> it develops it shows certain divi-           human nature were changeable, there
> sions . . . But at all times . . . it was    could be no "eternal verities" because
> human in potentiality . . . Through-         they would not be applicable. More-
> out this progression there has               over, if human nature were not con-
> been a transference of type, a con-          stant, it would be difficult to imagine
> servation of species or kind. (Promul-       how humanity could ever be unit-
> gation 358; emphasis added)                  ed, because unification can only be
> achieved on the basis of some durable
> Elsewhere, 'Abdu'l-Bahá emphasizes             common ground. There are at least
> the stability of human nature or es-           two other reasons for rejecting of the
> sence by explaining that "when [an             concept of human nature as change-
> embryo] possesses, in the womb of              able. One is theological: the concept
> the mother, a strange form entirely            of essential malleability suggests that
> different from its present shape and           the human spirit or essence is not a
> appearance, it is the embryo of a dis-         perfect creation by God. Bahá'u'lláh
> tinct species and not of an animal: The        explicitly contradicts such notions; He
> essence of the species and the innate          says, "I have perfected in every one of
> reality undergo no transformation at           you My creation," thus indicating that
> all" (Some Answered Questions 47:10).          both humans and creation as a whole
> He applies this principle of immutabil-        have been created perfect (Gleanings
> ity to education, as well: "education can-     75:1). The second, practical reason
> not alter the inner essence of a man, but it   for rejecting the changeability of hu-
> doth exert tremendous influence, and           man nature is to protect humans from
> with this power it can bring forth from        themselves and their limited under-
> the individual whatever perfections            standing of themselves and their spir-
> and capacities are deposited within            itual destiny. To appreciate the need to
> him" (Selections 132; emphasis added).         protect human nature from man-made
> In my understanding, this means that           designs based on our limited knowl-
> while education can improve the way            edge, we need only examine the di-
> the potentials of "the inner essence"          sastrous attempts at such changes by
> express themselves, it cannot change           Communism, Fascism, and Nazism.
> that essence.                                     Of course, the immutability of
> The immutability of human na-               human nature does not mean that
> ture is important for at least a few           new, hitherto latent potentials cannot
> reasons. First, the doctrine of pro-           be actualized. Doing that is precisely
> gressive revelation and the unification        the point of progressive revelation.
> of humankind require it. As Shoghi             However, it is important to ensure
> Effendi points out, God, through His           that what we are attempting to actu-
> Manifestations, "restates the eternal          alize are genuine potentials and not
> verities" over the course of successive        ideological impositions. From a Bahá'í
> 24                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> perspective, that can best be done by        composition         and     arrangement"
> looking at guidance from the Manifes-        ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation 181).
> tations of previous Divine Dispensa-            The divine origin of mankind has
> tions—and in our time, at Bahá'u'lláh,       at least three significant consequenc-
> the Manifestation of God for this age.       es. First, human beings are loved by
> A study of the Bahá'í Writings would         God, Who created them freely. He
> leave no doubt that theories of racial       did not have to create them; He could
> superiority, the absolute equalization       have omitted them from creation, or
> of wealth, and the complete submis-          He could have created them for mo-
> sion of the individual to the state are      tives other than love.31 Recognizing
> untenable because they cannot be har-        this divine love as the origin of hu-
> monized with the essentially spiritual       man nature has momentous positive
> nature of human reality.                     consequences for our attitude toward
> and understanding of the importance
> HUMANITY'S ORIGIN, PLACE,               of ourselves and others. Indeed, it
> AND ROLE IN CREATION                   would revolutionize them altogether.
> As 'Abdu'l-Bahá says, we will then
> In order to understand human nature,         "[l]ook upon the whole human race as
> it is necessary to consider its origins,     members of one family, all children of
> place, and role in the cosmic order.         God; and, in so doing, [we] will see no
> Mankind's existence is the result of a       difference between them" (Paris Talks
> conscious, intentional, and willful act      171). Second, the divine origin of hu-
> of God, and more than that, it is the        man nature also means that its value is
> result of an act motivated by divine         intrinsic, that it is not subject to deval-
> love. Through Bahá'u'lláh, God says,         uation due to prejudices or subjective
> "O son of man! I loved thy creation,         preferences. Nor can it be degraded by
> hence I created thee" (Hidden Words,         outward circumstances. It can only be
> Arabic no. 4). Human nature is the           disgraced by our own actions against
> object and product of intentional or         our essential nature. Third, because
> willful action by God, Who, motivated        human nature is divinely made, we
> by love for humanity, brought it into        observe once again that it is not a
> existence as a particular kind of being.     construct dependent on personal or
> Mankind is not a chance creation             collective human perception, nor is it
> that may or may not have come into           subject to "re-design" by humans. Man
> existence depending on serendipitous
> chemical reactions; rather, like the rest      31 An ancient Babylonian myth, for
> of the phenomenal world, it is part of       example, gives the creation of man as
> a plan, and as will be shown below, it       motivated by the gods' drunken desire to
> is a necessary part of the universe. In      amuse themselves; they make clay models
> other words, "it is evident that it is the   of humans—including all kinds of dis-
> creation of God, and is not a fortuitous     torted ones—for their pleasure.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                         25
> 
> is not man-made, and neglecting this        distinguishes it from all other things
> fact has led to disastrous results in the   and gives humankind a special posi-
> twentieth century.                          tion on the scale of being.32 In short,
> Although human nature, like all          human nature is ontologically and
> other phenomenal things, is created         cosmically "privileged." This does not,
> by God's will, it is especially favored     of course, entitle humans to abuse the
> or privileged by God. In the words          rest of creation but rather imposes a
> of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "There is no doubt         special duty to look after the world in
> then, that of all created beings man        the spirit of noblesse oblige.33
> is the nearest to the nature of God,           Contrary to contemporary scientif-
> and therefore receives a greater gift of    ic opinion, the Bahá'í Writings assert
> the Divine Bounty" (Paris Talks 26).        that there is a fundamental difference
> Bahá'u'lláh states:                         between human nature and the nature
> of other life forms and that this is a
> Whatever is in the heavens and            difference in kind and not in degree. A
> whatever is on the earth is a direct      difference in kind is one that cannot be
> evidence of the revelation within         reduced to a common factor. A rock and
> it of the attributes and names            a seagull are different in kind; each has
> of God . . . To a supreme degree is       essential attributes that the other does
> this true of man, who, among all          not and cannot have. All essential dif-
> created things, hath been invested        ferences are differences in kind—pine-
> with the robe of such gifts, and          apples versus ponies, surgeons versus
> hath been singled out for the glo-        sturgeons, wizards versus washboards.
> ry of such distinction. For in him        On the other hand, in a difference of
> are potentially revealed all the          degree, there is at least one essential
> attributes and names of God to a          attribute that makes it possible to see
> degree that no other created being        one thing or condition as a degree or
> hath excelled or surpassed. (Glean-       variation of another. For example, the
> ings 90:1; emphasis added)                three states of water—liquid water,
> steam, and ice—are different in degree
> These teachings are noteworthy be-          but alike in their essential attribute
> cause they contradict secular beliefs in    of molecular structure. Knowledge
> humanity's cosmic insignificance, its
> status as a mere fortuitous event like         32 The categorization of phenomenal
> all other entities in the universe—a        being, according to the Bahá'í Writings,
> view that suggests it has no more and       goes from mineral, to plant, to animal, and
> no less intrinsic value than anything       finally to man.
> else. To the contrary, human nature is         33 "Nobility obliges"; or, in the evan-
> created with a special essence and place    gelist's words, "unto whomsoever much
> in the cosmic order—the capacity to         is given, of him shall be much required"
> reflect all the names of God—which          (Luke 12:48 KJV).
> 26                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> and ignorance, daylight at noon and         human kind, namely the intellectual
> daylight at dusk, muscular strength         characteristic, which discovereth the
> and muscular weakness illustrate dif-       realities of things and comprehendeth
> ferences of degree or a variation of a      universal principles" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,
> common element.                             Selections 61). Mankind achieves such
> The Bahá'í Writings assert that the      comprehension by means of the ab-
> "human spirit" or "rational soul" is the    solutely unique human activities that
> feature that distinguishes human na-        have no counterpart in the non-human
> ture from animals and, by implication,      world: "All sciences, knowledge, arts,
> from plants and minerals:                   wonders, institutions, discoveries and
> enterprises come from the exercised
> The human spirit, which                   intelligence of the rational soul" ('Ab-
> distinguishes man from the animal,        du'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions
> is the rational soul, and these two       58:3).This list is easily unpacked,
> terms—the human spirit and                containing such activities as writing
> the rational soul—designate one           operas, establishing public schools,
> and the same thing. This spirit,          engaging in philosophical debates, cre-
> which in the terminology of the           ating legal systems with codified laws
> philosophers is called the rational       and rights, as well as inventing modes
> soul, encompasses all things and,         of democratic governance.
> as far as human capacity permits,            Not only do the Bahá'í Writings
> discovers the realities and               establish the uniqueness of human
> becomes aware of the properties           nature, but they also teach that
> and effects, the characteristics          humankind occupies a distinct place in
> and conditions of earthly things.         the structure of the physical cosmos.
> ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered              'Abdu'l-Bahá says, "The splendour of
> Questions 55:5)                           all the divine perfections is manifest
> in the reality of man, and it is for this
> Because the "rational soul" is the es-      reason that he is the vicegerent and
> sential attribute of human nature that      apostle of God. If man did not exist,
> no other creature has or can have, the      the universe would be without result,
> difference between mankind and other        for the purpose of existence is the
> beings is a difference in kind. This dis-   revelation of the divine perfections"
> tinction is shown in several ways. One      (Some Answered Questions 50:4).
> is that humankind includes and com-         Human nature is not only made in the
> prehends the lower forms of existence       image of God; it is also the capstone
> such as mineral, plant, and animal and,     or crown of creation, without which
> in addition, has reason: "In the hu-        the phenomenal universe would be
> man world the characteristics of the        incomplete. It represents the necessary
> mineral, vegetable and animal worlds        degree of perfection that gives the
> are found and in addition that of the       universe a goal and purpose (note the
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                           27
> 
> teleological thinking) just as the fruit is     It is evident therefore that man
> the reason for the existence of the tree        is ruler over nature's sphere and
> ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions          province. Nature is inert, man is
> 50:5). In other words, human nature             progressive. Nature has no con-
> plays a necessary role in the existence         sciousness, man is endowed with
> of the universe, which is why 'Abdu'l-          it. Nature is without volition and
> Bahá states, "We cannot say, then, that         acts perforce whereas man pos-
> there was a time when man was not"              sesses a mighty will. Nature is in-
> (Some Answered Questions 50:6).                 capable of discovering mysteries
> Human nature also occupies a unique          or realities whereas man is espe-
> place in the cosmic order in other ways:        cially fitted to do so. Nature is not
> in touch with the realm of God,
> In man, however, there is a dis-              man is attuned to its evidences.
> covering power that transcendeth              Nature is uninformed of God,
> the world of nature and control-              man is conscious of Him. Man
> leth and interfereth with the laws            acquires divine virtues, nature is
> thereof. For instance, all minerals,          denied them. Man can voluntarily
> plants and animals are captives of            discontinue vices, nature has no
> nature . . . Man, however, though             power to modify the influence of
> in body the captive of nature is              its instincts. Altogether it is evident
> yet free in his mind and soul, and            that man is more noble and superior;
> hath the mastery over nature.                 that in him there is an ideal power
> ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablet 9)                      surpassing nature. He has conscious-
> ness, volition, memory, intelligent
> In other words, mankind's essentially           power, divine attributes and virtues
> spiritual nature transcends or surpass-         of which nature is completely de-
> es physical creation; therefore, humans         prived, bereft and minus; therefore
> have "mastery over nature." As noted            man is higher and nobler by reason
> earlier, this is not, of course, a license      of the ideal and heavenly force latent
> to abuse the natural world, in which            and manifest in him. (Promulgation
> humans are embedded for their earthly           178; emphasis added)
> tenure, because the phenomenal world
> is also one of God's creations. Hu-           Human nature is also unique insofar as
> manity's "mastery" is the basis for our       it is the microcosm of the macrocos-
> responsibility to take care of the phe-       mic creation:
> nomenal world and is not an excuse
> for predatory environmental attitudes           The human kingdom is replete with
> and practices.                                  the perfections of all the kingdoms be-
> Elsewhere 'Abdu'l-Bahá lists the             low it with the addition of powers pe-
> ways in which human nature is essen-            culiar to man alone. Man is, there-
> tially distinct from the rest of creation:      fore, superior to all the creatures
> 28                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> below him, the loftiest and most             unto that for which thou wast created"
> glorious being of creation. Man is the       (Arabic no. 22). In effect, this means
> microcosm; and the infinite universe,        that the special status of human na-
> the macrocosm. The mysteries of              ture in creation imposes certain obli-
> the greater world, or macrocosm,             gations on us if we are to be worthy
> are expressed or revealed in the             of the great gifts bestowed upon it. To
> lesser world, the microcosm. The             do otherwise is to squander these gifts;
> tree, so to speak, is the greater            we are not here to rest on our divinely
> world, and the seed in its relation          conferred laurels but to strive for the
> to the tree is the lesser world . . .        self-actualization of our higher capac-
> the greater world, the macro-                ities and the progress of humanity as
> cosm, is latent and miniatured in            a whole:
> the lesser world, or microcosm,
> of man. This constitutes the uni-              All men have been created to car-
> versality or perfection of virtues             ry forward an ever-advancing civ-
> potential in mankind. Therefore,               ilization. The Almighty beareth
> it is said that man has been cre-              Me witness: To act like the beasts
> ated in the image and likeness of              of the field is unworthy of man.
> God. (Promulgation 69; emphasis                Those virtues that befit his dig-
> added)                                         nity are forbearance, mercy,
> compassion and loving-kindness
> Human nature, in other words, sum-               towards all the peoples and kin-
> marizes in miniature, "latent" form              dreds of the earth. (Bahá'u'lláh,
> within itself the principles, the "mys-          Gleanings 109:2)
> teries," and the "virtues" of the entire
> phenomenal world.34 This inherent              Bahá'u'lláh enjoins humankind to act
> nobility of human nature is not just           in accordance with its divinely be-
> a matter of building human self-con-           stowed nature, thereby making such
> fidence; it is, more importantly, a mat-       behavior an ethical imperative.
> ter of ethics, insofar as humans are               However, human nature's origin,
> expected to live up to their noble na-         place, and role in the cosmic evolu-
> ture as an ethical duty. In the Hidden         tion also impose important limita-
> Words, Bahá'u'lláh exhorts, "O son of          tions on mankind's capacities. One of
> spirit! Noble have I created thee, yet         these—the claims by some mystics to
> thou hast abased thyself. Rise then            have become ontologically "one" with
> God—is not supported by the Bahá'í
> 34 Bahá'u'lláh makes a similar claim:       philosophy of human nature. Because
> "For in him are potentially revealed all the   mankind is a creation of God and
> attributes and names of God to a degree        is, therefore, dependent on Him; be-
> that no other created being hath excelled      cause it is different in kind from God;
> or surpassed" (Gleanings 90:1).                and because there is "no tie of direct
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                          29
> 
> intercourse to bind the one true God        heading of higher and lower natures.
> with His creation, . . . no resemblance     The rest of this paper will illustrate
> whatever can exist between the tran-        this point. The five sets of dual as-
> sient and the Eternal, the contingent       pects are as follows:
> and the Absolute" (Bahá'u'lláh, Glean-          (1) (species) essence and (species)
> ings 27:4). From this it follows that all   essential attributes: a horse and being
> claims to be ontologically one with         a mammal;
> God are in error. They are misunder-            (2) (species) essence and (species)
> standings of the intrinsic limits of        accidental attributes: a horse and its
> human nature, namely, that we cannot        chestnut coloring;
> transcend our ontological limits. This          (3) potential and actuality: a seed
> principle is so strict that according to    and the actual tree that grows from
> the Bahá'í Writings, even God cannot        it35;
> discard His infinite nature and become          (4) our higher spiritual and lower
> finite: "Know thou of a certainty that      animal nature; the rational soul and
> the Unseen can in no wise incarnate         the body;
> His Essence and reveal it unto men"             (5) "innate and acquired" capacity36:
> (Gleanings 20:1). Moreover, "[f]or God      human nature as created by God (first
> to descend into the conditions of exis-     nature) and what humans choose to do
> tence would be the greatest of imper-       with the divine endowments (second
> fections" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered      nature).37
> Questions 27:4). In other words, the        Regarding the fifth set of dualities,
> mystical experience may be experi-          'Abdu'l-Bahá says that while our "in-
> enced as an ontological union, but it is    nate capacity"—or "first nature," as it
> not so in reality.                          is sometimes called—"is purely good,"
> 
> DUALITIES IN HUMAN NATURE                  35 "But the whole of the great tree is
> potentially latent and hidden in the little
> In my view, the Bahá'í concept of           seed. When this seed is planted and culti-
> human nature is distinguished by            vated, the tree is revealed" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,
> five sets of ontological dualities that     Promulgation 69).
> establish the general structure of hu-         36 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Ques-
> man nature. All the other features of       tions 57:9.
> human nature have their place within           37 "'First nature' is Hegel's term for
> this framework and can be related to it     nature including human nature as creat-
> directly or indirectly. For example, the    ed by God and/or untouched by human
> teachings about change, physical and        activity in any way. 'Second nature' is his
> spiritual evolution, progressive revela-    term for nature including human nature as
> tion, and even the afterlife are part of    affected by mankind and society" ("Nor-
> the rubric of potential and actuality.      mativity and Subjectivity: First Nature—
> Teachings about morality fit under the      Second Nature—Mind").
> 30                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> our "acquired capacity" or "second na-         complete and distorted understanding
> ture," which is the result of choices we       of mankind. Consequently, it becomes
> make, explains, among other things,            impossible to avoid serious errors in
> "the cause of evil" (Some Answered             governance, administration, leader-
> Questions 57:9).38 While the "natural          ship, law, economics, medicine, and
> capacity" (first nature) is essentially        education. In economics, for example,
> spiritual, it does not exclude the body        the subject of marketing highlights
> as an accidental attribute that partic-        this issue in that it ignores the effects
> ipates in the goodness of God's cre-           of consumerism on people's psycho-
> ation. It is "accidental" because, while       logical and spiritual well-being, both
> necessary in the phenomenal realm,             in their short-term relationship with
> the body will eventually be left be-           the material world and in the long-
> hind while the spirit will continue to         term with respect to their spiritual life.
> evolve. Of course, the body is not in          The consumerization of sexuality in
> itself necessarily evil; evil comes into       the modern world also illustrates how
> play when, as a result of human choic-         denying the reality of the spirit affects
> es, the body and the material world are        humanity.
> misused.                                           These dualities do not undermine
> According to the Bahá'í Writings,           the unity of human nature because
> these dualities are ontologically real         they are the very constituents of
> and are not merely arbitrary verbal            human nature itself. If any of these
> distinctions without objective refer-          dualities were missing, human nature
> ence.39 Because these are ontological-         would be incomplete in some essen-
> ly real features of human nature, any          tial way; as necessary constituents of
> analysis of human nature that omits            human nature, they cannot undermine
> them is intrinsically incomplete and is,       it. Moreover, these dualities show that
> to that extent, distorted or even false.       human nature is processual. It is con-
> For example, ontological materialism,          stituted in its unique human identity
> the belief that only matter is real, can-      by such processes as actualizing po-
> not logically admit the existence of           tentials, developing a second nature,
> the soul and therefore develops an in-         and struggling to control its animal
> nature. Thus, these dualities and their
> 38 As I shall discuss later, the distinc-   seeming contradictions are dialecti-
> tion between these two capacities or na-       cal; that is, they create a process that
> tures is the basis of a Bahá'í theodicy for    unifies the opposites in the process
> explaining the existence of evil in this       itself, thereby helping to constitute
> world despite the fact that the phenomenal     human nature. In addition, these dual-
> world, as created by God, is perfect.          ities have a functional and teleological
> 39 See section 2 of this paper, "The        unity inasmuch as they work toward
> Philosophical Terminology of the Bahá'í        their common goal of sustaining hu-
> Writings," for specific evidence.              man nature and delineating its present
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                          31
> 
> objectives as well as its final goal of        and contradiction be seen as in man.
> cosmic development ('Abdu'l-Bahá,              (Some Answered Questions 64:6–7;
> Some Answered Questions ch. 49).               emphasis added)
> The dialectical nature of some of
> the essential dualities of human na-         In other words, human nature finds
> ture causes man to be in a state of          itself in an ontological borderland
> tension between actuality and poten-         between different levels of reality,
> tial: to wit, between what one is and        between matter and spirit, between
> what one could be; between what one          the animal "captive to matter" and
> is and what one should be; between our       the angel free in the spiritual realms;
> higher and lower nature; and between         between perfection and imperfection
> "innate capacities" and "acquired ca-        ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks 38). Pre-
> pacities" (first and second nature). In      cisely because of this ambiguous on-
> addition, 'Abdu'l-Bahá clarifies anoth-      tological position, Manifestations are
> er aspect of this intrinsic tension; it is   needed to guide humanity's physical,
> due to humanity's ontological position       intellectual, and moral development.
> in creation:                                 Finally, in this statement, 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> re-emphasizes humanity's distinctive
> Man is the ultimate degree of              nature as a processual being constitut-
> materiality and the beginning of           ed by the previously examined duali-
> spirituality; he is at the end of          ties as well as its unique ontological
> imperfection and the beginning             position.
> of perfection. He is at the further-          This ongoing constitutive conflict
> more degree of darkness and the            underscores that human nature is te-
> beginning of the light . . . He has        leological. For example, in a letter
> both an animal side and an angelic         from the Research Department at the
> side and the role of the educator          Bahá'í World Centre to the Univer-
> is to so train human souls that            sal House of Justice, we find the fol-
> the angelic side may overcome              lowing: "The Bahá'í concept of human
> the animal. Thus, should the di-           nature is teleological; that is, there are
> vine powers, which are identical           certain qualities intended by God for
> with perfection, overcome in man           'human nature', and qualities which do
> the satanic powers, he becomes             not accord with these are described as
> the noblest of all creatures, but          'unnatural'" (letter dated 5 July 1993;
> should the converse take place,            emphasis added). In other words, man-
> he becomes the vilest of all be-           kind has an innate goal or purpose,
> ings. That is why he is the end            which is to actualize and develop those
> of imperfection and the begin-             potentials that are in harmony with
> ning of perfection . . . In no other       its "first nature" as created by God—
> species in the world of existence can      their "spiritual susceptibilities" ('Ab-
> such difference, distinction, contrast     du'l-Bahá, Promulgation 7). However,
> 32                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> some people develop qualities that are    as revealed by Bahá'u'lláh. In other
> unsuited or inappropriate to human        words, the right choices are those
> nature.                                   based on the recognition that "[m]
> The full importance of possessing      an is, in reality, a spiritual being, and
> the intrinsic goal of actualizing the     only when he lives in the spirit is he
> potentials bestowed by God becomes        truly happy. This spiritual longing and
> clearer when reflecting that this goal    perception belongs to all men alike"
> is a universal ethical imperative that    ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks 73). Mak-
> is valid regardless of time, place, and   ing ethically correct choices involves
> historical circumstance. Here, too, it    recognizing our own spiritual nature
> is evident that bringing mankind's        and spiritual longings and fitting our
> animal aspects under spiritual control    choices to our true identity, which is
> sets an objective standard by which       the only part of us that will endure
> the ethical merit of behavior can be      after physical death. At this point, the
> assessed. Applying this standard is       significance of metaphysics for eth-
> essential to preventing humanity from     ics and human development becomes
> being misled by technological achieve-    clear. If humans do not recognize
> ment as a measure of civilization, be-    their spiritual nature, it becomes more
> cause it quickly becomes apparent that    difficult and ultimately impossible to
> movements like Nazism used great          make correct ethical choices. The de-
> technological achievements to pursue      nial of spirit easily reduces choices to
> the lowest moral goals:                   physical advantages or disadvantages.
> But what if there is a conflict between
> For if the spiritual qualities of       short-term physical good and long-
> the soul, open to the breath of the     term spiritual good?
> Divine Spirit, are never used, they        The necessity of making the right
> become atrophied, enfeebled, and        choices is also another indicator that
> at last incapable; whilst the soul's    human nature is teleological, which
> material qualities alone being          is to say that we are obligated to pur-
> exercised, they become terribly         sue certain divinely intended choices
> powerful—and the unhappy, mis-          and qualities and to avoid "unnatural"
> guided man becomes more sav-            ones that do not reflect our spiritual
> age, more unjust, more vile, more       character. The guidance given by the
> cruel, more malevolent than the         Manifestations helps us meet these
> lower animals themselves. ('Ab-         standards, which are objective and
> du'l-Bahá, Paris Talks 97)              therefore do not depend on human
> perception to be real. Unlike Sartre's
> From a Bahá'í perspective, the         atheist existentialism, which claims
> ethically right choices are those that    that all choices are "right" and "natu-
> harmonize with our divinely creat-        ral" as long as we live in "good faith";
> ed first nature or "natural capacities"   statist ethics, which are based on what
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                          33
> 
> is good for the state; or utilitarian eth-   is to explain how these ontologically
> ics, which are based on whatever the         distinct and incompatible substances
> majority decides is good, the Bahá'í         can interact as constituents of a uni-
> Writings teach that ultimately God,          fied human organism. How can matter
> not humanity, determines moral stan-         interact with non-matter? There is a
> dards. Ethics are not individually or        long history of proposed solutions,
> collectively subjective.                     one of which—occasionalism—ac-
> cepts dualism and tries to coordinate
> BODY-MIND DUALISM                   the two parts by means of direct di-
> vine action. That is, mind and body
> The relationship between the physical        are connected by God's ongoing inter-
> brain and the human spirit or non-ma-        vention: when the mind decides to lift
> terial mind is vital to a full understand-   an arm, God causes the arm to rise.40
> ing of the Bahá'í philosophy of human        The second solution to the mind-
> nature for at least three reasons. First,    body problem is monism—whether
> the Bahá'í Writings establish the fun-       materialistic or idealistic. Both reject
> damental unity of human nature by            mind-body dualism altogether. Ideal-
> showing that it is not constituted by        istic monists assert that both body and
> two apparently incompatible aspects          mind are mental in nature.41 For mate-
> and that it is not a form of mind-body       rialists, the mind and the brain (which
> materialism. Second, the Writings also       is part of the body) are the same,
> prioritize these two aspects of human        which is why this view is sometimes
> nature in a way that shows how they          call "identity theory." Because it is ma-
> work together and supports the teach-        terialist, identity theory also denies
> ings on immortality and mankind's            the existence of soul and spirit. In the
> essentially spiritual nature. Finally, it    contemporary world, the brain-mind
> is also important to understand the          identity theory is dominant and is,
> Bahá'í solution to the mind-body prob-       therefore, the chief rival of all forms
> lem because it will inevitably face criti-   of brain-mind dualism and the Bahá'í
> cism from mind-brain identity theory.        solution. Whereas the Bahá'í Writ-
> There are basically two views on          ings offer a third alternative, namely
> mind-body duality. The first view is         that the whole mind-body problem is
> dualism, which was revived by René           chimerical, an illusion caused by Des-
> Descartes, who claimed that human            cartes' faulty analysis in identifying
> nature is comprised of two substanc-
> es: an extended and unconscious sub-            40 Unpromising as this theory seems
> stance that forms the body (including        at first glance, it remains an option be-
> the brain) and a non-extended, con-          cause of the serious difficulties attending
> scious, and thinking substance that          its chief rival, identity theory.
> forms the soul or mind (Meditations no.         41 Hegel is an example in the West;
> 6). The challenge of Cartesian dualism       Buddhism is also monist in this sense.
> 34                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> both the non-extended spirit and the       and be human without the accidental
> extended body as distinct substances       body. For this reason, spirit and body
> and thus as separate, independent, and     are not necessarily and eternally con-
> intrinsically incompatible.                nected, and the spirit will eventually
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá points out Descartes'      be able to exist without the body.
> error while presenting His argument           Because the human spirit, or ratio-
> for the immortality of the soul:           nal soul, is a substance and the body
> is an attribute, there is no interaction
> Some hold that the body is the           problem between them any more than
> substance and that it subsists by        there is an interaction problem be-
> itself, and that the spirit is the ac-   tween a ripe tomato and its redness.
> cident which subsists through the        "Redness" is an attribute that ripe
> substance of the body. The truth,        tomatoes exhibit at certain stages of
> however, is that the rational soul is    their existence in the material world.
> the substance through which the          It might be said that the essence of
> body subsists. If the accident—the       the tomato expresses and manifests
> body—is destroyed, the substance—        itself by means of redness as it actu-
> the spirit—remains. (Some Answered       alizes certain potentials in the physical
> Questions 66:2)                          world. How can there be an interac-
> tion problem between a substance or
> In summary, the solution to the Car-       essence, its inherent potentials, and
> tesian dilemma is 'Abdu'l-Bahá's           the actualization of these potentials?
> identification of the human spirit, or     It would be like saying that there is
> rational soul, as a substance and the      an interaction problem between the
> material body, including the brain, as     seed and the tree growing from it.
> "accident." As a substance, the human      Such a claim is not logically tenable.
> spirit exists independently and is able    Bahá'í scholar John S. Hatcher makes
> to possess attributes. By "exists inde-    a similar point when, in regards to
> pendently" I mean that every individ-      things and their activities, he says,
> ual rational soul is distinct from every   "there is no interface problem between
> other and does not depend on them          things and their activities" (174). To
> to exist. For example, Bucephalus the      paraphrase William Butler Yeats, we
> horse possesses the essential attribute    cannot "separate the dancer from the
> of being a mammal and the accidental       dance" (113).
> attributes of being black and having a        'Abdu'l-Bahá also explains the re-
> star on his forehead. However, "black"     lationship between human spirit and
> and "starred forehead" themselves          body by means of an analogy, stating
> cannot be distinct substances because      that "the connection of the spirit with
> they cannot exist independently as         the body is even as the connection of
> things in their own right. In the case     this lamp with a mirror" (Some An-
> of humans, the rational soul can exist     swered Questions 66:3). In this analogy,
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                         35
> 
> the sun and the mirror have an acci-       with meaning as "I smell a rat"?42 Us-
> dental relationship: the mirror is in no   ing a physical device—whether a com-
> way necessary for the existence of the     puter, an MRI, an EEG, or a physical
> sun or for the sun to retain its essence   brain—to decipher the meaning of
> as a giver of light. Moreover, the sun     a text leads only to more physical
> in the mirror is an expression or man-     marks on a computer screen, or elec-
> ifestation of the actual sun and in that   tro-chemical "blips" in the brain, or
> sense is an attribute of the sun, just     squiggly lines on a printout. Physical
> as the body is an attribute insofar as     analysis cannot reveal the meaning of
> the body's actions are expressions of      these "ciphers" because the meaning is
> the rational soul. In other words, the     not in the physical marks themselves.
> relationship between the sun and its       None of these marks are the meaning;
> mirror image replicates the relation-      one set of marks has simply been re-
> ship between the human spirit and the      placed by another. Repeating this pro-
> body. Again, there is no interaction       cess with a different machine or brain
> problem because no such problem            that also can only scan literal marks
> can exist between a substance and its      merely initiates an infinite regress and,
> attribute.                                 consequently, provides no answer. In
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá draws attention to two     principle, therefore, meaning cannot
> major difficulties in the identity theo-   be comprehended by physical analysis;
> ry. The first is the problem of meaning    from this it follows that the compre-
> and how it is communicated. He writes      hension of meaning requires the in-
> that music has emotional and spiritual     tervention of a non-physical process
> effects on man even though the "vibra-     and/or entity. To solve this problem,
> tions of the air [are] an accident . . .   a non-physical intervenor must be im-
> accounted as naught" (Some Answered        plicitly or explicitly imported to make
> Questions 69:4). In themselves, the        identity theory viable, otherwise there
> physical sound waves have no emo-          would be no escape from the infinite
> tions or meaning, yet somehow they         regress of physical processes and no
> become very meaningful to listeners        one would be able to understand the
> even though no amount of scientific        meaning of any text.43 Therefore, it is
> analysis can detect such meaning. The      difficult to avoid the conclusion that
> same problem is even more acute for        at some point a non-physical interve-
> written texts. The letters, words, and
> phrases have no meaning in them-              42 Even if we decipher the mysterious
> selves, and physical analysis cannot       script, we are still faced with the problem
> reveal any.                                of understanding the translation.
> This raises a crucial question: How        43 In my experience, attempts to
> can physical brains know the mean-         claim the contrary inevitably "slip in"
> ing of a text as mundane as "Gone          a non-physical intervenor in order to
> for lunch" or as metaphoric and laden      achieve understanding.
> 36                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> nor—whether we call it soul, spirit, or     aspects of our experiences such as
> mind—must be involved in the com-           being six years old, viewing Vincent
> prehension of meaning.                      Van Gogh's "Sunflowers," or reading
> Clearly, the need for such a spir-       Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. They
> itual intervenor constitutes a major        make up the whole of our subjectively
> self-contradiction in an identity the-      experienced "life-world," which is
> ory of brain and mind. Indeed, this         why they are so incredibly important
> contradiction throws the tenability of      to humans. Much of human life is
> the theory into doubt because it inad-      driven by the quest for certain qualia
> vertently resurrects Descartes' sub-        or subjective experiences, as seen in
> stance dualism insofar as it requires       the pursuit of beauty, friendship, love,
> both a physical brain and a non-ma-         poetry, stories, pleasure, music, ritual,
> terial intervenor. On the other hand,       humor, justice, truth, spirituality, and
> the Bahá'í substance-attribute solution     meaning, among other things.
> does not suffer from such a self-con-          Why do qualia and subjective expe-
> tradiction because there is no need to      rience pose difficulties for brain-mind
> import any non-physical intervenors         identity theory? In the first place,
> to understand meaning. The human            like meaning, qualia are not physical
> spirit or rational soul takes on that       things—there is no way to gather or
> role.                                       measure someone's subjective experi-
> The second major problem for             ences. None of the criteria of scientific
> identity theory mentioned by 'Abdu'l-       evidence—physicality, measurability,
> Bahá concerns issue of qualia. He           objective and external observability,
> says, "[C]onsider how the vibrations        and falsifiability, among others—can
> of the air, which are an accident among     be applied to qualia and subjective ex-
> accidents and which are accounted           perience. Physical measuring devices
> as naught, attract and exhilarate the       only provide knowledge of things as
> spirit of man and move him to the           can be "acquired through the senses"
> utmost: They cause him to laugh and         ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions
> to weep, and can even induce him to         16:2)—which excludes qualia and sub-
> throw himself in harm's way" (Some          jective experiences. Consequently, they
> Answered Questions 69:4). The term          are not appropriate targets of scientif-
> "qualia" refers to the subjective           ic study. Furthermore, because qualia
> qualitative experiences of our own          and subjective experiences are not
> conscious states of mind. These states      physical, their actions and interactions
> of mind include each person's unique        cannot be explained in terms of phys-
> experiences of sensations (such as          ical cause and effect. The non-physical
> "blue," "cold," or "sad"), real and/or      nature of qualia creates a conundrum
> imaginative experiences, and events.        for brain-mind identity theory: How
> Qualia consist of the "what it is like"     can a physical organ like the brain
> mental states,44 that is, the qualitative   accommodate a class of non-physical
> 44 See Thomas Nagel's "What Is It         Like to Be a Bat?"
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                          37
> 
> qualia and subjective experiences?          suggest the existence of qualia. All
> This is self-contradictory. How, for        they record is electrical and biochem-
> example, can there be aspects of brain      ical brain activities. Given the enor-
> function that cannot be measured? It        mously important role played by qual-
> is difficult to avoid the conclusion that   ia and subject experience in mankind's
> the existence of qualia and subjective      existence, this disconnect suggests a
> experience is incompatible with brain-      serious shortcoming in purely physical
> mind identity theory.                       explorations and explanation of brain
> By contrast, the Bahá'í sub-             function. If brain and mind are truly
> stance-attribute solution "locates"         one and the same, a disconnect of this
> non-material "things" like meaning,         magnitude should not occur, and the
> qualia, and subjective experience "in"      fact that it does suggests a flaw in iden-
> the "rational soul" because they are        tity theory. A materialist theory that
> "intelligible realities" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,     cannot avoid invoking the existence of
> Some Answered Questions 16:3). But          non-physical features cannot help but
> just as the deliberations of the ratio-     undermine itself. Furthermore, it has
> nal soul are expressed or manifested        no way of studying in themselves the
> in the physical world through the ac-       qualia and subjective experiences that
> cidental attribute of the body-brain,       play such a decisive role in the lives of
> so are meaning, qualia, and subjective      all individuals and, therefore, is not an
> experiences. In other words, in the ma-     adequate theory to explain the mind-
> terial world, physical sounds or visual     brain relationship.
> marks are necessary but not sufficient
> conditions for the communication of            THE RATIONAL HUMAN NATURE
> meaning or the explanation of subjec-
> tive experiences and qualia.                The essential rationality of human
> fMRIs and EEG machines do not            nature is one of the key features of
> solve the difficulties of identity theo-    Bahá'í philosophy and, in our time,
> ry. While they provide real-time cor-       one of the most philosophically con-
> relations with qualia and subjective        troversial. This teaching is opposed by
> experiences, in themselves they are         the entire project of postmodernism,
> not subjective experiences and are not      which views rationalism as a West-
> what a person is experiencing; neither      ern cultural invention (a charge easily
> do they provide any clues as to what        disproven, as we will soon observe)
> is being qualitatively and subjectively     and rejects all notions of privileging
> experienced. The fMRI may tell us           reason and logic above other methods
> about which parts of the brain are          of acquiring knowledge and thinking.
> engaged—but these are not the qualia        According to Richard Wolin, a spe-
> or subjective experiences themselves.       cialist in intellectual history, "in the
> Indeed, no amount of analysis of            lexicon of deconstruction [a post-
> fMRI images and EEG printouts can           modern method of textual analysis]
> 38                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> 'reason' is identified as a fundamental     aware of the properties and ef-
> source of tyranny and oppression . . .      fects, the characteristics and con-
> [and for Foucault] a source of dom-         ditions of earthly things. (Some
> ination" (21). Moreover, according to       Answered Questions 55:5; emphasis
> such a philosophy, because reason is        added)
> only one method among many of ac-
> quiring knowledge, it cannot really       In other words, mankind not only is
> give us truth, for postmodernism as-      essentially spiritual,45 but more spe-
> sumes that all methods of obtaining       cifically, it is essentially rational; the
> knowledge and thinking are equally        human spirit and the rational soul
> valid. Therefore, reason must not be      are one and the same and constitute
> privileged and humans should not fear     the definitive attribute of human na-
> being "tempted to seek refuge in myth,    ture. Rationality is the differentia that
> magic, madness, illusion, or intoxica-    identifies mankind as such and makes
> tion" (Wolin 21). Therefore, if privi-    humans what they are. 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> leging reason as a method of thinking     elaborates on this subject:
> and acquiring knowledge is untenable,
> then neither can it be privileged in a      reason, which comprehends (or
> philosophy of human nature. In effect,      detects) the realities of things, is
> from a postmodernist perspective,           a spiritual reality, not physical (or
> "privileging reason" is viewed as an        material). Therefore the animal is
> attempt to dominate and denigrate           deprived of reason, and it (reason)
> other "ways of knowing." Objections         is specialized to mankind. The
> notwithstanding, the Bahá'í Writings        animal feeleth realities which are
> promulgate the concept that human           perceptible to the senses, but man
> nature is fundamentally rational in-        perceiveth intellectual realities
> sofar as the human spirit and the ra-       (or things perceptible to reason).
> tional soul are identical. 'Abdu'l-Bahá     Consequently, it hath become
> declares:                                   evident that reason is a spiritual
> faculty, not physical (or material).
> The human spirit, which distin-           (Tablets 208)
> guishes man from the animal, is
> the rational soul, and these two        It is apparent that the rational soul
> terms—the human spirit and the          and reason are identified with one an-
> rational soul—designate one and         other because they are both spiritual
> the same thing. This spirit, which      and have the same power to transcend
> in the terminology of the philos-       the senses and "discover [the] real-
> ophers is called the rational soul,     ities" of things ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some
> encompasses all things and as far
> as human capacity permits, dis-            45 "Man is, in reality, a spiritual being"
> covers their realities and becomes      ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks 73).
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                         39
> 
> Answered Questions 55:5). Without a           people may use humanity's reasoning
> rational soul or reasoning powers, hu-        capacities to strive for irrational ends.
> mans would lack their essential, defin-       A prima facie example is the Cold War
> ing attribute, which is to say, without       policy of mutual assured destruc-
> reason we would not be human.                 tion. Reason was perverted insofar
> Furthermore, the rational soul and         as extremely rational and logically
> the capacity of reason are universal          devised technology was applied to an
> among mankind: "The first condition           irrational goal—mutual annihilation.
> of perception in the world of nature          However, such mis-developments are
> is the perception of the rational soul.       accidental in regards to human nature
> In this perception and in this power          and therefore do not negate the value
> all men are sharers, whether they be ne-      and the universal possession of the ra-
> glectful or vigilant, believers or deniers"   tional soul.
> ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Ques-               The rational soul and its logical
> tions 58:3; emphasis added). Willingly        powers are not only necessary for
> or not, consciously or not, all indi-         discoveries in the phenomenal world;
> viduals and collectives possess these         they are also essential to understand-
> rational powers given by God. Pos-            ing religious and spiritual truths.
> sessing these powers is not a matter          Bahá'u'lláh declares "religion is in
> of choice. However, because humans            complete harmony with science and
> have free will, they may choose to            reason," and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's states that
> ignore, deny, or misuse their powers          "[r]eligion must stand the analysis
> of reason. For example, philosophers          of reason" and specifically criticizes
> such as Friedrich Nietzsche and his           several Christian religious teachings
> postmodernist supporters like Fou-            as "irrational and clearly mistaken"
> cault and Paul Feyerabend46 reject the        because of their self-contradictory na-
> validity of reason and its "privileged        ture (Promulgation 232; 'Abdu'l-Bahá,
> position" over other ways of knowing.         Some Answered Questions 29:9). If the
> Other individuals simply neglect rea-         traditional understanding of the Trin-
> son; they do not necessarily oppose it        ity were true, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asserts,
> but find it irrelevant to their dominant
> interest in pleasure, wealth accumula-          [t]he foundations of the religion
> tion, advantage, or social success. In          of God would rest upon an illog-
> still others, their "innate capacities are      ical proposition which no mind
> completely subverted" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,            could ever conceive, and how
> Some Answered Questions 57:9). These            could the mind be required to be-
> lieve a thing which it cannot con-
> 46 See Feyerabend's Farewell to Reason        ceive? Such a thing could not be
> and Against Method for arguments against        grasped by human reason—how
> reason based largely on the political           much less be clothed in an intel-
> "needs" of society.                             ligible form—but would remain
> 40                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> sheer fancy. (Some Answered Ques-       rationality of human nature is con-
> tions 27:9)                             fined to the intellect. The Bahá'í con-
> cept of human nature also recognizes
> In other words, even religious in-        other ways of knowing and reflecting
> terpretations must be amenable to         than by intellect alone. The process
> reason and logic to be understood         of intellectual reasoning requires
> and believed. It is, for example, im-     sequential steps of logical inferential
> possible to believe in square circles     reasoning that can be explained and
> or that Napoleon won the Battle of        analyzed verbally and are, therefore,
> Waterloo because no logical thought       discursive. In contrast, other ways of
> can derive such a conclusion from the     knowing—for example, intuition, spir-
> evidence in hand. More specifically       itual susceptibilities, and even tran-
> in regard to religion, 'Abdu'l-Bahá       scendent or mystical experiences—do
> critiques the Christian interpretation    not work in this inferential manner,
> of Christ's resurrection and replaces     nor can their processes of deliberation
> it with a rational interpretation, of     be verbally explained or analyzed. For
> which He says, "it is in no way contra-   this reason, they are non-discursive.
> dicted by science but rather affirmed     However—and this is essential—a
> by both science and reason " (Some        non-discursive process of deliberation
> Answered Questions 23:7). Elsewhere,      is not necessarily non-rational or irra-
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá illustrates the impor-       tional, so there is no inevitable conflict
> tance of applying reason to religion      with the rational soul. The process
> by discounting the literal interpreta-    used by these other ways of knowing
> tion of the story of Adam and Eve.        may be described as trans-rational;
> He says, "If the outward meaning of       that is, it provides knowledge that un-
> this account were to be attributed to     assisted reason cannot acquire. How-
> a wise man, all men of wisdom would       ever, this knowledge is complementa-
> assuredly deny it, arguing that such      ry to and compatible with reason and
> a scheme and arrangement could not        the concept of the rational soul. Were
> possibly have proceeded from such         it not, such knowledge would contra-
> a person" (Some Answered Questions        dict belief in the unity of the human
> 30:4). The clear implication is that an   spirit, would be incomprehensible, and
> intelligent being would not tell an ir-   would therefore be unfit for practical
> rational story. Similarly, 'Abdu'l-Bahá   applications in the phenomenal world.
> provides a rational explanation for          This complementarity and compat-
> the central Christian doctrine of the     ibility between the nature of reason
> Trinity, which He regards as irrational   and the other ways of knowing is ev-
> in its traditional interpretation (Some   ident in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's statement that
> Answered Questions 27:1–10).              these other ways enable human nature
> It would, however, be a serious        to rise above the material level: "True
> mistake to conclude that the inherent     distinction among mankind is through
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                          41
> 
> divine bestowals and receiving the in-      deprived of the perspectives opened
> tuitions of the Holy Spirit. If man does    by heavenly bestowals is the scientif-
> not become the recipient of the heav-       ic approach of interpreting the phe-
> enly bestowals and spiritual bounties, he   nomenal world in strictly materialistic
> remains in the plane and kingdom of         terms, neglecting or even denying the
> the animal" (Promulgation 316; empha-       relevance of the spiritual origin and
> sis added). He also says:                   basis of material reality.
> The need for spiritual augmen-
> Know then that the Lord God               tation—not displacement—of the
> possesseth invisible realms which         powers of reason is made clear by
> the human intellect can never             'Abdu'l-Bahá when He says, "But the
> hope to fathom nor the mind of            human spirit [the rational soul], un-
> man conceive. When once thou              less assisted by the spirit of faith, cannot
> hast cleansed the channel of thy          become acquainted with the divine
> spiritual sense from the pollution        mysteries and the heavenly realities. It is
> of this worldly life, then wilt thou      like a mirror which, although clear,
> breathe in the sweet scents of ho-        bright and polished, is still in need of
> liness that blow from the blissful        light. Not until a sunbeam falls upon
> bowers of that heavenly land. (Se-        it can it discover the divine mysteries"
> lections 185)                             (Some Answered Questions 55:5; empha-
> sis added). One way of understanding
> In other words, there are "invisible        this teaching is that the divine secrets
> realms" whose existence is beyond the       are not just rational but also trans-ra-
> intellect's comprehension and can only      tional; that is, they provide knowledge
> be known by non-discursive means of         that unassisted reason cannot acquire.
> transcendent or mystical experiences        It is important to note that this pas-
> once we have detached ourselves from        sage does not say that reason cannot
> the world. Such knowledge may also          discover divine mysteries but that un-
> come through the heart (of course in-       assisted reason cannot. In other words,
> tended in its metaphorical sense) and       reason is necessary but not sufficient.
> intuition, thus suggesting that some        However, this knowledge is comple-
> knowledge may be obtainable only            mentary to and compatible with rea-
> through "other ways of knowing."            son and the "rational soul" because if
> However, it must be emphasized that         it were not, there would be a fracture
> this conclusion does not mean that          in human nature. The "spirit of faith"
> such knowledge is necessarily and in-       assists the rational soul, that is, works
> herently irrational because if it were,     with it but does not deny or displace
> humans could not understand and             it. In regard to heavenly realities, rea-
> apply it in the phenomenal world. An        son must be supplemented by direct
> example of remaining excessively at-        and non-discursive experience of the
> tached to this physical plane and being     truth that only the spirit of faith can
> 42                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> provide. Here is a mundane example             Although intuitions and tran-
> to which most people can relate: No         scendental experiences are non-discur-
> amount of rational analysis or reflec-      sive ways of knowing, they are part of
> tion can provide complete knowledge         human nature. The fact that such ex-
> and understanding of a kiss. Only the       periential knowledge is non-discursive
> actual experience can do that, and once     does not make it non-rational; indeed,
> that is obtained and the experience is      as we have already noted, if it were, it
> there, we will know—in non-discur-          would be in disharmony with the hu-
> sive terms—why reason may be nec-           man spirit, which is the rational soul.
> essary but is still insufficient.           Speaking about logical arguments for
> The same principle of needing           God's existence, 'Abdu'l-Bahá avers:
> certain non-discursive experiences to
> make knowledge and understanding              These are theoretical arguments
> complete applies, albeit at a higher lev-     adduced for weak souls, but if
> el, to knowing these heavenly realities.      the eye of inner vision be opened,
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá's mirror metaphor in the         a hundred thousand clear proofs
> quotation above teaches the same les-         will be seen. Thus, when man
> son. The appearance of the sun in the         feels the indwelling spirit, he is in
> previously darkened mirror provides           no need of arguments for its ex-
> the experience of light that cannot           istence; but for those who are de-
> be known by mere thought alone. In            prived of the grace of the spirit,
> it is necessary to set forth exter-
> short, the trans-rational completes
> nal arguments. (Some Answered
> reason, which helps prepare us for
> Questions 2:8; emphasis added)
> the trans-rational. They are logically
> correlated and both part of a coherent
> Inner perception—that is, direct sight,
> logical progression. Of course, the de-
> intuition, and transcendental experi-
> cisive role in this preparation belongs
> ences—can replace the need for ab-
> to the spirit of faith, which makes hu-     stract argumentation and chains of
> man beings into more sensitive and fit      inferential discursive reasoning. If
> instruments to receive these divine se-     we have experienced the "indwelling
> crets. In other words, some knowledge       spirit," there is no need to prove a par-
> may be received non-discursively by         ticular truth any more than we need
> direct insight if our spiritual suscep-     to prove the sun. We simply open our
> tibilities are sufficiently developed. As   eyes. The direct experience is identi-
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá says, "if the inner eye be     fied with feelings in this passage, once
> opened and the spiritual ear attuned,       again suggesting that feelings are the
> and if spiritual feelings come to pre-      medium of this kind of direct, non-dis-
> dominate, the immortality of the spir-      cursive knowledge. However, there is
> it will be seen as clearly as the sun"      no intrinsic conflict between the two
> (Some Answered Questions 60:7).             ways of knowing. In other words, the
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                           43
> 
> rational soul or human spirit remains         serious self-contradictions in their
> a unity.                                      philosophy of human nature. Even if
> The interdependence and conse-             the process of attaining knowledge is
> quent complementarity of the "ratio-          non-discursive the results must still
> nal soul," the heart, and other ways of       make sense, that is, explicable in terms
> knowing are manifest in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's        we can understand and be applicable to
> statement that                                this world. If the results do not, they
> will simply be irrational—something
> [i]f religious belief and doctrine          which the Writings clearly reject. The
> is at variance with reason, it pro-         self-evident conclusion is that both the
> ceeds from the limited mind of              discursive and non-discursive, rational
> man and not from God; therefore,            and trans-rational results complement
> it is unworthy of belief and not            each other in the quest for spiritual
> deserving of attention; the heart           and intellectual evolution.
> finds no rest in it, and real faith is
> impossible. How can man believe                    THE CONCEPT OF REASON
> that which he knows to be op-                      IN THE BAHÁ'Í WRITINGS
> posed to reason? Is this possible?
> Can the heart accept that which rea-        To deepen our understanding of the
> son denies? Reason is the first faculty     rational soul and human nature, it is
> of man and the religion of God is           necessary to examine, at least briefly,
> in harmony with it. (Promulgation           the Bahá'í concept of reason more
> 231; emphasis added)                        closely. To avoid a lengthy discussion,
> we will consider three main aspects of
> In a similar vein, He states, "among          reason.
> the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh is that             In the first place, the Bahá'í Writ-
> religion must be in conformity with           ings associate reason and rationality
> science and reason, so that it may in-        with logic as, for example, in the fol-
> fluence the hearts of men" (Selections 299.   lowing statement: "In divine questions
> Emphasis added.). Precisely because           we must not depend entirely upon the
> "reason is the first faculty of man"          heritage of tradition and former hu-
> that is, the prime distinguishing attri-      man experience; nay, rather, we must
> bute of the human soul, and because           exercise reason, analyze and logically
> the human spirit and the rational soul        examine the facts presented so that
> are one, the heart and other ways of          confidence will be inspired and faith
> knowing are included in mankind's ra-         attained" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation
> tional nature.                                326). The same association is found
> If human nature were subject to            in His declaration that "[t]he human
> a conflict between the "rational soul"        spirit consists of the rational, or logical,
> and other ways of knowing, the Bahá'í         reasoning faculty, which apprehends
> Writings as a whole would have a              general ideas and things intelligible
> 44                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> and perceptible" (Tablets 115; empha-         the universe was a free, intentional act
> sis added). That is to say, this faculty      that bestows the gift of existence on
> is constitutionally part of the human         all things. Reason can also deduce the
> spirit. This association of reason and        "immortality of the spirit" as without
> rationality with logical thought is also      it, the divinely given "spiritual long-
> evident in the assertion that "[i]f re-       ings" would have no object and be in
> ligion were contrary to logical reason        vain. Indeed, such longings would be
> then it would cease to be a religion and      deceptive, and that would contradict
> be merely a tradition" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,         the loving and merciful attributes of
> Paris Talks 144).                             God. 'Abdu'l-Bahá summarizes the
> Furthermore, the "rational soul"           teachings on reason and rationality
> can use logical reason to understand          and logic when He asks, "If we insist
> spiritual and religious issues within         that such and such a subject is not to
> the epistemological limits of human           be reasoned out and tested according
> nature. For example, reason can prove         to the established logical modes of the
> the existence of God, although it can-        intellect, what is the use of the reason
> not discover God's essential nature:          which God has given man?" (Promul-
> "The existence of the Divine Being            gation 63; emphasis added).
> hath been clearly established, on the             The second attribute of reason and
> basis of logical proofs, but the reality      logic is the principle of non-contra-
> of the Godhead is beyond the grasp of         diction. This principle asserts that a
> the mind" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections 46).      statement and its negation or denial
> God's existence is provable by reason,        cannot both be true in the same sense,
> but His "reality" or essence is not.          at the same time, and under the same
> However, 'Abdu'l-Bahá goes even fur-          circumstances. The Writings demon-
> ther, saying, "The intellectual proofs        strate this principle in the insistence
> of Divinity are based upon observation        on the oneness of truth; a self-con-
> and evidence which constitute decisive        tradictory truth cannot possibly exist
> argument, logically proving the reality of    because it simultaneously makes two
> Divinity, the effulgence of mercy, the cer-   opposite claims that cancel each other
> tainty of inspiration and immortality of      out. For example, 'Abdu'l-Bahá de-
> the spirit" (Promulgation 326; emphasis       clares that "truth or reality is not mul-
> added). Reason can not only prove the         tiple; it is not divisible" and that "truth
> existence of God; it can also discov-         is one, although its manifestations may
> er the divine attributes as articulated       be very different" (Promulgation 106;
> and exemplified by the Manifestation.         Paris Talks 128; emphasis added). If
> It cannot discover these attributes by        contradictions appear, it is necessary
> itself, but it can deduce why the divine      to look deeper because superficial dif-
> attributes must logically exist. For ex-      ferences in the expressions of truth do
> ample, because God is not compelled           not necessarily imply logical contra-
> by anything outside Himself, creating         dictions in the underlying reasoning.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                       45
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá seeks to avoid contra-          traditional interpretations based inex-
> dictions, and in doing so, He sets the       plicable and irrational beliefs,
> example for resolving contradictions
> where possible. Shoghi Effendi reaf-           the foundations of the religion of
> firms this theme, saying, "Truth may,          God would rest upon an illogical
> in covering different subjects, appear         proposition which no mind could
> to be contradictory, and yet it is all one     ever conceive, and how could the
> if you carry the thought through to            mind be required to believe a thing
> the end," a principle he emphasizes by         which it cannot conceive? Such a
> asserting that "[t]ruth is one when it         thing could not be grasped by
> is independently investigated, it does         human reason—how much less be
> not accept division" (qtd. in Hornby           clothed in an intelligible form—
> 476; Japan 35).                                but would remain sheer fancy.
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá's approach to rational-        (Some Answered Questions 27:9;
> ly resolving contradictions is exempli-        emphasis added)
> fied in His explication of the Christian
> doctrine of the Trinity, which He            Another example of classical logic is
> regards as irrational in its tradition-      'Abdu'l-Bahá's argument regarding
> al interpretation: "The reality of the       the immortality of the human soul,
> Divinity… admits of no division and          which is that a thing cannot be a sub-
> multiplicity for division and multiplic-     stance and an attribute at the same
> ity are among the characteristics of         time. Logical consistency, whether
> created and hence contingent things...       it be propositional agreement and/
> For that divine reality to descend into      or complementarity or neutrality, is
> stations and degrees would be tanta-         an essential principle in the Bahá'í
> mount to deficiency, contrary to per-        Writings.
> fection and utterly impossible" (Some           The third attribute of reason and
> Answered Questions, 27: 2–3). In other       logic is universality. In other words,
> words, 'Abdu'l-Bahá finds the tradi-         the principle of non-contradiction
> tional understanding of the Trinity to       is universally applied by all human
> be self-contradictory and He therefore       beings and, indeed, all living things.
> replaces it with a non-self-contradic-       My pet ducks, Jack and Jill, know that
> tory explanation (Some Answered Ques-        Dozer, my neighbor's big yappy dog, is
> tions, 27: 6-10) showing thereby that        either outside the front gate or inside
> He views contradictions as problem-          the front gate and cannot be both at
> atical and undesirable in our thinking       the same time and in the same sense,
> processes, even on spiritual matters.        and they make their decision to step
> His insistence on logical consisten-         outside for a stroll accordingly. Even
> cy—which requires the elimination            humans who deny the principle of
> of contradictions—is evident in His          non-contradiction—such as Nagarju-
> declaration that were we to accept           na and Hegel—still obey this principle
> 46                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> in their daily lives. They know that        matrix of the world," which means
> either they have eaten lunch or have        that we have always possessed the
> not eaten lunch but not both in the         distinguishing attribute of man, that
> same sense at the same time. Thus,          is, the rational soul (Some Answered
> this principle is universal—at least in     Questions 49:8). Precisely because we
> actual practice—and that makes it an        recognize that our ancestors were
> essential attribute of human nature or      rational, we are able to interpret the
> the rational soul. Because all humans       artifacts they left behind. Because the
> have at least the capacity for reason-      rational soul is the common feature
> ing, it can be one of the foundation        joining all human beings into one
> stones of the unification of mankind        species, both the possession of a soul
> because deliberations will be based         and its rational nature are foundation
> on the common ground of discursive          stones of the unified global world
> reasoning.                                  order that Bahá'u'lláh came to
> Bahá'u'lláh's and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's         establish.
> statements aligning reason with                Finally, it should be noted—albe-
> the essence of humankind have far-          it briefly—that reason has other, yet
> reaching implications, especially for       related uses in the Writings, though
> the goal of unifying humankind into         none that contradict the ideas articu-
> one global commonwealth. Because            lated above. One meaning of reason
> rationality is a universal characteristic   is "appropriateness," that is, treating
> of human nature, it applies to people       one kind of thing as befits it and not
> across cultures, historical epochs, and     as if it were another—for example,
> geographical locations. Superficial         not treating a human being like an an-
> appearances notwithstanding, there          imal.47 The concept of reasonableness
> is a core of rationality within all         as appropriateness is the foundation of
> cultures, although the vicissitudes of      the doctrine of progressive revelation.
> historical circumstances may shape,         'Abdu'l-Bahá says, "All religious laws
> or even distort, the development            conform to reason, and are suited to
> of these cultures in various ways.          the people for whom they are framed,
> Its universality makes rationality a        and for the age in which they are to
> connecting principle that transcends        be obeyed" (Paris Talks 141). The fact
> differences among all cultures and is,      that revelations are "suited to the peo-
> therefore, a basis for positive global      ple for whom they are framed" means
> dialogue and the unified world order        that they are appropriate—and, there-
> of Bahá'u'lláh. Even our evolutionary       fore, reasonable—for that particular
> ancestors are included in the circle
> of reason. 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us that          47 Their essential natures are too dif-
> "man remained a distinct essence—           ferent because the latter has no rational
> that is, the human species—from the         soul. See p. 122 of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Paris
> beginning of his formation in the           Talks.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                          47
> 
> time and those specific circumstances.      intentionality, mankind's intrinsically
> Comparing religious cycles to the life      privileged place in creation, the roles
> cycle of a tree, He further elaborates      of the body and the rational soul, the
> by stating that "[i]t is not reason-        universality of free will, freedom from
> able that man should hold to the old        nature, the foundations of ethical free-
> tree, claiming that its life forces are     dom, individual and social responsi-
> undiminished" (Promulgation 142).           bility, and the origin of evil. Each of
> Moreover, if a thought or action is         these shall be examined in turn.
> appropriate and reasonable, it is also         The existence of individual free
> just. This principle underlies the fol-     will is an essential feature of the Bahá'í
> lowing assertion of 'Abdu'l-Bahá:           philosophy of human nature. Indeed,
> "Know that justice consists in render-      the work of Manifestations in guid-
> ing to each his due (Some Answered          ing individuals and societies toward
> Questions 79:1). The third sense of         their spiritual and material evolution
> reason, or being reasonable, refers to      would be completely futile if humans
> having a purpose. Actions that have no      were unable to choose to alter their
> purpose are simply arbitrary and ran-       ways of thinking, beliefs, and behav-
> dom and therefore are not informed or       iors. Indeed, without free will, ethics
> shaped by reason. This is one of the        per se are not possible because ethical
> aspects of purpose that seems appro-        behavior has at least two characteris-
> priate to Shoghi Effendi's reference        tics: it must be conscious and inten-
> to a "rational God" (World Order 112).      tional. No ethical act—whether good
> Bahá'u'lláh tells us that God created us    or bad—can be performed accidentally
> for a purpose: "the purpose of creation     or inadvertently (without knowledge
> . . . is the knowledge of Him Who is        or forethought). That is to say, with-
> the Eternal Truth" (Kitáb-i-Aqdas n.        out choice and without intention to act
> 23). Creation is not "accidental" or for-   on this choice there is no ethical act.
> tuitous but is informed by a plan and       To claim otherwise would be equiva-
> purpose ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered        lent to asserting that a rockslide acted
> Questions 47:5). It is evident that all     ethically by missing a doe and a fawn.
> of these meanings of the terms "rea-        No one can claim to have acted moral-
> son" and "reasonableness" are com-          ly if, due to a sudden unconscious and
> patible with the logical principle of       involuntary spasm in his arm while
> non-contradiction.                          driving, he avoided hitting a pedestri-
> an who had slipped in front of his car.
> FREE WILL                     No conscious choice and intention to
> act on this choice took place; therefore,
> The subject of free will brings to light    it is not an ethical act. A good event
> additional aspects of human nature.         is not necessarily ethical: if there was
> It touches on mankind's essentially         no use of free will, no choice and in-
> spiritual nature, consciousness and         tention were involved. Nor do we say a
> 48                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> teething baby acts immorally by biting      rejection of determinism has three
> down on a finger put in its mouth. An       consequences for our understanding
> event may be bad or even evil, but the      of human nature. First, an act of free
> lack of conscious choice and intention      will is uncaused, which is to say, it has
> make it inappropriate to call the event     no antecedent causes that determine
> morally bad or evil.                        the rational soul's intention, choice,
> Free will—and humans' existence          or action. The soul is a "first cause" or
> as ethical beings—are based on the          "originative causality" of a choice or
> human spirit, or rational soul, which       act (Adler 481). This requires it to be
> is not subject to the physical laws of      intrinsically active or dynamic, which
> cause and effect. The human spirit is       is affirmed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá when He
> not part of any natural causal chain        states that "nothing that exists re-
> that, according to materialists, deter-     mains in a state of repose—that is, all
> mines our ethical choices and makes         things are in motion" (Some Answered
> them predictable in a scientific way.       Questions 63:1). In short, the human
> In Free Will, materialist neurophilos-      spirit is active in nature and can take
> opher Sam Harris asks, "How can we          the initiative and "spontaneously orig-
> be 'free' as conscious agents if every-     inate a series of events" (Adler 481).
> thing that we consciously intend is            Second, although human beings
> caused by events in our brain that we       have been endowed universally with
> do not intend and of which we are en-       free will in their first nature as created
> tirely unaware?" (25). As an advocate       by God, the decisions as to whether or
> of mind-brain identity theory, he is        not to actualize free will, and to what
> left with no logical conclusion but that    extent and in what way, remain with
> free will as an illusory exemption from     the individual. These decisions and
> cause and effect is impossible and that     their consequences constitute our sec-
> our "feeling of freedom arises from         ond nature, which results from what
> our moment-to-moment ignorance of           we do with God's initial gift. Although
> the prior causes of our thoughts and        in the external world there may be
> actions" (32). In short, for Sam Harris,    many obstacles to the exercise of free
> free will is a delusion.                    will—physical, political, cultural, and
> A simple but effective response to       social—as we will see, the Bahá'í Writ-
> Harris's conclusion would result from       ings make it clear that moral choices
> inquiring whether or not he freely          are always available and, therefore, hu-
> chose to write his book. If he did not,     mankind has radical responsibility for
> then perhaps he should not receive any      the courses of action it pursues.
> royalties. But in all seriousness, com-        Third, the capacity for choice and
> mon sense dictates that we do have          action makes mankind intrinsically
> some degree of free will, though we         superior to the natural world, which
> may not, in this life, ever know the full   is governed by the law of cause and
> extent of that freedom. Therefore, our      effect. Nature leaves no room for
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                          49
> 
> choice and intention. Causality nec-       essential aspects of human nature. 'Ab-
> essarily predetermines particular          du'l-Bahá notes that nature has no will
> outcomes and makes no exceptions in        or volition, which means that it lacks
> its operations. Innocent babies drown      intentionality, the ability to choose
> on beaches as much as war criminals        certain outcomes over others, and the
> and torturers do.48 In short, nature is    capacity to act toward their attain-
> amoral; ethical categories such as con-    ment. The other qualities mentioned
> scious choice, intention, and ethical      here by 'Abdu'l-Bahá are all attributes
> responsibility do not apply to it.         of consciousness, without which there
> From this it follows logically that     can be no free will: "all other beings,
> free will is the foundation of our ex-     whether of the mineral, the vegetable
> istence as ethical beings. 'Abdu'l-Bahá    or the animal world, cannot deviate from
> points out:                                the laws of nature, nay, all are the slaves
> thereof. Man, however, though in body
> All the sciences, arts and discover-     the captive of nature is yet free in his mind
> ies were mysteries of nature, and        and soul, and hath the mastery over na-
> according to natural law these           ture" (Tablet 10; emphasis added).49
> mysteries should remain latent,              The body, which is an accidental at-
> hidden; but man has proceeded to         tribute of the human spirit or rational
> break this law, free himself from this   soul, is part of the cause-and-effect
> rule and bring them forth into the       process of nature and in that way is
> realm of the visible. Therefore,         "captive" when it comes to physical
> he is the ruler and commander of         conditions like sleep, sickness, and
> nature. Man has intelligence; nature     eventually death. However, mind and
> has not. Man has volition; nature        soul—that is, essential constituents
> has none. Man has memory; nature         of mankind—are not subject to phys-
> is without it. Man has the reasoning     ical causality: "Certain matters are
> faculty; nature is deprived. Man has     subject to the free will of man, such
> the perceptive faculty; nature cannot    as acting with justice and fairness, or
> perceive. It is therefore proved and     injustice and iniquity—in other words,
> evident that man is nobler than na-      the choice of good or evil actions . .
> ture. (Promulgation 17; emphasis         . . [H]e is free in the choice of good or
> added)                                   evil actions, and it is of his own accord
> 
> Each of the ways in which human-           49 Self-sacrificing instincts in animals
> kind is superior to nature concerns        are not conscious and intentional ethical
> mental or spiritual gifts, which are       choices. The two must not be confused or
> conflated because they are not the same
> 48 Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious      kind of things. Therefore, such instincts
> "Angel of Death" at Auschwitz, drowned     cannot be seen as a "pre-figuring" or "an-
> on a beach in Brazil in 1979.              ticipation" of ethical activities in humans.
> 50                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> that he performs them" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,         towards all the peoples and kindreds
> Some Answered Questions 70:3; empha-          of the earth" (Gleanings 109:2). For
> sis added). In other words, the Bahá'í        this reason, the Writings contradict
> Writings maintain that all humans             attempts to justify certain behaviors
> possess radical freedom by virtue of          as "only natural" in the animal sense.
> being human and having a spiritual            The proper (in the sense of appro-
> essence.                                      priate, befitting) use of free will is to
> The existence of free will is not          actualize individuals' higher capacities
> dependent on external circumstances,          and spiritual susceptibilities because
> whether natural or man-made. On this          the failure to meet this obligation re-
> issue, the Bahá'í Writings may be said        sults in deficiency in the development
> to concur with Sartre, who asserts that       of their second nature.
> we are "condemned to be free" whether             The existence of free will also leads
> we want to be or not (156).50 There is no     to an emphasis on individual respon-
> way to escape our "fate" of being free,       sibility. Humans are expected to take
> although we can, of course, deceive           responsibility for their actions and to
> ourselves and claim that others—or            refrain from seeking excuses or jus-
> various external circumstances—took           tifications for their intentionally bad
> our freedom away. There is no denying         actions. God's rejection of the disbe-
> that some choices are extraordinarily         liever's attempt to blame others for
> difficult, but from a Bahá'í perspective      his disbelief in God demonstrates the
> we can rely on God's justice, mercy,          importance of responsibility in the
> and understanding, grounded in His            Writings: "the faith of no man can be
> omniscient knowledge, as a source of          conditioned by anyone except himself "
> hope and comfort.                             (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings 55:1). Nor may
> Furthermore, the capacity of hu-           humans blame God for making them
> man beings to transcend nature in             the way they are in terms of innate
> making moral decisions leads to anoth-        and inherited character. 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> er fundamental aspect of Bahá'í ethics:       makes that point with a Bible-based
> the obligation to live in a way that is       discussion about the mineral not hav-
> appropriate to our nature as human            ing any right to complain to God for
> beings and not to fall to the animal          not having been given vegetable per-
> level. Bahá'u'lláh admonishes us that         fections. Each state of being is perfect
> "[t]o act like the beasts of the field is     in its own degree and "must strive
> unworthy of man. Those virtues that           after the perfections of [its] own
> befit his dignity are forbearance, mer-       degree" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation
> cy, compassion and loving-kindness            249). Being responsible for one's own
> intentional actions—that is, perfecting
> 50 Although, from a Bahá'í standpoint,     one's own degree of being—is all that
> free will is not seen as a chastisement but   one has the power to do.
> as one of God's gifts to mankind.                 In addition, responsibility for
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                         51
> 
> appropriate use of free will does not        never have been absent from human
> end at the personal level. As 'Abdu'l-       nature, for "[w]e cannot say… that
> Bahá informs us: "Each human                 there was a time when man was not"
> creature has individual endowment,           ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions
> power and responsibility in the creative     50:4). Free will exists as a potential in
> plan of God. Therefore, depend upon          humankind regardless of their present
> your own reason and judgment and             level of moral and intellectual devel-
> adhere to the outcome of your own            opment. In short, free will is intrinsi-
> investigation" (Promulgation 292).           cally and, therefore, universally pres-
> Having "responsibility in the             ent in human nature and serves as a
> creative plan of God"—which is to            basis for the unification of humankind.
> say, responsibility for the advancement          The existence of free will in human
> of humankind—requires all persons
> nature brings with it the capacity to do
> to make the correct ethical choices in
> evil if we so desire. According to the
> their own lives (Promulgation 292). In
> Writings, evil—not be to be confused
> other words, we must be aware that
> with unconscious and unintentional
> we not only create our own second
> natural disasters or accidents—finds
> nature with our choices but also bear
> some responsibility for the spiritual        its source in humanity: "Every good
> progress of mankind: "All men                thing is of God, and every evil thing is
> have been created to carry forward           from yourselves" (Bahá'u'lláh, Glean-
> an      ever-advancing       civilization"   ings 77:1). Despite our wishes to the
> (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings 109:2). In           contrary, the capacity for wrongdoing
> short, our responsibilities in using         must exist if free will is to be main-
> free will stretch beyond ourselves.          tained as a meaningful aspect of human
> It is noteworthy that 'Abdu'l-Bahá           nature. Free will is not free if humans
> exhorts us to use our "own reason and        can only do good—they would, in ef-
> judgment" in regard to ethical choices.      fect, become robots without any choice
> In his two-volume study, The Idea         at all. Free will being an inherent hu-
> of Freedom, Mortimer Adler outlines          man attribute, were it to be abrogated
> the theory of natural freedom, which         or were God to rescue mankind from
> states that free will is "(i) inherent in    every wicked choice—which would, in
> all men, (ii) regardless of the circum-      effect abolish free will—human beings
> stances under which they live and (iii)      would, by definition, cease to be hu-
> without regard to any state of mind          man. For this reason, the demand that
> or character which they may or may           God should prevent evil in some way
> not acquire" (149). The Bahá'í Writ-         is an inadvertent wish that God should
> ings agree with these three conditions.      abolish humanity as the unique crown
> Free will is an essential component          or advance guard of cosmic evolution.
> of human nature, and as such, it can         Consequently, this demand would
> 52                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> require God to remake the entire cos-         gratitude—otherwise known as "us-
> mic order and thus implicitly asserts         ing others"—is usually recognized as
> that humans could create a better mor-        a sign of a seriously flawed character.
> al universe than God.                         The importance of character is also
> evident in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's praise of an
> HUMAN NATURE AND CHARACTER                  ignorant child of good character over
> an educated child of bad character be-
> According to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "Char-             cause the former is of benefit to hu-
> acter is the true criterion of humanity.      mankind (Selections 135). The history
> Anyone who possesses a good char-             of the twentieth century is replete
> acter, who has faith in God and is            with examples of how much damage
> firm, whose actions are good, whose           intelligent and educated persons with
> speech is good—that one is accepted           bad character can do.
> at the threshold of God" (Promulga-              In The Secret of Divine Civilization,
> tion 427; emphasis added). In other           'Abdu'l-Bahá points out another crite-
> words, attributes like race, nationality,     rion for recognizing good character,
> social class, wealth, talent, family his-     which is that it should be based on
> tory and connections, as well as intelli-     "reason and knowledge and true mod-
> gence are not necessarily instrumental        eration" (59). It is noteworthy that
> in having a good character. Only the          reason is counted among the attri-
> struggle to understand the attributes         butes of good character. Knowledge,
> of God, coupled with obedience to His         of course, does not necessarily mean
> commands—reciprocal undertakings              "book knowledge" but rather knowl-
> on our part—can result in our spiri-          edge of God's presence in the world.
> tual ascent. Essential to the Bahá'í          Reason is necessary to think wisely
> view of human nature is that faith in         using our knowledge of God and the
> God is a requirement for good char-           world. Irrationality is not compatible
> acter. One reason for this is found in        with good character.
> Bahá'u'lláh's statement that disbelief           According to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the
> in God is an act of treachery because         character of each person has a three-
> it demonstrates colossal ingratitude          fold structure: "the innate charac-
> toward the Source of creation.51 In-          ter, the inherited character, and the
> acquired character" (Some Answered
> 51 See chapter 114 of Bahá'u'lláh's        Questions 57:2). Innate character seems
> Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.   to refer to intelligence and other
> Although this admonishment from
> Bahá'u'lláh may offend some readers, it       attributes is a gateway for other wrongs.
> is important to reflect on the fact that      This does not mean that "believers" are
> ingratitude means using others, which         necessarily free of these attributes, be-
> implies enormous disrespect, devaluation,     cause contempt for God's creation is also
> and even contempt. A character with such      a form of treachery.
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                         53
> 
> natural capacities such as perceptive-         The "inherited character" refers to
> ness, sensitivity, willpower, determina-    physical "constitution," which we re-
> tion, conscious awareness of self and       ceive from our ancestors ('Abdu'l-Bahá,
> others, as well as imagination—in oth-      Some Answered Questions 57:4). Like the
> er words, what are generally thought        innate character, the inherited char-
> of as mental or intellectual capacities.    acter is predetermined for us, and it,
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá states:                        too, is unchangeable, although we are
> able to make the best of what we have
> As to the innate character, al-           been given. This aspect of our char-
> though the innate nature be-              acter can be studied through medical
> stowed by God upon man is pure-           examinations and the actuarial tables
> ly good, yet that character differs       by which life insurance companies can
> among men according to the de-            foretell (with amazing accuracy) medi-
> grees they occupy: All degrees are        cal events and death.
> good, but some are more so than              The third aspect of character is the
> others. Thus every human being            "acquired character which is gained
> possesses intelligence and capac-         through education" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,
> ity, but intelligence, capacity, and      Some Answered Questions 57:2). We
> aptitude differ from person to            must, however, remember that edu-
> person. (Some Answered Questions          cation is not limited to formal insti-
> 57:3)                                     tutional schooling but also includes
> worldly experience as well as self-ed-
> These differences do not imply "a           ucation. We acquire this character—
> matter of good or evil—it is merely a       also called "second nature"52— by
> difference of degree" (Some Answered        means of our willingness to learn
> Questions 57:4). In these bestowals,        from our experiences and the choices
> there are natural differences among         we make. In other words, for better
> mankind but "[a]ll degrees are good"        or worse, we "make" ourselves. Un-
> (Some Answered Questions 57:3). No de-      like the other two aspects of charac-
> gree is ontologically flawed or unwor-      ter, acquired character is changeable;
> thy insofar as each is created by God       that is, through our free choices we
> (Some Answered Questions 57:9). Our         can choose what aspects of them to
> worthiness or unworthiness concerns         actualize and manifest and to what de-
> what we do with the capacities we           gree. It is quite possible for a person
> have been given and not the capacities      with a greatly gifted innate character
> themselves. Being innate, this aspect       to do very little or even "subvert" or
> of character is not changeable in itself,   "pervert" her gifts, just as a minimally
> although it is always possible to deter-    gifted person can do a great deal with
> mine how much of these capacities we
> actualize.                                     52 See my earlier reference to Hegel's
> classification.
> 54                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> what she has (Some Answered Questions      learn about human nature. First, the
> 57:9).                                     Writings inform us that human nature
> The Writings state that even what       possesses radical freedom and respon-
> we perceive to be negative qualities       sibility. God intends for us to be free
> can be put to good use:                    and responsible beings, and we can
> Thus, should a person show               even be called to account for our belief
> greed in acquiring science and           or disbelief in God (Gleanings 55:1).
> knowledge, or in the exercise of         Passing responsibility off to others
> compassion,      high-mindedness,        is not acceptable. This subject invites
> and justice, this would be most          much deeper reflection than can be
> praiseworthy. And should he di-          provided here.
> rect his anger and wrath against            Second, difficult as it may be for
> bloodthirsty tyrants who are fe-         some to accept, God has not bestowed
> rocious beasts, this too would be        intellectual and other capacities equal-
> praiseworthy. But should he dis-         ly upon all. There is no injustice in this
> play these qualities under other         fact because innate character by itself
> conditions, this would be deserv-        does not bestow worthiness of charac-
> ing of blame. ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some        ter—something that must be earned.
> Answered Questions 57:10)                We must not confuse equality of val-
> uation with sameness of endowments.
> In other words, we have the free-       This is easy to illustrate. Whose life
> dom to put even our potentially neg-       is more worthy—the highly intelli-
> ative attributes to a personally and       gent and multiply-gifted criminal or
> socially good use. The same is true of     the person with meager endowments
> someone who puts extreme ambition          practicing good will toward all?
> to positive use, not by becoming ava-         Third, character formation is the
> ricious, but by struggling to create a     key to the construction of the new
> more just distribution of wealth. In       world order. If character is not
> short, by good applications, a poten-      changed—that is, if positive capacities
> tial negative can be sublimated into a     are not actualized and other, poten-
> positive. We are born pure—with no         tially negative ones are manifested in
> attribute that is negative in and of it-   new ways—then all attempts at a new
> self. As 'Abdu'l-Bahá says, "Although      order will fail. We will simply resur-
> all existent beings are in their very      rect the old world order in new form,
> nature created in ranks or degrees, for    as happened with Russia in 1917 when
> capacities are various, nevertheless ev-   it went from czar to commissar rule.
> ery individual is born holy and pure,      Character reformation is one thing ev-
> and only thereafter may he become          ery individual can and must perform
> defiled" (Selections 190).                 for himself or herself.
> From the Bahá'í teachings about            'Abdu'l-Bahá calls on Bahá'ís to
> character, there are four things to        "seek to excel the whole world in
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                        55
> 
> moral character" (Selections 129). Good      without positive interactions with oth-
> character, not intelligence or talent, is    er human beings. At the most obvious
> what makes people equal in the most          level, this means, that there can be "no
> important way.                               solitaries and no hermits among the
> Fourth, "[g]ood character must be        Bahá'ís. Man must work with his fellows.
> taught" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections 136).      Everyone should have some trade, or
> It does not simply develop by itself.        art or profession, be he rich or poor,
> Teaching good character is, essential-       and with this he must serve humanity.
> ly, the mission of the Manifestations.       This service is acceptable as the high-
> After all,                                   est form of worship" ('Abdu'l-Bahá,
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London 93; emphasis
> is not the object of every Revelation to   added). Similarly, Bahá'u'lláh pro-
> effect a transformation in the whole       claims, "O concourse of monks! Se-
> character of mankind, a transfor-          clude not yourselves in your churches
> mation that shall manifest itself          and cloisters. Come ye out of them by
> both outwardly and inwardly,               My leave, and busy, then, yourselves with
> that shall affect both its inner life      what will profit you and others" (Epistle
> and external conditions? For if            49). In other words, human nature re-
> the character of mankind be not            quires others to complete itself. This
> changed, the futility of God's             has a metaphysical basis:
> universal Manifestations would
> be apparent. (Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-          For all beings are linked togeth-
> Íqán 240)                                    er like a chain; and mutual aid,
> assistance, and interaction are
> The success of the Manifestations is           among their intrinsic properties
> built on the fact that character can and       and are the cause of their forma-
> must be taught. Here, too, we observe          tion, development, and growth.
> the importance of the universality of          It is established through numer-
> human nature because good character            ous proofs and arguments that
> must be taught according to a com-             every single thing has an effect
> mon basis if the world is to be unified.       and influence upon every other,
> Unity in diversity requires a common           either independently or through a
> foundation, just as different plants           causal chain. ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some
> grow out of the same soil.                     Answered Questions 46:6)
> 
> HUMANITY'S SOCIAL NATURE                'Abdu'l-Bahá's words—so reminiscent
> of Buddhism's concept of "dependent
> The Bahá'í Writings make it clear that       origination"—mean that all existent
> human nature is intrinsically social.        things, including human nature, are
> We cannot actualize and manifest our         interdependent, not only for their ex-
> full intellectual and spiritual capacities   istence, but also for their "development
> 56                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> and growth." A story from my youth         individuals versus the rights and good
> illustrates this fact. In 1968, I worked   of society. The need for this balance is
> as an orderly in a German Catholic         recognized in the following statement
> charity mental institution for "hope-      by the Universal House of Justice:
> less" cases. (This was before the drug     "The successful exercise of authority
> revolution in psychiatry.) I asked one     in the Bahá'í community implies the
> of the nuns I had befriended, Sister       recognition of separate but mutually
> Anna, what was the point of keeping        reinforcing rights and responsibilities be-
> such sad cases. Her answer illustrates     tween the institutions and the friends
> the truth of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's words. She     in general, a recognition that in turn
> said: "Every one of these hopeless lives   welcomes the need for cooperation be-
> is an opportunity for you and me to de-    tween these two interactive forces of
> velop our humanity (Menschlichkeit)."      society" (letter dated 19 May 1994 to
> In service to others, we develop and       the National Spiritual Assembly of the
> grow our humanity, our character, our      United States). Establishing "mutually
> spirituality. Without service to others,   reinforcing rights and responsibilities"
> our inner growth will be stunted.          requires the recognition and harmoni-
> The practical implications of the      zation of the legitimate interests and
> social aspect of human nature do not       responsibilities of both individuals
> become apparent until we reflect on        and collectives.
> putting them into practice. For ex-           The importance of balancing indi-
> ample, the Bahá'í teachings make it        vidual and collective rights and respon-
> logically inconsistent to permit any       sibilities prevents us from interpreting
> imbalance between the rights and re-       the call to be "as one soul" as favoring
> sponsibilities of the individual and       collectivism in some way (Gleanings
> those of the community, whether it         122:1). In my understanding, this is
> be a nation, a tribe, or even a service    a call for a teleological unity, not an
> club like the Rotary. Individual rights    ontological unity. A teleological unity
> are preserved by principles such as the    is a unity of purpose that harmonizes
> independent investigation of truth,        action but preserves diversity, whereas
> consultation, and the universal partic-    an ontological unity requires oneness
> ipation in the electoral process of the    by removing all individual distinc-
> administrative order. These teachings      tions, eliminating diversity in order to
> counter the tendency to see individu-      create both unity and uniformity. Such
> als as nothing more than instruments       a concept runs against one of main
> of the state or some other collective.     themes of the Bahá'í Writings.
> Individual value is not conferred
> just from the "outside." However, at                     CONCLUSION
> the same time, the Bahá'í Writings
> clearly oppose atomic individualism,       As we have observed, the Bahá'í
> which overemphasizes the rights of         Writings have a logically coherent
> The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature                         57
> 
> philosophy of human nature. This               Second, vis-à-vis modern philoso-
> philosophy is a vertically integrated       phies such as atheistic existentialism,
> whole with its foundations in meta-         postmodernism, and most forms of
> physics and ontology and its apex in        secular humanism and Marxism, the
> a divinely guided relationship to God.      Bahá'í philosophy of human nature is
> In between are texts on the structure       essentialistic. In other words, it asserts
> and constituent aspects of human na-        that a single universal human nature
> ture, its innate capacities, its position   exists—and has always existed—and
> and role in the universe, its destiny,      that the concept of a "blank slate" does
> and the inherent weaknesses to which        not apply to human nature, which is
> is subject.                                 not malleable. All that can be changed
> For individual Bahá'ís, this             are the potentials that are actualized
> philosophy of human nature provides         and to what degree and in what form
> assurance that their beliefs on this        they are reached. The human capaci-
> subject are founded on a coherent,          ty for aggression can be actualized in
> methodically developed, and logical         various forms—as a soldier, a dedicat-
> philosophy of human nature. As              ed researcher, or a fireman, for exam-
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá informs us, such               ple—and can either be reasonable or
> intellectual reliability also strengthens   reach immoderation. This variability
> the faith of the heart (Promulgation
> of expression explains why trying to
> 231). Furthermore, by virtue of
> reshape human nature according to
> having a well-developed philosophy of
> our wishes has led to such disasters in
> human nature, the Bahá'í Faith is open
> the twentieth century and continues
> to deep and far-reaching opportunities
> to cause social confusion in ethics, law,
> for dialogue with other religious and
> psychology, anthropology, and educa-
> non-religious worldviews that also
> tion, among other fields.
> have a philosophy of human nature.
> Third—and this deserves special
> Among these are Catholic Thomism;
> mention—the Bahá'í philosophy of
> Marxism in both its humanist and
> human nature supports a belief in the
> Leninist forms; and theistic and
> atheistic existentialism. Moreover,         unique status and intrinsic value of
> precisely because of its logical            humankind in creation. It asserts that
> coherence and structure, the Bahá'í         humans cannot be understood cor-
> philosophy of human nature is able          rectly by reductionist and materialist
> to offer constructive evaluations and       methodologies in medical, psychiatric,
> suggestions to the current troubles         genetic, and psychological research
> afflicting societies. Finally, the          and their concomitant philosophies;
> logically coherent nature of the Bahá'í     by worldviews that regard humans
> worldview allows the Faith to defend        as merely another animal or without
> itself intellectually against critiques     more value than any other animal;
> from other systems of thought.              or by ideologies that seek to return
> 58                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 27.1-2 2017
> 
> human life to ancestral conditions,             'Abdu'l-Bahá as an especially produc-
> when fewer uniquely human intrinsic             tive way to study the Writings. Their
> capacities were actualized or could be          example should encourage Bahá'í phi-
> actualized.                                     losophers to follow in Their footsteps.
> The reduction of man to an animal,
> a machine, or a complex of chemicals
> and the concomitant denial of spirit,
> soul, and even mind inevitably lead to
> a distorted understanding of human                          WORKS CITED
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> — *The Bahá'í Philosophy of Human Nature (Used by permission of the curator)*