So far from it being the truth that the ideal of progress is to be set against that of ethical or religious finality, the reverse is the truth. Nobody has any business to use the word "progress" unless he has a definite creed and a cast-iron code of morals.
G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, Heretics, On the Negative Spirit, (Barnes and Nobles, 2007, pp. 14-15)
Does program require a definite goal? Why or why not?
I think of a goal as something to be held with an open hand.
ReplyDeleteI think that depends on what the goal is. Unless we have fixed basic principles to define our goals, we have no basis to choose or even change them. But I believe there can be considerable latitude for redirect and changing within that framework. But without the framework it is hard to even know what to change to everything is up for grabs.
DeleteI think of a goal as something that is fairly general in nature. Being a better basketball player is a goal. Developing a plan to achieve that goal is where one can get specific. Same with a goal like growing closer to God. We can both share that same goal but have totally different goals with regard to how we achieve that goal.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with your analysis.What I (and as I understand him, Chesterton) would say is that there needs to be broad goals that are fixed, such as growing closer to God. If the main goal is fixed then different people or the same person at a different time may have different ways to achieve the goal. But if the broad goal is not fixed, then one does not get anywhere, because you do not know where you are going. The major goals put the lesser goals in context.
Delete