Philosophic Dialogues with ChatGPT

Round 1: On the relationship between Religion and Philosophy

I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT recently and wanted to share a couple interactions I had with it.

1) On the Trinity of Philosophy, Religion, and Science

In my last article, called “Philosophy, Religion, and Science: a Synthesis”, I discussed various ways that these three institutions are interconnected. I decided to ask ChatGPT what it thought of the relationship between them.

Me: Religion, philosophy, and science each relate to the idea of God in a unique way. Can you tell me what this is for each?

ChatGPT: Certainly, religion, philosophy, and science each relate to the idea of God in unique ways: … with religion emphasizing faith and devotion, philosophy exploring the rational and metaphysical aspects, and science concentrating on the natural and empirical aspects of the world.

After this exchange, I excerpted a passage from my article that hones in on the deeper mystical aspects of religion and asked ChatGPT what it thought of it. Here’s the interaction:

Here, we find ChatGPT supporting the logic that religion is at root about an inner, transcendent experience of the Divine. This profound experience takes place by means of the individual’s communion with their own Higher Self. This Higher Self is one’s true gateway to God, because it is in fact an aspect of God.

2) On the Incarnation of the Manu

This second interaction is longer and more involved. It has to do with the exploration of one of the central ideas of ancient Hindu mythology: that an archetypal human - the Manu - was first formed within the Mind of God at the beginning of creation. This idea was then projected outward onto Matter, to become the seed-design for the evolving human species.

• The teaching of the Manu is an aspect of a larger spiritual cosmology that is rooted in the idea of cycles. At the beginning of the world cycle: the divine idea of man was first fashioned; this idea is then projected outward unto the plane of matter, where it becomes gradually objectified over the course of seven sub-cycles or ages.

• At the end of the seventh cycle, this subjective idea becomes expressed as a perfect objective image. When this is accomplished, God’s great meditation is completed, the world is retracted back into the Divine Mind, and a period of rest ensues.

Esoteric Philosophy’s teaching of the seven “root races” is an extension of this idea. According to these teachings, we are currently in the Fifth root race, called the “Aryan”, with two more yet to come. I begin my discourse with ChatGPT by asking it to summarize this concept:

In the esoteric teachings, mankind is said to be the product of the Manu, who projects seven extensions of himself, one for each root race. The Manu associated with our present root race is named “Vaivasvata Manu”. I ask ChatGPT to elaborate on this teaching:

Here’s where things get interesting. In my writings on the topic, I link this ancient myth with a deeper philosophic investigation of archetypes. I’m trying to see if ChatGPT will accept this connection. At first it doesn’t, but after some persuading it comes around and accepts the link.

Here’s our first interaction, where ChatGPT attempts to reject the link between mythic symbolism and psychological archetypes:

Here’s where I challenge ChatGPT on its conclusions. Surprisingly, it comes around and accepts the deeper philosophical analysis I present to it.

So there you have it: the concept of archetypes linked with the mythology of the Manu. For more, read my article “Philosophy, Religion, and Science: a Synthesis”