Steinbeck's Non Teleological Ly example essay topic

There is no meaning to life. Life has no inherent meaning. The meanings of our lives are chosen by what we feel and experience or are assigned to us by others. The ends of our existence cannot be foreseen and will not be limited by such things as destiny. These are the ideas and philosophies of those who believe life to be non-teleological. A famous literary example of a non- is a man named John Steinbeck.

Throughout his life Steinbeck experimented with Darwinism, transcendentalism, realism, socialism, naturalism, and Taoism (Endnotes 1). Each of these ways of thinking show up in Steinbeck's philosophy and therefore his work cannot be classified specifically. All that may be said is that he had a non-teleological way of thinking. As nature played such a major role in his life, Steinbeck's characters are shaped by nature and their surroundings give purpose to their lives. These characters' fates are not pre-determined. Instead every event in the natural world gives new meaning to a life.

As a result of Steinbeck's non-teleological beliefs, his characters' lives contain no inherent meaning and their ever-changing paths are influenced by occurrences and over the passage of time. A surprisingly few number people know what the meaning of teleology is but a large majority of the population have very strong feelings towards its basic principle. Teleology is the philosophical study of evidences of design in nature. It is the fact or the character of being directed toward an end or shaped by a purpose. Teleology may be used to describe natural processes or nature as a whole, conceived as determined by final causes or by the design of a divine providence.

The philosophy allows that for any "natural phenomenon", design or purpose may be used as an explanation (Webster's 2350). A more familiar way of questioning if one believes the principle idea of teleology or not, is whether one believes in the idea of destiny or choice. Teleology and non-teleology are interesting philosophies in that believers of either idea are not necessarily categorized as non-believers of the opposing philosophy. In fact, both teleological and non-teleological thinkers use ideas and theories from each other to strengthen their own beliefs. For example an object or a behavior is said to be teleological when it gives evidence of design or appears to be directed toward a certain end. (Teleological Explanations 1) Objects that are considered to be teleological would include most objects made by people.

For instance, we do not use a knife to cut objects because the blade is sharp, we made the knife in order to cut the object. But admit that there are objects that are non-teleological. We take advantage of the shape of mountains by skiing on them, but mountains are not the shape they are in order for us to ski on them (1). This can also be explained as "ends exist in the mind which studies nature, not in nature itself" (1). Tele ologists must admit that there on non-teleological parts of life, otherwise their philosophy would include such ridiculous beliefs as sodium and chloride being combined to taste salty rather than the salty taste being an effect of the two elements bonding. Steinbeck was correct in thinking that as a non-teleological thinker he must also take into account the teleological outlook on life.

Steinbeck said: "Teleological answers necessarily must be included in the non-teleological method since they are a part of the picture even if only restricted ly true and as a soon as their qualities of relatedness are recognized. Even erroneous beliefs are real things and have to be considered proportional to their spread or intensity" (Log from the Sea of Cortez 171). Steinbeck believed teleology to be only a small part of the big picture and that by not expanding their view and opening their minds would have a very limited knowledge of life. Steinbeck said: " 'All truths must embrace all extent apropos errors also, and know them as such by relation to the whole, and allow for their affects" (171).

Steinbeck knew that there were certain parts of the world that were teleological but these truths did not lessen his overall non-teleological philosophy. There is an important idea to keep in mind when considering teleology. "The question in not whether there are efficient or final causes, whether for instance, man sees because he has eyes or has eyes in order to see" (Teleological Explanations 1). One of the clearest examples of Steinbeck's non-teleological view of life occurs in the novel East of Eden in which a character discusses choice in life and glory of the human soul as a result of that choice. Lee is revealing his discovery of the correct translation of the story of Cain and Able in The Bible. The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you call sin ignorance.

The King James translation makes a promise in 'Thou shalt,' meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word -'Thou mayest'-that gives choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if 'Thou mayest' it is also true that 'Though mayest not.

' Don't you see?" (303) The character, Lee, being a Chinese refugee, takes this new idea to heart not as a religious philosophy but as a way of viewing life. He stated: "This is not theology. I have no bent towards the gods. But I have a new love for that flittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed-because 'Thou mayest!' " (Steinbeck, East of Eden 304).

For Lee this new idea of choice opens a whole new world of possibility for the human life. A man's ability to choose his path is a god-like power that believe humans do not posses and that non- believe is our greatest strength. .".. That makes a man great.

That gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win" (Steinbeck, East of Eden 303). Steinbeck's philosophy is not that we have inherited an end to our lives but rather we have inherited the power to be shaped and influenced and choose our own individual end. Steinbeck said in his Nobel Prize speech: "Having taken God-like power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have" (2). He also believed that we as a culpable race of people must take responsibility for what happens to us in our lives. Samuel Hamilton, a character in East of Eden, said: "It is easy out of laziness, out of weakness, to throw oneself into the lap of deity, saying, 'I couldn't help it; the way was set' " (Steinbeck 304).

We must not blame the gods for what troubles occur in our lives but we may also take credit for the production of good things or for our own success. Jim Casey, the philosophical figure in Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath said: "I fingered about the Holy Sperit and the Jesus road. I fingered, 'Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe,' I fingered, 'Maybe it's all men an' all women we love; maybe that's the Holy-Sperit-the human spirit-the whole shebang.

Maybe all men got one big soul ever " body's a part of' " (32-33). Because of ideas like these Casey could no longer be a preacher, but he grew to know more about the human soul and the worth of his life. In several, if not all of Steinbeck's novels, the characters at a certain point either discuss or think about meaning in their lives in which their ideas reflect Steinbeck's personal philosophy. Ethan Hawley, from The Winter of Our Discontent, reflects one of these philosophies: "I had a thought I could put a process in motion and control it at every turn-even stop it when I wanted to. And now a frightening conviction grew in me that such a process may become a thing itself, a person almost, having its own ends and a means and quite independent of its creator" (Steinbeck 238). In The Winter of Our Discontent, Steinbeck compares a process to a person as if such characteristics of a human were widely known.

In the passage one must assume that a person is indeed independent of his creator and possesses his own end. A character from The Pearl states: .".. The gods do not love success unless it comes by accident" (Steinbeck 29). There are not specific lives that are picked and chosen to succeed by the gods. Everyone is given equal opportunity and it is up to the individual to do what he will with his life. Steinbeck said: "It is our practice now, to find from our psychiatric priesthood that our sins aren't really sins at all but accidents that are set in motion by forces beyond our control" (Travels with Charley 78).

Travels with Charley is Steinbeck's non-teleological ly idealized piece of work because the novel is the most biographical of his works and therefore contains more of his personal philosophies. In Travels with Charley, he once again states his disapproval of society blaming their problems on destiny. The characters either come to realize, or know from the beginning that their own choice led them where they arrived. St. Thomas said about intrinsic finality that every being contains a natural tendency, and therefore directs its activity towards perfecting its own nature. (Teleological Explanations 2) Steinbeck would argue that this statement is not entirely true. While the statement is true in that every being does have a natural tendency, not every being will strive to be the best it can be.

Doc, a character from Cannery Row, notes about society that: "The sale of souls to gain the whole world is completely voluntary and almost unanimous-but not quite" (Steinbeck 151). Influences on men by outside forces will affect the direction of their lives. In The Grapes of Wrath the gradual breaking down of Pa Joad's character reminds the reader that hardship does not always "build character". Being immoral and corrupt has gotten men very far in the world. If building a man's qualities of sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest leads him to success and having the qualities of kindness, generosity, openness, honesty, understanding, and feeling which we so admire in men leads him to nothing but failure, then which way will a man direct his activity?

The choice is his. The character Ethan Hawley of The Winter of our Discontent calls in to question the extent of his choice in life. He asks: "Did I really start it, or did I simply not resist it? I may have been the mover, but was I not also the moved? Once on the long street, there seemed to be no crossroads, no forked paths, no choice" (Steinbeck 239).

In his confusion, Ethan wonders if his path was placed before him or if he had laid the way himself. After troubling over these thoughts he comes to a conclusion, "The choice was in the first evaluation" (239). Even though the path Ethan was on seemed impossible to turn from, he realized that the way had resulted from his own choices and decisions. By believing a life to be non-teleological the value in that life increases. Samuel Hamilton from East of Eden asks another, "A man, his whole life, matches himself against pay. And how, if it's my whole life's work to find my worth, can you, sad man, write me down instant in a ledger?" (East of Eden 258).

Most values set to people are determined by the amount of power that the person holds. More is done to protect the lives of those in high power. Humans have a natural tendency to desire more power and strive to attain that goal. By admitting that our lives are not under our direction, we pre-determine for ourselves that we have no power.

If we do not have power over ourselves, then we cannot possibly think of having power over others. In truth we do have power over others. We will always have the power of influence over other people's lives. The natural world's effects on people is one of the normal processes of life. Steinbeck will often write about a transplanted family, usually to California, and readers see the character's reactions to the beauty of the land. A person's surroundings have an extreme effect on their behavior and mood.

Steinbeck states specifically about America: "Something happened in America to create Americans. Perhaps it was the grandeur of the land-the lordly mountains, the mystery of deserts, the ache of storms, cyclones-the enormous sweetness and violence of the country which, acting on restless, driven peoples from the outside world made them... Americans" (America 1). Appreciating the earth and choosing aspects of our lives is the most rewarding experience. A character from The Grapes of Wrath, Jim Casey's philosophy was, "The most divine aspect of human experience is to be found on earth, among one's fellow humans, rather than amid the clouds" (Steinbeck 23).

According to statements by Steinbeck about people having the god-like power of choice, then simply living daily life and choosing your path is indeed a divine experience. There are so many external forces concerning ourselves and others either originating from us or being directed at us. Greed, ambition, jealousy, advice, criticism, compliments, gossip, admiration, and love all have countless effects on how we socially interact and how we view ourselves. The Red Pony's main character, a young boy Jody Tiflis, has ideas about life which are constantly affected by his father, grandfather, Gita no, and his experiences with the horses (Steinbeck, The Red Pony 34). The more experiences Jody undergoes, the more his growth and change become noticeable. Kino from The Pearl is thought by some to have been destroyed by the evil of the pearl and destined to fall since the day he found the life-changing object.

Kino was actually destroyed because of his ambition and greed and he chose that path the second he decided that obtaining money was more important than keeping his family safe. The written word allows readers to familiarize themselves with the theories of great philosophers. Many people say that a book changed their life. Steinbeck also believed in the strength of the written word. Steinbeck, winning a Nobel Prize for literature, stated about the written word, "Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it and it has not changed except to become more needed" (1).

Books give mankind more access to educated minds that have shaped the world and in turn shape us as human beings. As a result of our progress there are not necessarily several more new ideas but, rather, the ideas are becoming more complex. As we scientifically answer questions about the world, doubts and new questions arise. When one finds he has a theory or philosophy about life, the theory will inevitably be composed of several bits and pieces of other theories. The philosophy will be a patchwork quilt of ideas of philosophers, theories of peers, and conclusions drawn from personal experience. If someone decides a meaning to their life they will have, in turn, given a meaning.

Just as one who sets a limit to their life will have limited it. Keno from The Pearl did this, "But now by saying what his future was going to be like, he had created it" (Steinbeck 29). How can a quilt of several pieces gathered from far and near, and now and then, with large portions being personal to the creator, be like any other? Can the meaning of someone's life possibly resemble anyone else's? And how, when the experiences have yet to occur and the person has yet to make choices about what to believe and do, can the meaning of a life be pre-determined and an end set?

The answer to all of the questions is that these destiny based ideas are not possible, because, non-teleological ly speaking, life has no inherent end or meaning. People may not always be the best judges of what is good for them in life but essentially it is their judgment that decides their path. We give our life meaning by subscribing to our chosen work, religion and through our passions. Through our friendships, others assign us meaning. "Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope. In the end is the word, and the word is with man" (Steinbeck, Nobel Prize 2).

Both the path and the end lie with man. Let us choose wisely.

Bibliography

Nobel e-Museum-Steinbeck's 1962 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech".
Nils Ringer tz. 15 October 2003.
Stockholm: Nobel Foundation, 1995.
Ricketts, Edward Flanders and John Steinbeck. Log from the Sea of Cortez. New York: Penguin USA, 1995.
Steinbeck, John Ernst. East of Eden. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.
The Grapes of Wrath. Garden City: The Sun Dial Press, 1941.
The Pearl. New York: Penguin USA, 2000.
The Red Pony. New York: The Viking Press, 1945.
Travels with Charley: In Search of America. New York: Penguin USA, 1980.
The Winter of our Discontent. New York: Viking Press, 1945.
Teleology and Teleological Explanations". Dr. Francisco Ayala. ". Teleology". Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield: G. & C. Merriam Company, 1979".
Teleology - World Cultures: General Concepts". Richard Hooker. 15 October 2003.
Viking's America and Americans" and "Notes". Scott Siskins. 16 October 2003.
The University of Southern Mississippi, 1966.