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Pierre Teilhard De Chardin and Muhammad Iqbal on Human Consciousness and Sociality: a Critical Comparison

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Pierre Teilhard De Chardin and Muhammad Iqbal on Human Consciousness and Sociality: a Critical Comparison PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN AND MUHAMMAD IQBAL ON HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS AND SOCIALITY: A CRITICAL COMPARISON A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theological and Religious Studies By Joshua Shane Canzona, M.T.S. Washington, D.C. March 16, 2018 Copyright 2018 by Joshua Shane Canzona All Rights Reserved ii PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN AND MUHAMMAD IQBAL ON HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS AND SOCIALITY: A CRITICAL COMPARISON Joshua Shane Canzona, M.T.S. Thesis Advisor: Leo D. Lefebure, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This study is a comparative analysis of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Muhammad Iqbal focused on how the themes of consciousness and sociality are developed and interconnected in their respective worldviews. Research efforts sought the exposition of these themes throughout the oeuvres of both authors and in letters and journals, published and archival. Taking a short article by Eva de Vitray-Meyerovitch as inspiration, this study is the first sustained comparison of Iqbal and Teilhard de Chardin and the only sustained comparative study of Teilhard with any Muslim thinker. The scope of research in this project has also brought numerous primary and secondary sources within the respective orbit of each thinker into conversation for the first time and it marks the first published citation of previously unused or sealed archival resources held by Georgetown University. The analysis of consciousness in Teilhard and Iqbal has revealed (1) the importance of their shared inheritance from philosopher Henri Bergson (2) a shared commitment to the unity of consciousness and (3) a shared commitment to a particular kind of panpsychism within the context of panentheism. With respect to sociality, both thinkers write of the phenomenon as a transformative union bearing out the future of consciousness through the joining together of disparate peoples. Iqbal envisions this union as the coming together of the umma bound together by the centripetal force of Islam, whereas Teilhard imagines the entire cosmos forming the Body of Christ in a transhumanist eschaton. Ultimately, Iqbal’s view is more grounded and more iii attentive to the immediate dangers of imperialism, inequality, and power differentials than Teilhard’s cosmic vision. Despite such differences, and despite their respective critiques of mysticism, it is shown that both Teilhard and Iqbal share a mystical paradigm devoted to knowledge, love, and the building of a better world. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad, “God, His Angels, the inhabitants of heaven and earth, even the ant in his hill, and the fish in water call down blessings on those who share beneficial knowledge.” It has been my good fortune to benefit from the guidance and support of extraordinary teachers and mentors. Here I wish to acknowledge Amy Hollywood, who encouraged me to study mysticism and pursue an academic vocation; Paul Heck, who is my inspiration in the study of Islam and the life of the mind generally; Carole Sargent, whose trust and investment in me has meant so much; and Daniel Madigan, whose special gifts of insight and humility have made me a better person. My thanks to the American Teilhard Association, the Booth Family Center for Special Collections at Georgetown University, Iqbal Academy Pakistan, and the family of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, particularly Marie Bayon de la Tour, for their indispensable help with my research. My gratitude to Michelle Voss Roberts and the entire community at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity for providing an academic home away from home while completing this project. This dissertation would not have been possible without the advice and revisions of my committee. With heartfelt gratitude, I acknowledge Peter Phan, whose enthusiasm for Teilhard has bolstered my own and Mustansir Mir, who has shepherded my study of Muhammad Iqbal with an adab of inestimable grace, kindness, and generosity. I have reserved the last acknowledgement for Leo Lefebure. For the rest of my career, his unparalleled professionalism will serve as my exemplar in mentorship and collegiality. He has sharpened my focus, lightened my burdens, and believed in my work at every step of this journey. It is an honor and privilege to have such a Doktorvater. v DEDICATION L'amour est une aventureuse conquête. Il ne tient, et se développe, comme l'Univers lui-même, que par une perpétuelle découverte. As we begin our tenth year of marriage, this dissertation is for Mollie Rose and so am I. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 Chapter Two: Consciousness ......................................................................................... 80 Chapter Three: Sociality ............................................................................................. 141 Chapter Four: Mysticism ............................................................................................ 192 Chapter Five: Conclusion ........................................................................................... 224 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 239 vii Chapter One: Introduction Sharing an interest in a dynamic worldview and the thought of French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941), Muhammad Iqbal and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ask many of the same questions. Ursula King describes Teilhard’s life’s work as an “attempt to relate the Divine and the world in the most intimate manner, expressed through his efforts in seeing science and religion as part of the same quest for ultimate unity.”1 Of science and religion, Teilhard says, “The same life animates both.” 2 Iqbal was not himself a scientist but he respected the spiritual dimension of scientific research, “The truth is that all search for knowledge is essentially a form of prayer. The scientific observer of Nature is a kind of mystic seeker in the act of prayer.”3 I am not the first to note the resonance between these two thinkers. It is mentioned by Ursula King, and Eva de Vitray-Meyerovitch, the translator of Iqbal’s work into French, published a short article on the topic.4 She notes their shared sense of the modern human predicament, “the desolation of man in the twentieth century within a universe where he feels isolated and lost” and the need for a humanism marked by a “change of optics that must be made . a consideration of man ‘not as the static center of the world, as has been long believed, but as the axis and arrow of evolution—which is much more beautiful.’”5 This is the only published comparison of Teilhard with a Muslim thinker I am aware of and it is an invitation for deeper analysis. I believe a sustained comparison of Teilhard and Iqbal will illuminate stengths, deficiencies, and 1 Ursula King, Teilhard de Chardin and Eastern Religions: Spirituality and Mysticism in an Evolutionary World (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2011), 24. 2 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Science and Christ, trans. René Hague (New York: Harper, 1969), 248. 3 Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2013), 73. 4 Eva Meyerovitch, “Orient et Occident,” The New Morality 1 (1963): 49–68; my translation. 5 Ibid., 51. 1 assumptions in both thinkers. In truth, such a comparison is long overdue and its absence is a sign that neither of these thinkers is receiving the consideration they deserve. Current discourse and teaching in the study of religion is diminished by a failure to more fully include the insights of Teilhard and Iqbal within the conversation. I refer to “the conversation” in the broadest possible sense but these thinkers offered particularly relevant insights on the development of mysticism and the relationship between science and religion. On a fundamental level, my project’s purpose is to demonstrate the importance and value of my two thinkers in creating better-informed analyses of contemporary theological problems. They were forward-thinking enough to creatively address some of the most difficult transitions in the politics and worldview of the early 20th century. My thesis is that Teilhard and Iqbal both provide holistic responses to the challenge posed by the ascendency of scientific materialism. Their complex thought systems are united by a sense of purpose in the face of external challenges and by many substantive similarities emerging from their shared interest in the theological implications of human progress. Differences between Teilhard and Iqbal arise out of their respective commitments to Christianity and Islam and from their distinctive life experiences. Through comparison, these differences can inform lacunae in the individual thought systems: Teilhard places emphasis on the future convergence of humanity in the body of Christ; Iqbal emphasizes unity (tawhid) at all levels and especially in the individual human person. As a geologist enjoying the privileges of colonial power, Teilhard has the luxury of speculating on aeonian synthesis. Iqbal is much more attentive to power differentials and the problems facing humanity in the immediate future. 2 This project will be organized around these two key concepts in Iqbal and Teilhard: human consciousness and human sociality. These categories are best understood with reference to the broader studies
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