I'm sitting at the Golden Arches (if you're one of the few who doesn't know to what that refers consider yourself blessed) again. It's one of the few places I know that has WiFi at every location, at least at every one of which I am knowledgeable. I have down time on the job again, so I spend some time on the net. The biggest problem with that right now is this computer I'm using. If I had unlimited funds I'd build a huge bonfire and throw this computer in it. OK, I probably wouldn't do it even if I were a billionaire, but the temptation is definitely there. Right now, it's operating in Safe Mode because I have encountered the infamous BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) as computer geeks call it. Hopefully this afternoon, if I get home in time, I'll be carrying it to the computer hospital for some surgery. I plan on getting a new one soon. To say the least this computer isn't perfect.
Perfect. Perfection. There's an interesting concept. How many times do we find ourselves using those words. It's perfect weather today. Aaron Harang pitched a perfect game today (He's a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, starting later today against the Red Sox. I'll settle for just a win though.). I got a perfect score on my Algebra test. 28 is a perfect number. Fred is the perfect employee. You can add many other examples. Some of the examples have a definite definition in which the word perfect can be objectively used. A perfect game in baseball means the pitcher gives up no hits, no walks, no hit batters and no batter reaches base on an error (basically 27 batters up, 27 batters down). A perfect score on a test means no questions were answered incorrectly. A perfect number is one in which all the factors of a number (except for the number itself) added together equal that number. 28's factors are 1x28, 2x14 and 4x7. If we drop 28 from that list and add the rest we have 1+2+4+7+14, which equals 28, therefore 28 by definition is a perfect number. Perfect weather and a perfect employee are a bit more subjective in nature.
There's one use of the word perfect on which I want to focus. How often have you heard the statement, or something similar to it, WE DON'T LIVE IN A PERFECT WORLD? You've probably heard it, you've probably said it. It is an interesting thought to be sure. There's an assumption hidden in the statement, or maybe it isn't hidden it's just not expressed directly but it is there. That assumption is that there is such an entity as a perfect world.
Let me posit three possibilities, if you can think of another feel free to share in the comments.
1. There is such an entity as a perfect world and we are in it.
2. There is such an entity as a perfect world and we are not in it.
3. There is no such entity as a perfect world.
I guess another option could be that the world (the physical world we observe) isn't real, it's only an illusion. This is a rare view, but there are some who believe it and it doesn't fit very well into any of the above three possibilities.
Let's examine the three possibilities.
Number 1 may sound odd to you. Who looks at this world and thinks it is perfect? Modern technology allows us to create computer generated virtual realities. Is that what these people have done? Have they created a virtual world where everything is perfect? Are they taking some sort of hallucinating drug? No, well maybe some are, but no this is a philosophical position. In reality there aren't many who hold to this view, but a few do. The most common group that would hold this view are those who would call themselves Deists. For those unfamiliar with Deism, it is the belief that there is a creator of the universe, the earth and humanity that can (or who can) be called God. However, one shouldn't confuse the God of Deism with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of Deism is pretty much uninterested in His/Its creation. He created the physical universe exactly the way He intended it to be and it runs exactly the way He intended it to run. So, He has no need to intervene in its workings. Deists historically said that their view of God was higher than that of Jews and Christians. The Abrahamic God, they contended, was constantly having to intervene in the inner workings of His creation because He didn't get it right the first time. The God of Deism however got it right the first time and has no need to make adjustments in it. So, in their view the world is perfect as it runs exactly the way it was designed and intended to run.
Group 2 would be the group that many fall into (including myself in the interest of full disclosure). This group believes that there is an ideal way that the world should operate and it isn't operating in that way. Of course there are differences among those within this group. They don't all agree on what the ideal way is, in fact sometimes their opinions of what it is are almost 180 degrees opposite of one another. One also sholdn't think that all in this group are religious or even theists (though most would be). Some would hold to the Greek Philosopher Plato's idea of the Forms. This will be a way oversimplification of Plato's idea but it held that everything on earth (and the material universe for that matter) are imperfect representations of the real Forms. The Forms according to Plato are not material. A later philosophy known as Idealism was based in part on Plato, though some Idealists hold that the physical world is an illusion (like the 4th possibility above). Most in this group would say that the world isn't perfect because it isn't the way God created it to be. Sin, evil, wickedness, iniquity or whatever other word you want to use for it has entered the world. The reason given for why imperfection has entered God's perfect world is because God gave humans the ability to choose to obey him or rebel against him. This concept is usually called free will or free agency. There is also the belief that one day God will put the world to rights, it will be perfect.
The third option is that perfection does not exist. Hence a perfect world not only does not exist, but it cannot exist. Perfection is merely a man made artificial idea with no basis in reality. The primary holders of this view are naturalists. By naturalists I mean philosophical naturalists. Philosophical naturalism holds that everything that is in the universe is the result of natural processes. Generally speaking that means all that is follows the laws of science and nature. In some ways those who hold this opinion are very similar to those who hold the first opinion. Both would agree that the world/universe is what it is and was never going to be anything different. The rather obvious difference being that group 1 believes it was intentional and group 3 believes it was not as the laws of science are not sentient or rational entities. Since there was no intention to make it the way it is, it would be absurd to call it perfect. To say something has gone wrong with the world would also be absurd for a couple of reasons. First, it was and is impossible for it to be any other way than the way it has been, is and for that matter will be. Second, to say something has gone wrong is to assume there was a design and purpose for it which it is not accomplishing (as I've said about this computer). Sometimes a naturalist will say that something is wrong with the world, but if he's intellectually honest he will admit what he means is that there is something about the world that he doesn't like not that anything is actually wrong with it. After all I may say something is wrong with my computer because it won't refill my cup of coffee and that statement would be met with laughter, at least I'd hope it would. That's obviously absurd as my computer wasn't designed to do that, hence it's not its purpose to do that.
So, does perfect exist? Yes, otherwise to quote the wise Solomon all we are doing is vanity and striving after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14).
update......Aaron Harang didn't get the perfect game, or even the win. Oh well, such is life as a Braves' fan.
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