The
Way of Being Contents 1.1.1 The way of being and its aim 1.1.3 What kind of work this is 1.4 Understanding and living the way 1.4.2 The way—shared negotiation 2.1.3 Being, beings, and agency 2.1.5 A vocabulary for metaphysics 2.2 Logic, method, and content 2.2.1 Received conceptions of logic 2.2.2 A comprehensive conception of logic or argument 2.2.3 Self-sufficiency and completeness—open and closed aspects of the metaphysics 3.2 The program and its design
The outline 1 Into the way of being1.1 The way and its narration1.1.1 The way of being and its aim1.1.2 Preview1.1.3 What kind of work this is1.1.3.1 The nature of the work1.1.3.1.1 Ideas to action to learning to ideas…1.1.3.1.2 Not dogma1.1.3.2 An evolving document1.1.3.2.1 Nature of the evolution1.1.3.2.2 Design and planning1.1.3.2.2.1 Editing for consistency of expression, e.g., ‘I’ vs ‘we’ vs ‘it’; and for efficient minimalism and poetry of expression.1.1.3.2.2.2 The whole and its representationsThe whole (universe) contains its representation(s). Develop this idea, its consistency (such as it is), and its consequences. Make it all explicit but do it minimally with regard to its expression and repetition among the sections and subsections. Perhaps making it explicit at level 2 in the outline would enhance explicitness and minimality. Perhaps do this by eliminating the first section ‘Into the way of being’ and inserting it in the second section ‘The world’ at the beginning as something like a ‘personal metaphysics’. Similarly, the fourth section may be inserted at the end of the third section, ‘Realization’, as ‘Return’. 1.1.3.2.2.3 Import topics1.1.3.2.2.4 Introduce meaning with knowledge in §21.1.3.2.2.5 Introduce world economics1.1.3.2.2.6 Issue of subdocumentsTo be considered. 1.1.3.2.2.7 Other issuesImport from previous years’ design and planning 1.1.3.3 Degree of self-generation1.2 Origins1.2.1 Seeking and experienceComment 1. With bibliographical elements 1.2.2 History1.2.3 Paradox1.3 Outline and ideas1.3.1 Outline1.3.1.1 Structure and ideology1.3.1.2 Dynamic (re) ordering and concept databases1.3.1.3 Concept template1.3.1.4 Some canonical outlinesThese units may be redesigned as the basis of reworkable outlines. 1.3.1.4.1 metaphysicsmetaphysics as knowledge of the real, epistemology, abstraction 1.3.1.4.2 objects of metaphysicsbeing, beings, and (concepts, knowledge, and) objects whole, part, null universe, void, law possibility, maximal universe 1.3.1.4.3 ethicsworld ethic 1.3.1.4.4 epistemology… as part of metaphysics (i) because knowledge is a metaphysical object (ii) as necessary to metaphysics 1.3.1.4.5 logickinds, logics, facts logic as metaphysics real metaphysics, depth, breadth self-foundation, reflexivity (metanalysis) 1.3.1.4.6 doubtdoubt, certainty 1.3.1.4.7 experiencesubstance neutrality, experience, agency, action, as if mind, as if matter individual, experiential universe 1.3.1.4.8 cosmologythe immediate and the ultimate descriptive cosmology peak being, dissolution, pathways to the ultimate dimensions and paradigms of being 1.3.1.4.9 the way of beingthe way, return paths, design, programs, affirmation, dedication ways, means, middle way, pleasure, pain 1.3.2 The main ideas1.3.2.1 Primary1.3.2.2 Metaconcepts1.3.2.3 Foundation and method1.3.2.3.1 Foundation as primary vs interactive1.3.2.3.2 Foundation in being vs experience1.3.2.3.3 Union of the apparent dichotomies1.3.2.3.4 Issue of purism in foundation and method1.3.2.3.4.1 In metaphysics1.3.2.3.4.2 In epistemology1.3.2.3.4.3 Metaphysics and value1.4 Understanding and living the way1.4.1 Reading the way1.4.2 The way—shared negotiation2 The world2.1 Metaphysics2.1.1 What metaphysics is2.1.2 Meaning and knowledge2.1.2.1 Concepts, language, and meaning2.1.2.2 Knowledge and its problems2.1.2.2.1 Representation?2.1.2.2.2 Abstraction and perfect representation2.1.2.2.3 Pragmatic knowledge2.1.2.2.4 Tentative union2.1.3 Being, beings, and agency2.1.4 Ultimate metaphysics2.1.4.1 The fundamental principle2.1.4.2 The real metaphysics2.1.4.3 Experience2.1.4.4 The nature and form of the ultimate2.1.4.5 Dimensions of being2.1.4.6 Paths to the ultimate2.1.4.7 Doubt2.1.5 A vocabulary for metaphysicsComment 2. vocabulary for metaphysics 2.1.6 Problems of metaphysicsThe problems are classical, recent, and of the real metaphysics Comment 3. To be improved from system of human knowledge and topics and concepts for the way. This section will 1. Derive and list problems from (i) the history and received concept of metaphysics (ii) as rationally modified by the conception of metaphysics and real metaphysics of this document, 2. Address problems not addressed in the main narrative. The list is informed by Metaphysics – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/). 2.1.6.1 What is metaphysics and how ought it to be defined?2.1.6.1.1 Some considerationsFrom its history, metaphysics (i) is inclusive knowledge of the real (ii) emphasizes high level knowledge over detail (iii) tends to not be concerned with science, the sciences, and factual detail. Here, § Items #i and ii are found and accepted, § Item #iii also has subsumption under what metaphysics must be, § With sufficient and essential generalization, logic is equivalent to metaphysics, § Epistemology and ethics have subsumption under metaphysics, § If meta-metaphysics is conceived as study of metaphysics, it too will have subsumption under metaphysics. 2.1.6.1.2 Metaphysics as knowledge of the real2.1.6.1.2.1 How this is adequate and potent2.1.6.1.2.2 The extent to which it is ultimate2.1.6.1.2.3 How and to what extent it overlaps or contains received conceptions2.1.6.2 What is metaphysics’ fundamental object and what is its nature?2.1.6.2.1 Some possibilitiesWorld like kinds (substance, process, relationship…) and idea like kinds (concept, word, trope…) may be considered but the essential object is found to be being in the sense of (i) that which is (exists) or, perhaps better, (ii) that which can be known to be. 2.1.6.2.2 BeingBeing itself has no further fundamental nature but beings and aspects of being do (an aspect of being is found to be a being and, with sufficient abstraction, being itself is a being). 2.1.6.2.3 What is the ground of being?2.1.6.2.3.1 The concept of groundThe ground of being is that from which it springs but itself is its own source. 2.1.6.2.3.2 The groundThe possibilities include the kinds above, but being is found to be its own foundation and ground. 2.1.6.3 The nature and extent of being2.1.6.3.1 What is the nature of being and what are its high level aspects?2.1.6.3.1.1 The nature of beingBeing was defined as that which is; being-as-being has no further nature except that it is knowable. 2.1.6.3.1.2 The aspects—dimensions and categoriesWe may call these ‘dimensions’ or ‘categories’, but what we find is that the categories are derived from experience (in its most general sense) rather than imposed. What we find is that experientiality and its aspects are fundamental (i) receptive-neutral-agentive (ii) identity-extensional-durational (iii) as if mind-as if matter-cause-necessity-determinism-freedom-indeterminism (iv) the unity of object kinds, the concrete-abstract distinction as pragmatic (mode of distinction) rather than real (particularly, the ‘abstract’ is not a category but the result of abstraction from particulars and collections, of which the concrete is a particular case… and the abstract do not fail to exist in space and time but may have had space and time abstracted out to full or lesser degree). 2.1.6.3.1.3 IdentityThe concept. Identity of objects, its nature. Identity, change, and extension (space and time). Identity of selves, its nature. Persistence over change (time). 2.1.6.3.1.4 ModalityIs being necessary? I.e., must there be beings (‘sometimes’ or ‘eternally’)? More generally, necessity and possibility (metaphysical or physical) fall under modality. Are there necessary beings? Are there possible beings? ‘Necessity’ and ‘possibility’ in this context are modal because they are not just about being (existence) but conditional existence—necessary or possible. Duality of necessity and possibility. Other kinds of modality. Does existence imply existence in and of space and time? If not, should spatial and temporal existence be considered modes of existence? 2.1.6.3.1.5 Significance of the dimensions and categoriesThey are high level understanding (‘science’) relative to which particular knowledge (e.g., the concrete and abstract sciences) is detailed and specialized 2.1.6.3.1.6 What are (the) dimensions (categories) and paradigms of being and what is their metaphysics?Comment 4. To be improved from the little manual. Examples of dimensions (i) universal—experientiality (ii) pragmatic—nature (with as if mind, as if matter, and the simple or physical, and the complex which includes life) and society. Examples of paradigms (i) universal—abstract logic (ii) general—indeterminism with adaptive selection (iii) physical—mechanism and cause (with and without partial indeterminism) (iv) of psyche—bound and free experientiality and action (v) social—. 2.1.6.3.2 What is the extent of the universe and what is the enumeration and variety of things in it?This question is rather of quantity and complements the questions of aspects, natures, and kinds, which are rather of quality. But both are asking—of the possible, what obtains? And, of course, what is possibility, what are its kinds, and of the kinds, which obtains here? Is it the most inclusive kind? 2.1.6.4 What is the nature of our being—metaphysics, beings, agency, and actionWhat is the possible and productive interaction? How complete is it relative to all being and what is the sense of the completeness? Is the connection forced, posited, or natural (or combinations thereof)? Is being – knowledge – agency – action seamless? 2.1.6.5 What falls under metaphysics—i.e., metaphysics as the all-inclusive discipline2.1.6.5.1 How are epistemology, logic, and value subsumable under metaphysics?2.1.6.5.2 What else is subsumable under metaphysics?2.1.6.5.3 What are the kinds and methods of metaphysics?2.1.6.5.3.1 What are the kinds of metaphysics relative to the real?2.1.6.5.3.1.1 Real 2.1.6.5.3.1.1.1 Direct In which the elementary empirical and rational are one. 2.1.6.5.3.1.1.2 Speculative Scientific or hypothetico-deductive. 2.1.6.5.3.1.1.3 Posit Early and experimental metaphysics 2.1.6.5.3.1.1.4 Dogma Though we reject arbitrary dogma on rational grounds, philosophical and theological dogma generate useful ideas and action—directly and by reaction Dogma has a spirit which suggests the capacity for truth and is thus a generator of truth by inspiration 2.1.6.5.3.1.2 Imaginative and exploratory Essential precursor to rational metaphysics Existential generator of ideas and action 2.1.6.5.3.2 What are the method(s) of metaphysics and are they subsumed under metaphysics?Comment 5. See Metaphysics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) 2.1.6.5.3.2.1 Abstraction, concretion, and the problems of abstract and concrete objects See discussion in What are the high level aspects or natures of being? 2.1.6.5.3.2.2 Reflexivity and revaluation at all levels of content and method (including content and method as one) 2.1.6.5.3.2.3 Metaphysics as science 2.1.6.6 Topics that are now footnotes to the history of metaphysicsSubstance (rejected but accepted as approximation in limited circumstances, e.g., a cosmos); older categories; universals (accepted as a case of abstract object); first causes, unchanging things, beings as such—i.e., in essence; the possibility of metaphysics—which had to do with older conceptions of metaphysics and received criteria of knowledge that ought to be archaic. 2.2 Logic, method, and content2.2.1 Received conceptions of logic2.2.1.1 Deductive logic and its kinds2.2.1.2 Logics in which the conclusion does not follow from the premises with certainty2.2.2 A comprehensive conception of logic or argument2.2.2.1 Direct establishment of fact2.2.2.1.1 Observation2.2.2.1.2 NecessityAre all necessary ‘facts’ analytic? 2.2.2.2 Inference2.2.2.2.1 Certain2.2.2.2.2 Less than certain2.2.2.2.3 Inference, necessary or likely, from the null premise2.2.3 Self-sufficiency and completeness—open and closed aspects of the metaphysics2.3 Ethics (value)2.4 Cosmology2.5 Our world3 Realization3.1 Process and the ultimate3.2 The program and its design3.3 Everyday3.3.1 A program3.3.2 Affirmation3.3.3 Dedication3.3.4 Planning3.3.5 A sample schedule3.4 Universal3.4.1 Planning3.4.2 A sample plan4 Return4.1 Living in the world4.2 Sharing the way4.3 Universal narrative |