216. To authorize is at once (1) to entitle and (2) to empower

PDF Version of this Document

To authorize is at once (1) to entitle and (2) to empower.

But, then, the implicit primal authorizing source of authority with respect to our existential question must be conceived (1) as the whence (Woher) of our authentic existence, which as such is objectively real extra nos, sine nobis, et contra nos (this being the metaphysical aspect of the primal source); (2) as entitling us to understand our existence authentically; and (3) as empowering us thus to understand ourselves (these two together being the primal source in its moral aspect).

Accordingly, any explicit primal source of existential authority may be conceived, in R. Bambrough's words, as (1) "the enunciation of a truth"; (2) "the pointing of a way [sc. of living]"; and (3) "the renewal of a life."

n.d.; rev, 5 September 2003; 19 July 2006