2008 EDITION
Source material for First things
ANIL MITRA, COPYRIGHT © 2008
OUTLINE
Material from the 2008 edition with a supplement ‘Legend’ from the 2007 edition… Journey in being. … The narrative
Material from previous editions
2003 Edition… 2004 Edition… 2005 Edition… 2006 Edition
In the following there is new material, material from Journey in Being-New World-essence.html and material from previous editions
Material from the 2008 edition with a supplement ‘Legend’ from the 2007 edition
Journey: origins, nature and scope
Transformations in ideas and identity
The metaphysics and its significance
Introduction to a new picture of the world
Though glimpsed before, the picture is essentially new and remote from the common view
Although the metaphysics is powerful, the primary goal of the journey is transformation
The goal of transformation will be seen to be necessary to both significance and completeness.
The idea—experience—is the place of appreciation of transformation (becoming)
The first basis of the metaphysics is in reason
A second base lies in transformation
The conceptual foundation is not a system unto itself
And yet, the picture has an ultimate character—and contains the received pictures
The grounding of the picture is logical
The grounding in logic is not a grounding in a foundation outside the system
The development uses old words but new meaning: attention to meaning is crucial
A suggestion of the power of the system
Power in meaning—the empirical side of meaning
The source of the power in meaning
The metaphysics enables elevation of its core and related ideas to an ultimate level
The levels of understanding, though ultimate, are not thought to be final
The status of the secular and religious views of being relative to the metaphysics
On origin and diligent use of ‘Being’
Variety is primal in relation to foundation
Identity; identity and Identity; Identity and death—death is a certain gate to the infinite
Identities among being, becoming, idea, metaphysics and journey
Task. Import and write material for The narrative
Suggestions toward understanding
Pay attention to the sources of difficulty
Importance of attention to the new ideas and meanings
Material from previous editions
Relations between our world and the absolute
The Nature of Science; Science and Religion
Understanding the system of ideas as a connected whole
Comments on word use and meaning
Examples of power inherent in analysis of meaning
The audience—general and specialist. Some general interests
There must be a quick orientation to both Journey and Narrative
Journey in Being, below, is introduction to the Journey. The narrative is an orientation to the text. Sketch is an outline of the narrative that also serves as a sketch of the journey
A better word than ‘scope’
The following material may apply to journey material
The traditions of ideas and transformation have been essential to the journey in providing inspiration, method and material. While retracing the path of other thinkers and actors has been invaluable, the focus has been the journey itself… sources are noted, not for the sake of completeness but, first, when there is an affinity with the journey and then in acknowledgement of a debt
The journey began with an individual adventure—to know the world, to experience whatever adventure might be possible. Along the way, the ideas of being and of universe—all being—were encountered as pivotal to the adventure; the goals grew to include transformation of being and identity and their possibilities, to include experiments in being and identity, to include concern with what may be feasible and valuable. This was not merely a growth of accumulation but one of necessity: independently standing knowledge was shown by knowledge itself, by reason, to be essentially incomplete
Identity includes the body. Transformations in ideas and identity constitute the transformations in being
Brief discussion of identity
My Journey has come to be about transformation—what is possible, what is feasible and what is worthwhile, about realization and means—which is enormously enhanced by knowledge of what the world is like—and, for a given being here-now, essentially limited without that knowledge
Ideas and transformation tightly knit; ideas are a form of and the place of appreciation of transformation. Transformation of being and of universe are logically required by the incompleteness of ideas and the individual but are immensely enhanced by ideas and individuals
Although the journey is not in the realm of ideas alone, ideas are pivotal—as a source of the adventure, as significant in feasible and value based design, in learning from experiments in transformation, and as the place where transformation has significance and worth
The trajectory of the universe through its phases is seen as a journey; this conception is perhaps better than the idea of linear progression
The title could have been ‘Journeys in Being’ but for the fact that in the vision developed, the various journeys (...), though distinct here-now, merge as one in the ultimate. Hence ‘Journey in Being’
A brief comment
This section was previously A brief motivation from the metaphysics
Consider whether to include the following:
All flows from the following
The universe is all being
Experience
Go out and take the greatest risk
The ‘picture’ is the world view or theory of being—the discussion of being and the metaphysics through the cosmology—developed in Theory of Being and elaborated in Human World
Perhaps the crux of this discussion is as follows
Consider the variety of familiar world views. These might include (1) the big-bang cosmology from physics perhaps enhanced by the idea that this cosmos is a bubble among many bubble cosmological systems, (2) mythical and religious cosmologies, (3) ‘fictional cosmologies’ from imagination or literature. The cosmologies are subject to two limitations, first, that they contain no internal contradiction and no contradiction of fact, and, second, that they are positive cosmologies in that they provide a ‘picture’ of the universe whether diagrammed, in words or in equations
Every such positive world view or cosmology is contained as an actuality within the metaphysics of this narrative
Each cosmology has a variety of limits—its extent and duration; the variety of actual and possible beings that populate it where ‘possibility’ is equivalent to ‘consistent with the laws of the world view as well as those of logic; its largest and smallest possible objects…
The limits of every positive, consistent world view lie within limits or at the boundary of the metaphysics of this narrative
Some contours of the view have been seen in Indian Philosophy; some of its elements glimpsed by Leibniz, Hume, and Wittgenstein. However the understanding of its character, its proof, its development as a positive system which means that it is more than an idea or an intuition, its consequences for science, religion, philosophy, and human possibility are not anticipated in the history of ideas
It is therefore appropriate to call the theory of being of this narrative a new picture of the world
Material from Journey in Being-New World-essence.html
The narrative, especially Foundation, paints and grounds or justifies a picture of being—of the universe. This picture has been glimpsed in the history of ideas but has not previously given a foundation or developed and elaborated systematically. A reader who is not aware that a new picture is being developed—whose elements appear in Being and whose main development is in Metaphysics, may feel disoriented by the distance between the sense of being in this narrative and the common picture of being in the modern world. While the picture is grounded in Metaphysics, reference is made to it throughout the narrative and the following orientation to its context will be useful in understanding the picture and the narrative:
…The ‘picture’ is a formal metaphysics and its elaboration. However, it is pertinent that it has not been the primary goal of the journey to develop a picture—formal or otherwise. The remaining comments of this paragraph are intended to assist readers in negotiating the dual objectives that result from having more than one goal and therefore more than one set of criteria for Foundation. The first goal is transformation of being—of realization of ultimates or, at least, to have a vision of ultimates and to travel in that direction. Understanding and knowing are part of transformation and, therefore, development of the Foundation has been part of the journey. However, actual—physical and other—transformation is the overarching goal. In pursuit of this goal, the question, not new in the history of thought, has come to the forefront whether understanding can andor should be independent of transformation or action
Even though the ideas will be shown to have an ultimate character relative to ideas, they are, as ideas, necessarily an incomplete part of being. Yet, the idea—experience—is the place of appreciation of being and becoming
It is not been a goal to base the Foundation in some medium between the needs of understanding and knowledge on one hand and transformation on the other. Instead, there have been two rather parallel tracks of development. In one, it has been sought to keep the topics of Foundation as independent of its uses as possible
What of experience—of the empirical? In the development it will be seen that knowledge—knowing—the world and knowledge of knowing itself emerge as a unified subject and not as separate divisions of knowledge. In this process it will be seen that reason and analysis on the one hand are not distinct at root from perception and empirical process on the other hand. The analysis will require recognition of the root case of perception and its necessities
In the second, the needs of transformation and action have informed the developments within Foundation and attitudes toward it in particular and knowledge and understanding in general. This track is not a pragmatic system for it is not asserted that use is the final measure of validity of knowledge but that knowledge and use remain in interaction and are so interwoven that the notion of validity may have no universal application…
Platonism includes the view that a perfect system of understanding may be achieved—that knowledge need not ever be in a process of development, that it may be independent of action and context. This view, which is often tacitly assumed and tacitly encouraged by the concept of authority in education, has been held in critical light in the modern period of philosophy—especially, since Wittgenstein’s influence in analytic philosophy. However, it is difficult to overcome tacit habits of thought and modern and recent philosophy—especially analytic philosophy—remain, significantly, worlds unto themselves. One aspect of the ‘system’ of this narrative is that it should not remain a system unto itself
The picture of the universe developed and grounded is, if valid, one of an infinitely deeper truth and greater variety than is normally assigned to the universe, e.g., in religious, modern physical, or even metaphysical cosmologies. However, it is not the intent here to invalidate or, particularly, to validate those cosmologies. Instead, the new picture or cosmology locates the valid parts of the received cosmologies in within its boundaries. If the intent of a religious cosmology is to be metaphorical and the content of a physical cosmology is regarded as real, then, although those cosmologies have validity within certain imprecisely defined boundaries, the depth of their truth is an infinitesimal fraction of depth of Metaphysics and their domains of validity infinitesimal in relation to the ultimate domain revealed in Cosmology
The grounding of the picture of the universe developed here is a necessary or logical grounding. This grounding does not invalidate the received pictures or cosmologies but places them in a larger, ultimate context and helps to show the origins and limits of the systems they describe. The reader is invited to follow the arguments, to challenge them, to verify or disverify them to his or her satisfaction. The narrative itself raises challenges to its own arguments and the status of these challenges is taken up in the narrative
…for it requires a re-conception of logic that lies within the system of ideas (and being)
While the development required reconceptualization of ideas from the history of thought, the words used to refer to the reconceived ideas and even new ideas are usually older words. Therefore, careful attention to the meanings introduced in the narrative is essential to its understanding
The primitive concepts of the logical part of the metaphysics are being—whatever exists, universe or all being, the void or absence of being, and form. Being and Metaphysics develop the metaphysics around these ideas. Here, a suggestion of the power of the ideas may be illuminating; demonstration, elaboration and application, and development of meaning and significance is taken up in the body of the narrative
It is common, especially in scientific cosmology, for the word ‘universe’ to refer to the known universe and, perhaps, extrapolations from it. As all being, the present concept of the universe is rather different. The question of how it is possible to talk of and know the universe in its present conception is discussed in Being, Metaphysics and Objects
In the present conception of universe, there is nothing outside it. This implies, first, that everything—including all form, pattern and law—and not just every thing is in the universe and, second, that any foundation for secure knowledge of the universe must lie in it. Being has and can have no further foundation and, therefore, requires no further foundation; the universe has and can have no external creator
As corollary to the inclusion of all form, pattern and law in the universe, the void—whose existence is shown later—contains no form, pattern or law. Therefore, since the exclusion of a logical possibility would be a law of the void, the variety of being in the universe must contain every logical possibility and this fact is constitutive of the ultimate breadth of the metaphysics. Every form must have being and is immanent in being but there is and can be no Platonic world of forms outside the one universe. It also follows that the void may be regarded as the source of all being and, though this is a rough and incomplete statement of the truth and provides no more than a hint of its power, it is here that the ultimate depth of the metaphysics lies
…The metaphysics that grounds these developments is one of ultimate depth and breadth
The discussion above suggests that there is power in meaning. If meaning is convention, how is this possible? It must be that though meaning involves convention, meaning is not mere convention. Words and grammar have conventional aspects. However, they refer to the world. Although, to some extent, we receive the empirical content of meaning that does not make it any less empirical. To suggest that meaning is not empirical is to confuse the analytic with the explicit. Meaning has, at least, implicit empirical content. This of course does not meaning is above analysis or that it cannot benefit from analysis
The axiomatic approach suggests that at the root of any system of thought lies unproven propositions. This is deceiving. It is clear that not just any system of axioms should prove fruitful in understanding. What is it that makes the successful systems successful? The development of the system must mesh (logically) with other systems and empirically in, at least, providing a ground—as in mathematics—for realism if not realism itself—as in science
In Being and Metaphysics, it will be seen that the fundamental terms of the system will be based in (1) necessary aspects of experience—e.g. that there is experience and (2) logical consequences of the necessary aspects, e.g., that there is all experience and part of experience
This shows that absolute demonstration is possible—that some general propositions may be shown. It shows that not all proof is relative to axioms that have no foundation
The system to be developed will have ultimate power. Though fortuitous in its occasion, the development is necessary in its character. Of necessity, a necessary development of this kind has no external foundation. It is ‘its own’ foundation. The system shows the development of such foundation; and that it is not circular
Where does the local cosmology fit into the general metaphysics? (1) The infinite variety of the entire universe—all being—revealed in the metaphysics does not appear to be characteristic of this—local—world. I.e., the variety of being and behavior under the known / putative laws of this cosmos, is a—very small, even infinitesimal—subset of the total variety of being and behavior. According to the metaphysics, the behavior of the universe is not limited to that of this—local—cosmos and, further, there is, against the background of the entire universe, no distinction between the meaning or fact of ‘is not limited to’ and that of ‘is necessarily not limited to.’ The observed behavior of this cosmos is an example of normal behavior—within its context, deviant behavior, which would be impossible if the observed laws of the cosmos were the laws of the universe, are merely but highly improbable; and, within that context, it is merely but highly probable that the observed laws will describe all behavior. (2) Within the one universe, an event occurs or it does not; if it does it is possible; if it does not, there is no other comparison world where it could occur and, therefore, it is impossible. Therefore, the possible and the actual—over all time and space—are identical; from the previous paragraph, possibility is logical possibility—comparison with other meanings of possibility is taken up later. (3) The individual is immediately tied into the world via his or her experience; it may seem tenuous to suggest that experience is all that ties… however, experience is and will be shown to be a much more robust thing than is the flimsy notion that lies behind the idea of mere experience. These points and others will be discussed in demonstrative detail the body of the narrative. For now, they may be summarized by acknowledging that the concepts of the normal, of the identity of the actual and the possible, and of experience are among the concepts that reveal the place of the local cosmos in the universe
As a result of the development of the metaphysics, it has been possible to raise the understanding of substance and form, objects—particular or concrete and abstract—and identity, logic, meaning, mind, cosmology, human world, morals and ethics, faith, real possibilities in the transformations of being and identity, as well as a number topics of lesser significance or breadth to new levels relative to the history of thought. These levels are often ultimate in nature
These developments have derived inspiration from and employed analogy with many disciplines from the history of human knowledge—and, in turn, have implications for these disciplines which include not only the philosophical such as metaphysics and logic. The sources include the entire range of knowledge—the sciences including the sciences of physics, biology, and mind; the symbolic systems—language, logic, and mathematics; and art, history, faith and religion; the extent of study has not been uniform over these disciplines. It is relevant to understanding the development here that the exposure described constitutes a resource that has provided an intuitive background for the development that has made it possible to proceed without reference to or use of specific examples. While this does not at all constitute a formal deficiency of the developments, the reader who lacks the exposure may experience an absence of context and orientation in reading the narrative
The greater inspiration, however, is, directly from experience, and then from being
It should not be thought that the entire inspiration is from the history of thought. To think that thought as necessary would be to elevate our thought to a level of primacy over being. It is in the nature of novel, powerful and realist thought that transcends its roots
Regarding the metaphysics and the other topics, elaboration of its application and refinement of the levels continues
The beliefs of the present time may be regarded as roughly defined by science, religion, and secular humanism—the latter is a way of thinking based in human values that accepts scientific cosmology and is a modern replacement for religion. These beliefs do not form a coherent system and, where they intersect, may stand in conflict with regard to fact, significance and value. Assertions of the preceding kind are subject to lack in the definiteness of the meanings of the terms—science and so on. The present metaphysics allows a clarification of the ultimate possibilities of meaning of the terms. The ‘literal’ truth of present science need not be contested provided that it is seen as an infinitesimal faction of the truth. The apparent absurdity that may mark the religions is placed in context; except when the absurdity is actual, use of literal form to point to higher truth results in absurdity. Of course, there is no suggestion here that absurdity standing alone is any mark of truth or value. The figurative or evocative value of the forms of expression of spirituality, myth, and religion stand beyond their actual literal or factual form but, from the metaphysics, may be given literal interpretation
The metaphysics may be seen as standing above and giving context and significance to the factual and figurative expression of this and of any age, of any context. In so doing, the metaphysics may be seen as complementing such expression; contradiction should arise only in cases of literal interpretation of actual absurdity. In the direction of fact, there can be no greater complement. The figurative aspects of the expressions of the ages may be seen as intuition, perhaps only groping, of the metaphysics. If art points to truth, seeing truth eliminates—one—need for art, i.e., in this way, perception is greater than art (and religion and thought)
While careful definition is taken up later, cosmology and metaphysics may be seen as the study of the universe and its nature—and whether there are natures or essences. Epistemology may be seen as the study of the origin, justification, nature, and limits of human knowledge. There is a clear sense in which concern with knowledge cannot be more important than concern with the universe. However, in a world in which knowledge is regarded as problematic, epistemology may assume a greater importance than metaphysics and this has been the case in western philosophy—even the possibility of metaphysics has been in question—roughly since the time of Kant. Metaphysics provides logical construction of an ultimate metaphysics from firm empirical ground and, so, shows far more than the possibility of metaphysics
It is characteristic of these developments that, even though they may appear strange on account of their unfamiliarity and even though a reading of the narrative may be difficult because of the breadth of vision and knowledge encompassed, the core developments are essentially transparent and simple. The present development of the concept of being—and of existence—shows it to be shallow, superficial and trivial… and that it is precisely these characteristics that, along with diligent care in their consistent application and in the eradication of erroneous habits of earlier thought, enable the ultimate character of the metaphysics
‘Journey in Being’ is an exploration in possibility. Its means and ends are in ideas or knowledge and in transformation—in transformation of individual and identity, of society, and, later, of the world—of being
Early goals were diffuse—to be adventurous, to experience mystery and retain wonder, and to make a fundamental contribution. Along the way, being emerged as a basic to a system of concepts that enabled ultimates in ideas and the possibility of ultimates in transformation—as well as approaches to transformation. Why? It is because the alternative, e.g. substance or essence, posits the world as something else… and so opens up to error. On the other hand Being does not posit something else; to focus on Being is to focus on world as world…
Whereas the reduction of substance may be powerful, Being, since it posits nothing may turn out to be shallow—or so the doubt goes. The doubt is unfounded. The case is discussed extensively in narrative. Although Being posits nothing at outset, it is neutral to substance and essence and therefore if matter is the ‘being of the universe’ that may come out of study… and the materialist position will be strengthened. As it turns out, however, substance is untenable… but the approach from Being, the approach that appeared that it might be shallow, turns out to be of ultimate depth and breadth. In part it is the uncommitted aspect and the shallowness that results in depth precisely because it is open
However, there is an additional requirement. A diligent use of the idea of Being over other concepts such as matter, mind and process enabled not only foundation and proof but also analysis of what foundation there may be
There is also further diligence required in incorporating those aspects of our experience that are valid and in excluding those apparent aspects, including various a priori reductions, that are or may be invalid
Thus the developments show that epistemology may—and, as will be argued in the narrative, in the goal of realization of what is desirable and possible, should—once again take second place to metaphysics. However, the concerns of epistemology remain important. Such concerns are raised in Metaphysics and are addressed there and in subsequent topics, especially Objects and Faith. The concept of faith includes religious faith only as a special case and under the special circumstance that it has basis in reason or intuition but makes no incredulous or merely dogmatic appeal. If concern is with having secure knowledge then, since even in the heart of science and reason and logic there is no final certainty, and since—human—rationality has bounds, the application of knowledge must invariably involve faith even though that faith may be implicit. From another point of view, one that is perhaps revealed in animal behavior, faith-in-less-than-perfectly-secure-knowledge is an approximation to a mode-of-being-in-the-world that requires and can have no absolute certainty in the absolute presence of degrees of uncertainty. Parenthetically this may be set against Heidegger’s concept of Angst; which may be seen as being founded in a false concept of being-in-the-world that Heidegger’s thought retains even as it rejects substance ontology… of course, where Heidegger’s thought is and must be a groping—since, in allowing determinism, it cannot have completely eradicated substance thought—the present metaphysics is in a sense its own author rising above the ego and aspirations of its human author
In the analysis of the nature of being, of meaning, of what may be doubted and what may not—of empirical knowledge, and of logic, there is no other context to which Foundation may or need refer for justification. Still, various kinds of doubt—e.g. doubt regarding the logic of the metaphysics and doubt about how it may apply and its consequences in this world—are raised and addressed and what doubt remains may be seen as residing, not in limits, but in the nature of being. An at element of faith—even if only implicit—is and must be present in application Theory of Being, e.g. in undertaking transformation and, more immediately, in locating the ultimate objects of the metaphysics in the world of experience—that these objects can be located in experience of normal individuals may be seen to be a rather Wittgensteinian doubt. This is just as there is at least implicit faith in the application of or trust in any knowledge and which faith in explicit form is often suppressed perhaps to allow security and to promote function. The thought that in the contingent realm this is required or desirable to be or can be overcome is delusional and the cultivation of this view is a form of slavery, i.e., that there is some implicit authority or institution that owns the overcoming
Rock solid understanding is possible only in fluidity
Even though the variety revealed in the metaphysics is ultimate, the variety is implicit in the metaphysics. This leaves open infinite vistas and possibilities of discovery and transformation and suggests that variety is more interesting and basic than depth
A consequence of the metaphysics that is developed is a theory of identity that shows that an individual must experience all identities. Limits and law-like behavior—regarding but not limited to identity— within this cosmos are an example of what is termed ‘normal.’ The concept of the normal is developed in a way that shows that what is often thought to be contingently impossible is merely—extremely—improbable within a normal system and, similarly, what is thought to be contingently necessary is merely probable. The contingent necessities and impossibilities correspond to the laws of the normal system but are not logically necessary or logically impossible. It is shown that there must be infinitely many normal systems against a background of absolute indeterminism, that the variety is limited only by logical necessity, and that under absolute indeterminism, all logical possibilities including the normal systems must be realized. The experience of singular identity of the individual is normal behavior that is and must be transcended when the boundaries—e.g., in space and time—of this normal cosmos are not the limits of the domain of consideration. The possible and necessary experience of variety of identity is infinite and these identities are experienced in singular and integral form. It is unlikely and difficult though not impossible for an individual starting from normal circumstances to design and undertake the experience of universal identity. Death is a certain gate to the infinite
Note that identities among being, becoming and journey have been considered in Origin, nature and scope… and there is identity among metaphysics and idea… consider, therefore, the best minimal form of the title to this section
Task—import material: ’06 and earlier versions may be useful sources for The narrative if the ’07 version is not adequate
This section is, tentatively, a sketch of the journey and an outline of the narrative
A vision of ‘what the world is like’ is developed in Foundation which is the largest part, first, due to its significance and, then, because the transformation sketched in ‘Journey’ is at an early stage
It is effective to begin the story at a point within the journey
Therefore, the narrative takes up the story at some point deep within the journey. This is roughly analogous to the presentation of a complex system whose discovery involved trial and error as a well formed axiomatic system
This is efficient
It permits the formulation of a system of ideas that is neither naïve nor so finished as to have no further application
I publish because there is something of value to say—to contribute
There is always some ‘personal’ motive—the personal is realized or experienced in contributing to something larger than the person…
When, in a culture, the personal motive is suppressed it is ideally because of concern with the merely personal that pretends to go beyond the person
When detachment is advocated, as it is in the Bhagavad-Gita, the ideal reference is to detachment from the outcome of action but not to action that is directed toward an outcome. The Gita does not ask for the elimination of desire but for realization of the self in something greater than the person… in giving up preoccupation with merely selfish desire
The motive is not so much toward truth but in that in the experience of truth it may be seen as such even though not anticipated… and having been seen it continues its own revelation as without involvement of the ego
The world takes on a new appearance of unlabored clarity in the light of truth
On publication and its corruptions
See / incorporate on the difficulty.html
Above
Two related ends may be expressed in the phrase individual journey in the discovery and experience of all being
That the individual journey is significant implies an included focus on the immediate
These ends make the endeavor worth an effort
A possible form for attention to meaning:
In developing a new system of thought, new meaning is introduced. In the narrative, most new and altered concepts are designated by existing words that may already have a variety—sometimes a profusion—of general and specialized uses
In order to understand the narrative it is crucial to be aware of new meaning as it is introduced
A number of passes through the narrative may be useful. A first pass may include a look at the contents and the index and some leafing through the book. A first reading may pay attention to the meanings of terms and the arguments; this may be followed by addressing detailed issues that may have arisen along the way. A second reading might be the time to absorb the ideas as an integral whole
This contains the material of the old section Legend
Plan. Separate discussion may be retained andor material may be incorporated to ‘designs’
Discussion of narrative style—story versus formal and or didactic… personal versus impersonal… individual versus generic… names and pronouns—he, she, they
Conventions—capitals, italics, references within the text
Possible material from Journey in Being-New World-essence.html:
Eliminate or further explain / implement this:
Instead of ‘I,’ which may suggest mere self-promotion and intrusion of ego, ‘they’ or, perhaps, fictional names may be used to encourage powers of self
The main units of the essay are ‘parts’ whose headings are bold and capitalized. Parts are divided into divisions (bold and Title Case) and then chapters (underlined, First letter capitalized.) Chapters may be divided into sections that are indicated by an italicized heading or by italicizing the first sentence of the section
Italics are used to refer to a unit from within the text; for example, the main parts are Foundation, Journey, and Map. Italics are also used to indicate emphasis
Words have variant and potential meaning. It is crucial to the logic and understanding of the essay that the meanings of fundamental words such as Being, Universe and Void should be defined explicitly and used and read consistently. Capitalization of the first letters of words indicates that a concept is being used as defined in the essay. However, it is not necessary to be compulsive about this convention
Competent language use is comfortable with conflating concepts with the objects to which they refer. However, the distinction is often crucial to clarity; capitalization is a reminder that the distinction may be significant
In a common convention, quotes are used to refer to a word or phrase. Thus, ‘tree’ refers to the word while tree refers to the object. This convention may be a reminder that word and object are being distinguished
This section discusses the problem of specifying characteristics of audiences in relation to this narrative. The intent of the essay is to understand and to transform or, rather, be engaged in transformation—of individuals and the world. Therefore, the essay is addressed to humankind—to those who share its goals and to others who do not or even stand against them… to those who have sympathy with its methods and ambitions and to those who might oppose them
Includes the intrinsic
From earlier discussions, the narrative may therefore appeal to anyone who is interested in ‘journey,’ ‘transformation,’ or ‘what the world is like’
The classes of reader to whom the narrative may appeal… Discusses preparation that may be helpful… Is this idea at odds with the nature of the narrative?
The journey described in this essay, a story of being and of my travels in being, covers a vast territory. I now see that only some parts of the journey were logically necessary to where I have arrived. However, in the beginning and during the process I did not know what was necessary and I could not have fully articulated the nature of the result. Therefore, in a sense the entire journey was necessary. Throughout, I was sustained by a sense of wonder and of trust in the being of the universe
I always seek responses from readers. I am encouraged by and appreciate kind words and praise but I have learned most by responding to challenges that have ranged from careful criticism to total and sometimes hurtful if careless negation of my thought and being. You may learn something by tracing the path described here. However, the spirit of my journey includes the following. In addition to wonder, I have also been sustained –especially when the sacrifices seemed to be a burden– by the thought that I may make a contribution to our journey. I have always thought that while the particulars of an individual journey may be erratic or quixotic, the universal journey is necessary and is built upon individual effort. In that sense, at least, the distinction between failure and success is thin; to fail is to have not sought and followed your vision, to have not undertaken your highest mission – which is already latent within you and which is your greatest joy and pain
It may seem to some individuals that this is an invitation to reject our immediate world. That is not true. It is sometimes necessary –effective– to turn away from the details to achieve understanding. However, that understanding is an understanding of the details and how they stand together. The understanding binds together our common world and the absolute or infinite and illuminates both i.e. understanding of what is seen is [vastly] enhanced by the admission of existence of the unseen
From the essay: There are two great sources of meaning: first, experience and enjoyment of and action in the immediate world – the life and relationships of the individual and, second, in the process, in arching from individual being to universal Being
It may sometimes seem that I am asking readers to give up their most firm and sound beliefs – the system of common belief that is the foundation of our unspoken concept of the world. That, too, is not true. What I ask is for an extension of the common system of belief. The normal concept of the world undoubtedly has validity within a certain domain and we do not appear to be in a position to extrapolate beyond that domain. How then can I say anything about all being or the one universe? My response is in the foregoing discussion. Sustained by wonder and intuition, my search started in the world-as-I-experience-it and continued there through many avenues and over many years. Yet, despite many attempts including analysis of belief and knowledge, I could not give to my intuition the label of knowledge. Finally, I turned away from extrapolation and examined the concept of nothingness where I found, as stated above and as detailed in the body of this essay, that nothingness contains, in a sense, all being the entire one universe. The journey is a travel through human knowledge and through our world to this ultimate point that is a foundation to and meshes smoothly with all being and the system of common belief
In some systems of thought, the world as we experience it is all illusion. Here, we find that the world of experience, the forms of intuition and the system of common belief are practical guides to our world, essential to living in that world, that do not constitute an illusion when not held as absolute. The world of intuition where we experience time, space and the distinctness of individuals is embedded in the most inclusive perspective in which nothingness is the womb of being. Thus it is valid to experience space, time, individuation, pleasure and pain and the other forms of intuition such as causation; and it is also valid to know a world that e.g. contains but is not in time and in which the individual –you or I– is identical to all being that stands with the ability to be distant from the individual and his or her singular attributes and experience
Since the developments in this document are interrelated, it may be best understood by reading through it twice
Using the table of contents and the index
Internet version. Links
The following material may be useful even though it is far too long and perhaps to off the point to warrant inclusion of more than brief extracts
Although I have always had communication in mind, the preliminary versions of this and related documents were not directed toward a specific class of readers. This is in part because my thought has been open ended. While specific goals have a degree of desirability, it is in the nature of an open ended journey in ideas and transformation that the goals themselves are not given at the outset. Discovery includes discovery of the goals. This is because as the nature of the universe, human nature, my personal nature and their relationships become revealed (and defined) new possibilities become revealed and old possibilities revaluated. The purpose in writing was to get the ideas on paper, to organize, to criticize, to refine and elaborate my thought. I now think that my accomplishments in thought may be a contribution that is worth publishing, that their form is sufficiently stable to allow publication. The initial form of the accomplishments was rough and intuitive. I have been able to find a foundation for the intuitions and to refine, elaborate and to develop consequences of the foundation in a broad range of disciplines, activities and institutions. It is therefore now pertinent to review what I have written here, to consider the classes of reader for whom the work might have interest. This essay has gone through numerous revisions; in the recent revisions I have been editing, organizing and revising the manuscripts in light of what may be the interests of potential readers
This work may have interest for a number of audiences. The first audience is the general reader. I believe that the ideas in this essay touch every life; however, this does not imply that all persons will be interested in the essay. Everyone eats but not everyone cares about what they eat or how to cook. The general reader, then, is one who has an interest in the ambitions of the journey. This reader may have a peripheral interest in my explorations in ideas and in being, near and far. I hope, however, that my writing will touch the reader, will excite the imagination – will be the spark that sets the reader on his or her own journey. Perhaps some individuals will be motivated to share their journey with me. That will be my privilege. Although I have a passion for ideas, it has never been my ambition to live merely in the world of ideas. My passions include people, ideas, nature, dance… In addition to the esoteric, I would like to see social application of my thought and have developed it in that direction in human being and society and faith. i have attempted to write as simply as possible without sacrificing careful development of the ideas; however, some readers may experience the central chapters, ‘Foundation’ and ‘Journey,’ as difficult. There are some suggestions in reading the essay that may help the reader through the essay. It is my hope that the reader, including the one who has difficulties with the ideas but persists through and beyond the difficulties, may enter a ‘Journey in Being’ as participant rather than spectator
Readers of preliminary editions have asked why I have included such a wide range of material and so much detail –so many concepts– in such a short space. Those readers have prompted me to provide an explanation of the need for the range and depth of material in this essay. My response is that the contents are necessary to developing a theory of being and to showing explicitly that a wide range of being falls under its umbrella. I have been able to provide a theoretical demonstration that the theory is comprehensive, i.e., that all being lies within its range. However, without the explicit demonstration the conclusion would lack substance, relevance and application. Thus, I have developed application of the core theory (metaphysics) to classical metaphysics, to logic, cosmology, the nature of life, the nature of human being, mind, society, and faith. The consideration of logic is more than simple application for I have developed a significant generalization of idea of logic (there are similar ideas in the literature) that permits an alternative demonstration of the comprehensive nature of the theory. Logic, cosmology and the metaphysics (the core theory) stand together as a unit… Although this unit of ideas is significant in itself, I had conceived and developed it as a foundation for the ‘Journey in Being.’ The application to the transformation of being is taken up in the chapter, journey in being
Another audience is the reader who is philosophically inclined. The essay traverses the terrain of a number of traditions of philosophy. The casual and the professional philosopher may find much of interest, especially the illumination (attempts at solution, extension) of a number of classical problems and areas of philosophy such as the theory of being or metaphysics, the nature of ethics and of group choice (political philosophy,) the mind-body problem, the nature of mind and matter, the problem of substance, the categories of being and of intuition, the nature of space and time – relational or absolute, what has been called the fundamental problem of metaphysics, i.e., ‘Why is there something rather than nothing?’ and the related question, ‘Why does the universe contain sentience?’, problems of the theory of knowledge, the nature of the noumenon or thing-in-itself, and questions as to the nature of philosophy and, especially, metaphysics and logic. The variety of reflections is tied together by a unity of perspective that stems, in part, from the theory of being that has been developed. My method includes but is not restricted to analysis; I have considered it important that philosophy should endeavor to illuminate the nature of the real – of being. Although there are intimations, in the history of ideas, of the fundamental results in metaphysics, I believe that the depth and clarity of statement of the ideas and the necessity of the arguments are without precedent. An objective in all these endeavors, as well as in those that follow, has been, first, to contribute to understanding and, second, to occasionally summarize pertinent aspects of the state of knowledge in the field
The result regarding substance is that there are no fundamental substances; instead the foundation of being is found in the void and is shown have and need no further regress; or, equivalently, the foundation is in complete indeterminism which, however, necessitates the origin of form and structure, of local or normal cosmological systems such as ours that may possess kinds of local (quasi) causation and local (quasi) determinism, and be described in terms of space and time. The void is shown to exist and to necessitate becoming and, therefore, being; this provides a resolution of the fundamental problem of metaphysics.
The developments that I will now describe may have interest for more specialized audiences but not to the exclusion of the general or the philosophically inclined reader. One purpose to my development of the specialized topics is to show how the general theory of being and the specialized topics have implications for one another. Taken together, the general and specialized interests –especially those whose focus is concerned with mind, its nature, structure and function– will form a foundation for a design of a complete and minimal system of experiments for the exploration and transformation of being. The degree to which the developments are complete and elaborate is not uniform (some of the developments are detailed in other essays.) The theory of being is central to the developments in philosophy just mentioned. The metaphysics shows the necessity of unending recurrence of the individual in forms without limit on duration, extent and participation in ‘higher’ being; development of the concept of identity, also founded in the theory of being, gives significance to these necessities through continuity of personal identity. The requirement for continuity of identity is not similarity of form but association through memory. Thus, continuity of identity does not clearly show universality of identity over all phases of being; however, the necessary extension of identity over continuous phases is so great as to ensure that normal human experience is a minute fraction of it. Similarity of form is the basis of a more comprehensive identity. 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
Readers interested in science will find reflections on the nature of science, the relation between science and logic, and an evaluation of the extent of the actual and potential domain of science relative to all being. One view of science has been that the theories of science should be testable or, in an earlier formulation, ‘falsifiable.’ Simply stated, this means that science is about the world of experience – but this does not mean that ideas and concepts do not enter into science. Another aspect of a fundamental scientific theory should be that, even though it may be ‘overturned,’ it captures an essence of a phase of being is captured. Thus, even when an older theory is overturned it may still capture the essence of a limited phase. A ‘revolution’ in science is one in which the essence of a fundamentally more comprehensive phase of being. It is fundamental that the theory of being of this essay captures, in logic, the entire range of being and that it is connected to the real world: its truth implies that the universe as known in science is an infinitesimal fraction of the entire universe. The theory of being has implications for the concept, nature and being of God. There are implications for the politically though not so much intellectually potent question of evolution vs. creation. It is pure biology and, in my opinion, good science that the theory of evolution provides the only explanation of the story of life on earth: it provides understanding, ‘creationism’ does not; further, although the explanatory system is not complete, the creationist criticisms generally confuse an inability (or refusal) to understand nature with a limitation of nature: the so-called gaps in evolutionary theory are generally gaps in creationist understanding. Creationism, I think, harms true religion; and it is not an explanatory system: it relegates explanation to an unexplained concept of God – it would be far better to acknowledge ignorance as mystery. However, my views may be described as being a ‘shade closer to center’ than strictly evolutionist views. My reasons are both complex and simple. The simple reason is that the theory of being shows the necessity alternatives to ‘strict incremental variation and selection’ in some cosmological systems despite its (apparent) huge improbability: it is the distinction between improbability and impossibility that characterizes the difference between my view and what I see to be the common view, whether evolutionist or alternative. Note that by alternative I do not necessarily mean ‘intelligent design’ (except insofar as intelligence may be attributed to general universal process) but simply something other than the incremental variation and selection. Even though the possibilities of incremental variation and selection may be beyond imagination, e.g. human imagination so far, the strict view continues to contain a form of mechanism imposed on strict indeterminism. The complex view has to do with the nature and function of knowledge and is developed in the essay
Regarding religion, I have written to understand the phenomenon, but not, by intent, to confirm or disconfirm any faith or belief; instead of confirmation, my intent has been evaluation of the literal and non-literal truth of religion and the significance of faith and religion in general and today. I distinguish between religion and the religions: the religions are the actual institutions; religion is the potential – the ideal. My concept of religion is that religion is that which orients the whole individual to the entire universe. The empirical minded anthropologist may retort that religion should be defined by the study of its practice. There are a number of criticisms of this claim. One criticism is that it is circular: if there is no concept of religion, how is its practice to be identified; in absence of a concept it will be identified by preconception and the result of such study will reflect the prejudices of the investigator. A second criticism is that contains an implicit definition of what it is to study something; in this case it contains an implicit though partial definition of anthropology. Finally, it is a characteristic of a limitation to empirical study, that the result may limit human possibility to what has already been realized or to some account of what has been realized. Thus the domain of religion is not restricted to the divine and includes the domain of science. Some individuals prefer the word ‘spirituality’ to ‘religion.’ I find an additional word to be unnecessary even though ‘religion’ has some undesirable connotations. The word ‘spirituality’ suggests another realm or dimension – one that is removed from this world. However, there is no ‘other realm.’ There is one world and insofar as there are sacred things, the entire world is sacred – even if it contains evil. Individuals who set spirituality and religion apart are often inclined to think of spirituality as a private activity. Religion may be practiced as a private activity but is not essentially private. I see religion as being communal for conceptual and practical reasons. The conceptual reason is that sharing adds in a number of ways to the quality of the enterprise. There is no necessity to the practice and development of religion as communal; privacy of religion is to be tolerated and may be desirable for some individuals; some may profess to be unreligious – however this is hardly possible on account of my concept of religion; what I claim is that, in general, communal development and practice enhances religion in much the same way that communal development and practice enhances science. While some thinkers have emphasized the non-literal meanings of religion and myth, these meanings could not have significance if the literal meanings were completely absurd. I have found some of the conclusions regarding the literal truth, derived on grounds of logic, to be unexpected: the essential conclusion is that unless the truth of an article of faith would violate a principle of logic, it must obtain; however, it is normal that those articles that would violate the principles of science or reasoned common sense are extremely probable in this (our) cosmological system. One practical source of the importance of the communal practice of religion is as follows. The significance of religion is unquestionable even if only because, regardless of inner meaning and truth, it has so much impact on the lives and thinking of men and women and on the secular world. From my considerations of literal truth and from the theory of being, I have found a way to build a bridge between the religions and between religion and secular life. The idea should not be new; what is new is the demonstration that there are infinitely many actual worlds, all part of the one universe, in which such bridging necessarily obtains; in a given world bridging of any duration is possible but its probability is not necessarily high. The nature of faith is such that I am hopeful but not altogether optimistic about this possibility in this (our) world. One start, however, is that individuals with a liberal persuasion and (or) an attitude of tolerance might avoid being dismissive even of a polar opposite to their views and to always keep open the possibility of communication and understanding. What can be said to someone who believes in conflict and the resulting suffering? I have not been able to prove that physical conflict is not ethical on rational grounds alone. However, one can take a stand for one’s values. This may be vexing to intellectuals but it may be better than ‘proof’ for it may be harder to ignore someone who takes a stand than someone who writes a proof in a book. This does not discount theory for theory has potency and may be joined to action… I hesitate to criticize the faiths, which I distinguish from faith; however it is reason and feeling that have overcome sympathy in the foregoing criticism. Criticism of faith has been said to be a sign of disrespect but, when honest in fact and intention, appears to me to be a form of real respect – for the other and for truth. Earlier, I distinguished between religion and the religions and identified religion as the unrealized ideal. The ideal is not given but to be found, perhaps only to be approached; the theory of being provides a framework for this endeavor and shows that the ideal is not absolutely remote, i.e., the gulf between being human (or similar being) and being God is not infinite
Individuals with an interest in theoretical physics will find a tentative though as yet qualitative foundation for some of the basic theories and fundamental concepts of physics - quantum theory; the relativistic theory of space-time-matter and force. For biologists, there are reflections on the nature of life and the necessity of the variation and selection ‘mechanism’ of evolution and a generalization of that mechanism to all creation, to all origins of form and structure. Persons active in the philosophy and sciences of mind and behavior will be interested in the account of the nature and structure of mind. Regarding the possibility of two concepts of mind, the phenomenal and the psychological, that has dominated much thought –especially academic thought– since the middle of the nineteenth century, necessity requires the conclusion that the distinction is false; the apparent distinction is based in a limited understanding of mind and of being. Regarding the structure of mind, my focus has been at two levels – the possibility of mind as a source of adaptation (creativity) and the dimensions of human mentality. I have formulated a set of parameters or dimensions that permits a uniform treatment of mind and person in specific contexts and over a lifetime. (A uniform treatment is one that shows and develops the functions from a common basis.) This includes uniform formulations of the functions (cognition, emotion and drive or instinct) and a formulation of personality that transcends and is relatively neutral toward the culture-centered attempts of the past. The latter is made possible, in part, by connecting the human context, concepts and dimensions of mind, and the theory of being of this essay. It is shown that a complete account of the working of mind must be a basis for a complete account of the being and meaning of the individual: the account of human mind is a basis for the design of the experiments in transformation. It will be of interest to the psychiatrist in that the uniform formulations appear to make possible a universal and dynamic treatment of exceptional performance and disorder (actual development of such a treatment is among the plans for future work) that has basis in the functional dimensions of (human) mind. Workers in the recently activated (roughly, since the final quarter of the twentieth century) and multi-disciplinary field of consciousness studies will find a simple resolution of the ‘problem of consciousness’ that is, essentially, a special case of the resolution of the mind-body problem mentioned earlier. The limit of the treatment is not arrived at when I say that the cognitive scientist will find reflections and conclusions regarding the structure of thought, the possibility of the interpretation of mind as machine – as an algorithm performed upon symbols; and on the significance of learning, adaptation and embodiment
The essay contains reflections on the nature of symbolic systems that include the nature of the symbol and the object, the nature of language and of mathematics. These reflections are based, in part, on the concept of the ‘free symbol’ that is based in the metaphysics
The free symbol is also a part of the basis of an elucidation of aspects of social theory such as the nature and aspects of individual and group choice, i.e., of ethics, of economics, and of politics; the earlier comments on bridging among faiths also apply to secular relations and relations between faith and the secular world
I have attempted to craft the essay as art – have attempted to occasionally suffuse the prose with a poetic sense. This attempt is consistent with the reflection, found in the discussion of the nature of symbols, that poetry (which invokes intuition and emotion) and logic (reason) are not necessarily or essentially distinct and that their forms may be combined in positive ways that compromise neither poetry nor reason
I have attempted to write simply. However, there may be some lower limit of simplicity that is consistent with the content. The following suggestions may be useful in reading, understanding and evaluating this essay
Since a book is what has been called a ‘presentational form,’ i.e., it stands as a whole even while the presentation is linear, the content this essay may be best grasped by reading it more than once – perhaps at different paces and levels of detail. Many of the concepts are designated by familiar words that may be used in unfamiliar ways or have a variety of meanings from which only one is (some are) selected. I have endeavored to move knowledge and understanding into realms often thought to be inaccessible to conceptual comprehension. In this process the meaning of every concept may change and, even if, as I believe, the resulting system is ultimate in the sense of requiring no further foundation, each concept is yielded more as a meaning-in-transition than a fixed meaning. Further, the system of concepts stands as an integral whole. Therefore, the entire system of concepts and the development of the theory (of being) must be absorbed to permit either appreciation or criticism of a coherent system thought. The table of contents, the introduction, and the index may assist in this process. Additionally, I have provided a lexicon or glossary of important terms, a section on the fundamental problems, and a section on my sources. I have occasionally marked more technical material by offsetting, using a smaller font and by inserting footnotes and endnotes
Some comments on word use and meaning may be useful. The following comments are intended to have application to this essay, but may also have application to the use of language in general. At the outset of these comments I will make the obvious remark that the utility of language requires some stability in its forms and meanings. However, the metaphysics of this essay includes an attempt to understand the nature of the universe within which we live. The approach to such an attempt does not start with a “clean slate,” but with an inherited system of understanding whose completeness and precision are partial. The objective is to improve understanding with regard to both completeness and precision. It is in the nature of the enterprise, as discussed in greater detail in the section, ‘Knowledge and Certainty’ (link) and elsewhere in this essay, that such an attempt, if it is to have some success, must have an experimental aspect. Thus, even though the meanings of words (concepts) must normally have some degree of stability, the meanings of words are not and can not be fixed. Thus, every significant word or concept as well as the system of concepts taken as a whole must have a degree of fluidity in use. The meaning of every word may and will change from speaker to speaker, from writer to writer and within the writing of a single author – even when the words are given what may appear to be precise meanings. In the metaphysical system of this essay I have systematically extended the meanings of common words, including their philosophical uses, beyond their common range in the attempt to extend the range of application of the system. I have introduced some new words but this is not always the best approach and may also create problems of understanding and communication
Therefore it is necessary to make a conscious effort to be aware of my use and meanings of words or concepts and their relations. (The sections, ‘Fundamental Problems,’ ‘Sources and Influences,’ the lexicon and the index may assist this effort. Inclusion of these various devices to assist the reader has added to the length of the document.) The system of meanings is a dynamic form. It is dynamic in that it should adjust to ‘reality’ and it is a form in that the meanings stand in relation to one another; in isolation, the meanings are incomplete. This is what I mean when I say that the concepts of a system of understanding constitute a dynamic field of concepts
Regarding the nature of the changes, they may be at the edges or boundaries of use or at the very core. Thus, use does not merely change but it evolves, grows, and morphs – often, but not necessarily, while maintaining continuity with previous use. It is therefore a given that the reader will get the most out of this essay that he or she could unless there is some willingness to, at least temporarily, relinquish cherished and often hard earned understanding
Since meaning codifies experience and since its analysis may bring further experience to bear upon it, it is not paradoxical that analysis of meaning may yield positive, e.g. empirical, results
The words whose meanings are extended are not only relatively esoteric ones such as ‘metaphysics,’ ‘logos,’ and ‘logic’ but also common ones such as ‘is,’ ‘noun,’ ‘thing,’ and ‘individual.’ The common words are often most profound in the implication of their meaning. Thus, ‘is’ is a form of ‘to be’ which is at the root of the meaning of being. As I have already said, although the meaning of ‘being’ appears to be trivial, its careful analysis leads to deep and often surprising conclusions. It is the pervasiveness of being that results in depth and, simultaneously, the appearance of triviality. In addition to this general consideration, the word ‘is’ in the sense of ‘being’ has a number of connotations. If something ‘is,’ it is typically so, within standard use, at a particular time and at a particular place. In an extension of this standard meaning, that something ‘is’ is allowed to mean that it has being over some duration of time and some extent of space that lie somewhere in the range of all durations and extents. That ‘is’ refers to a range of places and times is already within standard use for when an object has stable existence, the use of ‘is’ in connection with that object is not restricted to the strict present. For example, ‘Mt. Everest is the highest mountain’ would not have its usual sense if the heights of mountains varied randomly by thousands of feet every day. If time and space are regarded as ‘indices’ of being, then the use of ‘is’ may be extended to other indices that there may be. Careful attention to this distinction has been shown in the discussion of being to add significantly to the power of the analysis. This is because not all assertions are tensed but language use is ambivalent about whether grammatical forms are tensed or not. In my experience, the extended and tense-less use of the verb ‘to be’ may present an initial difficulty but finally results in simplicity of analysis
Another common word is ‘universe’ which has a number of connotations. In physics, ‘universe’ often means the known physical universe in which the meaning of ‘known’ is elaborated as ‘known by a combination of observational and theoretical means.’ In the primary meaning of this essay, the Universe is all that there is. Thus the Universe is shown to be far ‘greater’ than the known physical universe. In particular, it is shown that there is no reason to suppose that the laws of physics which enter implicitly into the definition of the physical universe apply to the Universe. Instead, it is shown that the Universe has no laws. (If the constitution of an object is defined by a set of states, a law is a restriction on the actual states attained.) Rather, laws such as the physical laws of this cosmological system arise locally; this cosmological system is, therefore, infinitesimal in comparison to the Universe. A further consideration arises as follows. If the concept of a creator is such that a creator must, at least occasionally, be outside of what is created then the Universe does not and cannot have a creator
A final word that I shall consider here is ‘individual.’ In one common and standard view, the individual is a relatively fixed quantity. Of course the individual has a life, is born, grows, declines and dies. However, these limits define the temporal boundaries of the individual on the standard view in which the skin of the individual is the spatial boundary. There are other boundaries in the standard view such as limits on abilities. In a more inclusive view, the individual is not fixed and is in flux; the boundaries of the individual are not absolute and the individual may be seen as a transient element of more inclusive being even while the individual may not experience its participation in that being. In an expanded perspective, the ‘standard individual’ may experience a more comprehensive and dual vision, seeing “a mountain as a river and a river as a mountain.” The concept of the individual and the identity of the individual are further discussed in the essay, especially in the section, ‘Personality and Identity.’ In that section, it is seen that identity may be maintained even in severe transformations. This shows how transformation of one individual into another or merging of one individual with a larger one, already seen to be possible from the Theory of Being, can have meaning
In these examples there have been two variants of an approach to deriving significance from analysis of meaning. In one, different meanings within a family of meaning are identified and distinguished and one of these selected as the meaning within the system of analysis. An example of this approach is ‘universe.’ In the other the meaning is extended as in the consideration of the individual. The variants are not essentially or logically distinct and may be seen as a single approach in which the aim is to avoid, as far as possible, introduction of metaphysical constraint or inconsistency built into the conceptual system at the outset. This approach will be used to significant advantage in the analysis and application of a number of concepts including ‘mind’ and ‘form’ and in a number of problems such as the mind-body problem that is well known in philosophy. A central idea in such considerations is that the meaning of ‘mind’ is, in the first place, that of mind-as-we-experience-it. In physical science, the concept of matter has been extended far beyond that of matter-as-we-experience it and, similarly, an extension is possible for ‘mind.’ This extension is a part of a resolution of the mind-body problem. The development of the Theory of Being in this essay also depends, among other things, upon similar extensions of meaning
The analysis of the concept of the individual required simultaneous analysis of the concept of identity. The observation is important. In general, the proper analysis of any concept may require the simultaneous analysis of the conceptual system or field of which it is a part. (Discussion of the idea of a field of concepts is taken up elsewhere in this essay.) An obvious reason for this is that the system of meanings is interdependent. A second and more subtle reason is that in any system of meanings, even formal ones, the common metaphysical tradition infuses each concept. Therefore, it is difficult to overcome the weight of the tradition in the analysis of any concept in isolation. Two observations are significant. First, as the examples show, the traditional systems, even the great critical philosophies, frequently embody metaphysical assumptions and even inconsistencies. Second, there is vast scope for valid expansion of metaphysical understanding. Here, ‘valid’ implies showing necessity, possibility and actuality. The Theory of Being developed in this essay is one such expansion
How it is possible for an analysis of meaning to result in valid conclusions regarding the world may appear to be puzzling since, in analyzing meaning, there appears to be no reference to the world? Thus, a major weakness of the science of Hellenism (the Greek Civilization) is thought to be that there was no systematic experimental testing of the system of ideas. A response to the puzzle is that meaning already embodies experience for the system of meaning arises together with language-use. The analysis of meaning is not merely in terms of other words or concepts but also involves analysis of past and continuing experience
The vision, inspired by poetic imagination and established in logic, was as if that of a New World!
The resulting picture is shown to be explicitly ultimate in depth: it is shown that the picture is (logically) necessary and that further depth is neither possible nor required as foundation for understanding of all being
It will be useful to the reader know at the outset that the primary intent in publication of the present narrative is the presentation of new ideas and discoveries and their relations to and bases in the traditions of human endeavor including thought. It is not a direct goal to present here an overview or synthesis of the traditions… Novelty is not a virtue in itself but, to have significance, also requires the qualities of validity and fruitfulness of consequences. The narrative endeavors to achieve and to make clear these qualities. They wrote because they felt that there was something of value to say
The brevity of the narrative relative to its breadth of content is a feature of its design. An attempt has been made to bring together in a dynamic and encapsulated unity, a set of features that serves the purpose of the exploration and briefly tells its story. The features include a picture painted in broad strokes of a system that builds upon the traditions of human thought, experience and action. In this aspect of its design the narrative stands in contrast and in complement and relation to the also valid, loosely interwoven, incrementally developing tradition of ideas. If the tradition is a net, the narrative is a spear. The details that have been included here serve the purposes of proof, instructive example, and (occasional) illustration
The narrative is designed, as far as possible, to appeal to general and specialist readers; it may call to readers who have an interest in the journey itself—the understanding and realization of the identity of the individual story and that of all being—or in the many discoveries and excursions—often unplanned yet significant—on the way. Some of the areas of potential interest are in Metaphysics including the depth and variety of being and of Identity, knowledge and conditions that knowledge should satisfy, Logic, Cosmology, Mind, the nature of Human being, Ethics, society, politics, civilization and history, the highest ideal, faith and religion, principles of thought and the dynamics of being, the nature of philosophy and metaphysics, and experiments in the transformation of being and identity
There are discussions of the nature of meaning and concepts; of Form and universals; the ultimate in depth and variety of being (the theory of being developed implicitly includes all possible physical and natural law;) substance and its elimination; mechanisms of becoming and the necessity of indeterminism (systems or states that though possibly related, are not determined by one another; usually temporal in which a later state e.g. of the universe is not determined by earlier ones even if related to them) with first inspiration from evolutionary biology, its necessity derived from the concept of novelty –what is new is not and cannot be contained in or determined by what came before– and with application in the Theory of Being, science, cosmology and originality in thought; objects, the real; fact and theory, science and induction, mathematics, deduction and the nature of mathematics; originality and consciousness; atomism, life; psychology, human freedom versus determinism, growth and personality, language, exceptional achievement and disorder; war and peace, charisma, civilization and history