BEING AND
THE ELEMENTS OF BEING
ANIL MITRA, PH.D., COPYRIGHT © 2001, REFORMATTED May 2003
Document status: May 21, 2003
Essential content absorbed to and no further action needed for Journey in Being; maintained out of interest
Outline
of
Essentials and Charismatic Presentation
a
BEING
AND THE ELEMENTS OF BEING: THE POTENTIAL OF BEING
1 Being
and the Elements of Being
1.3 Introduction
to the Narrative
1.3.1 The
Purposes of the Narrative
1.6 Machines
as Agents and as Tools – Focus: Modern Networking and Digital Computation
2.1.2.1 Technical
Version[s] of the Core Essay[s]
2.1.2.2 Format
for the Technical Version[s] of the Core Essay[s]
2.1.2.3 Issue
of minimalism vs. presentational form
2.1.2.4 Straight
Version of the Core Essay: Concept
2.1.2.5 Straight
Version of the Core Essay: Content
2.1.2.6 Straight
Version of the Core Essay: Tentative Outline
2.1.2.7 Straight
Version of the Core Essay: Charismatic Format
2.1.4 Absorbing
and Entering Content
2.1.5.1 What
the work will do for the [classes of reader] reader
2.2 Plans
for Being and the Elements of Being
3.3.1 The
Inverse Approach to Philosophy
3.3.2 Being
– Actual, Possible and Potential
3.3.3 Logic
of knowledge and being
3.3.4 Transformation:
How individual being transforms to / constructs universal being
3.4 Introduction
to the Narrative of the Explorations, the Results – what was Learnt
3.6.2.1 Explanation
from the Present
3.6.2.2 Explanation
from Origins vs. Explanation from the Present
3.6.3 On
Naïve Radical Skepticism
3.6.7 Science
as Eternal and Science as Contextual
3.7 Machines
as Agents and as Tools – Focus: Digital Computation
4.3 Other
significant sources and documents
BEING AND THE ELEMENTS OF BEING: THE POTENTIAL OF BEING
The current document, Being and the Elements of Being - The Potential of Being, presents the essence of Being and the Elements of Being. Here is
an outline of Being and the Elements of Being
The purpose of this section is to maintain consistency with
Division 3. The section will be eliminated
The direct function is as a narrative, a story. The story is of a life, a search, a journey, an exploration into knowledge and being – the world, the universe. It is a document of states traversed, places experienced, and of what was learnt; what it is to participate in the human journey; of ambitions for the work, for experience, for becoming and being
The exploration is personal and universal. It starts as personal. It becomes universal by entering the traditions; and through multidimensionality, turning each lead into a journey, taking each journey as far as possible to the source, through intensity and persistence, learning, application, re-learning, through testing and negotiating the limits of individual being – the being of a given individual… entering into the dynamics of the real and of being. What can it mean to negotiate the limits of individual being – what negotiating can there be of a real limit? Limits can be tested and negotiated because there are no known limits other than limits as known. This, of course, does not refer to logical limits such as the limits of all being. As far as is known, the limits on any individual being may be identical with the limits to all being
A report of what was learned and seen; of explorations and experiments; of results and of becoming
A sharing with others, with society – an induction into the dynamics of being, the method of testing and navigating limits – into the present and the ultimate; a shared enhancement of these processes and of being
The first two divisions are general in nature. The remaining two divisions are specialized: they provide elaboration and foundation, are useful in executing and communicating the project for Being and the Elements of Being
The focus in this division is on action, individual experience in the realms of being. Action is not just something that is done by an agent to an external object; it includes becoming – the transformation and building of being – including the being of the agent. The idea of action is not limited to the single act by a single agent but includes the accumulation of being in the journey that is life – and over lives, societies and civilizations…
Theory of being: possibilities and potential of being – historical and conceptual argument. In the realm of theory focus is on the most general; most imaginative. This, supplemented by details from Ideas and Meaning, the next division, which is formal – more careful and incorporates the history of thought in its imaginative and critical aspects, is used to conceive, design and interpret the experience and action – experiments in being. A theory of being is the primary theory of this work – and includes a theory of the nature of such works
The focus is on ideas and the history of ideas. Theory of being and meaning – foundation and elaboration
Constituent
theories and concepts. Cultures and disciplines.
Examples: modern world culture – the West,
Use of machines in ideas, exploration and research – practical and conceptual
Machines as models for and modes of being and mind
A group environment for the development of the project for Being and The Elements of Being. Criticism, communication and mutual enhancement of thought and being [cross-fertilization]. Group support and division of effort
Communication – media and interpersonal, charisma and paternalism, and social action and transformation
This document is the production version for the core essay[s] for Being and the Elements of Being. These are [1] A single technical core essay Being and the Elements of Being that may absorb and or link the remaining core essays; and [2] A single comprehensive core essay Being and the Elements of Being in straight terms: this version will incorporate the content of all core essays and its purposes is to move the being of all readers – technical or non-technical. As the production version it contains material that will not be kept in the final version – this material is primarily in divisions 2, 3 and 4. This material includes planning – division 2, preliminary and resource material – division 3, and sources – division 4. Additionally, material in division 1 begins as an outline and will be under revision until it is finalized. The document may also function as a resource for Being and the Elements of Being but is not intended to be expanded to the full essay
The arrangement of Mind and Metaphysics is a start for the basic arrangement. See also the arrangement of the older version of this document
The critical function is to produce the single comprehensive core essay Being and the Elements of Being in straight terms. The technical version is significant but it will not currently be a finished version
There are two kinds of core essay. The first are the existing Core essays. The function of this set is as follows:
The core essays present the main ideas of my writing from design topics especially Design of a Life, Evolution and Design to Being and the Elements of Being in a fundamental, essential and compact way in one place. The main thrust of these lengthy essays is knowledge and realization of being. By contrast, the core essays are compact. Since they are compact and present the essentials, they are accessible. Effort will be applied to making the essays as compact as possible, presenting the essential organization in a complete, well structured, and related way. The interrelationships among the essays will be made explicit and the set of essays will be complete and minimal with respect to my thought and Journeys in Being. Review and placement in the history of ideas, action and being will be included. There will be some attempt at reasonable completeness relative to the Universe of Thought, Action, and Being, some consideration of the meaning and possibility of absolute completeness. The compactness, organization and interrelationships will make editing, re-conceptualization and re-organization easier. This is difficult with the present detailed and cumbersome essays. The editing, re-conceptualization and re-organization will be before elaboration, detail, proof…
There are currently five core essays and this may be changed to 1 - 6 or so. What is required for completion? Refer to Sources and, particularly, Core essays: here are some ideas for additional core topics, e.g., Journey Quest or Journeys in Being, that is part of Being and the Elements of Being. There are other possibilities, noted and not noted in Sources. These additional points will be added as sub-points – simplicity and brevity are important. Additionally, the quality and completeness of these core essays is variable. Computers, Beings and Minds is most complete with regard to detail; Mind and Metaphysics is most refined conceptually, Being and the Elements of Being [older version of this document] no longer exists as such since the content has been absorbed into the present document. All core documents need to be refined for content, completeness, simplicity, internal and external relations
These may be reduced to a single core essay for Being and the Elements of Being. The core essay for Being and the Elements of Being is primary. The other essays are subsidiary, component, or alternative points of view
In the beginning there were elaborate, incomplete, cumbersome essays Evolution and Design and so on. Then came counterpoint – as represented by the core topics. Then two kinds of simplification: the compact set of technical core essays; and the single straight core essay for an “unrestricted” audience
In the limit here is the final format: there will be a single essay. It will be core and detail. The main format will be: that of the single straight core essay. The following will be added in, e.g., smaller type and or indented:
Technical narrative
Details and elaboration of various kinds
Appendixes, glossaries…
Directory of related documents and resources – a new home
page, a site-map or index
…
The purpose of the elaboration is not merely fleshing out, proof, persuasion… In coming to a different way of being and seeing there is a path to be followed. Without this the new way may seem artificial, empty. A main purpose of the elaboration will be to provide motivation and possible paths. The core essays are essentially short. Books are long due to pedantry, confusion – a long book functions as a maze, to give the reader a feeling of substance, to entertain the reader for a week or a month but not more. Books are also long because they are the working out of an idea – an idea initially unknown or hazily known to the author, due to the elaboration and exemplification with and in summary of examples. I now wish to avoid these imperatives even if I have not done so in previous writing where I was navigating in the dark. I now write from light. Sometimes elaboration is necessary to build a picture – this is the concept of presentational form. I will let individuals construct their own pictures. There will be balance between sufficient material to convey the essentials, some presentation, and encouraging the production of the individual’s own – written or internal – form. I think this will be the most effective way of inducing the individual into the dynamics of being, of encouraging original work in continuation of my work
At the end of a work, of a developmental process both the process and the external product may seem unnecessary to the place where the author arrives; even to the place of arrival of the author of the universe and of being. But the process was necessary – it may not have been most efficient, but one has to live and therefore perhaps it could not have been more efficient. To communicate the result – hints for the listener in the ring for their own process… or an elaborate presentation? Or both? If one believes in the essence of history over destiny – even the destiny of the here and now – then it is for each individual, each culture to recreate the end. But some do so poorly
Even if not reduced to a single version the core essays will be reduced to a single a simple version – this is the second kind of core essay. The function is as follows:
The basic ideas of the core, integrated and expressed in straight terms. The simplicity is in the expression and not the content – except allusions to the tradition may be avoided, and there will be effort to make my ideas simple. The objectives are: to present the essence of Being and the Elements of Being in itself and as the essence of individual meaning; to appeal – to steal the heart, mind and commitment of the individual; to present Being and the Elements of Being as a short and integral whole; to be accessible – to use plain words as far as possible, with exceptions where there is some fundamental essence that calls for an esoteric word. Technical and uncommon words will appear in a glossary. In the straight version, the first use of technical terms – even simple terms such as ethics that also have technical meanings and associations – will be explained immediately in addition to appearance in the glossary. The explanation will include that the word is both common and technical; and why the word is used – for example contact with the universal or general through the social or cultural realm; what are the benefits – the accumulated learning and experience – and the negative aspects – the errors and distortions of a particular cultural view. This is one motivation for the use of cross-cultural study and experience. While the more technical core version[s] is for myself and for others versed with the tradition, the straight version is for a general audience. Except as explained, all the purposes of the more technical core version[s] are present in the straight version. Perhaps the simple version will be the basis for the final work. The simplicity will consist in using and finding plain words for the ideas – technical words will be kept to a minimum and explained in a glossary. In shedding excessive technical vocabulary these versions will shed the weight but not the light of the past. It is these versions that will likely be the foundation of further development, elaboration and communication
Essential points: the primary objective of Being and the Elements of Being, a hierarchy of objectives and the approach, supporting fundamental arguments
Culture-disciplines/science… and other details to appendices. A Glossary of basic technical terms
As far as technical ideas – the esoterica of a culture – are part of the straight version, their function is supportive of the reasoning. This support may be literal or metaphorical; and it may be actual or potential – some material may be included because it seems that it may be useful. This material should not be excessive and it may either confirm a view of reality or show promising alternatives through example or foundation. Such material will be in an appendix
Icon – intertwining strands, paw print… – and sound
The various ways in which an individual asks “How should I live?”: “What do I want to accomplish?”, “What do I want to know?”, “What do I want to be or become?” – the fundamental problem of a human life
This immediately suggests: “What are the limits of human being?”, i.e., it is not merely being asked what a human being can do but what can a human being become; and at the limit will a human being remain human – at all or as currently or commonly understood and recognized. This one question can be broken down into two: “What are the limits of being – in terms of quality, ability, extension and duration?”, and “Of these possibilities, what is open to a given [human] individual?”. These questions further suggest “What is the nature of being?” and “What is the nature of human being?”. Heidegger asked about the nature of human being – as that being to which we appear to have most direct access – so as to answer the question of being. Also ask, “What is being asked when I ask, “What is the nature of being?” “. The following questions are being asked, “What is the being of entities?” or “What is the nature of [my] presence?”, and “What is the meaning of being?” This last question is natural; it is the question that Heidegger asked and, as he pointed out, it had been – and is easily – suppressed. These questions must be asked – in the straight version – in a natural way and in a way that the asking seems natural, necessary, essential and connected
The next question is “How can I find out?” – this includes the theoretical and practical arts of a culture but also requires going beyond this with commitment of one’s being; experiments with being – the “method” of incremental limits into the dynamics of reality and being
And finally, “What can I know?”, and the related “What is knowledge?” – for this vitally affects what counts as knowledge
These questions are
at once ethical – in the sense that includes the aesthetic – and metaphysical,
experimental and scientific – and perhaps artistic and technological,
and epistemological. The word science is used here to refer to the
practical and theoretical arts of a given culture. Thus these fundamental
disciplines are connected as one. That one is sometimes called “philosophy.”
The words and their use should be, if included, natural and connected. How can
this be maximized? The approach must be multicultural – modern,
Are these the fundamental questions?
Sources for such appendixes include Toolkit. The material may be incorporated or linked. The appendixes may include a glossary
Division 3 may be the place to enter ideas or absorb material from other sources. This material may be processed. Useful material will be absorbed to Division 1 or to central planning for Being and the Elements of Being before being discarded
Being and the Elements of Being has been absorbed. It remains to absorb and or link the other Core essays and, according to the function of this document, other Sources
Classify, mark and enter points from sections 2 through 4 and the Sources and especially, from the core essays – 1. Begin this process, 2. Refine classification, 3. Complete entering and modifying the outline of Being and the Elements of Being in Division 1 of this document
The function of a charismatic format follows from the functions of Being and the Elements of Being and is achieved by:
Poetry and simplicity – speaking from and to the core. This is not an avoidance of reason or action, a mere appeal to emotion but speaking to the being of the individual in a way that places him or her immediately, fully, essentially, starkly in the stream of the dynamics of all being
“I speak to you – the individual.” The human individual. Who seeks understanding of who he is and how he came to be. Who and what she may do, know and become. Who seeks to immerse in the present; who seeks the ultimate
“I show you life and light.” The shade of the womb of comfort; acceptance of desolation; the light of the infinite; the answers to all questions; the way of all being
What the individuals want – speaking to immediate needs and desires… that are then transformed into desire for light…
What Being and the Elements of Being [the charismatic function] can do for the individual – explicit and implicit
… and what the reader will do to achieve the ends. This is already included. It is also open to some degree
Not every work / book is or need be about the reader getting something other than the content. So, at minimum, there will be some explanation of the key parts of the content. Yet there is something I do want the reader to get and there are implicit suggestions – my path. However, nothing is required: the reader may re-interpret the “goals” and this is in an in the nature of the work both in terms of what is best for the reader – independence and in terms of the goals of the work, i.e., that community process is an essential value and mode of realization
What will the reader get? The main idea: the possibilities of their being, becoming, ambition; that this is much more than is commonly thought; the possibility of achieving ultimate being; the balance with day-to-day life. And an approach to the becoming. Other ideas: knowledge of the universe of cultures; exploration; adventure in the realms of nature, culture, mind and being – the universe
[My own path is one way:]
Knowledge – tool kit. The practical and
theoretical arts in the history of civilization with representative cultures:
modern,
[Experiments in being]
Knowing – above
Knowing – the nature of knowing; the nature of knowledge affects what we can claim of knowledge; knowledge as a function of being
Experiments in ideas or mental space: inner [yoga] and outer; experiments and possibilities in vision
Local experiments
Cumulative and global experiments
Straight Version of the Core Essay: Charismatic Format
Reduce this document to the content of Division 1. This may then become the single core essay. Other material goes to the central planning document for Being and the Elements of Being
Promote heading levels after planning and implementation
Detailed plans for Being and the Elements of Being are not given here but are in a number of the documents linked below
Since the document and the journey are in-process, each division of Being and The Elements of Being has “work so far”, and issues, sources, plans…
Items in this color are identified as in-process or temporary and to be altered and or deleted
Title = Potential of Being &or Being and the Elements of Being &or Core Essay… simple words
What is planning?
The format below follows the outline of Being and the Elements of Being
The fundamental questions or foundation issues – the Nature of Being, the Nature of Knowledge and Meaning, the Nature of Action
The origin of Being and the Elements of Being is in seeking an understanding of the world – the universe – and my presence in it. Through reading the tradition and reflection this personal search became universal. I realized that the operations of mind alone are not enough but experiment with being was also necessary. Understanding and being are partially separable to advantage but not separate; essentially they are one, both being necessary for the completion, the maximal realization of each. The being of every life informs the intellect if only in the unconscious. Every life is a journey in both understanding and being; and in the connections between individual and universal being. For me, this became an explicit realization. A logic for a system of experiments with ideas and being is outlined below as three questions or issues
The first question or issue is, “What should the individual do or become, how should the individual live?” The individual will usually be a human being but it could be a society or civilization – or perhaps the universe
This first question is ethical. I take the concern of ethics to be value generally – not just morals, not just the right or the good. The concern of ethics is not just that of responses to particular situations. An individual may desire to understand, refine, choose or create the theme or themes and ambitions of his or her being and life. Understanding is significant no matter how proscribed the life of the human individual – it is understanding that makes possible life as a human being: the individual is born and grows into a world that includes [human] values and presents to a significant degree as given. At the same time, I do not believe that there is a set of values that uniquely determines the choices of an individual – there is no single life path – a living culture requires a variety and variability; there is scope for “play”; the acts and creations of an individual may constitute new kinds and instances of value. The scope of action is not restricted to the life and being of the individual… what is or should be the scope of action? These issues and possibilities may also be contained within understanding
Ethics includes in some sense the principles or theory of how – and according to what criteria – ends are chosen, actions determined. There is a tendency, in traditional ethics, to attempt to reduce the principles to a single criterion; this would have the benefit – if valid – of making ethics determinate in principle… Ends or desirable states of affairs and ethics are not fixed – the path of action and reflection may also include illumination and change of ethics, the nature of ends and action, the approach to action and ends, desirable and desired – or chosen – ends and actions
Why should I use the word “ethics” at all? It is because the concerns expressed include traditional ethical issues and there is a significant body of recorded thought on ethics and choice. Regardless of whether that thought is valid it may be useful. One limitation is that ethics tends to deal with reactions to the morals of limited contexts – this is discussed above where it is pointed out that this is not true ethics. There is further discussion in Ethics. Traditional ethical issues include 1. Metaethics: the nature of ethical theories and judgments, including the choice of normative principles; the objectivity of values; and the tension between individual and group interest. 2. Normative Ethics – the actual values that enter into ethical choice; and the study of these values. Normative ethics divides into deontological ethics and teleologic ethics. According to deontological ethics, actions are intrinsically right or wrong; and the concern is with the distinction and how – including principles and dialog – to distinguish right from wrong. According to teleological ethics it is “ends” that are intrinsically good or bad – or evil – and the concern is with the distinction and how – including principles and dialog – to distinguish good from evil. The distinction between the ethics of action and the ethics of ends is not absolute for an end could be a state of affairs or a state of action or both. Part way between deontological and teleological ethics is concern with the direction of action
The second question or issue is one of the nature of being or of metaphysics, “What is the potential of being?” or “What is the scope of action?” – this is one way in which ethics leads into metaphysics. What changes can an individual effect, what can an individual know and become – in the realms of nature, society, and of being – including mind? Are the possibilities changes in form or manifestation of given being – or are changes in the being of the individual also possible, and what is possible – in terms of extension, of duration and of quality of being? The individual is not limited to working with tools or according to received knowledge but may also work with or experiment [his or her own] life and being and according to hypotheses, ideas, dreams and visions to be enacted, lived and evaluated
Consideration of the nature of being – and of knowledge – is crucial. For, what is accepted as known is dependent on what is thought to be knowledge. Knowledge is not separate from action. Is knowledge something that being has, something about the world – or is it interwoven with being, world and creation? Can all – real – knowledge be acquired by operations of mind and experiments with form or is the transformation [and commitment] of being – of the individual – essential. Can knowledge be separated from action or from being?
Here is a range of possible answers to the question of the potential of being. The starting point is the present state of affairs, values and knowledge. What is the limit? We may entertain the possibility that there are no limits to the individual except limits to being in general. If that is true the limit of the individual is that of all knowledge and being. The source of thought – experience, the idea of identity with all being, a desire to maximize individual being… and common endeavor. However, to entertain the above possibility regarding the limits of individual being is not to assert it. But, something may be learnt by entertaining the possibility. That includes evaluation of what is commonly thought to be the limits of human being. Note that the meaning of the limits of an individual is not fixed unless the destiny of the individuality is known. In the modern materialist paradigm, it is at best improper to talk seriously of possibility beyond what is clearly given. One does not ask, “Is there a destiny of all or any individual being – if not a particular destiny, then one of identity with all being?” On the other hand, in some philosophies the individual is already identical with all being
It may argued that there is no point moving in such a direction unless there is some knowledge of how to proceed. In consideration of the potential for return on the investment, the claim that there is no point is not true – there is a good point to even blind attempts; and, further, there is a real possibility – as in what follows – of valuable partial achievement. There need not be a question of undue risk since life choices need not be exclusive. However, it is not true that there is no knowledge of how to proceed. There are the existential claims and procedures [think of the yogas] of various philosophies. However, more in line with rationalism there is the incremental method of limits, overcoming and learning. I have given an exposition of some details of this approach in My Letters: Dynamics of the Real and Dynamics of Perception; in Vision; and in Dynamics of Reality and Being. This approach is superficially similar to that of modern science; there are, however, some differences in metaphysical and in procedural rules. The metaphysical rules of science include what kinds of entities and qualities may be entertained – some of these are not openly defined but derive, for example, from economic, material and social concerns; the procedural rules include the kind of incremental thought to be permitted – the metaphysical rules create and reflect an paradigm – the stories that are told and enacted about the nature of the world – in which thought is may not stray too far from the concerns. These rules are in place even in modern consciousness research – where one might expect some loosening of such constraints. These constraints are not a necessary part of the incremental method of limits; at the same time that approach is experiential and no literal miracles are required – however, esoteric arts are not excluded as such. The method of incremental limits can be applied to existing experience to yield results
The method of incremental limits includes the logic of experiment and experience – of holding an idea and acting it out, seeing the result, comparing it to the first idea, repeating this process with a new or changed idea, extrapolating, learning how to generate ideas from this process…
Why do I talk of “stories that are told…”? Human beings are of the world. More precisely, they are of a particular region of the world – being adapted to a set of environments. In this sense human beings are determinate quantities – and human knowledge would be tightly bound to its environment. However, the evolutionary path of the human race is one that includes exploration, adaptation, creation of new environments – physical and cultural. There is a physical and a mental phase to this process. Since the new environments are not given in human knowledge, the mental phase of new knowledge must be created. This new knowledge cannot and need not be precise – or complete. It cannot be precise or since it is not given in human knowledge. It need not be precise or complete because perfect precision and completeness are not necessary for adaptation. Since it is not given, its process must be one of trial, experiment and correction. The trials include the stories that are told…
What is the answer to the question of being? The process of answering this question is a main focus of Being and the Elements of Being. I hold the following to be true. 1. Ideas – thought, science, art, religion – alone are insufficient; action – experiment, commitment – is necessary and must be in interaction and mutual transformation with ideas. 2. “Action is not just something that is done by an agent to an external object; it includes becoming – the transformation and building of being – including the being of the agent. The idea of action is not limited to the single act by a single agent but includes the accumulation of being in the journey that is life – and over lives, societies and civilizations…” 3. Real hypotheses – such as the limit of the individual – must be lived
The third question or issue is one of forethought, of design and, perhaps, of science when broadly understood, “How may the individual achieve what he should – or wishes or chooses to – do or become?” This question is also one of action, of effecting a desired end. General considerations and “methods” are those discussed above, including the incremental method of limits. Considerations also include technology. Broadly understood, technology includes effecting change in the realms of nature, society and mind – in being. Included as auxiliary or supportive, but also essential, are the practical and theoretical arts of a culture
Processes of answering the individual questions are not independent. 1. What the individual should do depends on what can be done or what it is known that can be done? New knowledge opens up new possibilities and new values. 2. Knowledge of the possibilities is not independent of action. Even in a realm where detailed and precise knowledge is available, knowledge and action proceed in interactive change. Are the questions separate?
Incorporate this into The Concept, above
Review of the section, The Concept, suggests the following approach to philosophy. It is not directly through the study of philosophy, the philosophic disciplines – ethics, metaphysics… Rather, it is through reflection and action in life – reflection on what we are, what is the nature of our presence, what should we do with our being. As in The Concept, it is possible to give structure to the discussion; then the various elements of the structure fall out and may be identified as ethics and axiology, metaphysics, epistemology. There is no suggestion that these disciplines are being discovered; and the fact that they “fall out” is at least partially dependent on the fact that my thinking and interpretation are conditioned by my familiarity with the tradition. And the inverse and direct approach interact – though, perhaps, the labels inverse and direct should be interchanged. However, the approach that does not start with the disciplines, can provide a view of the tradition of thought as a whole, revise the nature of the disciplines, show improved relations, result in new understanding – e.g., the relation between ethics and metaphysics – are the ethical and the metaphysical categories truly distinct…
A system of disciplines that falls out of The Concept is: ethics and aesthetics, metaphysics, epistemology and linguistics, the esoteric and the practical and theoretical arts including the forms of thought and symbol systems such as language…
The range of the possible and the potential for individual [human] being: from the actual to all being
Know and be all
[Local/personal/practical – universal … i.e., the immediate is important, the immediate and universal are mutually necessary]
Knowledge and Being. The nature and the criteria for knowledge are different. The concept of criteria is significant – it is also a source of power. But, it also puts a divide between knower and known; cuts off being and environment; exalts proximate over ultimate knowledge
Knowledge on the limits of being comes from knowledge of the world and understanding of the nature of knowledge
When eliminating parochialism in knowledge of the world it is necessary to also eliminate parochialism in the concept of knowledge [especially] as mere free floating dimensionless symbolic forms about the world
Real knowledge has substance and merges with being… and includes the knowledge as free dimensionless symbolic forms about the world
In the process of realizing the substantial, essentially relating nature of knowledge, being approaches universal Being. Understanding of the original nature of knowledge is essential to knowing and realizing the nature of being
A logic of being will include a dynamics such as object-relationship-process or being-meaning-action. The elements of being are the elaboration of this dynamics. That elaboration tells about the story of being
What of proof? Proof is needed when one does not know. Therefore the function of proof is to encourage others to want to know
The points above – including knowledge and being
The varieties of knowing
Kinds of experience and experiments – the varieties of being… see Vision
Kinds of yoga – raja, gñana, bhakti, karma
Journey-Quest in the dimensions of being. Journey into the wild. Journey as metaphor
Other…
The division World and Being, below, emphasizes an approach to the issues of Being and the Elements of Being from being and is thus a ontology embedded in local being; the division Ideas and Meaning, below, emphasizes an approach from objective knowledge and is thus an ontology embedded in cosmology. It is not implied that the approach from local being is not universal or that the approach from cosmology is more universal; the approaches complement each other
For Being; this requires being in interaction with ideas
What is the nature of being? That is what is the nature of “my” presence – in the universe? What is my presence? What is it – when the veil of proximate, intermediary ideas are removed and I see, feel, become that direct being… What does it mean to ask that most fundamental question “What is the nature of “being”?” And is the asking merely an ideational, intellectual asking or is it also and necessarily an “asking” with my being, i.e., a maximal commitment of, construction and realization of my being?
What is the ultimate in being? Quality, extension and duration?
What is the ultimate for any individual being? Human being? Is this different from the ultimate in being?
The idea being = Being as an idea, a hypothesis, a belief, as knowledge, as fact. What is my commitment here?
Nature of knowledge, hypothesis, experiment, belief, fact in the realm of being
Ideas as being. Transformation of ideas as a kind of transformation of being. Transformation of ideas as necessary to understanding and enhancing the transformation of being
Transformation of being as such. The method of incremental limits and learning. Design of a system of experiments with being. A system of experiments
A narrative of the experience and experiments, transformation and building of being, and of what was learned
If two imperatives = luxury of the conditions of immediate life and ® “ B, then these are the same… how? First, because immediate life knows no real boundaries – all boundaries are contextual; second because immediate life includes search, growth, seeking ultimates; and third because, though the distinction is temporary and necessary for individuation, it is only temporary and part of a progression from the individual to the ultimate. It takes realization – tat tvam asi; and realization is not a “flimsy” idea. Part of captivity is the concept of the flimsiness of the idea. That is an aspect of the idea – the freedom of ideas; but, ultimately, ideas are real
δ ® “ B – how? B itself and the levels and parts of K ® D ® A which originate in B. B = K – together with Kinds of Knowledge – is the foundation
Leave the world as it is? Taken as absolute this is paradoxical for the world as it is has people who want to change and to change the world. The world wants to change?
When I am thinking or designing, is the universe thinking? Not as a unit… but am I thinking as a unit when I am thinking? Certainly a part of the universe is thinking when I am. Does this qualify as the universe thinking? Does that have or can it be given meaning? And if it can be given meaning, is that meaning the “same”, a generalization, continuous with the lesser meaning? Does it make sense to use the same word. Is it merely a question of our usage? Does not metaphor lead the way to discovery? I think… does that mean that the universe may think, may design – now or later?
Combine thought, feeling, and action – choice and life-building… with being in the present
Combined with the next division, Ideas and Meaning, this provides a dual mode of explanation which goes back to one-thing
The comments here are not meant to be definitive – relative to the content of this and related essays or to the potential of my thought
When thinking of limits to being or to human being it is necessary to have some idea of the meanings of being and of human being. These and others of my essays contain reflection on being – and there is further reflection in the literature. Regarding the limits of being, does that refer to this universe or all universes. Actually, all universes are this universe but people sometimes talk as though what is regarded as the known universe is the universe; therefore, it is proper to specify what is being referred to. Other specifications are significant; is the universe a material universe – and what does that mean? What of the concept of possible universes. Is the actual universe equivalent to possible universes – and in what way? Regarding human being, or any specific being, some limits are inherent in the concept of that being – those would be logical limits; further limits would be physical, biological and other consequences of the logical limits we could call them natural limits. Logical consequences of logical limits are also logical limits. A question that arises: what is the status of the concept of some particular kind of being, especially of human being? We start with an idea of what is human being based, naturally, on our intuition and on everyday experience. That concept can be modified by study of the history of human thought and experience, by understanding of other actual being – life, society, fabrications and artifacts; and by further reflection and experiment – individual and group. But, the plain fact of specifying a kind of being, say human being implies limits. Spatially, my body is bounded by skin and hair; temporally I am bounded by birth and death; and my person has a sphere of influence. But to insist on these boundaries – a form of limit – implies a self-contradiction: the limits are the concept of a limited being. That contradiction stands even when we recognize that the limited concepts have functionality. What is the final limit of individual human being and consciousness?
Consider physical limits. Think of gravity or gravitation.
That is a limit on the ability to travel. Of course, gravity has enabling
effects also. However, the present consideration – this paragraph – is a
thought experiment. If I want to reflect on the true nature and existence of
gravity as a limit I am not going to try an experiment of walking off the edge
of a tall building. I simply reflect as follows. Because of gravity some things
are enabled: the solar system exists as such in part due to the existence of
gravitation as described in
“Pure” ideas. Origination of ideas, and of the capacity for ideas. Development of ideas: the individual, society; the history of ideas: cumulation. Analogy with evolution; the phoenix. Relation between action, ideas, being – this relation developed from an experiential approach in World and Being; the relation as essential; ideation as a form of action and origin in pure action
Ideas includes knowledge. See kinds of knowledge.html, knowledge words.html and many other sources. Enculturation – the knowledge of a culture – as one path to the universal
Multicultural and trans-cultural, multi-civilization… and historical approach to knowing
All explanation is explanation from the “present”
This includes the cultural [and multicultural… see previous point] approach – that include, e.g., the modern academic disciplines. In consideration of the history, the modern disciplines are powerful and are significantly comprehensive. However, other cultures are required for completeness. That, is not sufficient. Being must always be in contact with self and world or universe. The approach through culture is one way to expanding that contact
Whatever can be deduced from origins – genetic explanation based perhaps in evolution and mechanisms of evolution – can also be explained from the given, the present. That is because evolution is explained from the given, the present. However, it may be impractical – practically impossible – to base such explanations directly in the given. This is because origins, time and change, are simplifying, coordinating, concepts. This introduction of simplifying, coordinating themes is repeated in the history of ideas and in philosophy and science. Note, that the fact that origins is a simplifying theme, does not mean that any particular historical account of origins or any particular theory of origins is not factual, real or valid
Origins – genetic vs. evolutionary explanation, the issues. Note, the idea of origins, evolutionary explanation, mechanisms of evolution is not restricted to biology or any particular mode of biology; the ideas can be used in fundamental physics, in cosmology, in social explanation, in psychology. It is not implied that modes of explanation transfer; and even when they do, validation is necessary
The present – this does not refer to an “instant” in time; note, of course, that an instant – I am not referring to the mathematical concept of a point in a continuum – is not a fixed thing. The present is related to the given which alters according to who or what is perceiving, the perspective and the context
An example: the “hypothesis” that the universe [everything, i.e., not just the known universe] began from nothing, is equivalent to equivalence of the universe with nothing; and implies that the universe will phase through nothing. This is a powerful hypothesis and implies eternal recurrence. Note, first, how this ties in explanation from origins – the universe came from nothing – with explanation from the present – the universe is equivalent to nothing. In general, explanation from origins can be replaced by explanation from the structure of the world. This at once is a rebuttal of such claims that evolutionary arguments can say nothing about consciousness, the complexity and beauty of life…
Back to the hypothesis that φ ® U [and of U ® φ.] This implies φ º U; this implies probability p[“] > φ Þ eternal recurrence. And, p[“] > φ Þ p[“ + δ”] > φ which Þ occurrence of variations; and now Existence of Meaning Þ Existence of transcendent forms that contain individual consciousness that see the “cumulation” of being, i.e., of all being and this Þ δ = “, or Atman = Brahman
This is just one point. Consider – as an example – an inquiry into consciousness. A preliminary step is to ask “What is consciousness?” To answer this question, I may first focus on “consciousness”. I then look into a variety of meanings as found in dictionaries, encyclopedias, articles – recent and remote – and so on. All this is, of course, valid and useful – but it may not be what I want. For example “consciousness” may have a variety of meanings so disparate that there is not even family resemblance – it would be better to have separate words. Some one responds with an elaborate analysis of why the disparate meanings or uses indeed shows resemblance. A third person responds that there is no essential reason why the same sound, picture or word in a given language needs to always belong to the same family of use. But this misses something of what was intended. What did I intend? Of course, I was interested in the history of meanings. But I also, as a primary objective, intended to connect – say – with modern consciousness research: what meaning is the key or core meaning there? That does not imply that the there is a fixed single meaning there – there may be more than one, and – in the nature of research – the meaning is in ongoing clarification; but it does limit the range of uses. Therefore I should not only ask what is “consciousness” but what do I mean by the question “What is “consciousness”“?
This point – the sameness of the immediate and the ultimate – is similar to the issue of all naïve radical skepticism: the criticism applies to the criticism and thus there is no naïve radical skepticism. An example: “All claims come from individuals and not from God. And therefore these claims carry no force, no validity. This applies, especially, to metaphysics and the ultimate, to claims of knowledge of origins of and in time, to claims of knowledge of the boundaries of universe and being.” That claim itself came from an individual and, therefore, contradicts itself. It is meaningless. The basis, underlying the naïve radical skepticism is the flimsiness of human ideas and knowledge. Such flimsiness in science and “the material world” is a source of power – and therefore seductive; but not merely seductive – it is related to the conditions of existence; but it is still, despite that, contextual and not absolute. A function of skepticism is careful analysis and power – but not final power. Skepticism is not the world – but for some individuals it becomes the world, the individual’s badge of purity and courage. However, regarding naïve radical skepticism the first response is that analysis must go case by case; second, humans are embedded and therefore not all things need be guided by skepticism and care – there are places for direct and bold action, for leaps of action and action based in leaps of ideas… And, it is not necessarily true that the voice of the individual is not the voice of God. For, if God is the fundamental creative expressive “principle” what are individuals but the manifestation and expression of that voice?
What is God? Some claim that the meaning of that term must come from the scripture. That makes us prisoners of the past relative to the most powerful force. Some talk of the psychological and social power of the term. That makes us slaves of constructs of which we are the author – science and rationality. Just as the concepts of matter and mind evolve so must those of God. Perhaps a new word is necessary for we are currently under the anesthetic influence of science and method
The constitution of God over the constitution of men. What does this mean?
Wittgenstein remains an essentialist, not a painter on a common canvas. The only explanation is why there should be no explanation
Meaning as reference is a later phase of evolution
A task – of philosophy – is to bring into coordination our and other different modes of culture, knowledge, understanding – for some the task is to justify our modes. Some thinkers regard this as the function of thought. Given that some of that understanding is on the edge of knowledge, so one difficulty of philosophy
In a way, science is eternal… and in another way it is the instrument of a phase of history. All such descriptions are aspects which co-exist – without complete consistency. Some descriptions are “better”, some “lesser”; some particular some coordinating… and together paint a picture. But neither object nor description are complete – both, we may say, are in process; and, there is no final essence to the object – science. Science is not a definite object. And “it” is a somewhat different object depending on who is looking and what interest is in question. This is both about science and, through science as an example, about the nature of essences
Practical aspects include document evolution and update
Identify sources for this document
Being and the Elements of Being [ some planning - be_2001.html ]– the central essay. Includes The Journey [Quest]
Mind and Metaphysics [ mind and metaphysics planning ] – nature of mind, consciousness; relation between mind and world
Computers, Beings and Minds [ Computers, Beings and Minds with plans and sources.html ] – computation, machine as being and mind, practical application
Evolution, Design and the Absolute. [ EDA planning.html ] Evolution and Design is the view of being from science and analytic philosophy. Evolution, Design and the Absolute builds on that by counterpoint from “being in the present.” Includes Being, Mind and the Absolute
Thinkers and Actors [ TA planning.html ]– a theory of influence and foundation for a bibliography. First focus: A Concept and Outline and philosophy
Planning is in various documents, especially the detailed version of Being and the Elements of Being. For recent planning see:
The Toolkit – contains an important formulation of learning and experience needed
Some design issues – for Being and the Elements of Being
Social Action – design for phase IV, Social Action of Being and the Elements of Being
A Survey to gather ideas [from others] on the nature and potential of being
Basic words [language, syntax, semantics, linguistics words]– a minimal set of words and other language elements to express, discover and create local and universal ontologies
Being words – a set of words to discuss and formulate being and becoming
Knowledge words – to express the modes, varieties and the nature of knowledge and relationship to being
The [older] detailed versions of the core essays. Includes Being and the Elements of Being; Evolution and Design; Personal Design; Being, Mind and the Absolute; Problems in the Science and Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness; the Journey-Quest
Kinds of knowledge – grounding in the organism, knowledge as a dynamic element in being, ground for perception, cognition and knowledge expressed through symbol and language
Kinds
of knowledge – plans on integrating Kinds of Knowledge with Language, Syntax,
Knowledge and Being
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..\..\5. Mind and Metaphysics\Catalog of problems\philosophical problems of mind and consciousness 1.html – review of issues for Problems of Consciousness
..\Journey\nature places to visit.html
Sources in any of the documents above
Anil
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