|
CONCEPTS FROM JOURNEY
IN BEING - 2005
ANIL MITRA PHD, COPYRIGHT © February 2013
HOME | CONTACT
Document
status: February 11, 2013
Outdated;
maintained out of interest
Essential content
absorbed to and no further action needed for Journey in Being
CONTENTS
The Metaphysics – an
Ordering, with Concepts 1
Reductions, Completeness, Consistency 6
Outline 6
Consolidation 7
Second Consolidation 8
Final Consolidation 9
Alternative Ordering. Focus: the Individual
and the Journey 9
Consolidation 9
THE
METAPHYSICS – AN ORDERING, WITH CONCEPTS
The following is a tentative reordering for the Chapter, ‘Foundation,’
i.e., of the METAPHYSICS of the
sections, ‘Introduction,’ ‘Metaphysics,’ …, ‘Faith.’ It needs to be further
considered for (1) Fundamental relationships among the topics, i.e. for the
best order –including alternates in possible addition to the alternate of
item 2 that follows– and for consolidation. (2) A second reordering for the
second main chapter, ‘Journey in Being.’ (3) Completeness with respect to (a)
the theory of being – especially the metaphysics, (b) the individual in the
journey, and (c) systematic formulations of (human) knowledge that will have
been separately analyzed for ‘completeness’ such as an encyclopedic
formulation, e.g., the modified
Britannica system
Section code: consider adding to the text
Being
That which exists or has existence;
related to the verb, to be and
its various forms – but not to all of its meanings
and uses; the depth of the idea
is due to its transparency. ‘Exists’ usually refers to the present instant or
slice of time; it has a more general use in that something has being if it
exists somewhere and somewhen… or somewhere-when… Numerous analyses of being
and existence suffer from confusions of
meaning and therefore unnecessary resort to sophistication in
analysis; this is typical of analyses of the type that are piecemeal and, in
a stab at intelligence, stop short of making the necessary distinctions that was originally the
intention and characterizes much of analytic philosophy (continental
philosophers tend to make the twin error of suppressing meaning in favor of
depth.) It is important to simultaneously
analyze the meaning and use of 1. Meaning (and use,) and 2. Being;
and to be clear about the meaning(s) intended and the meanings clearly ruled
out and 3. The field or range of concepts, in depth, within which ‘meaning’ and
‘being’ are seen to be embedded
Metaphysics
is the science or study of being as being, i.e., not in any particular aspect
such as the science of motion or the science of life. This is its most specific
sense and, in this sense, metaphysics is identical or close in its meaning to
logic; there is an inclusive but not common sense in which the particular
sciences and studies are and should be part of metaphysics. Traditionally
there is a common and inclusive meaning of metaphysics in which general or
philosophical cosmology and psychology have been considered to be part of
metaphysics
The later term, ontology,
became reserved for the specific sense of metaphysics. The phrase, ‘an
ontology’ is also used in reference to the fundamental elements of a being or
a context or a class of beings or contexts. For the universe, then materialism, atomism, monadism,
idealism are possible
ontologies. It will be shown, shortly, that the universe has no ontology in
the senses that, firstly, there is no fundamental element other than the void and, secondly, this is a
purely logical statement in that it requires no premise. A Theory of Being is the working out of
(1) an ontology or metaphysics, and (2) a complete range or chain of
particular kinds or aspects of being and systems of understanding of
particular aspects of being where knowledge of the range and the
systems of understanding are based in local understanding (e.g. empirical and
conceptual science) in light of the ontology. A theory of being would
naturally include metaphysics in its specific sense that is identical to
ontology and includes logic and in its more general sense which include
general cosmology and the study of mind; it would also include epistemology or the study and theory of
knowledge
Universe
All being over all times and all spaces – or all
space-times. I use the plural forms of space and time or space-time because
time and space may be a patchwork rather than continuous. Everything in the
universe has existence (if universe and existence are used in their
generalized senses.) Note that in any given meaning something cannot exist
and not exist. The phrases universe and the one universe are
identical. The word world is
used here in reference to a sense of what constitutes the universe (it is
used, more generally, to denote a coherent context e.g. the social world or
the physical world)
The Void (nothingness;
absence of being)
Metaphysics, the nature of possibility
Possibility: intension and extension, i.e., the meaning
and domain of the possible; the actual; necessity
Logos
Plural: logoi. Related to form and logic,
below
In its original meaning in Greek thought, logos,
meaning ‘word,’ ‘reason,’ or ‘plan,’ was ‘the divine reason implicit in the universe.’
Here, the logos of a being is its necessary
form, i.e., what is constitutive
of its being, i.e., without which it would not be that being. When
not referring to any particular being, logos is the logos of the universe;
however, there is no reference to a divine realm that is essentially distinct
from the world. Is there a pure logos,
i.e. an order with the possibility of conclusions with no premise or,
perhaps, no premise except the word that is equivalent to the presence of
symbols?
The following concepts and conclusions could fall under
the individual concepts
The universe: contains not only all things but,
also, all patterns, all laws,
all forms, all feelings (in a sense to be developed, feeling includes
sensation, perception, cognition, imagery, icon, symbol sense, and emotion.
I.e., feelings and etc. are forms despite any subjective feelings that they
are outside the universe. Specifically, cognitions are forms)
There are no laws, patterns, or forms outside the universe;
and further, there can be none. This follows from the concept of the universe
and is an example of the contingent being equal and equivalent to the
necessary
All actual entities including laws, forms,
science, etc. are part of the
Universe and, trivially, laws, forms, and
even sciences are necessary and possible entities
If a (proposed) entity is not actual, it cannot be part of
the Universe and is neither possible nor necessary
Therefore, actuality
º possibility
º necessity
(i.e. it is true in all contexts that what is possible must be actual in some
context.) Relative to the one universe all beings and events are necessary;
there is no contingency
If a (proposed) entity is not actual, it cannot be part of
the Universe and is neither possible nor necessary
The Universe has no
creation, no creator, no
beginning, no end,
no boundary or edge; parts of the universe, with
respect to duration or extension, may have creation etc.; that there is no
beginning or end, no boundary does not imply that the universe is eternal or
infinite (for without continuity in time and space there is no measure to
reveal eternity or infinity;) yet the Universe may contain eternities and infinities
The void: the ‘complement’ of the Universe: contains no laws, forms, restraints,
patterns; the ‘laws’ of logic are not true laws.
Therefore:
The Void º Every entity º Every possibility
º The Universe º All being
Therefore
................................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................
There no substances unless the void is counted as a substance
................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................
The resulting ontology is neither pluralism nor monism but
................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................... a
substance-free ontology or voidism with no regress of explanation
and
................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................
The Universe is infinitely greater than
The ‘known universe’
................................................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................
in extent (space-times,) depth, variety…
including the
................................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................
‘universes’ of everyday experience and science
For, what is imaginable is possible unless it is logically
impossible (or its existence entails a logical impossibility;) i.e., what is logically possible is possible
and actual and therefore necessary
A ‘universe of possibility’ is described in
Cosmology, below; here are some examples:
That all logical descriptions are actual, shows that the
question of the existence of God
is trivial in comparison to the deep question of the possibilities of the nature of god. Clearly, there are many
powers in the universe corresponding to which it may be said that, in some
meaning, there are many gods. What can it mean that there is one God? It does
not mean that there is one power separate from the many powers but that the
powers not ultimately separate or separable and that they constitute the one
power in which all being partakes. That one power may be called Brahman, the ultimate real
‘Jesus Christ is risen from the dead’ must obtain in
countless cosmologies; this is actually two examples in itself – the rising
from the dead which calls into question the meaning and absolute character of
death, and the recurrence. The example chosen for its
‘shock and awe’ – its absurdity to the rational minded, its out-theologizing
theology does not transcend farce, “writer ‘demonstrates’ the existence of
Santa Claus.” Recurrence of individuals is given meaning by ‘being that spans
all being’ which is given meaning by the theory of identity; this, too, calls
into question the meaning of death
Any entity or being may and therefore can interact with any
other being; i.e. all objects and events stand in necessary relation… this
consequence of the present theory of being has been called the principle of sufficient reason.
Therefore, there are ghosts or ghost universes; however, if a ghost is
something that has no interaction with ‘this’ world then there are none
Annihilation
of the entire actual universe or any part of it is possible and necessary;
this, however, provides no measure or estimate of probability
The Normal
The foregoing seems to negate the stability of the world,
the laws of science, and common sense which regardless of limitations is a
practical necessity of the stability of experience (true common sense can
call itself into question and, therefore, is not subject to the limitations
on validity that common sense ascribes to itself)
Stability is returned
through the concept of the normal. Although the world is
ultimately, absolutely unstable its current or normal condition is that of at
least apparent stability. The stability of the world is actual (even if not
absolute which as has been seen, it cannot be.) Therefore that relative and
practical stability is necessary. The stability is normal even though not
absolute; thus ‘normal’ does not mean absolutely stable, reliable, or without
indeterminism. The normal characterizes, for example, the world of experience
as against the ultimate or absolute infinity of the actual Universe. This implicit
characterization of the normal does not specify a fixed extension, that is,
the determination of what is and what is not normal is not given in advance
What is taken to be normal
depends on the context or situation and the state of knowledge.
The world is normal; however, what is taken to be the world depends, e.g., on
the state of knowledge, especially scientific knowledge
Mind
Sentience;
knowledge: the nature of the object – the form of sentience vs. the fluidity
of form in the noumenon; knowledge, religion, myth, science (perception and
imagination) and the chain or variety of being
Feeling /
expression includes sensation, perception, cognition, imagery,
icon, symbol sense, and emotion / speech, dramatic
communication, affective
expression and physical action;
consciousness as feeling vs. bright consciousness
Feeling is a function of the state of being
of certain elements but without universality of feeling, mind is paradoxical;
and since there is only one universe there is no mindless universe; and feeling is universal; however, the forms of feeling may differ vastly among
cosmological systems. Therefore, in all except absolutely ephemeral being,
feeling is a function of the state of other elements, i.e., there is primal knowledge that is not an effect
or cause in the normal sense. Through accumulation, organization and layering
of form, higher, e.g. animal or human, mind builds up whose routine function may be described as quasi-causal and quasi-deterministic because the routine
apprehension of new contexts is at most partially causal and deterministic
Becoming
The necessity of all
becoming is shown above. Mechanisms of becoming necessarily obtain
in numerous circumstances, i.e., are normal; however such mechanisms are not
universal. Rather, they are ‘probable.’ Mechanism is not the only normal or
explanatory paradigm. Identity provides an explanation of the significance of
aspects of becoming discussed below
The following mechanism provides a foundation for
cosmology where the details are worked out. The elementary paradigm of
becoming is necessarily one of indeterminism:
ephemeral elements that perchance stand in a relation of near symmetry and are therefore, together, more
durable (relatively stable.) Becoming from beyond the ephemera is necessarily
selection of indeterministic variation but not necessarily incremental; there
may be, however, most probable degrees of incrementalism
determined, e.g., by a balance between some need for difference and lower
probability of large variation. It has been seen that there are no absolute
elements; however if the ephemera
or the primitive trans-ephemera are taken as elements,
then the perchance affinities
that permit relatively stable being may be described as primal force or primal ethics; this primal ethics is not
ethics its most primitive precursor. Becoming is necessary; any normal
mechanisms of becoming, e.g. the incremental, obtain necessarily though not
universally
This line of thought may give partial
explanation, needing further development, to: co-existence (but
non-universality of measure) of duration
and extension, non-rigidity and
therefore sequential interaction according to remoteness of the elements and
therefore relativity of the measures of duration and extension; and of atomism. Thus, space-time is interwoven,
multiple, patchy, does not necessarily extend to microscopic scales. It may also be seen that there is no universal causation in either the
deterministic or probabilistic senses. In a normal cosmological system, a dominant though not microscopic space-time, non-deterministic causation and system of elements and laws
may emerge; these may be immanent
in their nature or imposed in
the sense that they have some connection to the larger universe; however they
are invariably local: there is no universal space-time, causation, system of
elements or atomism, law
The description of becoming may take a
mathematical form but the infinity of its variety (it must include, for
example, theoretical physics as an extremely special case) may make that
unlikely except in special cases or new mathematics
Divides
and turns in the origin, variety and complexity of being
Durability, symmetry, stability and probability in the population of being,
i.e., the universe
Journey, design, individual
journey, transformation,
possibilities of transformation.
Except those whose description or depiction would involve violation of logic,
all transformations are possible. However, there is a distinction between
general and normal transformations; note that the delimiting boundary of the
normal is not given, fixed or clear. The transformational phase of the
journey (1) focuses on normal
transformations, (2) seeks to expand the boundary of the normal through analysis,
intuition and experiment, (3) does not exclude general transformation. It is important to recognize the
infinitely variable aspect of the boundary of the normal and to avoid its
conceptual degeneration into fixity and a return to the mind-matter or
spirit-matter distinctions as real
Order and Chaos
Indeterminism
(and, perhaps, the multiplicity of forms) may be experienced (as against the
normal, the quasi-causal order
and the designs of individuals)
as chaos
In this connotation, chaos is not identified a priori
with the concept of chaos from ‘dynamical systems theory’
Mechanism and Explanation
Evolution as
mechanism; identity as an example
of explanation; necessity and
probability but not universality of mechanism in the universe; science and the
disciplines; in a given cosmological system, evolutionary mechanisms
and identity may constitute a normal
explanation whose improbability is infinitesimal
Evolution on the paradigm of variation and selection is a mode of becoming (and so
placed separately from the discussion of becoming)
On a Darwinian-like paradigm, evolution is a normal mode of becoming. Clearly, incremental evolution by variation and
selection cannot be the only mode of becoming. However, the reign and power
of evolution are often poorly understood. Examples are the compound organ,
the sudden emergence of characters, e.g. the sudden emergence of wings in a
wingless insect. The compound organ may be explained by a sequence of
incremental change in both structure and function; in some cases, the sudden
emergence of characters may be explained by regulator genes that had rapidly
evolved to eliminate turning on of the character in response to a changed
environment (or world, or opportunity) and then evolved again to turn the
character on in response to a further environmental change. Although
evolution is normally dominant since some balance between micro-incrementalism and saltation is most probable, it cannot be absolute because the
less probable and the improbable cannot be ruled out on account of the theory
of being and of the identity between the actual and the possible
Form
Forms in perception and cognition: the sign of one element
in another is a filter or abstraction and this is necessarily ‘good’
All forms are
elements of the logos; commonly, however, the logoi are the most
general of forms. All forms have being;
there is a proper meaning of form according to which a form is an object or thing. Forms are not elements of another universe; forms
may be seen as imposed but are ultimately inherent in the universe
provided that the dynamic nature of form is accepted; including symbolic logic, mathematics is the
systematic study of form: when the symbolic study of form is reduced to a
system the label ‘mathematics’ applies
As descriptive of
form, symbol and language are precursors to logic and
mathematics and are kinds of (systems of) signs
whose study has been called semiotics;
language is a form of communication
that is included in the more inclusive form of dramatics which is not
restricted to the art-form of theatre; art, too, has a concern with form; an assertive sentence is a form of proposition
Universals:
with a proper meaning of ‘universal,’ as concepts, universals, e.g. tree-hood
and redness, will be shown to have being, e.g., think of redness as a relationship rather than a property. I.e. a universal is an object
or thing
Perception (cognition-feeling) is a partially congruent
filter of the infinite multiplicity of forms in the noumenon
The extension of the concept of being, also called the
‘chain of being,’ included in mind is also the variety of forms… It is probable that our knowledge of the
chain is infinitesimal. Sources for this knowledge include imagination, ideas and action and their history
including science, religion, myth, story,
exploration…
Object
The nature of the object; in the intuitive forms, the ideal object º a form or external object; symbol,
ideal object and concept; the
concept: intension (sense,
meaning) and extension (domain
of application, reference, use;) ‘object’ is very general and its reference
is not restricted to what is concrete or continuous or localized; a process or a relationship is properly said to be an object
The individual
Symbolic or descriptive and intuitive forms; illusion
º the ideal object misplaced; belief = symbolic or intuitive form held
to correspond to an actual form; knowledge
= belief + truth e.g. correspondence; common faith = pragmatic belief or
belief in the ‘service’ of action (note that common faith includes knowledge
and, also, the need of greatest becoming in an indeterministic universe may
require either identification of knowledge-generalized and faith or that
faith be held as superior to knowledge… and note the secondary function of
belief in belonging)
Explanation
and understanding; the nature
of theory; the possibility of metaphysics; principles of thought which include that
thought is a form of being and therefore thinking is a form of becoming and
that explanations are invariably hypothetical unless logically necessary
The distinction between logic in the primal and symbolic
cases occurs also for knowledge: primal knowledge in the elements of being
vs. symbolically expressed knowledge. In the symbolic case two kinds (at
least) of error are possible: falsehood, the illusion that the symbol
validly refers; and concretization,
the feeling, fostered by the apparent acuities of symbol and perception, that
the form of the symbol is precisely the form of the world. In the primal
case, a kind of error may be described: a lack of fit between the ephemera
that does not result in duration greater than that of the individual isolated
ephemera; in the primal case, error is the rule and ‘validity’ the exception.
These issues are reiterated in discussing logic, below
On realism:
our perception is in the universe which ‘generates’ and is therefore
independent of our perception for its being; however, at root there is no
independence of being from knowing and, therefore, there is no actual
question regarding the independence of being and knowing. The forms, which
include the cognition of form, are not dependent on cognition; as cognized,
forms constitute a non-congruent filter.
Thus: realism
On the subjective:
objectivity has two meanings, (1) knowing the object-as-such and (2) seeing
or attempting to see an issue from all sides. In certain pictures of knowing,
objectivity in the first meaning is impossible; but in others, it is
possible. In a model of the universe as an unending collection of facts, it
is, in general, impossible to be objective in the second sense; however, it
is not given that the universe is an unending collection of facts and even if
it is, it is not necessarily a collection of facts that are equally worth
knowing
There is a sense in which every event or fact
is an object and every object is an event. Similarly a proposition or knowledge of a state of
affairs is an object
The Individual
Consolidate with ‘Object,’ above and ‘Identity,’ below
Preliminary considerations of identity. Identity is the
sense of being the same individual over change (and difference and
displacement in time and location.) Identity is possible, even over drastic
changes, through memory which integrates the differences and also makes goals
and value possible
Truth
Just as there is one world and not two worlds such as a
world of things and a world of forms, a mundane world and a divine world, or
a world of matter and word of spirit, a secular world and a world of faith
and religion – as understood below, so there is one truth, i.e., one realm of
truth. Therefore, when the concern is with truth, there is no essential
separation between the secular world and the world as seen in (true)
religion. The domains of truth are not separable – there is one truth which means that in knowing or
speaking the truth there is no a priori separation of the world into domains
whose truth is separately knowable
If, as has been seen, the world (universe) is
essentially connected so is truth. Therefore, in speaking truth it is not
possible to speak separately of a mundane
world and a divine world,
of a world of matter and a world of spirit.
There is a latent suggestion in the word ‘spirit,’ that a separate world may
be carved out in actuality and in the inner life of the individual, and that
the experience of individuals is or should be essentially private and not open to universal view.
This suggestion is consistent with the idea of separation of matter and
spirit, of the privacy of spiritual practice, of the feeling that spiritual
practice is other than living in the world. These suggestions are abhorrent.
Here, again, ‘being’ in its neutrality to these and other separations, in its
character of being a priori to human experience, surfaces as superior to the
modes of description. ‘Being’ is not a mode of description. We approach being
as if it were a question
What is the way to
truth? It might seem that there are many ways such as the four
Yogic ways. However, as in cognition-emotion and thought-action, these and
others may be seen as one way
Beauty
LOGIC
Logic is the understanding
of logos; it includes deduction or argument in that they uncover
necessary form. Since there are no contingencies in the universe, there is a
sense in which science,
especially in its conceptual and explanatory sides as in, e.g., theoretical
physics, is logic. Because the discussion emphasizes the understanding and
variety of logical forms, this section is separate from the discussion of
logos
A goal of the journey: living in feeling and becoming; the
role of logic is to be overcome rather than avoided
The following considerations could also be placed under
‘logos’
The origin of logic: in ‘original’ becoming, when primal elements of being (entities)
stand, out of indeterministic becoming, in relatively stable relation the
durations of those entities are more than ephemeral. The potential for mutual
stable relation may be seen a kind of primal
probabilistic logic. The symbolic
case permits an apparent distinction of truth vs. falsehood: the symbol is taken to have reference
that is (1) complete in itself, and (2) precise; these two conditions make
possible sharp contrast that does not hold in the primal case of the possible
vs. impossible or the true vs. false. Do symbols actually satisfy these two
conditions? I.e., is the distinction of the true vs. the false that is
apparently possible in the symbolic case a real distinction?
What restrictions does logic place on the
actual? No restriction, of course because logic is in the Universe and
therefore immanent in it. However, when possibility and, therefore, actuality
is described symbolically, e.g. in language, there will be some descriptions
that contain contradictions and therefore impossible, i.e., have no actual
realization. It may be interesting and useful to investigate what conditions
this places on the extension of the concept of the actual, i.e., on what
descriptions are realizable (and therefore real or actual.) Similar
considerations apply to all forms of imagination that are sufficiently
precise as to allow depictions whose impossibility of realization is inherent
in the depiction itself. These limitations are the limitations of logic on the realization of description
Occasionally, develop the details of the LOGIC AS A DREAM
Cosmology
Cosmology: range and
kinds of being… the chain of
being
General cosmology:
the span of being, recurrence, the articles of faith; origin of a quasi-coherent, quasi-deterministic,
quasi-causal cosmological system with quasi-determinate being; time, space
and space-time: locally and
normally continuous but globally patchy, multiple and occasional and
microscopically without support
Sources
(examples) for general cosmology. Imagination (iconic and symbolic) and
action; the traditional disciplines and the history
of thought and action. Science and physical cosmology; faith, myth and
religion; symbolic, iconic and dramatic expression: pure imagination, dreams
and dreaming, language, art including drama and literature, philosophy, logic
and logics, and mathematics
Physical cosmology:
space-time, matter and force in our cosmological system;
variety of cosmological kinds: solar
system, stars, galaxies, cosmological models (universality vs. occasional nature of
our kind of system;) earth sciences
including geology; life; mind
and matter in a cosmological system; history
Identity
Identity and personal
identity. Preliminarily, identity is a sense of sameness between two states of an object that, if
we did not know otherwise, could be different because the object is perceived
at different places in space-time or in different even if similar forms or
have its constitution changed indistinguishably if the replacement had not
been seen. Any discussion of identity is likely to be confused unless various
meanings and uses of identity are distinguished. Perhaps, the first
distinction is identity as sameness in all aspects or absolute identity vs. sameness in constitution in which an
object is the same object if it has the same constitution even if it is at
different times and places vs. an object that has changed but counts as the
same object because the change is not too great, e.g., parts of it have been
replaced or the shape is not too different. There is a sense in which the
only thing an object is identical to is itself at the same place and time.
Sameness in constitution has meaning only in a normal cosmological system
where the elements of being, e.g. particles, have identity. It should be
clarified that, in the foregoing, sameness is sameness of being. However,
sameness or similarity of form have meaning across normal cosmological
systems. Thus, we distinguish sameness, similarity, or continuity of being
vs. that of form. In general, only the latter can have meaning across normal
cosmological systems. Allowing identity to include similarity or sameness,
there are two kinds of identity: identity
of being or substance and identity
of form. Finally, there is a distinction between identity which
can be made objective and perceived or subjective
identity which allows for the perception of or pointing out of
identity despite lack of identity according to this or that objective identity criterion. There is
no particular importance to one kind of identity vs. another or subjective
vs. objective identity since each has its own sphere of use and utility; what
is important is to not confuse the distinctions and to know for what ranges
the extensions of the different kinds of identity have overlap
The nature of personal identity; meaning or
significance of the span of being
and of recurrence; continuity and limits to identity through participation
Especial need to consolidate this new topic
Personal identity is the sense
of being the same individual over change (and difference and
displacement in time and location.) Identity is possible over even drastic change through memory which integrates the differences
and also makes goals and value possible. Identity also gives meaning to being that is the span of
individual beings (here, the term ‘individual’ is relative) in
that individual identities merge in global identity (or identities) which
also makes for continuity of individual
identity in life and, through spanning, over multiple lives
Reflection, action, caring,
commitment and relationship (bonding) are additional
sources of continuity of individual identity
Personal identity is, first, subjective identity (continuity) of form. It can be identity (continuity) of substance only
in a normal cosmological system. However, in knowledge, identity or
continuity of form can be given meaning relative to the entire universe; this
is possible in such a way that it makes no significant difference whether the
identity is merely in knowledge or real. This knowledge in ultimate form is Atman
which, in light of the just mentioned lack of significant difference, is Brahman. This also shows a dual role for knowledge and memory, for
knowing and remembering
Dissociation:
In ‘ordinary’ life, an individual’s sense of self, and so his or her attitude
to the world, changes with the situation; however, there is, together with
the sense of difference, a sense of sameness. Sameness and difference are in
dynamic relationship; from here it is a small step to the occasional absence
of a sense of sameness or continuity of self – the dissociation of the
self
Human Being and Society
The organism; animal and human evolution: structure is
the embodiment of form, reproduction
is the extension of durability with renewal, mind includes the
internalization of the modes of becoming in the individual, i.e., the creative function; integration of the mental functions; symbol – bound
and free; the free symbol
requires memory; consciousness;
bright consciousness and its
relation to reflexivity and the
free symbol; psychology, the elements of mind and the categories of intuition including humor as the category of indeterminism
and, so, of creation; even the
psychology of the normal is not the psychology of the simply dependable or
reliable but must include appreciation of order
and chaos; growth, development,
meaning, commitment and love; value;
mind and symbol as a proximate account of
being; order and chaos in human life and society; nature and
necessity of action; social
science(s) and philosophies: the functions, especially the group functions, within society
including culture and the
academic disciplines, art, and religion; structure,
politics and law, and economics and technology
Bridging
in general
Desirability
Desirability or value;
the desirable is a function of what is of high
value, what is constructive
of value and commitment
and modes of life in
terms of action (the right) and goals or
ends (the good,) what is ethical
or moral and of what is feasible
including economic feasibility.
The ethical includes personal and social aspects; promotion of the right
or good and prohibitive aspects; evaluation without
excessive proscription; reflexive aspects (what is the nature of the ethical,
especially in moving into new realms of individual and social possibility;)
and constructive aspects, e.g., undertakings and commitments. The aspects of
construction and high value are not merely mechanical in nature and include
both ‘matter’ and ‘spirit’ where spirit is not essentially distinct from
matter and includes the ‘spirit of adventure’ and rejects no source but
encourages examination all sources of in-spirit-ation.
The feasible includes economic or material considerations, political considerations
or organization and institution of group
decisions and action, and issues of social organization. The
feasible implicitly includes considerations of limits to rationality and design; and the implications of ‘order
and chaos’
Faith
Common faith;
articles of faith; dogma; faith and chaos; myth and religion – it is important to note that the meaning of
religion adopted here is ‘that which orients the entire being to the whole
universe’ and this has overlap with common sense and knowledge, science,
private faith or religion, spirituality and organized and institutionalized
religion; faith and science
Evaluation of the support of the articles of faith from
the above
The nature and significance of faith; literal and non-literal interpretations
and their relations; faith, human being and society. Bridging
REDUCTIONS,
COMPLETENESS, CONSISTENCY
Outline
Being
application, atomism, being, confusion of meaning,
depth, distinctions of meaning, element, field or embedding range of
concepts, epistemology, existence, idealism, materialism, meaning,
metaphysics, monadism, ontology simultaneous analysis of meanings, theory of
being, to be, use
Universe
world
The Void (nothingness; absence
of being)
Logos … some concepts are taken
from universe and void
actuality, annihilation, boundary, Brahman, complement
of the universe, constitutive of being, contingency, death, edge, end, form,
forms, ghost universes, ghosts, god and the deep question of the nature of
god (the question of the existence of god is trivial,) law, laws, laws and
forms and even sciences are necessary and possible entities, laws of logic
are not true laws, logic, necessary form, necessity, no beginning, no
creation, no laws, no regress of explanation, ontology, patterns, plan,
possibility, principle of sufficient reason, pure logos, reason, recurrence,
restraints, science, substance, substance-free ontology, the universe is
infinitely greater than the ‘known universe in extent and depth and variety,
universe contains eternities and infinities, void º every entity º every
possibility º the universe º all being, voidism, what is logically
possible is possible, word
The Normal
common sense, normality depends on the context or
situation and the state of knowledge, stability is returned through the
concept of the normal, world
Mind
affective expression, bright consciousness, chain or
variety of being, cognition, consciousness, dramatic communication, emotion,
feeling, feeling is universal, form of feeling, icon, imagery, perception,
physical action, primal knowledge, quasi-causal, quasi-deterministic, routine
function, sensation, sentience, speech, symbol
Becoming
atomism, boundary of the normal, complexity, design,
divides, dominant, duration, elements, extension, general transformation,
immanent, imposed, incrementalism, indeterminism, individual journey,
journey, law, mathematics, microscopic, necessity of all becoming,
non-deterministic local causation, normal transformation, origin,
possibilities of transformation, primal ethics, primal force, probability,
space-time, symmetry, system of elements (local), transformation, universal
causation (no), variety
Order and Chaos
design, indeterminism, quasi-causal order
Mechanism and Explanation
the disciplines, evolution as mechanism, identity as an
example of explanation, incremental evolution, necessity and probability but
not universality of mechanism, normal explanation, normal mode of becoming,
saltation, science, variation and selection
Form
art, assertion, communication, dramatics, a form is an
object, forms are elements of the logos, forms have being, ideas and action
and their history, language, mathematics, not elements of another universe,
property, relationship, semiotics, sentence, sign, story, symbol, symbolic
logic, universals, variety of forms
Object
belief, common faith, concept, concretization,
correspondence, error, event, explanation, extension, fact, falsehood, a
cognized form is a non-congruent filter, ideal object, illusion, intension,
intuitive forms, knowledge, possibility of metaphysics, principles of
thought, process, proposition, realism, relationship, subjectivity and
objectivity – meanings of, symbol, theory, truth, understanding
The Individual
also see identity and object
Truth
Beauty, divine or spirit world, mundane world, private
truth, there is one truth, one way, ways
LOGIC
limitations of logic on the realization of description,
primal elements, primal probabilistic logic, science, symbolic case, truth
vs. falsehood, understanding of logos
Cosmology
General cosmology: articles of faith, origin,
range and kinds or chain of being, recurrence, sources in the history of
thought and action, space-time, span of being
Physical cosmology: cosmological models, earth
sciences including geology, force, galaxies, history, life, matter, mind and
matter in a cosmological system, solar system, stars
Identity
Identity: absolute identity, identity of being
or substance, identity of form, objective identity, personal identity,
sameness in constitution, sense of sameness, subjective identity
Personal identity: action, Atman,
Brahman, caring, change, commitment, continuity of individual identity in
life, dissociation, dual role for knowledge and memory, gives meaning to
being that is the span of individual beings, identity of substance, memory,
multiple lives, participation, reflection, relationship, sense of being the
same individual over change, span of being, subjective identity of form
Human Being and Society
action, art, bridging, bright consciousness,
categories, categories of intuition, commitment, consciousness, creation,
creative function, culture, development, disciplines, economics, elements,
elements of mind, functions, group functions, humor, integration, law, love,
meaning, memory, mind and symbol as a proximate account of being, order and
chaos, politics, psychology, reflexivity, religion, reproduction, structure,
symbol – bound and free, technology, value
Desirability
commitment, constructive of value, design, economic,
ethical, feasible, goals or ends, the good, group decisions and action, high
value, modes of life, prohibitive, promotion, rationality, the right, value
Faith
articles, bridging, common faith, dogma, faith and
science, literal and non-literal interpretations, myth, religion
Consolidation
In the ordering,
the following changes are possible: Combine 1. Mind, universe, the void, and
the normal; 2. Logos, form and logic, 3. Becoming, order and chaos, mechanism
and explanation, 4. Identity, object and the individual, and truth, 5. Human
being and society, desirability, and faith. This results in an outline:
Being
application, atomism, being, confusion of meaning,
depth, distinctions of meaning, element, field or embedding range of
concepts, epistemology, existence, idealism, materialism, meaning,
metaphysics, monadism, ontology simultaneous analysis of meanings, theory of
being, to be, use
The Universe, the Void and the concept
of the Normal
The universe and the void: actuality,
annihilation, Brahman, complement of the universe, contingency, death, forms,
ghost universes, ghosts, god and the deep question of the nature of god (the
question of the existence of god is trivial), laws, laws of logic are not
true laws, necessity, no laws, no regress of explanation, ontology, patterns,
possibility, principle of sufficient reason, recurrence, restraints,
substance, substance-free ontology, the universe is infinitely greater than
the ‘known universe in extent and depth and variety, void º every entity º every possibility º
the universe º all being, voidism,
what is logically possible is possible, world
The normal: common sense, normality depends on
the context or situation and the state of knowledge, stability is returned
through the concept of the normal, world
Mind
affective expression, bright consciousness, chain or
variety of being, cognition, consciousness, dramatic communication, emotion,
feeling, feeling is universal, form of feeling, icon, imagery, perception,
physical action, primal knowledge, quasi-causal, quasi-deterministic, routine
function, sensation, sentience, speech, symbol
Logos, form and logic
Logos: boundary, constitutive of being, edge,
end, form, law, laws and forms and even sciences are necessary and possible
entities, logic, plan, necessary form, no beginning, no creation, pure logos,
reason, science, universe contains eternities and infinities, word
Form: art, assertion, communication, dramatics,
a form is an object, forms are elements of the logos, forms have being, ideas
and action and their history, language, mathematics, not elements of another
universe, property, relationship, semiotics, sentence, sign, story, symbol,
symbolic logic, universals, variety of forms
LOGIC:
limitations of logic on the realization of description, primal elements,
primal probabilistic logic, science, symbolic case, truth vs. falsehood,
understanding of logos
Object
Object: belief, common faith, concept,
concretization, correspondence, error, event, explanation, extension, fact,
falsehood, a cognized form is a non-congruent filter, ideal object, illusion,
intension, intuitive forms, knowledge, possibility of metaphysics, principles
of thought, process, proposition, realism, relationship, subjectivity and
objectivity – meanings of, symbol, theory, truth, understanding
Truth: beauty, divine or spirit world, mundane
world, private truth, there is one truth, one way, ways
Identity and the Individual
Identity: absolute identity, identity of being
or substance, identity of form, objective identity, personal identity,
sameness in constitution, sense of sameness, subjective identity
Personal identity: action, Atman,
Brahman, caring, change, commitment, continuity of individual identity in
life, dissociation, dual role for knowledge and memory, gives meaning to
being that is the span of individual beings, identity of substance, memory,
multiple lives, participation, reflection, relationship, sense of being the
same individual over change, span of being, subjective identity of form
Becoming
Becoming: atomism, boundary of the normal,
complexity, design, divides, dominant, duration, elements, extension, general
transformation, immanent, imposed, incrementalism, indeterminism, individual
journey, journey, law, mathematics, microscopic, necessity of all becoming,
non-deterministic local causation, normal transformation, origin,
possibilities of transformation, primal ethics, primal force, probability,
space-time, symmetry, system of elements (local), transformation, universal
causation (no), variety
Indeterminism, order and chaos: design,
quasi-causal order
Mechanism and explanation: the disciplines,
evolution as mechanism, identity as an example of explanation, incremental
evolution, necessity and probability but not universality of mechanism,
normal explanation, normal mode of becoming, saltation, science, variation
and selection
Cosmology
General cosmology: articles of faith, origin,
range and kinds or chain of being, recurrence, sources in the history of
thought and action, space-time, span of being
Physical cosmology: cosmological models, earth
sciences including geology, force, galaxies, history, life, matter, mind and
matter in a cosmological system, solar system, stars
Human Being and Society, Desirability
and Value, Faith
Human being and society: action, art, bridging,
bright consciousness, categories, categories of intuition, commitment,
consciousness, creation, creative function, culture, development,
disciplines, economics, elements, elements of mind, functions, group
functions, humor, integration, law, love, meaning, memory, mind and symbol as
a proximate account of being, order and chaos, politics, psychology,
reflexivity, religion, reproduction, structure, symbol – bound and free,
technology, value
Desirability: commitment, constructive of value,
design, economic, ethical, feasible, goals or ends, the good, group decisions
and action, high value, modes of life, prohibitive, promotion, rationality,
the right, value
Faith: articles, bridging, common faith, dogma,
faith and science, literal and non-literal interpretations, myth, religion
Second Consolidation
In the following, 1. Mind, the Universe and the Void ® Universe, 2. Logos, form and logic ® Form, 3. Form É Object, 4. Identity Þ
the Individual, 5. Mechanism and Explanation ®
Explanation, 6. Cosmology ® Cosmos,
7. Human Being and Society, Desirability and Value, Faith ® Man (I will probably use ‘Human Being’
but, except for the modern confusion of ‘man’ and ‘male’ and the associated
negation of ‘woman,’ I would prefer ‘Man’)
Being
Universe
Mind
Form
Identity
Becoming
Explanation
Cosmos
Man / Human Being
Final Consolidation
1. Being É Becoming (the role
of becoming Ì explanation,) 2. Being É Universe and Mind, 3. Form É Identity, 4. Cosmos É Man
Being
Form
Explanation
Cosmos
ALTERNATIVE ORDERING.
FOCUS: THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE JOURNEY
Place where?
Identity (É the
individual)
Journey
Object
Human Being
Cosmology
Explanation
Becoming
Form
Mind
Universe
Being
1. Identity requires not only continuity but also change etc. and so
includes the journey; 2. Identity É
Object; 3. Cosmology = Cosmos É Human
Being; 4. Becoming É Explanation; 5.
Being É Becoming through Universe
(note that Identity É Form)
Identity
Cosmos
Explanation
Being
|