Monday, September 3, 2018

Creativity, Techne, Knowledge of Good and Evil

In the beginning, the deity of Genesis is clearly characterized as a Creator.  So, insofar as he creates humans 'in his own image', they, too, are, first and foremost, creative beings.  Now, the Knowledge involved in creating is Techne.  Hence, Techne is a fundamental characteristic of both the deity of Genesis, and the humans that he creates, a shared characteristic that is exemplified in Genesis, as has been previously discussed, by the clothing-making skills of both God and Adam and Eve.  So, whatever is meant there by "knowledge of good and evil", a term popularly taken to signify sexual activity, is within the context of Creativity and Techne.  Now, God's comment at 3:11 indicates that being naked is an object of that knowledge.  But, Adam and Eve have known that since 2:25, so that is not an object of a knowledge that is enabled by the eating of the forbidden fruit. Instead, what is new is their skill in fashioning girdles out of fig-leaves.  Hence, what they have gained upon eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is some Techne.  Thus, the confusion at the root of this influential passage stems from the inconsistency between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 and 3--two different accounts of the creation of humans, and two different accounts of their acquisition of divine Techne.  For example, current Economic policies continue to be influenced by the uncritical acceptance of that confusion, as has been previously discussed.

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