Albert Schweitzer is seen now mostly as a person who lived out his long
life as a doctor in Gabon. True enough. But prior to that he was not merely a
distinguished Biblical scholar but also a philosopher of no mean capacity.
After an investigation that was more than likely similar in depth to that
of Peirce, he concluded that there was one and only one thing that could be
said about us with certainty. "We are life that wills to live midst life
that wills to live." This is the root understanding that gives rise to
triadic philosophy. It is the reason he embraced a way of utter nonviolence and
what he called reverence for life. It is I think one root of a general move
away from creedal religiosity and toward various forms of universalism. It also
validates an approach which does not minimize the role of ethics in the
viaticum "we" should carry on our journey.
