Comments for The Cruelty of Hedonism at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 7 out of 7 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Sun, 26 May 2013 02:05:59 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-cruelty-of-hedonism.html#comment-8406 Achilles, beyond "atoms and the void," what is there? All the rest is mere noise. - Grump Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:54:09 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-cruelty-of-hedonism.html#comment-8401 yes, thank you Professor Royal. Anthony Esolen, compelling arguments when needed . never gets old to hear how Christ has changed this world. Beautiful Congratulations and thank you for the informative incites. What an addition to the world. "But the hedonist cannot understand Father Damien, or Mother Teresa, or the man who waited so many years for his prodigal son to come home. Hedonism is a thorn, and no rose." - z Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:59:35 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-cruelty-of-hedonism.html#comment-8397 This fine piece brings to mind a passage written by Prof. R. R. Palmer: "It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the coming of Christianity. It brought with it, for one thing, an altogether new sense of human life. Where the Greeks had demonstrated the power of the mind, the Christians explored the soul, and they taught that in the sight of God all souls were equal, that every human life was sacrosanct and inviolate, and that all worldly distinctions of greatness, beauty, and brilliancy were in the last analysis superficial." Situating Christianity as the source of this new understanding is complicated by the teaching of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who eloquently includes the lack of worldly distinctions in observance of the Jewish Sabbath. I believe that the readers of thecatholicthing will welcome more instruction from Prof. Esolen on this topic. - Bangwell Putt Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:23:54 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-cruelty-of-hedonism.html#comment-8396 So Grump, man is the measure of all things? Are you not prone to error in your judgement? You find Lucretious' mind more ordered than St. Paul, or Augustine, or Aquinas? The call to put things in their proper order is an act of discovery not personal decision. We are born servants, our free will is limited to choosing our masters, not inventing reality. I suggest again to you my friend that you mistake appearances for substance. Ask Plato about it. - Achilles Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:24:30 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-cruelty-of-hedonism.html#comment-8394 It was Lucretius who set me on the path of agnosticism when he famously wrote, "Had God created the world it would not be as frail and faulty as we see." Looking around at God's "mistakes," which are too numerous to list there, one is hard pressed to disagree with his observation. - Grump Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:19:07 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-cruelty-of-hedonism.html#comment-8393 Thank you, Professor Esolen for yet another insightful and eloquent column. May I add, to paraphrase St. Augustine, man is happy not when he gets what he wants but when he gets what he should want. A corollary would be: Man is happy not when he gets what feels good to him, but when he gets what is objectively good for him. And the greatest good is to obey the Great Commandment given by Our Lord. And the best way to obey to the Great Commandment is found in the creed, worship, morality, and prayer of the Catholic Church. - Martinkus Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:37:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-cruelty-of-hedonism.html#comment-8391 Thank you Prof. Esolen in leading the way to our only hope as JP II wrote at the end of Fides et Ratio: “I ask everyone to look more deeply at man, whom Christ has saved in the mystery of his love, and at the human being's unceasing search for truth and meaning. Different philosophical systems have lured people into believing that they are their own absolute master, able to decide their own destiny and future in complete autonomy, trusting only in themselves and their own powers. But this can never be the grandeur of the human being.” - M. Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:19:29 +0100