About Journey in Being
Anil Mitra © August 01, 2010

Contents

History. 4

Difficulties in Understanding Journey in being. 5

Contributions—what is new in Journey in being?. 6

The Future. 7

Sources. 7

Mostly philosophical 7 | Science. 8 | Scientific method. 8

Journey in Being

The first aim is discovery and experience of the highest forms of idea and being available to human being

This aim is not disconnected from this life, this world. ‘This world’ is not definite: Where are its boundaries? History shows knowledge of the boundaries to be ever shifting in extent, duration and variety and kinds of being. In the second place, process toward the aim begins in the present, is a connection or bridge between what (we think) we know and what is undiscovered; and the process illuminates the immediate. The first aim is not separable from living, process, and discovery in the ‘immediate world’

In ‘the highest forms of idea and being,’ the meaning of ‘highest’ is open. It is not clear that there is a meaning beyond what we ascribe to it: perhaps the ‘meaning’ changes according to values and knowledge. Perhaps there are meanings waiting to be discovered or created rather than merely ascribed; perhaps the meanings may be reduced by discovery to a single equation. The question of the meaning and the nature of the meaning of the value-term ‘highest’ is part of the search for what is highest. However ‘high’ and ‘highest’ will lie within the envelope of all forms of idea and being available to human being. That envelope will lie within the further envelope of all forms of idea and being available to any being. Discovery of these envelopes may form a useful framework for ‘search.’ This motivates an attempt to discover a metaphysics in the sense of the extension, duration, and variety of being in the Universe and the place of human being in the Universe

The idea of a Journey

In the beginning, I did not think in terms of a journey. I was simply on some tacit path of discovery. Explicit emphasis was on ideas. Hiking in wild places was significant: it was here that I had many of my best ideas. I tried out many systems of understanding of the world or Universe—based in matter, evolution, mind, relationship, word, fact, property and others—before arriving at a metaphysics that requires and allows no ultimate substance

In the beginning, the goals of the process were unclear. In our modern worldview, life has no aim other than the aims that we collectively ascribe to it. However, the metaphysics revealed is ultimate in showing boundaries of possibility and in suggesting ultimate aims—or, rather, in being, at least, a framework in which we can reflect on our aims

At this point, the idea of a journey emerged: the endpoint of travel changes as we travel but even more, the endpoint is not the goal: the process is as significant as any end as are ‘side’ travels: it is only in retrospect that ‘the’ path is recognized as such. In the beginning I had no idea although I may have had hopes that such clarification would emerge. I was on a journey

It is not true that I had no idea. Every individual and community has, at least, some implicit or tacit worldview that is built up from some mix of experiences—places traveled, stories told, shared beliefs and so on. My worldview was the result of my experience—science and my day to day experience formed the backbone and frame of my view; but science itself is critical and a critical understanding of science shows that science reveals some aspects of the world but that science is silent on what lies beyond the boundaries of what it reveals (even though it is quite common to tacitly think that there is nothing really new or distant beyond those boundaries;) then there are myths, legends, stories, religions, and friends and acquaintances that tell of places and things ‘beyond;’ and while many of these stories are mere imagination, the idea of beyond is not mere imagination and this is revealed in the history of ideas which shows the boundaries of the real receding like the horizon as we travel

I undertook studies that later became an explicit search for what may be beyond the boundary of what-I-know-today-via-experience-and-thought

Being

I said earlier that in the course of reflection, I considered matter, evolution, mind, relationship, word, fact, properties and other kinds on the way to understanding

There is a problem with all these ‘kinds.’ It is that, whereas I do not know the ultimate nature of the world, a kind assumes or posits a nature; it therefore prejudices study at the outset

There is a way out of this prejudice. The idea of matter is prejudicial on account of its associations and conceptions (e.g. in physics and philosophy.) I realized that if the idea of matter (or mind) is taken as a container term that is an umbrella for future discovery then at some point in the future there might result a conception of matter that is not limited. Still, matter has prejudicial connotations; and because of its use in science, it is unlikely to soon outgrow the prejudicial connotations

Therefore, I turned to the idea of being as ‘what is there.’ I think I was impressed by Aristotle’s comments regarding being and the study of being-as-being rather than as the study from some special aspect. Heidegger’s thoughts on being versus substance were suggestive

Being has various special connotations. Here, the trivial ‘what is there’ also turns out to be the deepest; by being un-specific, it allows the nature of things to emerge in study rather than prejudicing study (if the world is matter then knowledge of this can only be strengthened by not assuming it)

The power of being, therefore, is that it became a container for what is not known, for the incompleteness of my (our) knowledge

As ‘what is there’ being is clearly related to the idea of ‘existence.’ These two concepts have a significant history—varieties of meaning, the relationship between being and existing, paradoxes associated with the ideas, charges that the ideas of ‘being’ and ‘existing’ are trivial. My reflections are recorded on the Journey in being website. Here, I mention only that thinking through mind, matter… and then thinking through the problems of ‘being’ and ‘existing’ immensely sharpened and empowered my understanding

Worldview

Being empowered my understanding. However, other ideas were required. It was necessary to specify these carefully, not only individually, but also in relation to one another; and to experience; and critically. The development of an articulated system of ideas required iterative inclusion, exclusion, and improvement. The development is recorded on the Journey in being website

The end result was a worldview or metaphysics that (a) Was demonstrated rather than merely speculated, (b) Showed the extent, duration, and variety of being in the Universe to be without limit, (c) Was consistent with (and required) the results of science and common sense—I say this because there is apparent but superficial inconsistency, and (d) Shows the Universe to have phases identity that includes the particular identities of all beings; and phases of dissolution

This was the result of a process of discovery in ideas. But it was now revealed that there is a greater journey (that may be undertaken)

1. It is a journey in transformation and not just in ideas. Ideas—in a limited sense—are a beginning; they illuminate; they appreciate; but full realization occurs with transformation of being

2. The realizations will occur without trying; an inert cosmos may acquire life and mind; but reflection on life and mind in the context of the Universe now revealed suggests that efficiency and enjoyment are immensely greater when a path of experiment and reflection is undertaken

3. Pain is unavoidable; it is not sought; but too much avoiding detracts from possibility and makes pain unendurable from loss of significance

4. The journey can only begin here; even though the metaphysics reveals infinities, it does not reveal a path; for paths we turn to the traditions of ideas regarding the immediate world (which includes our entire local cosmos)

5. While the necessity of item d, phases of identity integration, is revealed as necessary, it requires identity to have endurance; regarding this endurance over infinite time, I have so far only some suggestive thoughts on the endurance and merging of identities. But this line of discovery shall be part of the journey in ideas and experiment with transformation

6. Because there is no limit to the variety, extension and duration of being; there is no final phase of identity integration; every peak of integration is followed by dissolution; and there is no limit to the variety of peaks; our being remains, in one form and then another and another, in adventure without limit

Journey

I have characterized the process as a journey—the goals have emerged, changed, and transformed along the way. And after revelation / discovery of the Universal metaphysics, a greater journey emerged

This journey is available and to every individual and, via sharing, to every community

It is a journey in ideas and transformation

Ideas

The metaphysical system is abstract and has an independent foundation (demonstration.) I have developed the idea of Intuition (in a sense similar to that of Kant) to provide grounding for the metaphysics in human experience

Some central conclusions of the metaphysics are the limitless extension, duration, and variety of being and related results stated earlier

Some implications for human affairs are brought out earlier

It is not immediately apparent how powerful is this result and how manifold are its implications for Metaphysics, the Theory of Objects, Cosmology, and the study of the academic disciplines. Readers may follow up on these implications at the essays linked from the Journey in being site

I noted the significance being and an articulated system of ideas; and the importance of being careful in the specification of ideas. Being has been singled out as important. Among the other significant ideas are Law, Universe, and Void

Transformation

These essays develop the transformations—sources, approaches, developments so far, and designs for the future

Narrative

Website—Home page: Journey in being

Essays—follow the links from the website

Author

Anil Mitra—I started this website in 1999 and have maintained and authored the site since then. Follow the link ‘Author’ at Journey in Being for further information on me. I am the author of all essays on the site. All essays except History of Western Philosophy and History of thought and action are original

History

Some of the development is recounted above

Variety of experience. A significant aspect of the development is the variety of experience, reading, reflection, tentative ideas followed through / written up / seen as limited / discarded that has been a part of the process

Metaphysics. I have experimented with and discarded many metaphysical systems. It was in 2002 that the central insight occurred that led to the demonstration of the present metaphysics. I completed the first version of Journey in being in 2003. Since then there have been between one to three annual revisions: these account for maturing of the central idea, clarification of the proof and its nature, realization that many fields within and outside philosophy are affected by the metaphysics, working out and maturing of these ideas

Perception. The perceptive attitude is one of remaining open to new ideas and information. As a result of this attitude, I used to have the attitude that all my thought is tentative. Similarly, I have regarded general pronouncements from the world of learning as tentative. In modern philosophy, metaphysics has been suspect because, first, of the critique of knowledge as arising in experience and, second, from the failures of the great European metaphysical systems. There is no conclusion from these failures except that the particular systems were speculative without foundation. The critique of knowledge is more subtle but what is really entailed is that since knowledge and ‘Object’ are distinct there is nothing inherent in knowledge that makes it perfect; it remains that some methods may in some cases result in demonstration of perfect knowledge. I cannot say that my perceptive led to the Universal metaphysics but rather that that side allowed the development. Thus, even though creative thought was required, the development was rather a surprise to me. The development acquired its own force—as though I am not truly its creator but perhaps only its lucky discoverer (with luck aided by much experience, study, and trying.) Now that the development is complete, its force almost forces me to take a stand—because it stands demonstrated by me of course, but also independently of me. Still I am not altogether convinced by the demonstration and this doubt is generated by intrinsic doubts regarding the derivation as well as by the magnitude of the conclusion. Therefore, and as well on general principles of doubt, I remain between perception and judgment

Intuition. In 1987, I completed Evolution and Design—an attempt to understand the world in terms of evolutionary process; though it did not insist on matter, matter was its emphasis; the essay is incomplete and rough from a number of perspectives and though it was exciting to write and though I learned much, I have moved beyond the ‘paradigm’ and it will probably not be rewritten. I was pleased with the synthetic vision but as time went on I began to want more. The essay has the following characteristics (1) The perspective is material and process oriented—I did not reject these categories but I sought to not be limited by them, (2) It tacitly assumes that the world is the conceptual-empirical universe revealed roughly as in modern science (saying that is not a rejection of spirituality and higher meaning.) I experimented with idealism and toyed with an absolute idealism. Somewhere along the way I thought that if the Void (absence of being) and Universe are equivalent, this would provide a window onto my search for a not essentially material and atemporal framework. One day, 1999, hiking in the Trinity Alps, warm afternoon, I noticed I was hiking effortlessly, I felt a unity of all things, I ‘knew’ that, metaphorically though not in terms of normal mathematics that zero = infinity or, that the Void and the Universe are equivalent. This kind of (mystic) intuition (different from the earlier use) is of course not proof no matter how powerful; but the intuition provided motive. I knew that if a Void may become a distribution of mass and gravitational fields without violating conservation of energy (due to negative energy of the gravitational field.) This is suggestive but, again, not proof. I sought proof but found none. I focused on the properties of the universe (which I then equated to this cosmos as big-bang plus perhaps the bubble universes idea that was emerging in modern cosmology.) A second intuitive insight occurred, again in the shadow of the Trinity Alps: focus on the Void and its properties rather than on the Universe. This was the key insight that led to the careful clarification of the concepts of Law, Universe, and Void that led to the Universal metaphysics (and the various developments recounted above and of course many others)

Difficulties in Understanding Journey in being

I do not think the work is intrinsically difficult. It will of course take time to become familiar with the ideas but the main ‘difficulties’ will result from expectations regarding the nature of the work. The following comments may

1. Journey in being aims to be a contribution to the human endeavor in ideas and process. Any significant contribution will in all likelihood draw from the traditions. However, the work is not a compilation of ideas of others

2. The worldview or metaphysics of Journey in being is ultimate in depth (foundation without substance) and breadth (the metaphysics shows and tacitly contains the limitless variety, extension, and duration of being.) It will take time to become familiar with the metaphysics and its differences from our modern secular views (and the views from religion) and there may be apparent contradiction. However, the metaphysics is demonstrated and the paradox resolved

3. The grounding (Intuition,) implications (topics in Metaphysics,) elaborations (related topics: Objects, Cosmology,) and applications (Local Worlds, Transformations) have immense breadth and significance

4. Old and common words are used but their meanings are used in very specific, defined, and often ultimate senses. This may be especially problematic for technical readers

5. I use a style that varies between narrative and technical. I have not used a theorem and proof format

6. The metaphysics shows that the realization of the aims of the journey is not susceptible to a simple translation from ideas to action. The journey must include incremental elements. Participation of the individual in process is essential—and not a mere theory of this participation. Thus involvement is essential but it is not a case of being involved by deploying ideas; involvement is living in and through ideas—ideas and experiment in interaction; experiment is not merely instrumental but involves the being of the individual; it must do so… Therefore the mixed style is appropriate

7. I go against and derive results contrary to mainstream thought and expectation. It was not my purpose to do so except that I do admit to wanting to contribute and to do so it must be useful to contemplate what has been regarded as (academic) heresy. However, where I go against mainstream academic ‘belief’ I have given arguments. Examples of ‘going against the mainstream’ include contemplating and showing the very possibility of metaphysics, that constructive metaphysics need not be merely speculative, that human being is more than in the scientific and secular world view, and, a more specific example, a unified understanding of concrete and abstract Objects

8. In the past, non-academic and peripherally academic thinkers and writers have contributed significantly to the development of ideas. In fact, it was thought that, in earlier times, that resulted in the academy. Today, however, rigor of thought and construction of systems of ideas are not expected of the non-academic

9. The rendering of so many classic and modern problems of metaphysics as trivial and trivially resolved

10. The move away from philosophical thought of the markedly analytic and continental varieties; the willingness to think rigorously and globally

Contributions—what is new in Journey in being?

Some contributions follow

1. Metaphysics—possibility of metaphysics, there is essentially one metaphysics, demonstration of that metaphysics, ultimate character of the metaphysics and of the Universe revealed. The Universe cannot have a creator; but one part of the Universe may be implicated in the creation of another. Trivial resolution of the problem of why there is something rather than nothing (called by Heidegger The fundamental problem of metaphysics) and establishment that the question What has being? should be regarded as the fundamental problem. Resolution of problems of mind, matter and consciousness: if matter is being-in-itself, mind is the effect of being in being; all being has feeling (the effect of being in being and universal interaction,) but consciousness is the name attached to a certain level of acuity, focus, and ability to know mental process (therefore the distinction between conscious and non-conscious is arbitrary and artifactual.) Metaphysics as the study of the limits of being; philosophy as the study whose limits are the limits of being (and analysis of why, versus various commentators from Wittgenstein to Richard Rorty and innumerable relativists, this is a proper conception)

2. Cosmology—development of an account of the infinite variety; principles of cosmology; study of mind in cosmos; identity and death

3. Epistemology—classification of Objects as necessary or perfectly known and practical or sufficiently well known (and with varying degrees of faithfulness;) the necessary as framework for the practical which suggests and is sometimes (at least) borne out that practical knowledge may achieve the limit of the context; unification of particular or concrete and abstract Objects and their theories

4. Academics—consequences for many of the main divisions of study in modern academic institutions: the sciences, the humanities, and the professions. The narrative works out some consequences and developments for the sciences and suggests others. In the humanities, the emphasis has been philosophy which is discussed above. Greater detail in the essays linked from the Journey in Being site

5. Science—a conception of science according to which a dual view may be entertained: universal but tentative or local and factual (though not necessarily with perfect precision.) Some clarifications regarding scientific method as discussed in the modern literature and enhancement to a tiered structure appropriate to the social sciences and psychology and likely to the future of the natural sciences

6. The human endeavor—shows the envelope or framework of human possibility as that of the possibility of all being; shows the possibility of (all) being as without limit and as including peak realizations without end and, of course no escape from pain; shows that the possible and the actual are identical; therefore adventure and pain without end; suggests that avoidance of pain is counterproductive; suggests no distinction between this world and another; the true distinction is between the factually or empirically known and the metaphysically and only partially known; suggests that avoidance of the immediate is counter to the ultimate; that paths to the ultimate are bridges and founded in concrete being

7. Religion—shows the inadequacy of the secular view and that abandonment of the real by (most) traditional religion; that there is a role for a shared endeavor in realization—through experiments in ideas and being; that the cumulative learning and practice in this endeavor may be named religion and conceived as the experimental realization of all being by individual and community in all dimensions of being

The Future

The discussion has outlined the scope of plans for the future. I hope to share this endeavor with others

Sources

My thought has been many named and nameless influences. Among the nameless are those who ‘invented’ language and its implicit grammar and metaphysics

If this were a technical treatise, there would be a place for a survey of literature

The sources for this work are not only individuals but movements and histories

I list only influences that I recognize (I am sure there are omissions)

Works are noted when there is direct influence on the present work. Others have indirect influence through secondary literature or through influence on my earlier thought

Sources are listed by topic, then alphabetically by name (first name if there are two.) I do not distinguish between ancient and modern or minor and major influences

Mostly philosophical

A. O. Lovejoy, Aristotle, Arthur Schopenhauer, David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche, Gottfried Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, Johannes Scotus Eriugena, John Searle, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Parmenides, Plato, René Descartes, Sankara—of the Vedanta, Thales, Thomas Nagel, William Blake

Science

The following mathematicians and scientists were instrumental in the construction of frameworks of thought

Albert Einstein, Aristotle, Charles Darwin, Erwin Schrödinger, Euclid, Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, John Bell, Max Born, Max Planck, P. A. M. Dirac, Werner Heisenberg

Scientific method

Although Arabic thinkers—Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Bîrunî, Avicenna— and others have significant reflections on scientific method, I list only those who have influenced me directly

Ernst Mayr, Francis Bacon, Henri Poincaré, Karl Popper, Paul Feyerabend, René Descartes, Thomas Kuhn