JOURNEY IN BEING
FIRST THINGS
First things: a basis for development
The journey—its nature and aims… The divisions and their relationships
The Source… Aims of this introduction… The journey and its aims… Faith and reason. … The divisions and their relationships… Form and outline of the narrative… Main concepts… Ideas and transformation… On pure ideas… On the concepts used in the narrative… On ‘theory’… On metaphysics… Language, meaning and fact. A first meditation… Aims of the narrative… Potential problems in understanding the narrative… The present edition… Conventions
Section starting First things to be compared with this section; topics to be integrated / discarded; the two sections to be merged
May demote headings under First Things
A journey into being… the possibility of being, its depth, kinds and variety—especially of human being and this world
It is a journey… in that there is no single or predetermined path, in that foundations and ‘methods’ are such as may arise on the way as part of the journey and may remain partial, in that journey, understanding of its nature, means and frameworks, hopes, ambitions and destinations may ever remain in interaction
The means—ideas and transformation of being including self and identity
The present ambition—made possible and reasonable by the Theory of Being—to know and realize, as it is good, the possibilities of being
The intrinsic intent is that it shall be an in-process account
The narrative also aspires to be a contribution to thought and action—transformation; the contributions—often ultimate—are indicated in the narration
The ultimate character of certain contributions in the Theory of Being is often experienced not as creation—even when there may have been ambition to create—but as creation but as fortuitous discovery
There is no intent to review the history of ideas—remote or recent. The intent is to recount and support the journey—support is provided in that the exercise of writing provides clarity and structure. It will be clear to the well read reader that the narrative has received much inspiration and support from that history even as it has gone beyond the history in a number of directions. The detailed boundary between ‘established’ thought and the ideas of this narrative is experienced as hazy and ever changing and perhaps a topic for study. However, it appears that at the heart of the ideas—in the Theory of Being, where history has intimations of an ultimate system, the narrative has definite prescriptions; where history has sketches, the narrative has system and depth; where history has intuition, the narrative has absolute proof; and where tradition has argued that metaphysical proof must be relative, the narrative has provided fundamental examples of and therefore shown the possibility and character of a mode of absolute proof—proof that requires neither infinite regress nor termination in unproven premise
External—contribution to thought and transformation, influence
Intrinsic—the journey itself
Theory of Being—a journey in ideas itself; possessed of necessary and ultimate elements; shows the universe to be absolutely indeterministic, that absolute indeterminism implies absolute determinism in that all non-contradictory descriptions are realized; requires the genesis and dissolution of this and countless other cosmological systems; develops and requires a trans-cosmological concept of identity; provides some foundation for ‘method,’ understanding and transformation
Human World—founded in Theory of Being and experience and inspired by the tradition of ideas; conclusions are necessary when deduced from necessary aspects of theory and experience and are otherwise ‘probable’ or contingent—an example of ‘method;’ shows deep identity of any being and therefore of human being and all being—i.e. is anti-nihilist, shows that ‘alienation’ is the twin of freedom and is therefore not essential; emphasizes free and determinate aspects of human being; provides characterizations of human being but argues that such characterizations must be regarded as tentative unless the contrary is demonstrated; provides grounding for a human journey whose possibility is framed by Theory of Being
The Idea of a Journey—it is efficient to begin the narrative with Theory of Being rather than a with a detailed introduction. Therefore, the idea and nature of the journey is elaborated in this division
Ideas—some systems of ideas that have been inspiration and resource and to which the narrative aspires to contribute
Transformation—develops some foundation from Theory of Being and History of transformation from traditions of west and east; sets up a ‘complete, minimal system of experiments;’ these include general transformations whose enveloping goal is identity of given being with all being; special transformations are conceptual and technological design of ‘being’ and social transformation; narrates transformations so far
The Future—describes general designs for the future of transformation; describes some specific areas of investigation suggested by development so far and that may be instrumental in the journey—or, perhaps, be a contribution to human thought and transformation; and, finally, describes some hopes for a place of being over becoming, of perception over thought
Imagine looking out from a wooded slope on a side of a mountain cirque. Through an opening between branches a mountain lake is visible. It is dusk. Two wood duck swim in unison and a bow wave follows them. Otherwise, the water is still and reflects cirque and peaks, clouds and sky. Perceiver and scene become one
There is sense to the idea that perception is greater than thought and action
After an immense journey, they would return to perception
The order of topics is designed for economy of narrative. Therefore, First things provides an outline that reveals the journey
If claims made regarding the ideas are true and proofs given valid, the relationship between the ideas, especially the metaphysics and the cosmology, developed in this narrative and earlier ideas and metaphysical systems has similarities to relationships between mature systems of ideas and their primitive forms or earlier mature systems. There is, almost of necessity, both dependence and independence. Many words used in new systems are old but their meanings new or, at least, significantly extended in sense and range of application. Ideas that stood independently and with unclear or conflicting relations fall into coherent relation and receive clearer understanding. If there are earlier conceptually coherent systems, their limits of application may be clearly shown. Broader ranges of phenomena are revealed, understood and explained by the new system. As a result of a new way of seeing, the world may take on a new appearance that may be a source of wonder and reaction
A primary purpose to the acknowledgement of earlier ideas is to place a system of thought in context. It is not primarily giving recognition where it is due, for behind recorded thought lie the very phenomena of ideas and language whose original arts and artists, though unacknowledged, stand ever present in their effects. Nor is such acknowledgment an essential humility or honesty – it is also a human-centered hubris in an implied emphasis on the magnitude of human understanding and a focus on the individual over the understanding itself. For even further behind (or below) human language and thought lies the vault of being that is and makes all possibility and ambition
In the present narrative, the influence of earlier ideas is indicated by interspersing the text with brief discussions of the thought of those individuals whose contributions are seen as significant and whose names may be read from the section, Names, of the System of concepts. However, the primary purpose to inclusion of these discussions is as described in the previous paragraph
The ambition that provided force for the process was at first inspired by the traditions of discovery and based in diffuse ideas and feeling. The development of the metaphysics permitted and realized the ambition in explicit form
‘Journey in being’ is an adventure that began with ideas, with diffuse and implicit ambition (‘the greatest thing’) that, with enablement from the idea of being, grew into a journey into the ultimate. Worth and feasibility. Tie between the present and the ultimate
The quality of perception (versus thought and action)
The journey. From diffuse origin to ultimate form of ambition and reference to its justification. Present state of the journey. On faith and reason: shall we wait for absolute knowledge to seek the ultimate? Bounded rationality, action in the presence of ignorance is standard…
The narrative. Brief discussion and outline. Aims. Present edition – what is changed: format and content. Emergence of a ‘new way of thinking’
Point out that the primary intent in publication of the present narrative is the presentation of new ideas and discoveries and their relations to and bases in the traditions of human endeavor including thought. It is not a direct goal to present here an overview or synthesis of the traditions… The narrative endeavors to show the significance and validity of these ideas. They wrote because they felt that there was something of value to say
The brevity of the narrative relative to its breadth of content is a feature of its design – it encourages presentation as a dynamic unity. In this aspect of its design the narrative stands in complementary relation to the loosely interwoven and incrementally developing tradition of ideas. If the tradition is a net, the narrative is a spear
The narrative is designed, as far as possible, to appeal to general and specialist readers; the journey itself may be of general interest while the variety of developments that support the journey may be of interest to specialists… the range of topics may be appreciated from the table of contents and the index
Although the important concepts of the narrative are defined, their meanings ideas are revealed in their development. Therefore, ‘definitions’ are suggestive rather than authoritative and are placed strategically rather that at the beginning of its discussion. Most of the concepts are suggested by the tradition but are deployed to the present purpose and transformed by the Metaphysics. Since, as will be seen, the metaphysics has an ultimate character, the concepts may approach or equal an ultimate form or meaning. Therefore, in order to understand the narrative the reader may use traditional meanings as a starting point but should pay attention to the meanings employed here
The text introduces a number of ‘theories.’ The reader may refer to the discussion of the concept of Theory in the section ‘Logic’ where in the present meaning, Fact and theory are not distinct and the factual character of theories (over appropriate domains) is made clear
The discussions of the journey should be mainly in one place that is referred to from other places where the treatment will be brief? The first three paragraphs are linked from Ambition and may be edited here
In the beginning the journey was diffuse in its hopes and in the knowledge of its possibilities. It was centered in wonder and hope and ambition more than design, in openness rather than single-mindedness. On the way there was clarification as to its nature, its means and realistic ambitions. The original means –ideas and reflection– grew to include analysis and transformation. The possibilities of transformation were revealed by reflection and experience. The ambition became, roughly and as far as possible, to know and set out to realize ‘the greatest thing that an individual or society may accomplish.’ However, this ambition continued to be associated more with hope than certainty
The ambition has been ever driven by intuition and imagination, by enjoyment of the present and the normal, by feeling and wonder invested in the ultimate which is perhaps part of the intuition of the ultimate. That is, the intuition of the ultimate is not a mere cognitive form
The realizations that the idea of being might be central to this ambition, that it might render diffuse, personal, and normal hopes as precisely, universal or trans-individual and ultimate stated ambitions have been part of a process involving experience, study, reflection, intuition and imagination expressed in symbols, and criticism. One narrative thread of this essay is to describe and justify the ultimate form of ambition and its realization so far
A preliminary realization that made an ultimate ambition secure is the following assertion
Knowledge and realization of the ultimate is within the grasp of every being
The assertion strains imagination not only because its truth may be in question but also because it has no obvious meaning. What does it mean that an individual with clear cognitive and physical limits can know and realize all or ultimate being? What is ultimate being? The meanings are developed and elucidated and justification of the truth of the assertion is given in detail and with logical precision in chapters Being through Metaphysics. Here it is appropriate to provide an introductory argument that is plausible rather than certain. The argument is as follows
Consider the conception of an event. If, relative to a ‘limited universe or context,’ the event is not actual it may still be possible. What could possibility mean if the event is not actual? It must mean that there must be some other (usually similar) universe or context in which the event is actual
However, if relative to the universe (which, in this narrative will mean all being,) an event is not (or never was and never will be) actual, then, since there is no other universe, the event is not and cannot be possible. Therefore, a possible event is (or was or will be) actual
It is important to note that two meanings of possibility have been introduced. They may be called relative and absolute possibility. Relative possibility includes what is called physical possibility i.e. consistent with physical law. Omitting the ‘or was or will be,’ the final sentence in the previous paragraph should have read ‘Therefore, an absolutely possible event is actual.’ For the rest of this section, possibility is absolute possibility
It is obvious that an actual event is possible. Therefore
(Absolute) possibility and actuality are identical
What is absolute possibility? Its meaning is clear from the discussion – it is possibility (actuality) relative to the (entire) universe. An intuitive derivation of the nature of absolute possibility could be given but would contain omissions and it is therefore best to refer the discussion to the development in Metaphysics. It will turn out that absolute possibility is logical possibility. (There is an intuitive sense to this for the collection of non-events must include the logically impossible events i.e. conceived events whose conception contains contradiction.) Since possibility is logical possibility and possibility is actuality:
The actual events of the universe are the logically possible events
This is the desired foundation of the assertion above regarding knowledge and realization of the ultimate which justifies:
The ultimate form of the ambition is to know and realize ultimate being; the meaning of ‘ultimate’ must naturally include but not specify the meanings of ‘worth’ and so of ‘feasibility.’. ‘Know yourself’ is a subjective side of this ambition and includes knowledge, development and use of one’s talent
The questions of meaning have not been addressed. The first question regarding the meaning of a limited individual knowing or realizing ultimate being is addressed in terms of identity and the meaning of ‘individual’ that is taken up in what follows, primarily in chapter Objects. That the meaning (i.e. the reference) of the ‘ultimate’ has not been given is acceptable for its discovery and experience is part of the journey
The ultimate form of ambition appears to be single minded and that it is so does not exclude variety for (infinite) variety is contained in the ultimate
A concern with the ultimate is not a suppression of the present or here and now
The present and the ultimate require one another for their ultimate expression
In the ‘present’ i.e. this cosmological system, this world, this society, this psyche, this organism… there are clear and obvious limits. More accurately, perhaps, a vast amount of experience results in the idea of limits being built into human (and animal) intuition and institution. Is there a paradox, a contradiction between the idea of intuitive limits –native or formalized– and the idea that the ultimate is within the grasp of every being? It will be seen that there is no contradiction. In fact, given that the actual events of the universe are the logically possible ones, it will follow that the existence of this world with its limits is necessary. However, the development will shed light on the nature of limits, of possibility and of necessity in terms of the concept of the normal. In the normal perspective, this world is the world, its limits are absolute limits, its possibilities are the only possibilities, its only necessities are the necessities that follow from meaning and include the necessities of logic and (formal) mathematics. However, in the ultimate (and true) perspective, i.e. in the universe, as will be seen, the limits of this world, that could be labeled normal limits, are limits that are e.g. contingent and probable – perhaps highly probable though it should be noted that probability is a function not only of the world but also of knowledge of the world. The only universal or real limits are the limits of logic (this will be seen to define Logic.) The possibilities of this world are normal or contextual possibilities such as e.g. physical possibility. Whatever is logically possible is possible in the universe. What is actual in this world is a subset of what is possible. In the universe, the actual and the possible are identical. In this world there is a distinction between the necessities of logic and the contingencies of fact. In the universe the distinction between Logic and fact breaks down
The present and the ultimate are mediated by the concept of the normal. This world or cosmological system is normal. Normal limits and possibilities, often thought to be absolute, are probable –perhaps to an extremely high degree– and contingent. In this world there are no necessary facts; there are only necessities of logic or analysis which could be labeled normal necessity. In the universe facts are necessary and Logic is immanent in the world of fact
Note that the common wisdom, stated as fact above, that there are no necessary facts has essential exceptions elaborated later. It is clear that relative to this world there is being and sentience (the assertion is clarified and its necessity established later)
This present, the ultimate, and their relationship as mediated by the normal, the possible and the actual are given meaning and justified in chapters Being through Faith
The state of the journey today is this. The ambition regarding ideas is realized. These form a foundation for transformation. The transformations and development of any independent foundation are under way. This is a second narrative thread
Since all logically possible events are actual events a stronger version of the earlier assertion regarding knowledge and realization may be given
Every being will know and realize the ultimate (if the ultimate is not known or realized in this –normal– form, it will be it will be realized in ultimate form via Identity whose concept is developed subsequently)
In this form, ultimate transformation is not given; even though it is actual in the absolute sense, i.e. in the universe, it may not be actual while remaining in a limited universe. Therefore, such transformation remains an endeavor that is taken up primarily in the chapter Transformation. There, it is recognized that the ultimate may not be realized in this –normal– form. The Theory of being developed in chapters Being through Human world is used in Transformation to show (and experiment with) ways of transformation that are probable and significant
That knowledge and action in varying degrees of intimate relation are constitutionally essential to the ultimate – to ‘greatness’
If the individual (group) is already the greatest, experience of that greatness is knowledge. This is true regardless of whether greatness is grand or minute; and even if there are no grand narratives
If the individual is not, knowledge is knowledge of possibility, desirability and feasibility
Alone, however, experience (knowledge) does not result in fullness of experience. Fullness of experience requires fullness of being, fullness of being requires fullness of transformation (becoming) of being, and fullness of transformation requires not only knowledge, but ambition, design (in which knowledge, experience, design and action meet,) and, especially, action as well
In the case where process and ends are both great, the greatness is unappreciable without knowledge of it. The appreciation consists not only in design, action and reflection but also in an intimate relation in the moment of knowledge and action i.e. that knowledge-action that is experience
Although knowledge and action may be separated in concept as the distinct words imply, there is no ultimate separation and there is a single articulated concept that may be labeled knowledge-action or, perhaps, experience-action or EXPERIENCE
The journey began explicitly with knowledge but (necessarily) came to emphasize knowledge and experience as integral with action
This journey began with focus on knowledge – a distinct awareness of the state of action and its significance arose later. Perhaps as a result, a mature system of understanding arose earlier – the Theory of being whose foundation is established in Metaphysics. This development was itself a journey though not a ‘complete’ one; action has been implicit but the time came to consider explicit action that was connected the individual, to ideas and their place in the world; design for this second phase of the journey and process so far is narrated in chapters Ambition through The future
To show that no metaphysics can go further (in depth or in breadth) at the outer limits than the Theory of being of this narrative
It is at the inner realms that discovery and adventure lie
Further aims of the journey –some incidental to and others supporting the journey and developed along the way– and additional details are in Aims of the narrative and in subsequent discussions
In the narrative it is shown that realization of the ultimate is possible and necessary. However, effective ways of transformation have been motivated but not demonstrated. Since the ways, as will seen, have basis in the end points of transformation –the individual and the ultimate– their likelihood of success is perhaps as good as may be expected at the outset of transformation
There is a conservative way of thinking that invariably requires proof. Even in mathematics, this attitude would lead nowhere if strictly followed. Often, a mathematical discipline has been developed and given significant applications while rigorous foundation has been found later. Life would be empty if every action required proof of success before it was undertaken. The way to the ultimate currently follows the suggestive approaches of the latter part of the narrative, involves experiment and reflection, and though the probabilities of ‘success’ are not at all high, the suggestive approaches may vastly improve them. Faith has been described as ‘knowledge in the absence of reasons.’ The connotation may be that reasons are altogether absent. However, in another connotation faith may be described as ‘practical knowledge as the presence of reasons that fall short of the necessary.’ Reflection shows that this is in fact the condition of most knowledge even in disciplines that are sometimes thought to be perfectly rigorous – that the idea of knowledge as certain is a much rarer luxury than commonly thought. In many disciplines what is thought to be necessity may be described roughly as relative necessity
Therefore, we shall (should) not wait for absolute knowledge in the realms of the immediate and of the ultimate
In the narrative, certain forms of absolute knowledge arise. However, the path to discovery has not been characterized by necessity. For years, they lived with intuition in the hope of necessity. Had necessity be a prerequisite to discovery, the central discoveries of the narrative would not have been made
Interaction among intuition and necessity is common in discovery
‘Journey in being’ narrates an endeavor that began with adventure and diffuse ambition and that grew into a journey whose interest included the ultimate
A concern may arise regarding the worth of such a journey. What is enjoyed may be determined by individual preference. The question of worth is addressed in discussions of value, of morals and of the present and the ultimate
It may be asked, ‘Is there a single concept that would, above all others, make for an ultimate journey?’ The concept would also clarify the sense and possibilities of the ‘ultimate.’ It will be seen that there is such a concept
That concept, being, is introduced in the chapter Being. That there is such a concept and that it is ‘being’ is shown in the chapters Being and Metaphysics. (Use of Italics and Title Case is generally reserved to refer to division and chapter titles; for chapter titles only the first word is in title case)
The order of topics in the narrative makes for economical development. A function of First things is to assist readers in efficient assimilation of the ideas
In its beginnings, the endeavor emphasized knowledge and understanding
It is seen in what follows that knowledge and transformation (and action) in varying degrees of intimate relation are constitutionally essential to the ultimate
The early divisions, Theory of Being and Human World develop a foundation for the journey in terms of knowledge and understanding. The foundation is shown to be ultimate in the rough sense that an alternate foundation may be as deep but cannot be deeper. In its essentials the foundation is complete
The idea of ‘being’ is fundamental to the foundation. Being is often thought to be an esoteric idea. However, the concept of being has also been thought of as trivial and will be seen to be so (the sense of ‘trivial’ will be established and includes that being does not distinguish esoteric from mundane.) The triviality of being –that it makes no distinction, that it will identify only what is common to all things– is a source of its power
The division, Journey describes the character of the journey and its necessity to ultimate realization – and therefore to knowledge: to have a concept of the ultimate and its possibility is to know something about it but not to know it. One sense of journey is that the fundamental developments are experienced as surprising, as if happening upon previously unseen and beautiful country rather than as labor of inspiration. The chapter, Story is a reflection on the narrative
Transformation develops some instruments of transformation of being and identity and describes progress in actual transformation. The actual transformation remains in process
Along the way the narrative develops implications for a variety of areas of thought and human activity. The implications are the result of extended reflection and are expected from an ultimate foundation. Implications are not uniform in kind over the disciplines. They include replacement of ad hoc disciplinary foundations by necessary ones, resolution of classical problems, and actual results or developments of content
The Future describes ideas for further investigation and some ambitions or hopes for ‘journey’s end’
The narrative employs common terms such as being, object, meaning, logic, mind, cosmology, and faith… ideas that have enjoyed attention and importance in the history of thought. It is a natural and necessary consequence of the development of a Metaphysics that such terms should receive new andor enhanced meaning. It is therefore essential for readers to pay attention to the meanings laid out in the text. Older habits of meaning may cause an author to struggle and a reader to stumble with the ideas. However, the value to the use of established ideas is continuity with and inspiration from the history of thought
…
Theory of Being provides a necessary view of the world (universe) that is ultimate in depth and breadth. It is a foundation of the system of ideas. In Human World, the necessary truth from the Theory of being is combined with both necessary and contingent facts regarding the human world. Therefore, is possible to develop a view of Human being and the Human World, that is necessarily true in some but not in all aspects; an aspect of such necessary truth concerns the fact of human freedom and its absolute possibilities and necessities while an aspect of contingent truth concerns normal limits and possibilities of human freedom
Theory of Being and Human World provide foundation for the part of the journey concerned with ideas; they are part of the journey. They provide some foundation for transformation – ideas may make action more effective and are also the place where being appreciates itself. However, ideas cannot provide complete foundation for the transformation that is in-process. While the theory illuminates the (way to the) ultimate, Human Worlds illuminates the immediate and first steps
The Idea of a Journey takes up the nature and necessity of the journey and ambition –and their interactive growth– and endeavors to show that what is learnt about the process, e.g. Principles of thought and transformation, are and remain in-process (all things are in the universe)
Ideas are a part of the endeavor and the division, Ideas, seeks to illustrate and apply the Theory of Being and to make connection with and reflect on some aspects of the history of thought
Here is narrated a journey of discovery in ideas and transformation. The ideas are seen as developed. Transformation is in an early stage. An account of what shall transpire awaits a future narration
The narrative has the following linear form: the ideas precede the narrative of discovery and transformation. The chapters through Faith provide a description of ‘the world’ as a metaphysics whose center coincides with the idea of Being. The system is shown to be ultimate with regard to depth or foundation and breadth or variety of being. Sections starting with Ambition narrate Journey and transformation
Here are purposes to the above form. (1) To show the ultimate character of the ideas in clear relief. Given the concepts, demonstrations are so simple as to elude notice unless attention is fixed upon them. Therefore, to enhance clarity, the individual sections are arranged into main ideas and details. (2) To provide the reader with an efficient way to become acquainted with a system of thought and meaning that may be unfamiliar and that may require revision and extension of his or her familiar categories of understanding. The linear form may make assimilation efficient. This is not however the only form that may be seen in the narrative which may, depending on the preparation and attitude of the reader, be read eclectically. The journey itself began perhaps with ambition, and has woven through the various topics many times in whatever sequence opened up as natural or appeared to satisfy a need. In the resulting process of incremental discovery there has been integration of the ideas and, occasionally, large increments in discovery. (3) To make the claims and contents of the chapters Ambition and Transformation intelligible
Except when referring to the ideas of well known persons, use of names and of the pronoun they and occasionally she andor he is a way to avoid diversions of the ego without recourse to an impersonal narrative – and to tell a story in place of a discursive narrative
Some names are Ravi (Ravinder Singh from India,) Liz (Eliza Smith from the West,) who may travel and visit the Inuit of Eastern Alaska, travel with Inugu – learn of and from the modern hunter-gatherers and the contrast with the agriculturalist-industrialist societies. They might meet Professor Andersen, a philosopher steeped in the importance of micro-analysis who is not macro-reflexive – and encounter with him a captivating impediment to their ideals and adventures. Since as is shown in the narrative, there are no fictions –there is the real and the illogical or impossible or unreal– these names refer to any and every person. Use of such names and of the pronoun they and occasionally he andor she is a device to avoid diversions of the ego without recourse to an impersonal narrative
Introduce sufficiently consistent use of names and nouns. Different uses may be appropriate to different parts of the narrative. The brief outline | guide may refer to names but will not use them
Journey, being, adventure, ambition, individual, identity, psyche, civilization, highest ideal, realization, ideas, and transformation
Knowledge (ideas, understanding) and transformation in realization are practically and constitutionally essential to realization of the ultimate. The journey’s phases are ideas and transformation
In the history of thought there occasionally arises an interest in ideas in themselves in which ideas are appreciated for their intrinsic beauty, in which connection to the world (application) is viewed as impure, in which the justification of ideas is in ideas, and in which feeling is regarded as diluting and discrediting. Though not without value, this is not the view in this narrative
Ideas are also beautiful because they reveal truth. There is no absolute disconnection between ideas and objects – in even splendid isolation; there is no purity of thought in the sense of absolute disconnection. Reason itself does not provide ultimate justifications but, rather, makes thought –far more– effective. Although emotion may motivate and sustain ideas it is not necessary to seek a connection; feeling and thought are invariably interwoven in any process of self-sustaining and grounded thought and without this fabric, thought is without anchor and meaning – and a similar observation may be made about action and feeling (and thought)
There may be degrees of separation of idea and world that are productive of effective thought – of creation, of discovery, and of criticism. There is functionality to institutions that are dedicated to discovery and transmission of ideas. It is a natural tendency in academic institutions to regard its processes as not requiring external foundation. This tendency may be productive but when, cultivated in extreme, thought becomes sterile. Thus there are positivists who assert that anything that is not described in science today does not have being. Although the explicit view is extreme, it appears to be an implicit default of many thinkers in the academic world and a similar view has come to significantly populate the thought of modern men and women. The view is natural enough; it is constitutionally characteristic of the implicit adoption of a world view that things outside its realm should appear to be invisible. However the adoption of such a view is contradicted by the history of science in which it is often true that subsequent theories, in applying to greater realms, replace rather than complement previous ones
The ideas developed in the narrative shall contradict the thought that the modern theories of physics are in any sense final in regard to the entire universe regarded as all that there is
The ideal feeling of a ‘pure’ idea may be one of perfection in form and relations rather than of isolation
The narrative develops an explicit and distinctive metaphysics that is shown to have ultimate character but uses common terms such as being, metaphysics, universe, theory, substance, object, meaning, and logic. It is consequently natural and necessary that the terms should receive new andor enhanced meaning relative to their common and technical uses. In order to understand the aims, concepts, assertions and explanations in the narrative, it will be essential to attend to the meanings as laid out in what follows
It is appropriate to comment on the meanings of theory and of metaphysics. The meanings used in the narrative will be at least close to common meaning. However, each term has more than one common meaning
In one use, a theory is nothing more than a hypothesis. In another use, theory refers to an established and useful though not necessarily universal pattern of fact and behavior. That the sun has risen every day for the last five billion years appears to be true; that it will arise every day in the (near) future is a theory; it is an inductive theory – while it is almost certainly true, it is not certain. Patterns may be used to deduce consequences. Given that it is night, it is almost certain that the sun will rise soon (even if it is not seen due to cloud cover.) Scientific theories are just like that except that the patterns are more complex and that the deductions are more varied, more interesting and may be quite useful. The point illustrated is that scientific and similar theories are more than mere hypotheses and this point is explained and elaborated in detail in Logic. The Theory of Being, below, is different in character; it is a necessary theory; the pattern is deduced i.e. is a system of necessary consequences that are deduced from necessary fact(s) and there is nothing hypothetical at all about that theory; the meanings of these assertions are developed and their truth is shown (demonstrated, proved) in Metaphysics
Metaphysics has more than one common meaning. A meaning that is not employed here is that the subject matter of metaphysics is the occult – hidden being whose existence is believed rather than shown. Here, metaphysics shall mean the study of being –whatever exists– itself. It may be questioned whether anything exists but the fact that words are written and read is an example of existence; perhaps all is illusion but then, at least, there are illusions or experiences. Therefore, metaphysics is not empty. If all is disembodied experience –something of a contradiction since the usual meaning of experience includes that there is a subject– then metaphysics would be the study of the patterns of experience. However, the metaphysics itself will show that there is much more than ‘pure experience.’ The original point to ‘all is illusion’ was perhaps not to suggest that there is no real but that what is commonly thought of as real is not so or is not important. Reflection on metaphysics will be continued below where it will provide a necessary conception of immediate and of ultimate things
It has just been seen that a necessary empirical fact is built into the meaning of being. The kind of fact built in is not that of a specific fact that e.g. ‘the sunset is beautiful’ but is the fundamental fact that in which there are specific facts regardless of the truth or form of such facts and whether such facts are assertions concerning things or are assertions of appearance
It is often thought that meaning does not contain facts. In the case of a sentence such as ‘The sunset is beautiful’ this has truth; that the sentence has meaning does not imply its truth or falsity
However there is a necessary fact that is necessarily built into the meaning of being
Therefore, some meanings necessarily contain facts. A fact built into the meaning of ‘being’ is that such meaning is possible. In other cases it will be seen that the fact may be other than the meaning or possibility of the meaning itself; in such cases the meaning itself does not guarantee that fact is built into the meaning. However, the fact in question may regard the existence of the topic of discussion and in that case the necessity of the facts that are built into the discussion are relative to its context; i.e., if the topic has a subject matter then the facts in question may be taken to be necessary for the purposes of the discussion
Narrative and journey are bound together. Therefore, this section necessarily continues the discussion, above, of The journey and its aims
The first and specific aim is to serve as a record of a journey – through ideas and in transformation and in the immediate and the ultimate. With the process of the journey, the narrative has undergone transformation and revision. The scope of the journey has grown and changed as understanding has grown. The current or latest version of the narrative emphasizes the current view of the world, the ambitions or goals or aims as most recently conceived. Yet, the aim to serve as a record remains. This aim is not manifest in the form of the narrative. However, the form is a result of process. The Theory of being may be seen as the result of an individual journey in thought that, naturally, draws from and, in some directions, attempts to go beyond the great thought of the ‘past.’ Although the journey is not manifest, the Theory is one of its results; however, the Theory shows the possibility and necessity of the journey (the meaning of this possibility and necessity is made clear later.) The remaining chapters have the following emphases. First, since the nature and significance of the idea of a journey is important, the chapters Ambition through Story (or Narrative,) describe the character of the journey and the narrative. To present a detailed ‘travelogue’ might obscure what is significant; only those details are included that illustrate a significant point or idea such as ‘journey.’ Ideas is a reflection on topics that have arisen in and have affected the process of discovery; the ideas may also have a general interest. Finally, Transformation describes a foundation for and in-process approach to realization
In serving as a record of the journey, the narrative also serves as a record of a system of thought and transformation. A specific function of this system lies in the enhancement of the journey and its aims
A second and general aim of the narrative and, incidentally, of the journey is the development of the system of thought described above and developed and presented in what follows. There are two aspects to this general aim. The first is the presentation of a system of thought and the second is provision of some reflections on Principles of thought and transformation that have arisen in-process
The system of thought. The system and its ultimate character is described above and its justification (including nature and proof of its ultimate character) is provided in what follows. The foundation of the system is in Being and in Metaphysics. The latter chapter begins the process of elaboration and application which continues in the chapters Objects through Faith and in Ideas and in Transformation. The system of thought is based in logical principles and articulated over an entire range of western and some eastern ideas. In the process, the ideas are illuminated and extended – often to an ultimate form
The principles of thought and transformation. These ‘principles’ arose in interaction with discovery. They are not logical principles; instead, they are ideas and habits that are conducive to discovery, especially to seeing and negotiating limits to thought that appear to be absolute but are in fact due to tacit assumptions e.g. as to the nature of metaphysics, the nature of the empirical and what counts as empirical data. The principles are introduced in Journey and elaborated in Ideas. The principles have roots in their experience as well as in the reflections of others. It is hoped that the system is a contribution to the human endeavor. It is inevitable that a reflection on ‘how to think’ should learn from and perhaps be a contribution to the nature of thought. One such potential contribution occurs in a section Integration of the psyche (in the chapter Ideas) which discusses and develops the necessarily integral character of intuition (in its Kantian meaning,) feeling (and emotion,) and perception and thought (cognition.) Although the theme is not new, there are perhaps some new ideas on the necessity and depth of the interconnection, there is a de-emphasis on any categorial distinction among the factors, and there are reflections on cultivation of the integration toward discovery and transformation
A contribution. A final aim or hope for the system of ideas and travels recounted in this narrative is that they should be a contribution to (human) thought, experience and destiny. In fact, the ideas may be seen as giving new and infused meaning to destiny. In recording these hopes, they would say again that there is no emphatic distinction between human and animal, between human being and being; rather there is difference and identity which is a source of centering and of realization
In any work that describes a system of thought, especially a variant or new system, audiences may face certain problems of understanding—some general, others particular to the narrative. Since it may be useful for readers to anticipate such problems, some of them are now described
Although the narrative stands independently, the system is an outcome of an evolution that successively assumed, reconstructed, and outgrew a number of paradigmatic views of the nature of the world and absorbed useful aspects of the views. While not logically based in the traditions—east and west—the developments recounted would hardly be possible without broad acquaintance with their history. Familiarity with these sources will enhance understanding of the narrative
Although the work contains systems of ideas—theory of being, human world and so on—the ideas provide but partial foundation toward the primary end which concerns the whole being and its transformation. Therefore, once understanding of the ideas is adequate, it remains to navigate the Journey in Being
While the ideas are drawn from western thought, transformation is more closely connected to the traditions of India
Both ideas and transformation remain in transition—in evolution—and the narrative, therefore, remains transitional. Currently, the core system of ideas have achieved some maturity and stability but the implications of the core remain in a state of revelation
The entire narrative is multi-layered, the ideas form a number of connected systems and each system stands as a whole. Therefore, for full absorption of content the system is seen in its entirety—comprehension requires understanding the concepts and their relations and seeing the system as a structured whole
It has been possible to develop a metaphysics whose depth and breadth are complete to a degree beyond expectation. The metaphysics is new and powerful beyond expectation—even as it remains connected to tradition. This core system affects the others e.g. understanding of the Human world and the possibilities of Transformation. Mostly, the terms used are drawn from the traditions even while their meanings are significantly enhanced; and this is true of most terms. Even when the transition in meaning may appear to be an abrupt reversal, whatever is significant in the tradition must be absorbed, i.e. meaning cannot be altogether discontinuous. Although meaning has grown and been experienced as highly fluid it cannot be entirely fluid and each act of flow must be a dissolution of an older structure and its replacement with new form
In the process it has been frequently useful to withhold criticism so as to allow the emergence of a system worthy of criticism. The attitude has been constructive and critical
The approach has not been restricted to ideas and to being but also to method. Method is not regarding as an algorithm that if followed will result in guaranteed success. Instead, method is seen as a set of practices that have been found to enhance vision, thought and transformation. Method includes those formal aspects of argument such as logic that appear to separate out from process but method and process remain in interaction
Since the ultimate commitment is to being—to transformation, the question arises what may be done regarding the incompleteness of foundation in ideas. There is particular concern with the limits of reason—contingent and necessary. The metaphysics has shown that certain assertions regarding all being, absence of being, part may be made without reservation and that these have profound consequences. Therefore, it is in the details of knowledge and design that limits are encountered. Even in the details there are some assertions that are locally beyond practical doubt; however, realization by an individual of the ultimate form that is possible is not given to the present form. Faith is defined to be the attitude and position that is most conducive to quality and realization. Faith is neither knowledge nor belief—in the usual senses; and subscription to a scripture that appears to be extremely local in nature is not altogether foreign to faith but to place such scripture at center is a distortion of faith
An example of the use of faith in the development of the metaphysics may be given. The equivalence of the void and all being was strongly suggested by modern physics—where something from nothing is not a violation of physical principles—and by the needs of the metaphysics but a proof was not forthcoming. An attitude of faith toward this fundamental principle was adopted and this allowed tentative development as well as a certain transcendent quality of being. Finally, in 2002, proof became possible. With the removal of doubt, the developments described above occurred and though the removal of doubt was not logically necessary it was most definitely conducive to the developments. However, without what is here described as faith, these developments would not have occurred and the transcendent quality of being may have been absent. This example shows relative ‘strength and weakness’ of faith (e.g. in intuition) and reason and in showing faith in function, clarifies its meaning
There is hesitation in using the word ‘faith’ because of certain of its connotations—but it seems true that something like the idea as used here is characteristic of animal being but is distorted by extremes of both dogma (e.g. in religion) and critical reason (in philosophy and science)
The view described above is ultimate not only in concept but also in fact. I.e. it shows the universe (all being) to be infinitely more varied and extended than commonly conceived in myth, literature, philosophy, and modern science. It is seen that the only fictions are logical contradictions. This cosmos is infinitesimal in extent, duration, variety, actuality and possibility. What we experience as macrocosm is infinitesimal. A problem that then requires address is the existence of a relatively structured and stable cosmos against a background of absolute indeterminism
If the only fictions are logical contradictions, the cosmological picture must be infinite in variety and extent when compared to this cosmos. The reader is therefore required to reeducate him or herself—to restructure his or her picture of the universe while continuing to see appropriate parts of the picture from science, and myth and religion as locally true
After the phases of ideas and transformation, ‘journey’ is committed to use in the social context and to conceptual and experimental ‘design’ of being
What is new or changed in this version of Journey in Being? With regard to format, there is separation within each section of its function, main concepts, and propositions (conclusions) from details of analysis (proof, principles of thought, interaction among the disciplines,) insight (general e.g. viewing the metaphysics, and specific e.g. regarding mind, matter, morals, free vs. bound perception) and other narrative. As noted, the change is intended to address the difficulty that readers might face in absorbing altered meanings to entire systems of ideas interspersed among detailed discussions. Full meaning of a concept is not invariably brought out at first mention which may be associated with informal use. It is hoped that the separation of details from the main ideas brings the journey, its accomplishments and possible future into clearer relief. The order of the topics is changed so that the narrative begins with the ideas and continues with accounts of the Journey and the Transformation. Most of the discussion in Meaning is now placed after Objects; this makes the introduction to the central ideas more immediate and, perhaps, allows an improved appreciation of meaning.
With regard to content, there is an essential change to Objects in which a clearer account of concept and object has become possible and the idea of the concept-object become formally unnecessary. The section Ethics and objectivity has been eliminated and its realization of ‘things’ and ‘values’ under the umbrella of the object improved and placed in Objects. The discussion of Mind is further deepened by continuing exploration of the nature and place of mind in the universe as characterized by indeterminism. As has become the standard case in the role of indeterminism the role and place of an element of being (mind in this case) the nature of the element becomes better understood and its place seen as more firm even though the expectation from indeterminism may be the opposite. There is an extended discussion of Freedom – especially of human freedoms; this discussion covers the concept of the spark i.e. the primitive root of freedom in the organism; and it covers free images, the free symbol and concept, originality or creativity – in ideas and artifacts and institutions, and freedom of the will. In these discussions it has been found important to mould the idea of freedom to reality for many discussions of freedom suffer from distortions of meaning. The Metaphysics is crucial in clarifying freedom. The discussion of Faith is improved. The understanding of the basic concepts and their relations has become clearer and more precise; further relations are revealed; the fundamental arguments and conclusions are securer and occasionally simpler; the nature of a newer way of thinking –centered in being and indeterminism– becomes clearer and more complete while vestiges of the old way continue to be eliminated; the significance of these elements continues to be revealed; and there is a miscellany of minor changes
It was in 2002, that the ‘new way of thinking,’ that had previously been intuitive, acquired a logical foundation. The essential step was to focus on (all) being and absence of being instead of on the contemporary and earlier pictures of this (our) cosmos. In the 2003 edition, some of the main metaphysical consequences of the new way were worked out and its applicability to other topics recognized. In 2004, early applications to form, objects, cosmology and mind were intuited and worked out in a form that was often primitive. 2005 was a difficult year with many new ideas that accumulated to a collection that seemed intractable on account of its bulk. The 2006 edition was a result of a decision to jettison the bulk and focus on essentials. In that process the importance of the concepts of universe (all being,) absence of being (the void,) difference and domain or part (of all being,) form and logos, the normal, and absolute indeterminism came to the fore and the entire system of topics and their relations became clearer and more definite. In the present edition, there is continued improvement in understanding the new way and in consistently and ruthlessly applying it. Some of the guiding principles are (1) realization that substance and determinism are twins and that in not eliminating the habit of deterministic thinking, the notion of substance remains implicitly present, (2) continued recognition and elimination of the tacit presence of the habit of substance thinking in many areas e.g. in the character of mind, the nature of human being, in cosmology where it is difficult to escape the tacit intuition that the empirically known universe, especially when extrapolated by a science that is a science of the empirically known universe, is the universe, (3) continued application of the thought that absolute indeterminism and logic as the one law of the universe are absolutely equivalent, (4) continued application of the principle that absolute indeterminism makes the outcome of formed cosmological systems necessary and shows the way to understanding mechanisms that are contingent and likely probable in the universal case but necessary in some cases, (5a) use of the word ‘universe’ to mean all being and recognition that while this use is not universal and that while ‘world’ is often used to mean all being in metaphysics and philosophy, various confusions and errors arise from the lack of universality to the use of ‘universe’ and that it may be best to have one word, universe, in both physical science and philosophy that shall designate all being, (5b) that the different connotations of world and universe may be rendered as physical universe, local or this cosmological system, universe of discourse, context, and so on (5) continued recognition that though the idea that there is exactly one universe is an analytic truth it is, in virtue of the necessity of universal interaction, more than analytic, (6) resolute application the one universe principle wherever contrary practices and habits of thought arise, especially in the separation of mind and being e.g. in the thought that concepts, abstract objects and Platonic forms reside in ‘other worlds;’ freedom of interpretation of the term ‘object’ and, together with the one universe principle, reinterpretation of ‘particular’ and ‘abstract’ objects so that the distinction between the particular and the abstract disappears without any consequent loss of realism, (7) continued improvement of the foundation of the various topics and endeavor to elaborate their development, interactions and application
Describes the use of title case and italics to mark Division and Chapter titles and to designate objects Immanent in the world versus their concepts