For the Way of Being | Detailed Version for Reduction To the brief essential version ANIL MITRA © JANUARY 2018—February 2022 Contents Prologue—The Endeavor of Being Being, experience, and naturalism Language and meaning; introduction to reason Elements of Being—perfect and pragmatic Epilogue—The Immediate and The Real Influences and sources for the essays
PlanThis is now a source for the main concepts.html. Introduction to The WayADVERTISEMENT, AIM, RESOURCES AdvertisementSTANDARD WORLDVIEW, SECULAR, NONSECULAR, TRANSSECULAR, RADICAL METAPHYSICS, KNOWLEDGE, ENDEAVOR, DESTINY, RECEIVED KNOWLEDGE, CULTURE, TRADITION, REALIZATION, LOGICAL POSSIBILITY, FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF METAPHYSICS, PERFECT METAPHYSICS, UNIVERSE, VARIETY, PEAK OF BEING, INDIVIDUAL, MERGING UNDERSTANDING, REVISION OF METAPHYSICAL FRAMEWORK, REEDUCATION OF INTUITION The way and its aimTHE AIM OF BEING, LIVING WELL, SHARING, THIS WORLD, THE IMMEDIATE, THIS LIFE AND BEYOND, THE ULTIMATE, KNOWLEDGE, ACTION, REALIZATION ResourcesRESOURCES Metaconcepts for the databaseA meta-discipline is about the discipline TEXT, TEMPLATE, DEDICATED DATABASE, GENERAL PURPOSE DATABASE, RESOURCE DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, THOUGHT, IDEAS, WRITING, ACTION Terms that are CapitalizedBeing, being, Civilization, civilization, Concept, concept, Law, law, Logic, logic BEING—existence; to have Being is to exist A BEING—a generalized object, something that exists or has existence or Being, a part of the universe BEINGS—plural of a being CIVILIZATION—a particular civilization, human civilization, or civilization in general CIVILIZATION—universal civilization CONCEPT—general mental content CONCEPT—free concept (not bound to an object), higher concept, contrasts to percept or bound content LAW—natural law, a reading of a pattern in nature LAW—the pattern itself LOGIC—usually refers to deductive logic; requirement for conceptual consistency LOGIC—requirement for (total) consistency, i.e. logic appended by factual or empirical consistency; the universal law The way of Being: Ideasthe REAL, GIVEN(s), DEFINITION, OSTENSIVE DEFINITION (NAMING givens), CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION (in terms of givens), SYSTEM OF IDEAS, REASON Prologue—The Endeavor of BeingMain conceptsINDIVIDUAL ENDEAVOR, VIEW, WORLDVIEW, PARADIGM OF THE REAL, RADICAL EVOLUTION, AIM, DIVERSITY OF AIM, HUMAN BEING, HUMAN CIVILIZATIONS, UNDERSTANDING, UNIVERSAL ENDEAVOR, BEING, CIVILIZATION, TRADITION, METAPHYSICS, METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM, REPRESENTATION OF THE WORLD, THOUGHT, IDEAS, WRITING, ACTION Secondary conceptsFrom the prologue to conceptual outline-essential.html AIM of THE WAY OF BEING, living well, best possible life, greatest achievable life, universe of all being, active endeavor, meaningful lifeway, WORLDVIEW, SECULAR WORLDVIEW, TRANSSECULAR WORLDVIEW, SUPRASECULAR WORLDVIEW, ULTIMATE WORLDVIEW, STANDARD WORLDVIEW, REEDUCATION OF INTUITION, REFORMULATION OF CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK, this world, highest discovery, HIGHEST REALIZATION, MEANS, IDEAS, PRACTICE, ACTION, ideas-practice-action, INDIVIDUAL, VEHICLE, civilization, METAPHYSICAL LANGUAGE, definition, INTUITION, intuition includes SYMBOLIC PRECISION Being and experienceExperienceThe concept of experienceEXPERIENCE, EXPERIENTIAL MODES of: SENSING, PERCEPTION, KNOWLEDGE, FEELING, REFLECTING, WILLING, ACTING and REASON Experience—phenomenal awareness, experience-of, experience as interaction, extension to Being: because experience is always experience-of, it is interaction and so the interiority of Being in Being-in-interaction interprets and generalizes experience and vitiates a priori need for substance, which may be labeled ‘naturalism’ Terms at least near equivalent to experience—SUBJECTIVE AWARENESS, CONSCIOUSNESS Reasons to prefer ‘experience’ REAL WORLD (WORLD), metaphorical EXTERNAL WORLD, DOUBT, SUBJECT, EXPERIENCER, OBJECT, EXPERIENCED uses of ‘experience’ that are not formally employed here—CUMULATIVE EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE OF AN EXTERNAL WORLD STRICT MATERIALISM (untenability of), EPIPHENOMENALISM MATERIALISM, MONISM, STRICT MATERIALISM, CAUSE, EFFECT, AFFECT, DUALISM, SUBSTANCE DUALISM NAMED GIVEN, EXPERIENCE OF EXPERIENCE—experience is (can be) REFLEXIVE the CORE OF BEING EFFECTIVE EXISTENCE SOLIPSISM, STRICT SOLIPSISM (untenability of) FIELD OF EXPERIENCE (WORLD as), logical possibility for the field, METAPHYSICAL POSSIBILITY, STANDARD VIEW OF EXPERIENCE and world the INDIVIDUAL, the REAL WORLD, OTHER MINDS FREE WILL (fact of, question of necessity of)—ability of seeing, CREATIVITY, and CHOICE of ACTION toward ENDS, and to modify all these in process; the SUBCONSCIOUS, the UNCONSCIOUS, EXISTENTIAL MEANING; FREE WILL SENSE—the sense of having free will—as just as effective as free will DETERMINISM, INDETERMINISM, creation (CREATIVITY at the boundary of determinism and indeterminism, e.g. as in the classical mean path of a quantum system), PARADIGM OF CREATION, creativity, and origins—non MECHANISTIC but non TELEOLOGICAL Necessity, question of, regarding experience and free will On psychology and its possibilityGeneral terms PSYCHOLOGY, GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY (as study of experience) Abstraction and perfection for psychology the CONCRETE—experience as it presents, ABSTRACTION—selection of the GIVEN of and in experience resulting in the ABSTRACT; INCLUSIVE CONTINUUM of the concrete and the abstract; perfect knowledge (of experience as experience, and the PERFECT DUAL ABSTRACT-CONCRETE metaphysics-epistemology), science of experiential psychology Modes ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY (document—also see html), PERSON, ‘MIND’ (MANAS, CITTA, VIJÑANA), PURE EXPERIENCE—includes experience of experience or REFLEXIVE EXPERIENCE, ATTITUDE (as aspect of experience), ACTION (also as aspect of experience), INTERNAL ATTITUDE and INTERNAL ACTION, EXTERNAL ATTITUDE, EXTERNAL ACTION—no further MODES OF PSYCHE, experience-of Elements of psychology EXPERIENCE-OF, INNER, SELF, OUTER, HOLIST, PSYCHE, BODY, CONCEPT (general MENTAL CONTENT), OBJECT, BOUND CONTENT (SENSE, FEELING, PERCEPT, PERCEPT-FEELING), RECALL (MEMORY), FREE CONTENT (CONCEPT or HIGHER CONCEPT, EMOTION or CONCEPT-FEELING), ICONIC (experience), SYMBOLIC, LINGUISTIC (symbolic-iconic), REFERENTIAL LINGUISTIC MEANING, FORM, QUALITY, FORM-QUALITY, FOCAL, BACKGROUND, INTENSE, NEUTRAL, IMPERATIVE, FUNCTION, COGNITION (perception, conception, language), EMOTIONS (FEAR, JOY), PAIN, PERSONALITY Identity, spacetime, and agency AGENCY, TRIAD OF OBJECT-INTERACTION-PROCESS (concepts for foundation of follow), SAMENESS, DIFFERENCE, IDENTITY, PROXIMITY, EXTENSION (apparent bimodality), DURATION (temporal extension), SPATIAL EXTENSION, SPACETIME (unimodal), DYNAMIC of identity, ATTRIBUTE (the SINGLE WORLD ATTRIBUTE is experience in which psyche and object find a place as one—in contrast to my previous two-attribute conception and the infinity of Spinozan attributes) Naturalism NATURALISM Universe of experienceCORE OF BEING—the essence and the real. ATMAN—essence of individual being. BRAHMAN—essence of universal being. WORLD—the immediate to ultimate reality of beings. Being, experience, and naturalismBeing (its open and non-prejudicial character), experience (and their essential identity), givenness (of Being), FALLACY OF SEPARABILITY, NECESSITY OF BEING (question of—to be answered affirmatively), QUESTION OF BEING (what has Being?) Language and meaning; introduction to reasonCoordinate with language, meaning, and metaphysics.doc (html) Language and meaningLANGUAGE, DISCRETE LANGUAGE, ANALOG LANGUAGE, COMMON LANGUAGE, FORMAL LANGUAGE, METAPHYSICAL LANGUAGE SIGN, SYMBOL, CONCEPT-PERCEPT, WORD, COMPOUND SYMBOL, OBJECT REFERENTIAL MEANING (CONCEPT MEANING: concept-object and necessity and efficiency of concept-object formulation), ATOMIC CONCEPT(s), MEANING DETERMINER, CORRESPONDENCE CRITERIA (determiner), LINGUISTIC REFERENTIAL MEANING (symbol-concept-object), COMPOUND MEANING, COHERENCE CRITERIA (determiner), USE Language and meaning: related conceptsMETAPHYSICAL MEANING, EXISTENTIAL MEANING, SIGNIFICANT MEANING, MEANING OF BEING Elements of languageComplete the following elements, coordinate with language, meaning, and metaphysics.doc (html) Some elementsSIGN, CONCEPT, SYMBOL, LETTER, PHONEME, WORD, METAPHYSICS, COMPOUND SYMBOL, GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, SENTENCE, USE FORM, LITERATURE, INFORMAL USE, ABBREVIATING LANGUAGE, ANALYTIC USE, FORMALIZATION, ORDINARY LANGUAGE and LANGUAGES, SPECIAL LANGUAGE—for LOGIC, MATHEMATICS, and SCIENCE NOUN, PRONOUN, NAME, SINGULAR TERM, VERB, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB, CONJUNCTION, PARTICLE TENSE, PLACE… DefinitionDEFINITION, PERCEPTUAL DEFINITION (NAMING, GIVEN—naming a given), CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION (WORD-CONCEPT DEFINITION) On use and meaningDEFINITION and USE interact; symbols may be OVERLOADED; symbols may have shades of meaning which may depend on world and language CONTEXT Use and meaning at the edge of understandingMeaning is in a process of transition from less to more definite, it is never complete in the absence of a FINAL METAPHYSICS So far as reasonable, DEFINITION should attempt to adhere closely to RECEIVED MEANING; the SYSTEM OF DEFINITION, general or special as in a METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM, should have EMPIRICAL CONSISTENCY and CONCEPTUAL COHERENCE AND CONSISTENCY; and, as far as possible, COMPLETENESS relative to the application, general or special—e.g. a system of metaphysics For understanding, GIVEN MEANING(s) should be adhered to. INHERITED MEANING may enrich but should not be imposed Degrees of definiteness and specificityAt the EDGE OF MEANING and knowledge, distinctions blur—there may be but one tense, i.e. TENSELESSNESS; ENTITY-INTERACTION-PROCESS merge, CONCRETION may give way to ABSTRACTION, and indefiniteness to definiteness The verb to be is an example In abstraction, the correspondence imperfections of language give way to perfection, the pragmatic is revealed as perfect in itself, and the combination may exhibit DUAL PERFECTION And within that context, we may enjoy greater specificity—kinds of noun and so on Language, meaning, and reasonIn common notions, meaning and language are closely connected but not meaning and reason. However, from referential meaning as concept-object, meaning and reason are essentially connected. ReasonThere is a host of associated terms reason, logic, argument, science, practice, imagination and concept formation, heuristics, metaphorical representation, exploration—inner and outer—and many more—we (I) like to see them as a whole. I shall use two names for the whole—reason and method. Introduction to reasonFACT, ATOMIC FACT, COMPOUND FACT, KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE-ACTION (partial separability), CUMULATIVE EXPERIENCE TRUTH, CORRESPONDENCE, CORRESPONDENCE CRITERIA, COHERENCE, PRAGMATIC, and MIXED CRITERIA REASON, RATIONALITY, ESTABLISHMENT OF FACT, INFORMAL REASON, DIRECT ESTABLISHMENT of fact, ARGUMENT (FORMAL ESTABLISHMENT of fact), PREMISE, INFERENCE, CONCLUSION, ABSTRACT REASON (identity of fact and inference) CERTAIN FACT, CERTAIN INFERENCE (VALIDITY), CERTAIN ARGUMENT (SOUNDNESS) PROBABLE FACT, LIKELY INFERENCE and LIKELY ARGUMENT (STRONG, WEAK) Foundation of reasonBEGIN IN THE PRESENT with RECEIVED FACT and METHOD, work toward FOUNDATION and APPLICATION, via REFLEXIVITY—IMAGINATION, CONCEPT FORMATION, CRITICISM (including METHODOLOGICAL SKEPTICISM), VARIED CUMULATIVE EXPERIENCE, and ACTION A PRIORI, A POSTERIORI; ANALYTIC, SYNTHETIC; NECESSARY, CONTINGENT; CERTAIN, PROBABLE; POSSIBLE, IMPOSSIBLE; ABSTRACT, CONCRETE Elements of reasonDIRECT ESTABLISHMENT OF FACT (OBSERVATION), CERTAIN ESTABLISHMENT (ABSTRACTION of experience or from observation), PROBABLE ESTABLISHMENT of fact (by MEASUREMENT, CORROBORATION, REPEATABILITY), NECESSARY FACT and NECESSARY TRUTH (EXHAUSTION OF ALTERNATIVES) NECESSARY INFERENCE, DEDUCTION (small clear steps, conclusion at least implicit in premise, TAUTOLOGY), DEDUCTIVE LOGIC LIKELY INFERENCE (GENERALIZATION-INDUCTION, conclusion more inclusive than premises, INDUCTIVE INFERENCE, ABDUCTION-SCIENCE and HYPOTHESIS-PROJECTION vs COMPOUND FACT-LOCAL PROBABILISTIC, EXPLANATION, UNDERSTANDING, OCKHAM’S PRINCIPLE, AESTHETIC CRITERIA, CONSENSUS and INTERCULTURAL ADAPTATION, ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTATION—of which all may apply to simple andor compound facts), STRONG INFERENCE vs WEAK INFERENCE, LAW, THEORY CONDUCTIVE ARGUMENT (informal WEIGHTING OF FACTORS of influence, sometimes sequential) Reason in the abstract vs concrete sciencesRelative roles of IMAGINATION and CRITICISM, INDUCTION and DEDUCTION On methodThe conceptMETHOD is ‘HOW TO’, often pertaining to knowledge, choice, DECISION making, and action; and often connotes definite or perfect method. However, it need not have these restrictions and indeed, in many important situations, especially philosophy, science, institutional and ordinary decision making, guaranteed method is the exception, method itself is a topic of interest, informal method and imagination or concept formation are important. IMAGINATION and CRITICISM are important. An element of these is a decision how much of a RESOURCE to devote to these aspects of method. Generally, all aspects of mind and experience are part of ‘method’ as is action—in itself and as observation and experiment. Method vs contentThough content and method can be distinguished, method is content where the object of the content is thought, knowledge, how to, etc. Method and content emerge together. ReasonReason is the ability to be critically imaginative in relation to thought and action. Though distinctions are made logic, argument and many concepts above fall under it. Action and experiment too may be seen as part of or closely allied with reason. A critical point here is that while fine distinctions are important, seeing the various components of reason as a family is also important. In this narrativeIt is natural that method should be distributed. It has been introduced in association with language, meaning, and use (application); which includes logic, MATHEMATICS, and SCIENCE. It is seen again, particularly in relation to METAPHYSICS and argument in metaphysics; COSMOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGY and AGENCY; and ART, BEING and BECOMING (REALIZATION). The universeMetaphysicsSome concepts for metaphysicsSome general concepts from section Summary of key terms for metaphysics from conceptual outline-essential.html EXISTENCE OF THE VOID, FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF METAPHYSICS, GREATEST POSSIBLE UNIVERSE AND IDENTITY, realization of most inclusive possibility, IDENTITY-SPACETIME-ABSENCE, VOID AS RESERVOIR OF ALL IDENTITY AND BEING, DISPOSITION, the RECEPTACLE, non-existence of CLASSICAL SUBSTANCE, LIMITLESS VARIETY, extension-duration-absence-peaking-dissolution-of-identity PURE METAPHYSICS, intuition, CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING, PROOF, HEURISTICS, DOUBT, ACTION PRINCIPLE PRAGMATIC METAPHYSICS (of the concrete) dual interactive PERFECT METAPHYSICS, dual PERFECT EPISTEMOLOGY agency, DYNAMICS OF AGENCY, SENTIENT FORM exceeds any given form, the way, CATALYST the AIM OF BEING, PATH Some special concepts from section What is metaphysics? from conceptual outline-essential.html SPECIAL METAPHYSICS, RATIONAL SPECULATION, rational-in-the-sense-of-citta, DEFAULT WORLDVIEW, SCIENCE as essentially complete vs essentially incomplete, true knowledge of being, metaphysics, the veil The study of metaphysics has already begun and so metaphysics is clearly possibleThe concept of Being is sufficiently abstracted that it perfectly represents its object. With sufficient abstraction this is true for related concepts. We will define metaphysics as knowledge of the real. Therefore metaphysics has already begun. However, it is effective to take up metaphysics afresh. What is metaphysics?METAPHYSICS is knowledge and study of Being—of the REAL Given the common but perhaps metaphorical notion of a VEIL between knower and known, metaphysics can be seen as LIFTING THE VEIL. Metaphysics may be seen as NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE and TRUTH, especially on an extended account of knowledge. That metaphysics as knowledge of the real is questionable is standard and explicit epistemology, at least since Kant On the possibility of metaphysicsHowever, it is not quite as commonly acknowledged that the epistemic critique of metaphysics due to the concept not being the object, also calls into question the nature of knowledge. Is knowledge something received, a priori to the known? How can that be if knowledge is part of the world? Perhaps we should have a correspondence notion for the pure abstract and a correspondence-coherence-pragmatic for the concrete—this is seen to satisfy a criterion of the best possible knowledge in light of the revelation of the perfect ultimate metaphysics. The universal metaphysics will show the perfect adequacy of this in the local-universal without negating the need for the historical more careful local analyses. That was an example of an anti-either/or. Ethically, too, the above generalized conception of knowledge may be indicated. PURE METAPHYSICS (truth by abstraction, already begun above, and is therefore possible and actual), perfect metaphysics (the ultimate metaphysics of the way, dual of the pure and pragmatic, the pragmatic being perfect in pursuit of truth revealed in the pure, will be found possible and actual), dual perfect epistemology (as explained) ELEMENTS OF BEING (CATEGORIES of or aspects of Being, typically at the level of Being in perfection and generality or just below) Metaphysics in this document: to build an ultimate metaphysicsMethod in metaphysicsMetaphysics and argument are closely allied. Thus language and the various elements noted in Being and experience and its sub-sections are relevant. Not only can we deploy these elements we can also subject them to conceptual revision and analysis. Our ordinary and everyday experience and reflection become powerful instruments. Of course, in saying this we do not think of science as esoteric. ABSTRACTION is important Immanuel Kant’s idea of a TRANSCENDENTAL METHOD is an inversion of the ‘usual’ order of inference. In reasoning about reason, perhaps the first approach will be to proceed from world to knowledge. For example the world may be seen as having elements to which we have corresponding ideas. On the other hand, Kant reasoned that the reason we can know the world is because the form of ideas and the world correspond and therefore the form of our ideas define the real. Of course not all ideas are thus but the categorial ideas are. It is a deep thought even though the actual categories selected by Kant appear deficient. Plato’s forms may be seen as transcendental. On elements or categories of BeingPerfect elements of BeingSufficiently abstract for perfect correspondence; have concrete-pragmatic interpretations. The following is second of two treatments of Being The main elementsWHAT IS THERE, DIFFERENCE, SAMENESS verb TO BE, ‘IS’ (makes a single distinction—that of existence; neutrality with regard to EXTENSION, PROCESS-INTERACTION-ENTITY, TENSE, PLACE, NUMBER, ENTITY, INTERACTION, RELATION, CHANGE, QUALITY, PROPERTY, GENDER, MATTER, MIND, ABSTRACTION, INCLUSIVITY, CORRESPONDENCE, CONCRETION, LOCAL-GLOBAL BEING or EXISTENCE—property in virtue of which saying ‘it is’ is valid; thus ‘X has Being’ is equivalent to ‘It is valid to say that X is’. The QUALITY of being somewhere in the universe-as-defined-shortly. Being is best thought of as BEING-EXPERIENCE; in the present use it is not a standard part of speech but is on the border between entity and quality; it is of necessity KNOWABLE and by the universal metaphysics to be developed to all knowers; here, the meaning of ‘knowable’, tacit or explicit, must be immanent rather than imposed. In concrete cases where being-experience is interwoven, we may regard ‘being-experience’ as the object or the being as a PRAGMATIC OBJECT. These brief thoughts are elaborated later. PATTERN(s), NATURAL LAW(s), and, as to be seen, SAMENESS, DIFFERENCE, and SPACETIME, all have IMMANENCE in the Being of the world—and therefore all have Being. A pattern or natural law is a being (as defined below) A significance of pattern or law is that they obtain when the information to specify the system is less, is slight or great proportion, than the raw information. EFFECTIVE BEING, EFFECTIVE EXISTENT (that which affects experience directly or indirectly; later it is seen that existence and effective existence are the same) ALL, PART, NULL UNIVERSE—all Being or all there is—i.e. over all sameness and difference and their absence; the universe can have no OTHER—it may be realization of all possibility, limitlessly greater than our cosmos: in the metaphysics developed here, the universe is seen to be limitlessly greater than our empirical cosmos or multiverse. ALL BEING or ALL THERE IS, is crucial; omission leads to vagueness, confusion, and contradiction—e.g. if an original power is defined as distinct from the real universe Uses to be avoided or at least distinguished in meaning—COSMOS, ours and others, EMPIRICAL COSMOS, PHYSICAL UNIVERSE or PHYSICAL COSMOS, PARALLEL UNIVERSE, and MULTIVERSE; note that ‘physical universe’ should be regarded as a simple term sometimes, especially in theology when God is defined as distinct from the physical universe, to contradiction Sub-universe—defined below, after ‘epoch’ A BEING—whatever has Being; things, interactions, processes, qualities, TROPE(s), abstracta, concreta, natural laws… BEINGS—plural of a being The term will do double duty or be overloaded in referring to HUMAN BEING and any other special kinds or ‘the kind’ such as the greatest being in fact or in process—but it is essential that the use of being itself is supremely simple and without kind In its general meaning above, a being is a REGION or part of the universe—the region may be one of immanent extension, but other regions are contemplated, e.g. a REGION OF PRECISION, or a REGION OF ENERGY OF INTERACTION; and regions need be neither SIMPLE nor CONNECTED POWER—the ability to interact, i.e. to affect and be affected, to have and receive an EFFECT, to be part of CAUSATION but not necessarily MECHANISTIC or CONTIGUOUS CAUSATION (the question of temporality is open). Experience—it was seen—and so KNOWING are special cases of power. KNOWLEDGE is knowing-at-hand and information retrievable as knowing. On the material side MATERIAL CAUSATION and EFFECT, and FORCE are cases of power An object that has no power at all is unknowable and effectively does not exist. In the metaphysics to be developed all objects have power in relation to all others. An EPOCH is a CAUSAL DOMAIN that is temporarily causally ISOLATED from the rest of the universe. If two causal domains are temporally isolated from one another each is a RELATIVE EPOCH, or RELATIVE UNIVERSE. and do not have RELATIVE POWER. POTENTIAL BEING is the potential for Being, which in a causal domain has Being but which is not logically necessary. If a being is not manifest but was or will be, it is in a state of NONBEING; here the relation of concept and object is crucial. SUB-UNIVERSE—a permanently isolated ‘epoch’. The term is not used in relation to parallel universes or histories, or the domains of a ‘multiverse’. Are sub-universes possible? 1. Existentially and materially, a sub-universe or ‘universe’ that does not interact with ours has no significance to us (we can conceive of it but we do not conceive it; and the conception of course may have significance). 2. In the metaphysics to be developed, there is exactly one universe—dynamically and not just nominally, and all epochs and multiple ‘universes’ do and must interact. THE VOID—absence of abstract and concrete beings; as absence of beings but not Being, the void may exist; a first proof of existence of the void is that for it, existence is indistinguishable from non-existence Possibility, feasibility and logicA being is identified by a concept and POSSIBILITY for that being is consistency with the concept or definition—or reality—of the being. Thus possibility lies in the CONCEPT-OBJECT. The ACTUAL is possible. LOGICAL POSSIBILITY—constraints on concepts for realism—the logically impossible cannot exist in any world The LOGIC in question, strictly, must be deductive; however, a pragmatic case of logical possibility may consider induction in the senses of probability or hypothesis. Possibility may be factual-conceptual and so LOGIC (capitalized) in the present sense includes factual (empirical) and conceptual consistency. REAL POSSIBILITY—constraints due to the object or kind of object; e.g. UNIVERSAL POSSIBILITY, NATURAL POSSIBILITY, and SENTIENT POSSIBILITY METAPHYSICAL POSSIBILITY—a device used to analyze situations for realism in the absence of full information; may range from the physical to the logical but is usually in between and incorporates some aspects of realism; may also be used in reference to various systems or conceptions of metaphysic but this is not prominent here FEASIBILITY—practical or pragmatic realizability, e.g. subject to resource and time constraints; a primary use is for systems of knowledge that are not as definite in their objects and laws as nature and natural law; may substitute ‘possibility’ for feasibility’, e.g. TECHNOLOGICAL POSSIBILITY, IMMEDIATE HUMAN POSSIBILITY, ARTISTIC POSSIBILITY HIERARCHIES OF POSSIBILITY, THEISM, MONOTHEISM, IDEALISM, IDEALIST COSMOLOGY, UNIVERSAL NATURAL POSSIBILITY, LOCAL NATURAL POSSIBILITY Possibility, feasibility and logic—summarypossibility, actuality, universal possibility, natural law, natural possibility, conceptual possibility, logical possibility, logic Reason—continuedCombine? REASON—an example of a word that should be defined carefully, e.g. with regard to intension, but should also be left open, say with regard to extension. Reason as the optimum use of mind and body in relation to freedom of will… and so entailing all aspects of PSYCHE, arriving at knowledge and decisions, enjoyment (combine with other elaborations)… Argument—continued, inference, deductive logic, inductive logic, factCombine? LOGIC—DEDUCTIVE LOGIC but interpreted generally, may be: FACT, or factual consistency, inference, deductive logic, ARGUMENT, INDUCTIVE ARGUMENT and SCIENCE, and the absence of an ULTIMATE A PRIORI, and even REASON and RATIONALITY. The fundamental principleThe principleTHE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF METAPHYSICS (FP)—the only constraint on Being is logical possibility Related conceptsABSOLUTE INDETERMINISM, ABSOLUTE DETERMINISM LIMITED METAPHYSICS OF FACT, PRINCIPLE OF PLENITUDE, MODAL REALISM, POSSIBLE WORLDS, RELATIVE METAPHYSICS, NON RELATIVE METAPHYSICS, ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT, HEURISTIC ARGUMENT Perfect metaphysicsSources—perfect metaphysics and epistemology.doc, perfect metaphysics and epistemology.html Immanuel Kant Tradition ELEMENTS OF BEING—PERFECT and PRAGMATIC, UNIVERSAL IDENTITY, INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY is universal identity, KARMA, PEAK, LIMITLESSNESS, INFINITE (the infinite), limitless ARRAYS OF COSMOSES, TRANSIENT BACKGROUND, sentient being, GOD, ZERMELO FRAENKEL AXIOMS for set theory Some details that may be repetitionThe metaphysics THE PURE METAPHYSICS, PURE KNOWLEDGE, COHERENCE CRITERIA, GOOD ENOUGH CRITERION, PRAGMATIC KNOWLEDGE, PRAGMATICS, PERFECT METAPHYSICS, THE UNIVERSAL METAPHYSICS, THE METAPHYSICS, PERFECT DUAL EPISTEMOLOGY, PRAGMATIC CRITERIA, ULTIMATE CRITERIA ABSTRACT-CONCRETE CONTINUUM, RELIGION, MATHEMATICS Tradition DESTINY, AIM OF BEING, AIMS OF CIVILIZATION PRIMAL, SECULAR, SCIENCE, TRANSSECULAR, RELIGION, SUPRASECULAR, INTUITION, DOGMA, OPENNESS PHILOSOPHY, METAPHYSICS, VALUE THEORY, HUMANITIES, HISTORY, REASON, IMAGINATION, DOUBT, METHODOLOGICAL SKEPTICISM, KNOWLEDGE ITSELF CONCRETE SCIENCES, SYMBOLIC SCIENCES (ABSTRACT SCIENCES), ART, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, DESIGN Elements of Being—perfect and pragmaticCoordinate with—elements of being.doc, elements of being.html ELEMENT (constituent of the perfect metaphysics), CATEGORY, SUB CATEGORY, ABSTRACT-CONCRETE CONTINUUM, NESTING, ABSTRACT INTERPRETATION of the concrete, CONCRETE INSTANCE of the abstract POTENCY OF BEING (the concept), FOUNDATION, PERFECT CATEGORY The abstract and the concreteREALISM, LOGICAL REALISM, MATHEMATICAL REALISM, SCIENTIFIC REALISM, DEATH, RECEPTACLE, DISPOSITION Form and formationNeed—see cosmology Identity, interaction, dynamics, and extensionNeed—see elsewhere MIND—there seems to be no uncontroversial word that covers experience, attitude, action, sense, perception, conception, thought, imagination, will Study: words from Indian Philosophy (citta, manas…), and Greek and Latin (PSYCHE…) ‘Mind’: occurs in multiple places in the document; here it appears as one of the pragmatic elements of Being; I will coordinate and may combine these separate occurrences and refer to it from the other locations Being, experience, and attributesNeed—see elsewhere CriticismSource for further criticism and response—section Objections and responses to the universal metaphysics criticisms of the metaphysics.doc (html) CONSISTENCY, SELF CONSISTENCY (CONCEPTUAL CONSISTENCY, INTERNAL CONSISTENCY), EXTERNAL CONSISTENCY (EMPIRICAL CONSISTENCY, THEORETICAL CONSISTENCY with other thought), NORMAL BEHAVIOR, NORMAL LAW CosmologySource—cosmology.doc, cosmology.html The border between metaphysics and cosmologyCOSMOLOGY is continuation of metaphysics The border is not at all sharp but one that is somewhat of convention. As a guiding principle the necessarily porous border between metaphysics and cosmology shall be the border between the abstract and the concrete, the necessary and the contingent, the general and the real, and the eternal and the temporal. The abstract sciences tend to metaphysics, the concrete to cosmology. What cosmology isCOSMOLOGY may be seen as knowledge of the variety and extension of Being in the universe. COSMOLOGY OF SENTIENCE, KIND OF BEING, VARIETY OF BEING, EXTENSION OF BEING, SPATIAL EXTENSION, DURATION, GENERAL COSMOLOGY, FORM, COSMOLOGY OF FORM, PHYSICAL COSMOLOGY MethodsREASON, METHOD, METAPHYSICS, and SCIENCE. Metaphysics provides a framework for form and formation. The abstraction of metaphysics is a powerful container for thought but it gives little concrete knowledge. Rather it is an envelope of the concrete. The sciences give us ‘methods’ on a number of fronts. The laws and details of science are important in themselves but it is critical to see that our science does not necessarily project any where near to the entire universe and that the empirical boundary is no more than an empirical boundary. The laws and concepts also give us PARADIGM(s) of LAW, CAUSE, MECHANISM, DETERMINISM WITH INDETERMINISM, the CREATION beyond ordinary mechanism as in the VARIATION-SELECTION of evolutionary biology which may also model ordinary CREATIVITY as well as COSMOLOGICAL CREATION and other kinds of EMERGENCE. The latter is an approach to understanding the emergence of near perfect and near stable form and of dynamics. General cosmologyGENERAL COSMOLOGY is cosmology without restriction to special epochs. From section General cosmology from conceptual outline-essential.html FIELD OF BEING, FIELD OF SENTIENCE, choice, CONSCIOUS CHOICE, free will, SIGNIFICANCE, pain, SUFFERING, BLOOD, joy, BLISS, YOGA, MEDITATION-VISION QUEST, UNIVERSAL CAUSATION, AETERNITAS, PERFECT BUDDHA Details of cosmology that may be repetitiveGeneral terms general principle of cosmology, categories of being and reason, particular principles of special and general cosmology, identity, time, space, relation (as interaction), dynamics Agency and general terms agency, instrumental means, intrinsic means, element, elements of being, dynamics of being, dynamics of agency Elements of identity elements of identity, dimensions of growth, nature, place of be-ing, psyche, universal Elements of interaction elements of interaction, intelligent and passionate commitment, one and many, foresight Elements of process elements of process, local civilization, population, ways, disciplines, practices, technology, economics, politics, heart, catalysts, immersive economics, immersive politics, ultimate and immediate, brahman, atman, universal civilization, peaking, dissolution Cosmology of formationCoordinate with—paradigms of formation and dynamics.doc, paradigms of formation and dynamics.html General vs efficient formationThe ADAPTIVE PRINCIPLE of formation and maintenance, and perhaps of dissolution, is essential to at least a preliminary understanding of the origin of form and structure. It is a ‘DARWINIAN PARADIGM’ applied to cosmological systems. From section Cosmology and origins of form from conceptual outline-essential.html theory of BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION, model for NORMAL FORMATION, VARIATION, ADAPTIVE SELECTION, NECESSARY INSTANCE, UNIVERSAL WAY of origin of form, INDETERMINISM, NOVELTY, DETERMINISM, SINGLE STEP ORIGINS, ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS, ROBUST FORM, robustness via adaptation, robust systems, SIGNIFICANTLY ROBUST, SINGULAR EVENT, GOD OF MONOTHEISM, Abrahamic monotheistic God, Indian philosophy, PANTHEISTIC GOD, PANENTHEISTIC GOD, DARK MATTER, DARK ENERGY Local and physical cosmology—physical law and the empirical cosmosLocal cosmology is concerned with the form, STRUCTURE, LAWS, and FORMATION-MAINTENANCE-DISSOLUTION of local cosmological systems including ours. LifeNeed. A part of cosmology Coordinate with—life and its origins and evolution.doc, life and its origins and evolution.html Psychology and agencyIs this needed? See practical agency in ‘becoming’. Coordinate with—psychology as science-experience through agency.doc, psychology as science-experience through agency.html On psychology and agencyFurther development of the nature of Being and beings Topics shared with on psychology and its possibility—will have (a) essentials for the earlier discussion: outline and principles of psychology derived from discussion of experience, (b) dynamics of identity, and (b) details of psychology and agency. Realization and its dynamicsDeploying the way of being and on psychology and agency for realization Resources—world and experience.doc, world and experience.html; conceptual outline-essential.doc, conceptual outline-essential.html From section Attitude from conceptual outline-essential.html EXISTENTIAL ATTITUDE Civilization and societyNeed Sources—civilization and society.doc, civilization and society.html The Way of Being: BecomingSummary of key termsYOGA, CITTA, CITTA-PSYCHE, SPIRITUALITY, BEYUL, MEDITATION, SHAMATHA, VIPASANA, METAPHYSICAL MEDITATION, REVIEW, MEDITATION-IN-ACTION, EXPERIMENTAL YOGA-MEDITATION PATH, PLACE, EXPLORATION, NATURE, beyul, SHARING, SANGHA, CULTURE, CIVILIZATION, IDEAS, RATIONAL METAPHYSICS, REALIZATION, INTRINSIC, IMMERSIVE, INSTRUMENTAL, ECONOMICS, POLITICS, TECHNOLOGY, TEMPLATE, EVERYDAY TEMPLATE, UNIVERSAL TEMPLATE The aim of BeingAIM OF BEING, ETHICS The Way of BeingPractical dynamics of agencyEssenceDYNAMICS OF AGENCY, EFFICIENT MEANS, TEMPLATES FOR THE WAY, INNER TRANSFORMATION, INSTRUMENTAL TRANSFORMATION, INDIVIDUAL-CIVILIZATION, METAPHYSICS OF KNOWLEDGE AND ACTION, SYSTEM OF KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE A system for the dynamicsINNER DYNAMICS OF THE PSYCHE, PLACE OF THE REAL, OPTIMAL FORCE AND FLOW, THE MANIFEST AND THE HIDDEN, THE DYNAMICS OF THE INSTRUMENTAL, POWERS OF NATURE, TECHNOLOGY-IN-THE-SERVICE-OF-POPULATING-THE-UNIVERSE, ART AS TRANSFORMING, IMMERSION-SCIENCE, IMMERSION POLITICS-AND-ECONOMY, DYNAMICS OF THE UNIVERSAL A system for the dynamics: traditionDESTINY, AIMS OF BEING, AIMS OF CIVILIZATION PRIMAL, SECULAR, SCIENCE, TRANSSECULAR, RELIGION, SUPRASECULAR, INTUITION, DOGMA, OPENNESS PHILOSOPHY, METAPHYSICS, VALUE THEORY, HUMANITIES, HISTORY, REASON, IMAGINATION, DOUBT, METHODOLOGICAL SKEPTICISM, KNOWLEDGE ITSELF CONCRETE SCIENCES, SYMBOLIC SCIENCES, ABSTRACT SCIENCES, ART, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, DESIGN Miscellaneous sections
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