CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The Great Ultimate
Heidegger has not told us in so many words what Being is; but anyone who has read his text through has from it a concrete sense of Being quite different from anything that our philosophic tradition has so far brought to light – William Barrett
From the year dot, humankind experienced Mystery. It was around us then and it’s around us now. When it comes to Mystery absolutely nothing has changed. However, humanity’s attitude and response to the mystery of Mystery has changed, and not for the better. Strangely, the presence of Mystery hasn’t endeared us. Instead of loving it, we loathe it.
Gabriel Marcel declared that humanity suffers from chronic misosophy, or “hatred of wisdom.” He gives several perceptive accounts of why this is. We can add to the baneful condition, declaring that humanity also suffers from hatred of Mystery. Hence the surfeit of inauthentic types surrounding us, particularly in the hallowed halls of academia.
