THE CADRE, TUES“ Nov. 20, 1973 Page 3

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BRAVO RUBINOFF

Rubinoff was the toast of the philosophers of UPEI: he came, he spoke, he con-

quered! And not only philo- sophers were excited with him, physics and psycholo— gy professors also receiv- ed him with warm enthusia-

sm. Just who is this Rubi-'

noff and whence did he co- me?

Lionel Rubinoff hails fr- om Toronto: he has taught at the universities of To- ronto, York and Trent. Along with his philosophi- cal groundings he also ex- cells as an actor, as an amateur classicist and as an historian. SUch a wide range of knowledge and ab- ility contributes a great deal to his overall deli- verence as a scholar and public speaker. ~

On wednesday, Nov. 14, in the Faculty Lounge, Rubin- off began his philosophic- al thrust on P.E.I. He brought news of the rebir- th and the re-entry of me- taphysics into the”main- stream of the discipline known\as philosophy! Since the turn of the nineteenth century philosophy and philosophers have gone .L through a crisis: "What is philosophy, what could one really make assertions ab- out, what did the use of techne as the mode of the western forces of produc- tion mean as far as the relevancy of philosophy to the technical world?"

Rubinoff proclaimed the new message of philosophy in an attempt to answer & put an end to the afore-‘ said questions and crisis. "Without metaphysics we are barbarians." he cried° pBut just what.is metaphy— sics and its exact role? According to Rubinoff it is the study of socities' pre-suppositions from whif

,ch that society derives its coherent meanings whi- ch in turn describe the goals of that society. It is the method by which man views himself in his con-

as.

dition and can, if desired, be the method by which man lifts himself out of that condition in a transcend-

dental moment to move on to new meanings and goals°

(A pre-supposition is an opinion, belief or perspe- ctive by which the person/ society is guiding his/her existance.)

This view of metaphysics is taken, according to Lionel Rubinoff, from the philosopher (British) R.G Collingwood, and himself! It is a view, he noted, that does not offend the scientific mindo In fact it is the method alas by which even the scientist can be more "scientific" in approaching the univer- se. The scientist, by ana- lysing his/her pre-suppos- itions can actually deter- mine conclusions that will be reached in a scientific endeavour. i.e. if a scie- ntist views or pre-suppos- es the mind to be the re- sultant of a mechanistic, material universe, he will in turn find that the bra- in is a physico — chemical organ which holds and pro- duces "mind", the conclu- sion is essentially con- tained in the pre-supposi— tion. The role of metaphy- sics then, is to lay bare these types of pre-suppos- itions in order that they may be analyzes and possi— bly transcended.

Following wednesday even- ing's introductory lecture came Thursday afternoon's discourse on the problem of the Myth of the Devilo Here Rubinoff developed, the idea that the phenome- non of evil, exemplified in man's myth of the devil is a condition of every man(evil being compulsion, or acting as if one is co- ntrolled or possessed by an external force: namely onéTs jab, one‘s"gdd or idol) that must be accept— ed in the struggle of hum- anizing the world. It must

also be surpassed in this acceptance in a Sartrian mode of accepting the res- ponsibility of this condi— tion: transcending it to the realization that man is in fact responsible for the world as it is, and this foisting of responsi- bility onto an external v compuI51on is in "bad-fai-' th" or insincerity result- ing in a counterfiet dimr ension. (As when Eichman proclaims at his trial th-

‘ at he was following out-

side orders thereby excus- ing him of responsibility

of the extermination of the Jews, all conscience is lost in this "demonic counterfiet dimension".

Thus the devil, is in fa- ct the foisting of human responsibility onto an ou- tside or non-human element such as one's job, the de- etCooooo

In explaining this posi- tion, Rubinoff made many references to Greek drama in which the problem of evil is dramatized as a myth of the human ability to transfer or escape res- ponsibility or conscience.

Unfortunately I was unab- le to attend his Thur. ev- ening lecture concerning

'the problem of man in a society which appears to have little or no conscie- nce. However, I did manage to talk with Rubinoff in a relatively informal way on Fri. before he left for home° Again the man appea- red resourceful and dynam- 1c.

At this point vaould I- like tOrthank Chuck Holmes and the rest of the dept° of philosophy for bringing a man to this campus who has the communicative abi---s lities of articulating the problems, and giving a se- nse of direction to those who heard and talked to him. ‘