Scruton, Roger: The Face of God – Review

in the book The Face of God, Roger Scruton discusses the atheistic worldview that has been gaining ground in Western culture. The atheist says that the laws of nature determine everything that is real, including human thought and action. Consequently, due to scientific theory, there can be no supernatural explanation for existence. Nothing that science can discover could count as a plan or a goal for the universe.

Those looking for a deeper meaning to life might wonder what is logically wrong with such a materialistic worldview. Roger Scruton asks: can it be true, for example, that religion consists merely of a set of beliefs, long since refuted by science, but which you nevertheless cling to for the convenience they offer?

Scruton, a well-known British philosopher, tries to address these questions. He does this by exploring what we mean by the terms ‘me’, ‘you’, and ‘why’ in relation to the face of a person, the face of the world, and the face of God.

The human face according to Scruton

Scruton contrasts the objective world of science with the subjective world of human consciousness revealed in the human face. There are honest and deceitful faces, but no honest and deceitful elbows and knees. The face appears in the world of objects as if illuminated from behind.

He writes:

“Fashion models and pop stars tend to have withdrawn, frowning, closed faces. Little or nothing is conveyed through their faces, which offer no invitation to love or companionship. The function of the model’s face is Fashion is displaying the body; faces are simply one of the attractions of the body, with no special role to play as a focus of interest for another. It is characterized by an almost metaphysical emptiness, as if there were no soul within.”

He says that if he were to make a prediction about my future behavior, he would be looking at me from the outside. This would involve thinking objectively, evaluating the evidence, extrapolating from past observations, and drawing conclusions just as you would by observing another person.

But what is real is not only what is outside in the objective world but also what is here in my subjective world of what I think and feel. Scruton argues that science forgets that what is amazing about our universe is that it contains subjectivity: rational consciousness, judgment, the knowledge of right and wrong, and all the other things that make the human condition so distinctive.

Your face

I write this review and you read it. The ‘I-you’ relationship is fundamental to all human behaviour. And this brings the ethical dimension. What is good and bad, right and wrong in relationships.

A contemporary idea is that moral virtue is simply an adaptation to give an individual’s genes an advantage in the game of life. This argument employs a minimalist conception of altruism according to which a person acts altruistically if he benefits another with similar genes even at his own expense. So, the concept is thought to apply equally to the soldier ants marching into the flames that threaten the anthill, and the officer who pounces on the live grenade that threatens his platoon.

Scruton writes: “The concept of altruism, thus understood, cannot explain, or even recognize, the distinction between these two cases. However, the ant instinctively marches towards the flame, unable to understand what it is doing or to fear its results, while the official ant gives his life consciously to his friends. The human motive is based on the awareness of duty and the cost of fulfilling it. The genetic explanation is trivial. You cannot live life as we know it, that is, the life of a person responsible before others like oneself, without experiencing the force of moral norms”.

Scruton on the question ‘Why?’

Why do I exist? Why does something exist? Scruton has argued that the question “why?” has more than one meaning. And that the “why?” of science, which looks for causes, must be distinguished from the “why” of reason, which looks for arguments, and the “why?” of understanding, which seeks meanings. What is significant is what is to me, eg relevant, significant, charming, scary, funny.

Scruton points out that this question of ‘why do I exist?’ it has to do with our most fundamental anxiety. Jean-Paul Sartre answered it, in his early existential writings, by saying that there is no other answer than that your own existence is some kind of absurdity. Scruton could have added that the Darwinian view of evolution, as natural selection and survival of the fittest, amounts to life being an accident, similarly without any purpose or plan. Both views, of course, are incompatible with religious belief in divine intelligence and design.

divine intelligence

The skeptic might ask this question. If there is a God with divine intelligence, how could he be free to continue acting in the world? Is that a place where scientific laws govern everything? The writer acknowledges that he will not find evidence of God in action if he looks for inexplicable deviations from the laws of nature. However, he would add that, at least according to the philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, a divine influence does take place. It does so without miraculously affecting material reality, but within the ‘spiritual world’ of the human subjective mind. God inspires enlightened thought, goodwill, wisdom, and love. And in doing so, the dark forces of selfishness, corruption and hatred are counterbalanced.

For Scruton, the face symbolizes a higher and moral dimension of life. So God has a human face. With our faces we look at the physical and social world that we have disfigured. We are responsible for it and we are judged by it. Therein lies our capacity for self-transcendence.

Other matters covered by Scruton

Scruton covers much more ground than this brief review can include. For example, he writes about the face of the environment as a sacred place. One that deserves respect and conservation instead of exploitation and consumption.

It also refers to the “abstract liberal concept of the person, as a center of free choice, whose will is sovereign, and whose rights determine our duties towards it“But this says”it delivers in the best of cases only a part of the moral thought.“

Contrast this attitude with the ideas of the philosophizer Georg Wilhelm Hegel. These emphasize the importance of internal conflict and self-control for personal growth. In my opinion, Scruton successfully relates this to the religious theme of sacrifice.

My conclusion about this book by Roger Scruton

This book will appeal to those who are uncomfortable with the notion of God as an illusion. This book is by a professional philosopher who is also a skeptical Anglican. It covers deep thought but is intended for the general reader rather than a specialized academic audience. It is worth reading for those looking for answers.