Quote:
Robert M Watson Jr wrote:
One can use a hammer to build a house. That house can become a love filled home or a crack house. What responsibility does the carpenter have in the matter?
A hammer can drive nails or crack heads - the role of the wielder is clear in this case.
The nature of a tool does not change whether in the hands of a craftsman or a novice but the product of its use is self explainitory.
Power is a tool and harmony is a product - what is required is a craftsman. Craftsmen acquire their skills and mastery in the arts by many routes but an apprenticeship under a master is usually the fastest way to achieve mastery.
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It is just this instrumentalism that troubles. Are you so sure of this point if the "tool" and the "product" are both living creatures? Or the same creature? Is your conclusion the same?
Can purpose and structure be so divorced in living things without doing injury ? Does not this inseparability define the nature of harmony that we perceive and treasure in living things (the
kami aspect if you wish to Nipponize the point.) .
Divide body and soul and the living thing ceases. This is true for men as it is for all animals. It has been recognized from ancient times in all cultures (to the extent of trying to vitalize things of which it is not strictly true). We seem to be doing the reverse and de-vitalizing through this instrumental approach. Are we simply left with a dead hammer waiting to find out who picks it up?
This is the heart of the issue.