March 26th, 2008
In Defense of Matter
by Michael Ian Lomongo (1992/98)
“It is only with the heart that one sees rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
- The Fox, in “The Little Prince,” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
We are all too familiar with this perennial problem in philosophy (and life): the contraposition between matter and spirit, body and soul. The materialist says that there is no need to postulate such a “thing” as spirit. There is nothing beyond matter: what you see is what you get. The idealist, on the other hand, in putting forth and emphasizing the importance and supremacy of the spirit, belittles matter. In this great war between matter and spirit, the dominance (at least, in literature) almost always goes in favor of the spirit, even if people’s lives seem to indicate the contrary. Since it is the spirit that gives life, good is associated with it. On the other hand, matter (crude matter, body, the “flesh”) is somehow seen as the source of evil, disgrace, bad luck, or imperfection.
Matter, then, has acquired (no thanks to philosophers) quite a bad reputation. And this is especially true in a lot of idealistic, intellectualist, metaphysical, and religious philosophies. The exaltation of the spirit in these philosophies is inevitably tied up with the denigration of matter. Such a derogatory outlook on matter has especially been influential when coupled with the belief in a Supreme Being who is regarded as a pure Spirit, and the belief in man’s way to perfection as that of an active emulation of this paragon of perfection — God. The more you distance yourself from matter, the more you become perfect and God-like, God being immaterial. This naturally translates, for the believer, into a fascination for “things” (pardon the expression) immaterial or spiritual and an attitude of condescension, if not a direct aversion, towards matter.
Thus, we have a proliferation of sayings similar to the oft-repeated one of Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Some of them we hear mouthed off by contestants in beauty pageants (“I believe that some of the most important things in life can neither be seen, nor even touched. They can only be felt by the heart.”), or read in autograph books (“Love is too abstract a concept to be singularly defined.”). Wow, pare… heavy na, touching pa! (Again, pardon the expression.) While I would not want to belie these beautiful statements, I would like to throw some caution to the wind — (So that others may catch it!) lest we keep looking down on matter.
For matter matters!
Matter is not the source of our evilness and imperfection. It is only the source of our imperfection inasmuch as we are not pure spirits, but are creatures endowed with both body and soul. But rather than being ashamed of the imperfection of having bodies (with all their limitations – spatial, temporal, even aesthetic), we should accept this, be grateful, and make the most out of it. The matter of man (our body and also, the world) is not only our imperfection; it also is the locus of our perfection. Our labors of love could only be effectively brought out through this world, which is a world of matter. Thus, in desiring perfection by distancing ourselves from matter, we lose sight of “God’s index finger” (See Michaelangelo’s fresco on the creation of Adam.), which points the way, ironically, towards matter. For he not only created matter, and made it good. By becoming one of us, he also chose to become matter, and so, has sanctified matter.
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” Love (Don’t we often say, “God is love”?) did not choose to remain abstract. In fact, he never was. It is us who have continually refused to see. His becoming matter only reiterated his concreteness, the reality of his presence among us who are matter.
Indeed, while some of the most important things in life may neither be seen nor touched nor heard, but only felt by the heart, it is just as true that most of the important things in life are concrete and material, are visible and tangible. The better parts of these are even huggable, kissable, and lovable. And they are what we call human beings, persons: you… me… In fact, for some Christians, the best thing in life, God, is even edible and digestible in the Eucharist.
Perhaps this is one of the manifold meanings of Christmas: what we have been looking for is already present here among us, in such an “imperfect” thing as matter. And should we miss the occasion to find it, we get another chance in Easter, in the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, which prefigures our own triumph in the “resurrection of the body.” (“Whatever that means,” as D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley would say.) It is probably of no small account that these two principal Christian feasts are respectively called “Pasko” and “Pasko ng Pagkabuhay” in Filipino.
The glorification of the spirit need not fall into the denigration of matter. Likewise, the appreciation of matter need not amount to crass materialism. What we have been looking for – God, Love, Spirit, Goodness – could be found among us. We only have to open our eyes, ears and hearts to see. (And rightly!)
That everything – including brute matter, for that matter – matters.
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See also Gerontophobia and The Matrix, Overloaded