Moral Cosmology: On Being in the World Fully and Well
Moral Cosmology: On Being in the World Fully and Well is philosopher Albert Borgmann’s final work, having been published posthumously following his death in May 2023 at the age of eighty-five. Borgmann served as professor of philosophy for five decades at the University of Montana until his retirement in 2020 and is best known for his philosophy of technology as detailed in his 1984 book Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life.1
In Moral Cosmology, Borgmann makes a final return to a fundamental question that occupied him throughout his career: what constitutes the good life in a technological society? Here, Borgmann argues that an understanding of what he terms a “moral cosmology” is needed to answer this question (74). The European Enlightenment divided premodern moral cosmologies into two distinct disciplines, physics (which tells us what is) and ethics (which tells us what we ought to do) (xi). Today, comprehending physics is increasingly beyond the capabilities of the average person, and ethics have likewise become shifting and uncertain. Therefore, to truly feel “at home” in the world, we must construct a moral cosmology that is compatible with contemporary physics and ethics (xii). In simpler terms, we must find a way to once more unite these two disciplines in order to understand our meaning and purpose. In response to this challenge, Borgmann urges us to understand and appreciate our place in the world as the middle-ground between the very small (quantum physics) and the very large (relativity theory). In this sense, we can find peace in the continuity that assures us of our place and does so in a way where ethics can be included within the lawfulness of physics.
The first—and longest—chapter begins with a careful review of the historical role of moral cosmologies in premodern and prehistorical societies. A moral cosmology in this sense includes a story and a “conception of the world as a whole,” such as how it came to be and how this informs the ethics and conduct of human beings (3). Such a universe is “well-ordered and good,” and Borgmann includes examples of the Christian story of Genesis, Helios for the Greeks, and the Sun Chief for the Blackfeet tribe (2). The cohesion of these cosmologies was guaranteed by their successful transmission from generation to generation, which informed both a culture’s and an individual’s understanding of the world at large. However, a rift within these premodern moral cosmologies occurred when cosmology came to be understood chiefly as a scientific discipline, and the symmetry of ethics and physics became further detached through the work of such Enlightenment philosophers as David Hume, René Descartes, and Immanuel Kant. As a result, Borgmann outlines how our nostalgia for a moral cosmology has essentially remained in the same predicament since the eighteenth-century.
In the second and third chapters, Borgmann sketches his proposed solution to this need for unity. He illustrates the role of continuity by reference to the Kees Boeke pictures; Boeke was an educator who illustrated multiple scenes of a girl from both greater and much smaller distances. The purpose of these pictures was to help his pupils conceptualize the universe at increasingly smaller and greater scales. This kind of “background knowing” that is informed by scientific understanding is what Borgmann is referring to when he emphasizes that a modern moral cosmology must include continuity and harmony between physics and ethics (58). Therefore, understanding the basics of physics is key to understanding our place in the world.
As Borgmann details in the fourth chapter, traditional cosmologies have become further encroached upon by technology, through distraction and the loss of those “focal activities” which centre our lives and provide for meaning and purpose. Drawing on his previous works, Borgmann argues that technology as a device divides life into things we can consume and the opaque machinery underneath. A device, in this instance, means a technological object which produces a commodity—such as how a shower produces hot water on demand—without skill, effort, or attention. Therefore, our lives become diminished to the act of simply pressing buttons or clicking on screens, rather than genuine engagement with the world. While technology has afforded us many benefits, Borgman argues that it has also inclined us towards problematic behaviour, including the expectation of constant entertainment, comfort, and “instantaneity”—that is, the ability to be everywhere and nowhere at once (65). As with the loss of a moral cosmology, this resulting attitude of technology means that we suffer a severe disorientation. Therefore, Moral Cosmology concludes with an emphasis on cultivating those focal things and practices which help us acknowledge our place in the continuity of the world and foster gratitude.
At barely one hundred pages, the length of Moral Cosmology may disappoint fans of Borgmann who were hoping for a longer and more in-depth conclusion to his philosophical career. It has been almost two decades since Borgmann’s last book (Real American Ethics)2and I am sure many philosophers of technology were eager to hear Borgmann’s thoughts on recent developments in generative AI, social media, and virtual reality. Moral Cosmology, however, is not that kind of book. But it is interesting in and of itself and presents insight into Borgmann’s thoughts and concerns in his final years. That being said, given that Borgmann had been working on this book up until his death, the Afterword is left incomplete and gives an unfinished aura to the overall text—as if Borgmann had been planning on expanding some of the shorter chapters. Furthermore, the frequent reference to mathematical equations—including a chapter which almost entirely consists of equations meant to introduce the basics of quantum physics and relativity—may be intimidating to non-mathematically inclined philosophers or the average reader.
Borgmann’s discussion of the loss of holistic worldviews and the Enlightenment era division between ethics and physics is also by no means original or revolutionary, and he somewhat over-emphasizes the build-up for a conclusion that is otherwise clearly demonstrated in chapter 2 with regards to the role of continuity in understanding our place and purpose in the universe. However, his emphasis on the implication of the Kees Boeke pictures is unique, and even if the reader is taken aback by the historical and mathematical nuances of Borgmann’s argument, the understanding of ourselves as the middle ground between the smallest and largest aspects of the universe is an intuitive and attractive notion. For those interested in the European Enlightenment and subsequent eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Romantics such as Goethe and Schelling, this book is informative and worthy of close study. It may also be of interest to physicists or other scientific readers who are looking to explore the philosophical implications of the history of modern science.
The most interesting parts of Moral Cosmology are those where Borgmann returns to that which was clearly his philosophical passion, understanding technology and its impact on human life and meaning. Throughout the book, and particularly in the final chapters and conclusion, Borgmann scatters reference to his earlier works, including the role of collective festivity and worship in centring one’s purpose (Power Failure),3 the technologically-induced need to be everywhere at once (Crossing the Postmodern Divide)4 and the aforementioned loss of focal practices to technological deviceness (Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life).5 In snippets of these offhand discussions we can see that even towards the end of Borgmann’s life, he wished to remain hopeful that we could reform our lives for the better and discover renewed meaning in an increasingly technological world. If nothing else, this sense of optimism makes Moral Cosmology a worthy and memorable read and a meaningful conclusion to Borgmann’s legacy.
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Footnotes
- Albert Borgmann, Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life: A Philosophical Inquiry (University of Chicago Press, 1984).
- Albert Borgmann, Real American Ethics: Taking Responsibility for Our Country (University of Chicago Press, 2006).
- Albert Borgmann, Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology (University of Chicago Press, 2003).
- Albert Borgmann, Crossing the Postmodern Divide (University of Chicago Press, 1992).
- Borgmann, Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life: A Philosophical Inquiry.
