CONCLUSION
Humanism is an idea with a global reach. It has originated in
most diverse forms, wherever men and women began to reflect upon what and who
they are, just because a human being is a human being. In a world in which
leading ideologies write and talk about the coming "clash of civilizations",
Teilhardian humanism is about the capacity and the need for humans to
understand and to recognize their differences of cultures and traditions. In a
world full of resentful religious and cultural fundamentalisms, Teilhardian
humanism is about tolerance and the dissolution of all claims to impose upon
others how they should chose to live or believe. In a world which is ever more
polarized between rich and poor people, between rich and poor countries,
Teilhardian humanism is about realizing the equal right of every human being to
sufficiency, in accordance with the generations of human rights articulated
since the UN charter. In a world in which leading powers are waging war without
respecting the UN, Teilhardian humanism is about finding and implementing a way
of banning war as an instrument of politics. Within African society, with its
problems of mass unemployment, poverty and under-financing of public
infrastructures and social security systems, Teilhardian humanism is about
renovating the social compact and redefining the capability of the political
community, in order to find a way of overcoming these problems in a way which
is compatible with the effects and requirements of the rendezvous of
the giving and the receiving. Teilhardian humanism goes a step further. It is
not only centred on man; but also on the earth, on our planet. His humanism
invites a sense of reverence and responsibility for all the variety and wonder
of life on this planet. It allows us to see our lives and spiritual destiny as
intimately intertwined with all the rest of life on earth. We are part of a
network of life dependent on the rest of this living planet for our own
survival. Teilhard de Chardin's concept of a cosmic spirituality is very
relevant for a debate on the protection of the environment. Twenty-first
century humanism must be able to embrace the planet and not just the people on
it.
GENERAL CONCLUSION
10.1. Panmobilism and optimism, substantial interconnection
or Teilhardian interconnection?
Panmobilism, as stated in the general introduction of our
work, refers to the movement of all things. It all begins with Heraclitus who
asserted that all things are in perpetual flux and in perpetual conflict. For
him therefore, Panmobilism only introduces destruction, instability and
conflict. As such, he was pessimistic.
On the other hand, Teilhard de Chardin considers that the
movement of all things, all civilizations, all cultures and all peoples is not
a desperate one; it is full of meaning, full of hope and full of perspectives
for the future of mankind. This is because Panmobilism has a goal, it has an
end and this end is the Omega Point, the fulfilment of evolution. Instead of
being pessimistic as Heraclitus, Teilhard de Chardin is optimistic and
considers that all things necessarily move, they necessarily converge and they
converge towards the Omega Point. Despite the apparent conflict which saddened
Heraclitus and which it saddens us to see, Teilhard de Chardin invites us to
keep on hoping in a better future, all these conflicts, all these destructions,
all the hatred are a necessary stage for the advent of a civilization of the
Universal.
Hence, Panmobilism and optimism are not linked by nature. One
can hold the theory of Panmobilism and be pessimistic and this, as we have just
seen, is the case of Heraclitus; whereas one can be optimistic while holding on
the theory of Panmobilism and this is the view of Teilhard de Chardin.
Panmobilism and optimism become interconnected in a meaningful manner only in
Teilhardian humanism. His humanism is based on optimism, and his optimism takes
its roots on his metaphysics which is a metaphysics of convergence and
totality, all things converge in accordance with the ancient panmobilist theory
of Heraclitus which we have decided to use in order to describe the Teilhardian
metaphysics.
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