RE: The burden of proof relating to conciousness, free choice and rationality
March 12, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Metaphysics did not discover the polio vaccine or give us semi-conductors. But it does provide a narrative that allows me to contemplate the universe, my place in it and my relationship to other human beings. Symbols and values a vital part of being alive in the truest sense of the word and they have to be lived in order to become real. But if that’s all baloney to you, then so be it. I have repeatedly stated that I am not here to convert or convince anyone. That said, I feel compelled to briefly summarize my philosophical understanding of the universe for anyone that may be interested. So….
The Totality is all that is, was, and ever will be. The Totality is complete since by definition it cannot lack anything. It already contains everything that could possibly be. As such, only the Totality could be the “Supreme Being”. This does not mean that the Supreme Being, the Totality, is the same thing as physical reality. The Totality is also called the One or the Good.
The Totality has at least three essential aspects: form, substance, and potential. The Totality as to its substance is Primal Matter. The Totality as to its form is Ideal Form. The Totality as to its potential is called Emanation. None of these divisions within the Totality has priority over any other nor can any one aspect be contingent upon the other. They exist as a perfect unity.
Primal Matter is universally present in all things and has one essential attribute, being-itself. Primal Matter has no limitations on the forms it may assume. The infinitely divisible first substance, out of which everything is made, is Primal Matter.
An abstraction is a representation of a particular thing or class of objects. The human process of abstraction results in a visual or auditory prompt that calls to mind the object represented. For example, an artist may extract the proportions and three-dimensional shape of a person and carve it into stone. The sculpture serves as a symbol that refers to the person by showing select aspects or attributes of the person.
The exact opposite of an abstraction is a form. A form is the metaphysical reality from which particular physical examples are abstracted. Physical reality crudely presents a fractured version of metaphysical reality. Even metaphysical forms, being capable only of manifesting particulars, incompletely express the perfect wholeness of the One. Metaphysical forms are not vague abstractions extracted from many examples. Instead the various particular embodiments are each cruder versions of a fuller and more comprehensive Ideal Form.
Just as abstractions manifest themselves in physical substance, so also metaphysical entities manifest themselves in substances that transcend the physical. (Every form has a substance.) Abstract ideas like truth, freedom, and justice remain vague and hazy to the physical mind until fleshed out using examples. The examples are abstractions that have been abstracted from the metaphysical reality. The physical brain cannot contain the fullness of these metaphysical realities, just like the paint splotches of a portrait cannot hold the character and detail of the complete person.
Particular entities come into being when substance actualizes form. Nothing can be only substance, though you can imagine an amorphous mass having particular properties. Nothing can be only form, though you can imagine disembodied shapes and relationships. Creation simply means causing something to exist. Within the Totality entities have their identity within a larger context. As such you experience each entity as a unit, a one, even though physically no definitive demarcation separates any one thing from another. Only consciousness by means of thought allows us to single out a specific portion of physical reality and call that portion one thing, a whole unit. Parts come into being and persist for as long as they partake of the Totality's inherent unity, or oneness as perceived by a consciousness entity. Parts are contingent upon the One. Each person is one consciousness. The One is the fullest expression of consciousness that extends completely throughout reality and is fundamental to it. Each personal existent would dissolve into nothing if its oneness was not maintained through unity with the One.
So there it is…all the magic…all the “woo”…all things you do not see in the world. As for me, I see it all around me, I feel its presence, and I try to bring more of into my life.
The Totality is all that is, was, and ever will be. The Totality is complete since by definition it cannot lack anything. It already contains everything that could possibly be. As such, only the Totality could be the “Supreme Being”. This does not mean that the Supreme Being, the Totality, is the same thing as physical reality. The Totality is also called the One or the Good.
The Totality has at least three essential aspects: form, substance, and potential. The Totality as to its substance is Primal Matter. The Totality as to its form is Ideal Form. The Totality as to its potential is called Emanation. None of these divisions within the Totality has priority over any other nor can any one aspect be contingent upon the other. They exist as a perfect unity.
Primal Matter is universally present in all things and has one essential attribute, being-itself. Primal Matter has no limitations on the forms it may assume. The infinitely divisible first substance, out of which everything is made, is Primal Matter.
An abstraction is a representation of a particular thing or class of objects. The human process of abstraction results in a visual or auditory prompt that calls to mind the object represented. For example, an artist may extract the proportions and three-dimensional shape of a person and carve it into stone. The sculpture serves as a symbol that refers to the person by showing select aspects or attributes of the person.
The exact opposite of an abstraction is a form. A form is the metaphysical reality from which particular physical examples are abstracted. Physical reality crudely presents a fractured version of metaphysical reality. Even metaphysical forms, being capable only of manifesting particulars, incompletely express the perfect wholeness of the One. Metaphysical forms are not vague abstractions extracted from many examples. Instead the various particular embodiments are each cruder versions of a fuller and more comprehensive Ideal Form.
Just as abstractions manifest themselves in physical substance, so also metaphysical entities manifest themselves in substances that transcend the physical. (Every form has a substance.) Abstract ideas like truth, freedom, and justice remain vague and hazy to the physical mind until fleshed out using examples. The examples are abstractions that have been abstracted from the metaphysical reality. The physical brain cannot contain the fullness of these metaphysical realities, just like the paint splotches of a portrait cannot hold the character and detail of the complete person.
Particular entities come into being when substance actualizes form. Nothing can be only substance, though you can imagine an amorphous mass having particular properties. Nothing can be only form, though you can imagine disembodied shapes and relationships. Creation simply means causing something to exist. Within the Totality entities have their identity within a larger context. As such you experience each entity as a unit, a one, even though physically no definitive demarcation separates any one thing from another. Only consciousness by means of thought allows us to single out a specific portion of physical reality and call that portion one thing, a whole unit. Parts come into being and persist for as long as they partake of the Totality's inherent unity, or oneness as perceived by a consciousness entity. Parts are contingent upon the One. Each person is one consciousness. The One is the fullest expression of consciousness that extends completely throughout reality and is fundamental to it. Each personal existent would dissolve into nothing if its oneness was not maintained through unity with the One.
So there it is…all the magic…all the “woo”…all things you do not see in the world. As for me, I see it all around me, I feel its presence, and I try to bring more of into my life.
