This bound copy of the Magna Carta from 1556, displayed in Philadelphia, 22/02/06, is from a collection of books once owned by Benjamin Franklin. The Library Company of Philadelphia plans to publish a catalog of titles comprising up to two-thirds of Franklin's lost collection.

How Big Ideas Matter:
​Whitehead and the Magna Carta
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Do big ideas matter? Whitehead believed they did. He believed that history unfolds, not only in terms of economic circumstances, environmental changes, and political whims, but also in terms of big ideas that capture people's imaginations. 

He knew that big ideas are not all-determining. Their influence can pale in relation to other factors: social, political, psychological, geographical, and circumstantial. Still, they can make a difference for good and ill. Big ideas need not be good in order to be influential. Racism and sexism, fascism and nationalism are big ideas, too. But they can be good, inspired by a goodness that dwells within the heart of the universe.

One such idea is the Rule of Law: the idea that everyone, including governments, must abide by and be subject to the law. It means that no one is above the law and that all individuals and institutions are accountable to the law, regardless of their status, wealth, or power. Many trace this idea to the Magna Carta. Since 1215, the Magna Carta has evolved from a political peace treaty in a small corner of England into an international symbol of individual freedoms and the rule of law.

King John of England (one of the worst in English history) would have been surprised that the charter he sealed has become such a powerful document. It began as a practical solution to a political crisis.

Now, however, the document functions as a symbol of hope in America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, and elsewhere. After the Second World War, the UN set up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Eleanor Roosevelt called a “Magna Carta for all mankind”.

In our time, many people lift up still another possibility. It is that humans can live together, not only by the rule of law but also by, as it were, the rules of the earth. Thus we have the Earth Charter, one of the most promising documents of our time. It highlights and spells out how we humans can live with respect and care for one another and the community of life. The rule of law would be part of this larger context in which we live.

This page, however, is not on the Earth Charter, it is on the Magna Carta. I offer a Whiteheadian appreciation of the document, offering a way of thinking about symbols as lures for feeling in human life.

​- Jay McDaniel, 4/14/2023

The Magna Carta and Whitehead
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The Magna Carta (Great Charter) was signed by King John of England in 1215 and consisted of 63 clauses establishing certain rights and limitations on the power of the monarch. It has had a profound impact on the development of modern democracy, human rights, and the rule of law not only in the West but around the world. It is widely considered to be one of the most important legal documents in history, and its principles continue to be relevant today.

Many of its clauses are quite specific, limited to local circumstances:

• Clause 35, regulating the weight and measurement of bread, wine, and ale. 
• Clause 36, requiring that all fish weirs be removed from the Thames and Medway rivers, to ensure that fish could migrate freely.

However, some clauses seem immensely relevant.
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• Clause 39: establishing the principle of the rule of law, stating that no free man can be punished except through the law of the land. 
• Clause 40: establishing the right to a fair trial by a jury of one's peers, and the right to due process of law. 
• Clause 45: establishing the principle that the king is subject to the law and could be held accountable for his actions.
• Clause 61: establishing the principle of constitutional review and the right of barons to resist the king if he violates the terms of the Magna Carta. 

​These four clauses give rise to four big ideas that inspire people around the world. functioning as aspirational ideals.
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• No one, not even a king, is above the law.
• No one can be arrested or exiled without reason.
• Everyone has the right to trial by jury.
• Power should be held accountable.

I speak of these as "big ideas" people people all over the world find them relevant and powerful. They can be understood by all people, not just academic elites.

If we consider these ideas with Whiteheadian eyes, interesting questions emerge. Are the ideas created or discovered? Are they purely human creations and thus "constructions," or are they partly inspired by transcendent ideals that are part of the universe? Can their meanings change over time even as the ideals may be more permanent? What is the ontological status of big ideas such as these, carrying normative implications?

In the philosophy of Whitehead, ideas come in two forms: pure potentialities (eternal objects) that can be entertained without reference to the actual world, and real potentialities that are relevant to the actual world: highly abstract ideas and relevant ideas.

The four ideas above are of the latter kind. They are ideas that can be acted upon in given situations, containing within them calls to action. Whitehead speaks of them as propositions in the sense that they are "proposals" for how we might live in the world and interact with others.  Additionally Whitehead emphasizes the emotional appeal of such propositions. They are, he says, “lures for feeling." They evoke emotional responses of attraction or resistance, which he calls "subjective forms."  When we consider the idea that power should be held accountable, a subjective form accompanies our consideration. It is an emotion of dealing with the way things ought to be, an emotion of desire and moral expectation, of shouldness.

The four ideas named above are important to many people around the world, Asian and North American, African and Latin American. They function artistically, because there is something in them that is attractive and beautiful as well as obligatory. Interestingly, Whitehead believes that propositions of this sort are not reducible to their verbal articulations, whether written or spoken. They can be felt and, as it were, danced through gestures, images, and music. We can easily imagine a pantomime that dances the idea that no one, not even a king, is above the law, or that power should be held accountable. 

Can big ideas such as these change over time? Yes, they can. Propositions have their meaning not only in their objective content and evocative power, but also in how they are received and the contexts of their reception. Their "meaning" emerges in and through their appropriation by individuals and groups of people. As the circumstances of people's lives change, so the meaning of the four ideas change. The king, for example, may become a president, or a priest, or an employer, or a male head of the household. In this sense, the four ideas of Magna Carta, too, are in process, awaiting further interpretation. They become.

In process theology both the creation and the interpretation of ideas can include a divine element. We humans do not simply create ideas, we come to them. They arrive in our minds from pre-conscious horizons and their arrival can include an element of divine inspiration. God is the Eros of the universe, a cosmic Lure through whom lures for feeling can emerge. It is certainly possible that the idea that no one should be arrested arbitrarily contains within it the inspired idea that all individuals, not just powerful people, deserve respect. On this, however, we must be cautious. The generation and reception of ideas can also include elements of deception, malevolence, manipulation, and hypocrisy. Not all ideas are good ideas, and even good ideas can be misapplied.

One thing is clear. The four ideas are seedlings for a more compassionate, respectful, and relational way of living in the world: seedlings from heaven. This doesn't mean that we can appeal to them as divine laws. The form they take in human life is as much a product of our creation as divine inspiration. The human side must always be remembered.

But we can appeal to them as calls to action and hope. Let no one be above the law, let all receive due process, let none be arrested without warrant, and let power be held accountable. Such are the invitations we receive from Magna Carta. Such are the lures for feeling it evokes, again and again, for people who might otherwise feel that they don't matter, because only the kings matter.

It is well possible that, in the future, its meanings might also be applied to other animals and the earth, and that those in power, rightly held accountable, are we ourselves. Might the Magna Carta become an Earth Charter before it is too late? We will see. For now, we can be grateful that a small happening in small corner of England, isolated from so much of the larger world, gave rise to the idea that

- Jay McDaniel, 4/14/2023

​The Magna Carta:
​A Scholarly Discussion

Melvyn Bragg of the BBC

Melvyn Bragg and guests Nicholas Vincent, David Carpenter and Michael Clanchy discuss the Magna Carta, the oft-proclaimed foundation of English liberties.The Magna Carta has been cited ever since its issue in 1215 as a foundation stone of English liberties. It includes clauses of universal justice, some of which are still on the statute book, but also sorted out the fishing rights in the upper Thames. Whether Magna Carta is a genuine proclamation of universal liberty or a hotchpotch of baronial self-interest has been debated ever since. Melvyn and his guests examine the ideas contained within it, assess their legacy and find out what really happened all those years ago in a tent in Runnymede.