Douglas Frame Ethics, individualism, political philosophy, Present Times

COVID-19: Brain Dysfunction and Enviro Work

COVID-19 can result in brain damage. The effect of COVID is cumulative, that is, if you have COVID more than once, these subsequent infections compound the damage from previous infections. Such facts about this damage to the brain must be foremost in the managerial class thinking.

The wisdom of office work in the aftermath of COVID is drawn into question as a practical matter. “DOGE”‘s advisory government members, Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy plan to save money by having civil servants who have worked remotely, be forced to work in traditional pre-COVID centralised offices. Those that refuse to do so would have no other option than to leave their jobs. This would not be the first time in history workers would be forced to work in potentially unsafe conditions, with the only alternative, losing their livelihood, if they refuse to follow the dictates of the managerial class.

Studies continue to show persistence among some people having long term COVID, such as “brain fog”. It may be the case that brain damage and other forms of long COVID suffered by some of these unfortunates can be irreversible. Brain damage may continue to negatively impact functioning, including ongoing deterioration of cognition in old age, although the extent of this cannot be known with certainty at the present. After approaching the latter years of life, only then will the full damage be shown.  COVID first only became prevalent in the past five years.

There are many other reasons why hopefully the bosses would not enforce such a policy requiring in office work if other alternatives could be found. Those with COVID, where there is harm to the other workers, (i.e., in poorly ventilated offices), if they worked remotely negative outcomes could be avoided. This would also make the families less at risk because remote workers would not be sick. Anything that decreases transmission is preferred, especially if it still is unclear the long-term course of any COVID infection or infections.

In the news it has been reported that after the COVID pandemic, students are scoring markedly lower on standardised tests. While studies show that children have a much lower risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID, persistent damage cannot be ruled out. A decrease in functioning is often attributed to the lack of interaction with peers when home schooled, which makes it crucial to know each individual who is or has been infected.

Using a sensitive diagnostic criterion, a serious look must be made to ascertain the outcomes of those in school classes in even “mild cases” and to make sure all these cases are identified and rigorously evaluated. The relationship between the seriousness of the individual infection and the risk of future persistent damage, (including residual long COVID) has not been quantified, although those with a severe infection seem to be more likely to acquire long COVID. Perhaps one might have mild COVID but persistent long COVID.  In any case one can still move forward with an effective strategy.

People who work in centralised offices are at greater risk of contracting COVID, as people who work in offices tend to be working more closely together in greater numbers, perhaps with poorer ventilation and therefore increasing the risk of transmission. Not only is such an environment favorable to virus replication, but over time as people continue to be effected, the damage wrought to the human body increases including the risk for permanent brain dysfunction.

The ethical problem becomes that not only the damage done to the individual is wrong, and can be avoided, but also the risk of the products of their labor, whether tangible or not, could have many deleterious outcomes on all aspects of vital civil service work as well as public work. This consequence of the civil servants production could have many unforeseen effects. Repeated infections further complicate the evaluation of ones functioning. The viability of critical products manufactured by such workers, could further be drawn into question with unforeseen consequences.

Under many circumstances there is no reason people cannot work efficiently while working remotely, if the managers so choose to allow it. In many cases such an outcome would be clearly preferred. With the age of the Internet and its advantages of Video Conferencing, Email, chat platforms; there is no reason much work cannot be done in this manner. Not only can the worker be protected, but the integrity of their products can be ensured.

Using materials such as gasoline, plastic, paper and other compounds, it is widely known that alternative  materials can be found for products that are environmentally sound, but the capitalist investment in old technologies and new strategies based on outmoded materials continues on with the status quo. Like gas and plastic, the capitalist may already own not only the materials of production, but the infrastructure to produce them, so it is not profitable to change course. This in turn can result in less than safe factory procedures, especially where there is a fertile environmental workplace where COVID can easily proliferate. Fortunately with some ingenuity such barriers can be overcome.

Not only was the US population greatly harmed by COVID and still is, not taking post pandemic realities seriously, including long COVID, which has not only further impacted the health of the US workforce, but also the viability and integrity of the products produced can be thrown into question. The issue of brain health, especially on a national scale must be seriously examined.

 

 

 

Douglas Frame Ethics, individualism, objectivism, philosophy of religion, political philosophy

Revolution and the Christian Death Cult

Revolution is not necessary. At least in the ordinary way revolution is thought of. Violence is never an option. Even if violence pointed toward victory it would be setting a bad precedent. A movement established by violence is based on a violent tradition. A history of violence results in a future of violence.

The USA for instance is a very violent culture. This is no surprise since it is founded on slavery and genocide. One might think that such a culture is superior because it has spread and supplanted much. The main reason though why this violent tradition has spread is because it is more effective in destroying its opponents and its opponents have been eliminated. This is not a judgment of the tradition, just simply a statement of fact.

Evolution determines the path of humankind. Each change in human history is determined by its past as well as present circumstances. The dominance of certain cultures has resulted in the elimination of peaceful ones nowadays most cultures are those cultures that have a history of violence. The peaceful cultures that have been lost would find a fertile soil today but they are long gone.

One cannot allow for further world wars because of the dire consequences. The world is armed to the teeth. There is a passé tradition called MAD which was in vogue during the cold war between the former Soviet Union and the USA. MAD stands for Mutually Assured Destruction. It was thought that it was somehow an advantage for two nations in this case two that were equipped with thermonuclear weapons in that they would not attack each other because mutual destruction would result. This was a deterrent to any sort of attack. This shows the insanity of modern weapons policy.

It is thought today by the ruling elite in the US that none can attack us and harm us because our position militarily is so superior to other nations. But in the meantime nuclear technology is readily available to other nations and the US can be attacked if such weapons can be smuggled in to the US. Also a terrorist attack on a nuclear power station would result in terrible destruction.

Nevertheless the US has threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons against Iran. The use of nuclear conventional weapons is accepted by many in the US establishment. This is a radical change in strategy which is certain to result in changing attitudes toward the use of such weapons around the world. This is very similar to the change in the US posture regarding first strike policy which has advertently resulted in the recent crises with Iran and North Korea. The US long thought a moral leader now sets the standard for immoral aggression.

In addition to this aggressive posture coveting world control comes naturally the lack of regard for quality of life. Capitalistic fervor manifests in the desire for world control is resulting in a steady decrease in the valuing of life and degrades living condition for all including those of the ruling elite. Now with the rise of the evangelical right and its emphasis on increasing population and the destruction of other species and environmental degradation this has caused a continuing degradation in the quality of life. While some people might be inclined out of self interest to turn back and address the needs for survival of the human species with the growing influence of the evangelical right the emphasis is on material possessions as showing God’s favor results in an ever increasing extent of environmental destruction. In order to rationalize what is obviously impacting the world’s environment some evangelicals have gone so far as to put faith in the coming rapture which will lift the believers off this putrid planet. There is even an impulse among the evangelicals to hasten this destruction so as to allow the rapture to begin.

Such a movement cannot be met with force. This movement has no compunction against taking the lives of the infidels. In fact to take the lives of the infidels may in their view be taken as a show of their devotion to God.

The world is dominated by the destroyers. Largely those that emphasize peace have long been destroyed. Those that compose the destroyers have developed more effective weapons as they delight in killing. How can we develop weapons more effective when the weapons that already exist threaten all life on earth? Rather it seems more effective in fact it seems to be the only option to develop ones consciousness and erase from our being hatred and fear. Perhaps the haters will destroy you but in doing this they may become aware that by destroying you they are destroying any hope for themselves.

In understanding the limitation of the worldview of the egoistic self one can see that holding on to life desperately is simply a way of denying the all of All. While taking a peaceful perspective may make one another target of the destructive perhaps some can be made to see the futility of their own position. It is clear that destruction which has enabled the spread of the violent around the world is not an option now as the violent face each other at the precipice. Those that fear for the self may in fact be persuaded, although the emphasis in a Christian death cult is becoming more and more prominent. Perhaps we can try and remind them that the religion is based on love and charity and perhaps the final calamity can be avoided. Hopefully then a violent revolution can be avoided and instead a spiritual revolution may take place.

Douglas Frame Apprehension of Reality, epistemology, Ethics, objectivism, political philosophy, rhetoric

The Oblique Premise in Rhetoric and Counseling

Abstract

This paper attempts to show how the Logic Based Therapy [LBT] syllogism and the Enthymeme also called the Rhetorical Syllogism are in many ways related. An examination will be made of how these two compare, especially investigating the centrality of the major premise in both. Also discussed is how the major premises in both the LBT syllogism and the rhetorical syllogism, can be missing, disguised, or even suppressed. This wily premise I will call the Oblique Premise.

 

 

Aristotle revolutionized the way we do deduction. His innovation in doing deduction is the syllogism. Applying the two premises and conclusion, proofs can be used to buttress a larger belief. Yet not all syllogisms are the same. Aristotle introduces the Enthymeme[i] where one (or more) of the premises or the conclusion can fall into question and may not be clearly understood because of the questionable nature of the major premise[ii]. The [LBT] subject may have inculcated beliefs based on societal norms where the syllogism can modify behavior.

Aristotle, the originator of the syllogism, presented his system in many works which are coined today as the Organon. Not only was it used as a proof for deduction, but a similar model is also used for induction. The syllogism is presented as a device in his Rhetoric; referred to as an Enthymeme or the Rhetorical Syllogism which contains special characteristics.[iii]

This major premise can be missing from the argument unlike standard syllogisms. With the enthymeme, Logic-Based Therapists and Consultants wrestle with enthymeme like syllogisms where the major premise is crucial, and its importance may be largely inscrutable. These two types of syllogisms, Counseling based syllogism [CBS] or rhetoric based syllogisms [RBS] that are similar and may even be directly related. The enthymeme may be reflective having a like nature of the LBT syllogism, including the major premise.

Both involve missing, suppressed, or unconscious major premises. Both [CBS and RBS] influence behavior by inducing a somatic reaction in the individual, especially in the conclusion. The rhetor uses RBS to bend belief, whether intentionally or blindly, and the sufferer of [CBS] misery often arises from similar fallacious states. These states are bound to logic based stories one tells oneself (CBS) or are told by another to themselves, or by themselves to themselves.  Both rely on thoughts, attitudes, and a universal bonding with the obtuse syllogistic major premise.

Both involve a basic syllogistic structure; both are amenable to Modus Ponens, and by implication Modus Tollens as well, as other consistent logical structures. Often the Major Premise is a Modus Ponens. Because of these similarities, I claim that these two dictas (CBS and RBS) especially in the gestalt of the Rhetoric Based Major Premise [RBMP] and the Counseling Based Major Premise [CBMP]. These are not a different subject matter, but rather just the same dynamic, resting as different topics, which stand in opposition. These oblique major premises stand against each individual as two inverted mirrors facing each other.

The top of the rhetorical mirror where the [RBMP] reflects across from one mirror to the other, from the rhetor to the auditor, connects the two together at the same level bringing satisfaction or exhilaration. The reflection descends downward with the [CBMP] subject beginning with the loftiness of the rhetor, to the opposed mirror at the bottom causing despair and grief.

Depending on what is perceived by the receiver determines the message of the [CBS] and [RBS] syllogism. This can be universalized categorically in its Weltanschauung. On the contrary both the action of the CBMP and the RBMP can be both depressing and exhilarating depending on the mode of action in the content to the receiver. This varies depending on norms of society. This is the uncertain nature of the oblique premise.

The rhetors [RBMP] reflects from the top of the mirror in its loftiness of oratory skill, (e.g., ethos, pathos, and logos) straight across to the other mirror, while its reflection at the receiving mirror (the auditor) stands in awe of the rhetor or downward to the bottom of the opposing mirror the [LBT] subject who suffers greatly.

The LBT subject wallows in abject despair. Previous learning can be internalized being the cause of the malady. One is externally applied by the rhetor, [RBS] and accepted by the [LBT] subject [CBS], where the purveyor of which the lie or mistruth is created by the demagogue.

This dual nature of both [CBMP and RBMP] impact the recipient (e.g, both the LBT subject and the auditor). These two ends of the mirror possibly being activated by the receiver (the auditor or the [LBT] subject) is a characteristic of the Major Premise’s obliqueness. These learned beliefs are internalized by both the [LBT] subject and the auditor. Of course, not all rhetoricians are demagogues and are very good people. For our comparison we will focus on the rhetorical (e.g, the auditor) or personal deception as it effects the [LBT] subject based on previous learning. This deception, the obliqueness of the syllogisms, can go awry.

This is a dynamic which a rhetor applies to an auditor, or what an individual [LBT] subject ultimately does to themselves using a similar major premise. This forms a possible error in reasoning. Both are subject to logical refutation based on major premises, which are suppressed, repressed, and may be unconscious.

Both syllogisms have the same structure. Like any other Aristotelian syllogistic argument, the actions of both the [CBS] and [RBS] can be seen in the traditional form with the two premises and then the conclusion which follows resolutely, although the proof may in [CBS] and [RBS] may be unsound because of inconsistency of the major premise. The major premise is present or not or even in flux like Carroll’s Cheshire Cat[iv] from Alice Through the looking glass, appearing or disappearing at will.

As a result, both the [CBMP] and the [RBMP] have impetus from the fact that the oblique premise is malleable and is absorbed by the auditor or assumed by the LBT subject; and therefore, can have the greatest effect. The rhetorician finds solace in ethos (e.g., ethics or more specifically the normative inclusion of societal and personal norms), absorbed by the counseling subject themselves, or the seeming righteousness of the rhetor, and pathos (e.g., pain of the counseled or the pleasure and satisfaction of the auditor) and logos (e.g., the logical motif of a seeming universal truth or order).

These three dynamics process and modulate the ideas throughout. This process is difficult to see as the major premise and may be suppressed, repressed or even unconscious. In both logic-based paradigms, [CBS] and [RBS], this little known or unconscious oblique premise, [CBMP and RBMP], is the most pernicious cause of behavior change as one finds themselves confused in so many ways.

First, understanding the relationship in this hylomorphic process can help one better to understand the effects of [CBS and RBS]. Having this knowledge of the similarities between [CBS and RBS] and the position in the argument of [e.g., the CBMP and RBMP], one can flesh out the operant of the functioning. Lastly knowing that both positions are related, [RBS and CBS]; this will give us insight into how this process works, not only with the actions of a demagogue, but also one suffering from a pernicious logic causing psychic malady.

The movement of the oblique major premise activates receivers at different positions on the mirror. The movement of the premise might be from Rhetor -> Auditor at the top of the mirror, Rhetor -> LBT at the top of the mirror, Rhetor -> Auditor at the bottom or Rhetor -> LBT subject at the bottom. On the other hand, the Rhetors position is fixed. These positions vary according to their somatic outcome in the conclusion.

Understanding how this commonality in structure can happen, why it happens and ultimately how knowing these two separate positions (e.g., [CBS] and [RBS]) one can be successful in overcoming the obstacles this blindness brings.

Engaged in [CBS] and [RBS] are ethos, pathos, and logos. In many cases pathos contains the emotional cathartic that is in the [CBMP] and [RBMP] which drive the conclusion and is therefore beyond cognition. This is the universal premise that holds categorically. It is these proscriptions (e.g., premises) masquerading themselves as a truth, that in fact can be subliminal or subconscious, moving toward seeming infinite divinity within the rhetor to the auditor, or at the bottom of the opposed inverted facing mirror an inferno with the LBT subject. This transience, translucence and variety in function gives the Major Premise its obliqueness.

Both can begin with an activating individual minor premise, a second universal premise and then a conclusion that follows necessarily [CBS and RBS]. The universal major premise demonstrates the ethical necessity and helps demonstrate the veracity of much of the pain and pleasure that ties the finite with the infinite, where logic forces the judgement of the existential lived condition in the syllogistic conclusion.

The proclamation of the rhetor, and the supplication of the sufferer, or the satisfaction of the auditor, can be bound together both allegorically in discourse and substantially in being. With this hylomorphic synergy, not only do these two sources (the rhetorician and the auditor or LBT subject (i.e., the subject, and the object), show similar structure, but an intertwining manifesting itself becomes apparent. Unwinding the primordial cause in one’s role as the philosophical practitioner and the understanding the rhetors tools can perhaps explain the birth of each.

Syllogisms are commonly presented as a form of inference, where if the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true as well. Yet one feature of the premises is that one or more of the premises can be false, but the conclusion can still logically follow, and this can be the case in the Enthymeme. In this formulation one of the two premises is what I will call the existential while the major premise is universal with the conclusion following existentially. In the standard format of the enthymeme, the major premise is the universal premise. The conclusion often holds the somatic response

In Logic-based therapy (LBT) in the syllogistic structure there is the universal premise. In the enthymeme the major premise is assumed where the audience see their beliefs enshrined in universal truths. These truths are exemplified by the major premise as universal because they hold categorically. The LBT subject finds themselves bound by the same sort of universal premise, although in most cases these unfortunate individuals who suffer infirmities, the premise has a negative emotional import. While beyond the scope of this paper, it might be useful to consider such cases where [CBS] results in positive emotional affect from the activating premise (the minor premise) moving to the major categorical premise and ending with the conclusion. This is another example of the circumnavigation of the oblique major premise. Other forms of activation exist for the recipient.

These two formulations of universality in the major premise ([RBMP] and [CBMP]) both rely on a universal truth to form or reinforce beliefs and associated dogma. The orator asserts truths about government and politics in addition to other subjects, the [LBT] subject inadvertently tells oneself lies about individual failings.[v] These somatic results can and often are based on lies, whether it is the exhilaration of the auditor to the rhetors sleight of hands, or the despondency of the [LBT] subject.

The rhetor may speak to dissuade one, persuade, or cajole, or the [LBT] subject may internalize dialogue that punishes themselves. Both involve deception, although the demagogue’s oration is objectively the most pernicious, the [LBT] individual subjectively finds emotional incapacitation of their individual self the most destructive.

Like ordinary syllogisms, both the counseling and rhetorical syllogism are subject to refutation. The is the key to avoiding manipulation by the rhetor and the infirmity of the counseling subject, whether by counterexamples by another rhetor, or the philosophical antidote of the philosophical practitioner. This special characteristic of an enthymeme is called the refutational rhetorical[vi] syllogism, since they all rely on common knowledge, new facts may dissuade the auditor or the [LBT] subject.

How does this happen? The LBT subject may internalize beliefs about the way the things should be. These “shoulds” are firm beliefs which hold universally (and categorically). Because of the way things should be helps delineates shortcomings falling short of their lofty, and unrealistic, aspirations. The rhetors tools are often subconscious and maybe even unconscious, as these translucent arrows fly out of the rhetors oblique bow [RBMP].  These rhetorical statements [RBS] are surrounded by more general belief systems. “The world is unjust!” the rhetor or the LBT subject might proclaim. More often with the LBT subject one may try to be perfect but can never achieve their goal.

Like [RBS], [CBS] can have missing premises and act like a rhetorical syllogism although often with a negative import. In such cases the conclusion might be an emotion not consciously understood. Emotions are a product of a of Intentional objects and ratings. The rule tends to be a modus ponens that holds universally and categorically.[vii]

Contrarily the orator of the enthymeme, when prevaricating platitudes, whether there is honest appraisal of these platitudes or not, purveys beliefs that confuses the facts. While the auditor might take these convoluted facts as a complete truth, which when examining an enthymeme, with its implied missing premise, does not fall into question. With the [RBMP] the demagogue conjures up the “rule” when this universal premise is constructed.

This rhetor major premise is below the “radar” and yet lies below as a truth trumpeting that which is clearly deniable or at least is malleable and uncertain. For example, one might think the foundations for employment are just or unjust. Depending on the audience, whether a previously discriminated group (i.e., farmworkers who become unionized) or a group that feels newly disenfranchised (i.e., workers displaced due to Artificial Intelligence). Depending on the audience’s contingent situation determines the meaning of the syllogism.

Perhaps the rhetor might say “This is what cooperation has brought you!” whether this refers to the audience of field workers newly unionized or the collective acquiescence in a non-union shop to the employer where the displaced workers are summarily dismissed. The first has a positive and the second has a negative somatic result. This can bring satisfaction or anger depending on the makeup of the audience.

Also, with the [LBT] subject, depending on their view of the world, especially the ethical ramifications of a situation can construct positive or negative results depending on the story one tells themselves.

These assumed selfishly held universal premises loom largely in the variety of things. The rhetor has at their disposal the keys to constructing syllogisms as a lynchpin for larger arguments. The rhetor may do this being blind to the result of the universal premise but often, at least in the case of the demagogue, works manipulatively or malevolently changing thought and therefore behavior.

These universal truths the rhetor expounds may be transferable to the LBT subject. Whether the rhetor is a politician, a minister, or a union organizer, this trust can be used to modify behavior in the individual. Moreso it may be true that many of the truths that are inculcated by the individual are from learned behavior. An individual may assume the role as teacher, or brandishing a school of thought, or even proclaiming societal norms.

In this relationship between the rhetor and the auditor, with the inverted mirror, the demagogue bestows “wisdom” on the docile and subservient subject, viewed as ascribing to the rhetor a character of magnanimity, or on the other hand this “ignorance” of the afflicted [LBT] subject of learned uselessness. This enables the rhetor to impact their subject’s behavior and contrariwise the [LBT] subject to perpetuate and even worsen their affliction.

In extreme cases the auditor remains entranced by the rhetor and the rhetor is looked upon as being infallible. In appearing before the auditor, the rhetor comes to signify that which the auditor (or [LBT] subject personally) sees as infallible: ethically, logically, and emotionally. This aggrandizement of the rhetor by the receiver finds the rhetors influential oblique arts are induced or enhanced in the subject; both the [LBT] subject and the auditor. While the rhetor cries “One must work hard to have a good life”, the LBT subject’s inner cognition is that they haven’t worked hard enough and deserve their lowly position in life and must eternally work harder, and because of the trauma and pain are driven to self-destructive thoughts and even self-destructive behaviors.

The universal premise serves as a focal point for this internalization of ethics, pain or pleasure, and the logic in the LBT subject or the auditor. All are specific tools used by the rhetor in the promulgation of an enthymeme [RBS] and by analogy the infirmity of the [LBT] subject due to the universal premise and the surrounding syllogism, the [CBS].

Not only does the subject, whether auditor or LBT subject, see the rhetor as a source of knowledge and perhaps virtue, but also since the rhetor has these perceived qualities, the logic shared with the subject finds the two joined together in the production of a universal truth (while often truth it may not be). This brings emotional aspect of satisfaction or pleasure in the auditor or pain in the LBT subject.

I assert these two types of major premises show a sort of similarity, at least in-kind in a role as a syllogism, especially the universal major premise that results in broken truths. These broken truths seem reliable but are not. The first broken truth is the deception of the demagogue who seems to speak earnestly, and especially with the use of the major premise. The second broken truth is an authority (i.e., the rhetor) in the [LBT] subject or lies one [LBT] tells themselves based on learning.

It seems conceivable that parallel strategies can be used to usurp the demagogue or to rescue the LBT subject through counterexamples. A courageous and enlightened auditor could come up with a refutative enthymeme using common sense or a philosophical practitioner could do the same and in addition come up with an antidote.

While it is unrealistic to use refutative enthymemes to solve all the world’s problems, they serve as an excellent starting point where first the individual familiar with the missing, suppressed; identifying the unknown oblique premise, one can devise strategies not unlike those that stop wannabe dictators or those who rescue a suffering soul. But perhaps this is a topic for another paper.

[i]                 W.D. Ross, ed., The Works of Aristotle, Translated into English  by Aristotle, XI Volumes (Oxford: Clarendon Press,  1928). For specific mention of relevant book and chapter numbers, etc., regarding the enthymeme in this series from Ross, consult the footnotes at the end of the introduction. Most central I believe are the following, Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Prior and Posterior Analytics. Also of value could be Aristotle’s De Sophisticis Elenchis, De Interpretatione as well as other works in Aristotle’s Organon. An understanding of Aristotle’s Topics would be instrumental in bringing the enthymeme into public discourse in a practical manner, and this is included in the above series. Also helpful is W.D. Ross, ed., Aristotle’s Prior and Posterior Analytics by Aristotle. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949)  Book 1-7. (24a1-29b29). Another excellent source is Robin Smith ed., Prior Analytics by  Aristotle. (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1989). Book 1  Chapter 1-7. (24a1 – 29b29)

 

[ii] “Not so clear I think is the fact that infallible signs, can produce syllogisms that can be sound or unsound. One can say if there is smoke there is fire, but if no smoke does occur at a particular time (say they mistook for fog for smoke), then smoke), then no fire need be present. In that case there is no correspondence someone’s assertion that there is smoke, and something actually burning.” While the argument may seem to be valid and sound, when no smoke exist the premise is false and the demonstration is unsound. It is important to note that if while the residual in the air was fog, therefore the individual is deluded and has no idea they are wrong, yet the syllogism seems sound.”

 

Deduction and Enthymemeic structure page 51

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Logical_Nature_of_Aristotle_39_s_Ent/cxP7KKCmxQsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=inauthor:%22Frame+Publishing%22&printsec=frontcover

Master’s Thesis

Douglas Frame

 

[iii] “The enthymeme must consist of few propositions, fewer often than those which make up the normal syllogism. For if any of these propositions is a familiar fact, there is no need even to mention it; the hearer adds it themselves. Thus, to show that Dorieus has been victor in a contest for which the prize is a crown, it is enough to say, ‘For he has been victor in the Olympic games’, without adding ‘And in the Olympic games the prize is a crown’, a fact which everyone knows.”

 

The Internet Classics Archive

http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.1.i.html

 

 

[iv] From Alice in Wonderland

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/alice-VI.html

 

[v] “Rule: If I am no longer able to achieve professionally, then I am totally worthless and might as well be dead.

 

Report: I have done everything that I have set out to achieve professionally and there is nothing left for me to achieve in my professional life.

 

Emotion: Depression”.

 

Elliot D. Cohen. What Would Aristotle Do? Self-Control Through the Power of Reason (Kindle Locations 1524-1526). Kindle Edition.

 

[vi] (xxv) Solution (refutation) of arguments may be effected by (1) counter-conclusions, (2) objections. The latter are obtained: (1) from the thing itself (the opponent’s enthymeme); (2) from an opposite; or (3) similar thing; (4) from previous decisions of well-known persons.

https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL193/1926/pb_LCL193.xliii.xml

 

[vii]

“(Rule) If O then R (Report) O Therefore R The rule here consists in a conditional statement that links the intentional object (O) to the rating (R). The report is accordingly the intentional object (O) itself; and the conclusion consists in the rating (R) detached from the object (O)”.

 

Elliot D. Cohen “The Metaphysics of Logic Based Therapy” https://npcassoc.org/docs/ijpp/metaphysics_of_LBT10V3N1.pdf

Douglas Frame metaphysics, political philosophy

Hegel’s Master/Slave Dialectic


The master slave relationship is a common theme throughout history. Many ages embraced slavery, and although the characteristics of slavery may have been somewhat different during different ages, the superiority of the master and the subservience of the slave was a constant. While many great thinkers have considered this relationship, certain thinkers stand out.

The Master and the Slave

This relationship has been a common theme of philosophy, whether it be by Aesop talking about reason being the character of the master, and passion that of the slave. Slavery was common in ancient Greece and in feudal societies. Also references to the master and slave have been most apparent with Rousseau, Fichte, and most famously Hegel. Also discussing this relationship is Nietzsche, who had a different take than others, where the master is independent, creative and excellent, while the slave is servile and mediocre.

Hegel and Nietzsche are probably the most famous philosophers to talk about the relationship between master and slave, but Hegel’s formulation was wrapped in idealism. Karl Marx was most certainly influenced by Hegel, in his more concrete and materialistic writings about revolution.

Hegel and the Master and Slave

Hegel’s presentation of the master and slave in his dialectic is the most allegorical. Hegel begins in explaining that one only gains self-consciousness by being engaged with an “other”. By seeing the other, one recognizes that this other is different from themselves, and gives oneself identity through the other, and therefore themselves. One’s encounter with another for the first time sets off a dialectic where both consciousness’ are engaged. This engagement results in both finding their place in the world.

These two are locked in a form of conflict, where their position in the world will be decided by how this conflict is resolved. While both may be focused on being superior, the way that this antipathy can be resolved is for one to “give in”. The fact of the matter is that some people value liberty over life, and others value life over liberty. The newly self-conscious being who values liberty over life becomes the master, and the newly self-conscious individual who values life over liberty becomes the slave who submits to the master to survive.

Hegel’s Dialectic

In this unfolding dynamic one begins as a conscious being (not yet self-conscious), where no conflict exists. Yet when the two individuals encounter each other there is a sense of conflict where a contradiction emerges where both cannot be the master or both be the slave. Out of this conflict comes the resolution where one emerges the master and the other emerges the slave. This sequence is part of the dialectical process. Simply put the dialectic moves through thesis (e.g., prior to the encounter), antithesis (e.g., the encounter) and synthesis (e.g. the resolution where one is the master and the other the slave).

Yet the process does not end here. Now that their positions have become apparent in the world (e.g., as each individual being either the master or the slave), the dynamic has changed. Now the master produces nothing and lives off the slave (e.g., synthesis). The master has no contact with nature. The slave on the other hand works with nature and produces something of value, even though it is only used by the master, and this handiwork from nature gives the slave true knowledge about nature (e.g., antithesis) which the master cannot hope to duplicate. Marx’s revolution results in the synthesis with his secular worldview where society is run by the proletariat in a workers paradise (e.g., synthesis).

Hegel and Karl Marx

Marx extrapolates from Hegel. Marx, ultimately a student of Hegel, states that when the slave or proletariat becomes so alienated from life and made so miserable by their existence, with the accumulation of knowledge that the proletariat attains through their work, this enables the proletariat to overthrow the master, and form a new society.

While it seems Hegel thought that inequities in the world could be solved without revolution, Marx felt revolution was inevitable in the process of Historical Materialism. While Hegel’s idealism points out the origins of the master and slave, Marx’s materialism aimed to consummate this relationship and to overthrow the master.

While Hegel brought the relationship between master and slave, as a allegory for mans achievement of self-consciousness, Marx largely ignored Hegel’s idealism, and embraced materialism to bring Hegel’s abstract dialectic to history in his theory of historical materialism.

Resources:

Hegel, G. W. F. Phenomenology of Spirit. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1977

Honderick, Ted., The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1995

Inwood, M. J. Ed., Hegel Selections. Macmillan Publishing Company: United States, 1989

Douglas Frame metaphysics, political philosophy

Marx’s Communist Revolution


According to Karl Marx, the revolution of the worker or proletariat is a natural outcome brought about by the acquired consciousness of the proletariat and the economic pressures of capitalism. In the unfolding of history (according to Marx, Historical Materialism), a time will arise where the bourgeoisie (e.g., the landed class) would be overthrown by the proletariat (e.g., the landless class).

While communism marks the end of the age of decadent capitalism according to Marx, another viewpoint accepted by Marx is that throughClass Struggle revolution can be achieved. With the efforts of the landless class the capitalist bosses would be overthrown and a worker’s paradise would ensue.

The Metaphysics of History

Marx’s Historical Materialism, like Hegel’s “Phenomenology of Spirit”, shows an unfolding of history. In Hegel’s view, spirit or mind is instrumental in the unfolding of history, but according to Marx, matter is the driving force behind history(1). While there is controversy surrounding what Hegel meant by spirit or mind in the context of his phenomenology, there is little doubt what Marx meant by materialism(2). When Marx is talking about matter, he is referring to the raw stuff of which things are made.

The important thing with matter is one’s relation to this matter, especially matter shaped by the proletariat, that is robbed by the capitalist bosses. Matter drives history through the continual myriad transformations of matter, and in the days of capitalism, the types of production determine social relations, and more specifically individual thought.

Historical Materialism(3)

There are two basic metaphysical positions one can take, one being that that which constitutes the essence of reality are ideas, and the other, that which is most basic or essential is matter. In idealism, ideas are thought to be dependent on someone or something having the ideas. Without the subject nothing can be said to exist. This is not a problem for Marx. Marx’s theory is that matter exists whether someone is there to perceive it or not.

Everything that is thought of as mind or spirit is driven by matter according to Marx. Under capitalism the thoughts we have, the zeitgeist of a particular era, are all dependent on the modes of production(4). As the modes of production change, so do the social relations, and these relations change unceasingly. Our relation to matter determines our understanding of the world, and the way we understand each other.

Marx gives the example of commodity fetishism, where consumers desire certain material goods. These goods become a commodity, and because of this they seem to have intrinsic value. The commodity becomes almost a living thing. The commodity is reified(5). Marx gives the example that gold has no intrinsic value, but its desirability for the purchase of things gives it value, as it seems in itself. This commodity takes on a life of its own, becoming a source of affluence and power, and is no longer simply matter.

Communist Revolution and the Class Struggle View

The primary problem with Marx’s theory of revolution is that on the one hand the transformations in the material relations are constantly driving the unfolding of history (i.e., Historical Materialism). Eventually capitalism results in monopolies, and ultimately world monopoly; then comes revolution, and the dictatorship of the proletariat. On the other hand what role does class struggle play in the equation? For if the end of revolution is not necessary, and rather the cries of injustice result in substantial benefit for the worker, then how can communist revolution be essential or even be claimed to be important?

Further, not only is the class struggle view a problem for Marx’s theory of revolution, but there are also more practical considerations. If revolution is inevitable, then would it be necessary for people to “struggle” to overthrow the government? Also, if struggle is required, then it seems the material (i.e., social) relations of the productive forces do not drive history at all, and therefore do not lead to an inevitable communist revolution. It is impossible to have it both ways.

Marx’s Utopia

The disagreeable solution is that revolution can happen in intransigent capitalist countries, but only as the result of sustained class struggle. It is conceivable in a world proletariat revolution, that the revolution could be smashed. It is also conceivable that capitalism could evolve into something more beneficent because of worker’s pressure on the capitalists, delaying or denying communist revolution. After a revolution, a communist paradise then would not necessarily follow (perhaps because of some lack of ideological purity), and this viewpoint would be useful in demonstrating how such repressive regimes likeStalin or Pol Pot could come out of communist revolution.

The argument then can be made that communist revolution is not always a good thing, which Marx would most certainly reject. Marx’s theory of historical materialism and the promise of a coming paradise is then relegated to little more than a well intentioned fantasy. Even the reductionist materialist position of communists is called into question.

Endnotes

1 Karl Marx, “Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy in General” Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved on August 13, 2011 from http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/hegel.htm

2 Karl Marx, , “Afterward to the Second German Edition [Abstract]”

Capital Volume 1, Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved on August 13, 2011 from http://www.marxists.org/subject/dialectics/marx-engels/capital-afterward.htm 

3 Mick Brookes, “Historical Materialism” Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved on August 13, 2011 from http://www.marxist.com/History-old/historicalMaterialism.htm

4 MIA: Encyclopedia of Marxism: Glossary of Terms. Marxists Internet Archives. Retrieved on August 13, 2011 from http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/m/o.htm#mode-production

5 Reification. Retrieved on August 13, 2011 from http://it.stlawu.edu/~global/glossary/reification.a.html

Douglas Frame epistemology, metaphysics, political philosophy

Paradigms of Evolution and Material Force

The nature of self determines not only ones attitude toward the world, but how one constructs such a world that aligns with ones imperatives. With physical change through evolution, comes functional change in morphology, social relations and individuality, all of which drives history. With evolutionary fitness the species survives to pass on its genetic endowment. Modern science has found strong evidence for evolution. When evolution occurs, the species change due to environmental pressures. When individuals do not become adaptive, fail to reproduce, they are eliminated from the gene pool. Through changes in the species’ genus, future species bears little resemblance to the original form. Not only is the physical structure effected by material pressure, but also changes come about in the dynamic of life of an individual species, or the telos driven individual life.

The Varieties of Evolutionary Change

Evolution is not particular to the physical change in the species. Any change in physical structure has a corresponding change in function of the species, be its historical path, or its individual life. All mutations that result in the ability of the species to be adaptive, results from environmental pressure on the physical aspect of the species. Whether this change is genetic-morphological, quasi-historical or personal,  this continuum all depends on the material pressures on the physical structure of the species, but is manifested in different ways.

These three approaches, our biological history, our socio-cultural history and our personal life journey are not incompatible. One can see them all as ones being reaching out, in some sort of telos, toward a better more fulfilled existence. Can one only take the materialist scientific view of evolution? To reduce change to simply the physical structure of the species, ignores the contribution of these material forces to society and personality. When one ignores the contribution of material forces on society and personality, one must also ignore the result of primary material effect on physical structure. All three, the genetic-morphological, the quasi-historical and the telos driven life, each in turn, begin with the material forces.

As the changes in the body are driven by the material forces, so too does ones psyche find the way to transmute these changes in physical form and the implication for changes in function. The increase in the mass of the frontal cortex of the human brain has enabled it to survive, but also it has made itself acutely aware of others.

If a species is to survive, then a social structure must be developed that enhances evolutionary fitness, for example through availability of resources to the favored, including food, shelter, and the ability to procreate. To enable this complexity in society necessitates the differentiation of individuals in different skills and skill levels. The success of the social organ, is dependent on the health and adaptiveness, where it results in a sort of gestalt. These dynamics drive how the world is organized, and how the virtues of the individuals are driven by material forces.

Hegels Quasi-Historical Evolution

In the quasi-historical approach, Hegels book, The Phenomenology of Spirit addresses the problem of how spirit evolves as a result of changes in social structure. When the individual encounters another, only then can the individual become self-conscious. This interaction builds into a sort of social genealogy of history, which eventually leads to the highest achievements in human history, according to Hegel; religion, philosophy and art.

This unfolding of history relies on certain logic, where there is a stasis, conflict, and then through resolution another period of stasis. This logic of Hegels history, results in different successive social moments where one finds themselves, as well as providing a quasi-historical view of how change comes about socially.

It might be asked how logic can transmute history into progressive phases, resulting in newly unique positions in history. While Hegels in his logic may not address how logic formalizes history, the transitions that Hegel talks about, like his history as a whole, comes about through a harmonious state, followed by a creative tension, which result in a new harmonious state. Such is the nature of change where successive moments resolve into new ones. Historically, moments respond to change in the environment, whether it be the primary effect of the material forces on the genetic-morphology of the species, or the social groupings, which enable and disable genetic fitness of a people.

While Hegels phenomenology of spirit spans human history, the change in physical functioning is minimal over the course of human history, so in speciation the changes are minimal. But the social sphere where the spirit acts, function is defined in the unfolding of history, manifests itself nominally as the result of environmental pressure that are driven by material forces.

Freud and Functionalism

Freud writes about the Id, the Ego and the Superego (Internet, 2010). As the social inclination of a species can be driven by the superego, so can the function of the species, sometimes referred to as the spiritual aspect,  be driven by the material demands, where environmental pressures can change function. Freud talks about the id, which is the most primal impulse, which is moderated by the ego where the superego acts socially. The id drives or is driven by the impulses, including the sexual impulse, which results in procreation and the passing on of the genetic endowment. Also of primary importance is the death instinct or thanatos, which can prevent another from passing on their genetic endowment. These impulses are driven by material forces. The sex impulse is the most primal of the individual drives according to Freud. Without the drive to procreate, a species would cease to exist. The force of the instinct for procreation is the most fundamental of the genetic behaviors that drive fitness.

While often in the occidental tradition when one speaks of spirit, one thinks of a ghostly existence or an immaterial structure that drives behavior. But if the basis for spirit is the result of material forces where form drives function, then the way of behavior, personality and social structure can become that which is adaptive.

Aurobindos Gnosticism and Individual Telos

Similar to Hegel, but an evolution, which takes place in a lifetime, is Aurobindos Gnosticism (Sourcebook, 1957) . This telos driven life unlike Hegel, which is descriptive of the unfolding of human spirit, Aurobindos evolution results in a freeing of consciousness, which too has an impact on social relations, and social relations can help a species survive. While Hegel is descriptive, Aurobindo is proscriptive as the divine life, where a fully actualized existence is possible in ones lifetime. A gnostic life brings about personal accountability and benefits the species through altruism.

Aurobindo asserts that there is an evolution of spirit. In his work The Life Divine it is possible for one to become enlightened in ones lifetime. One does not need to wait to achieve the divine in another transcendental realm. As the individual changes so does the spiritual consciousness. When one is fully realized, then one becomes fully free to act, can therefore make positive adaptive change, which improves adaptive fitness. When action is based on altruism, this increases the fitness of the species as a whole and ensures the species survival.

Whether talking about the evolution of speciation and morphology in the science of evolution, the evolution where form determines function, or the social relations of the history is spirit, all depend on the environmental pressure brought to bear by the material forces. There is no need to exclude one from the other, but rather when evaluating them individually, realize that the span of time, which they act, vary.

The material forces drives history from the explosion of the stars to the birth of life and evolution of species. The existence of human history and individual development forms an ever spiraling up of the human potential in a sort of telos. All are driven by the material forces. All enhance the adaptation of the species to the environmental forces and therefore are part and parcel of adaptive change.

Weltanschauung and Social Darwinism

As scientism permeates Occidental societies, scientific explanation for social behavior have been reduced to Social Darwinism. Spencer took a different tack when describing evolution. Spencer asserted that not only was competition natural interspecies, but that evolution operated as well at the intraspecies level. Survival of the fittest was adapted to explain competition and fitness in Occidental culture (Internet, 2004).

Only when a species, or a segment of the species maintains fitness, can the species survive. There are different worldviews that serve to be adaptive, either cooperative or competitive. In order for a species to survive, it must be more adaptive than other species. While societies that are most cooperative are the most stable, the pressures of the aggressiveness of competitive societies most often result in the destruction of the cooperative cultures.

Sometimes fitness is defined by the power elite as survival of the fittest where the assertion is made that those who are most fit are the power elite. In bastardization of Darwins evolution, competitive attitudes between species are subverted to mean intraspecies competition for survival. This hoarding of the material wealth by the power elite results in greater fitness for the power elite and less so for those who lack adequate access to resources.

In order for the power elite to maintain its grasp on material wealth, the ideas of the ruling class are inculcated by all classes, and this adoption insures that the ruling class maintains its prerogatives. It may be maintained by the power elite that those that constitute this advantaged class, are somehow superior than the lower classes. Ostensibly this intraspecies evolution can weed out those members of society who lack fitness, thus strengthening the social organs as a whole. Unfortunately, such a society often ends up consuming itself, because of its own ideology.

The worldview in such a society adopts the prerogatives of the power elite as their own, and therefore the worldview that is adopted may serve it well in a developing industrial age; but when society shifts into a post-industrial stage, the asserted prerogatives of the power elite become little more than self-serving platitudes. The invisible hand of capitalism, which benefits all (Smith, 2008), becomes the closed fist.

The dynamic of history laid out by Hegel, illustrates the changes that come about in social relations, which determine the birth, growth and death of a moment of historical change, where a decaying society often finds itself either prone to collapse or in revolution as Marx asserts. The particular channeling of the material forces that drive the social relations, determine the Weltanschauung of its citizens and of a culture and the world. At the fall of an empire; through the leadership of the individual, as a savior or destroyer, depends on the culture that preceded it, and what ideology that was embraced. Only then, through transformation in the social relations, adapted in response to the demands of the material forces, can the species maintain fitness and avoid extinction.

Randomness in the Paradigms of Evolution

The question may come up when examining this formulation of change and adaptation, that is physical change, socio-historical change, and an individuals life legacy, one might ask if there can be free consciousness. While the universe seems to depend on constant physical laws, the unfolding of change seems to be of a potential of infinite variety. This becomes possible because of the random nature of change, which can manifest itself in a multivariate number of ways.

With the determinate nature of the laws that drive the universe, the randomness of the outcome of these material pressures result in every new and unique species with different functions, quasi-historical characteristics and distinctive individual functioning within the life community. Just as we cannot find a common thread in determining the coming physical change in the species, neither can one determine where the social construct of history or the individual consciousness and leadership will lead.

Works cited

A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy (1957) Aurobindo. edited by Sarvepalli Radhakrishan and Charles A. Moore Princeton University Press: Princeton.  Pages 599-609

 Darwin, Charles. (2002)  The Origin of the Species Retrieved on January 14, 2013 from  http://darwin-online.org.uk/contents.html#origin

 Hegel, G.W.F. (1997) The Phenomenology of Spirit Translated by A. V. Miller, Oxford University Press

 Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2010) Sigmund Freud. Retrieved on January 14. 2013 from  http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/

 Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2008) Adam Smith. Retrieved on January 22, 2013 from http://www.iep.utm.edu/smith/

 Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2004) Herbert Spencer. Retrieved on January 22, 2013 from http://www.iep.utm.edu/spencer/

Douglas Frame metaphysics, political philosophy

The Dialectic of Knowledge


The communist revolutionary forces in China defeated Chiang Kai-shek’s forces and instituted a communist government in 1949. With the overthrow of Kai-shek, Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung) assumed control.[1]Mao was a masterful strategist and also an insightful tactician. According to Mao only through “practice”, whether one’s own practice, or through the practice of some other historical figure, can one acquire knowledge. In Mao’s essay “On Practice”[2] he discusses how to act effectively.

Like communists in general, Mao believed that that which was most essential and truly real was matter. According to materialists, the impact of matter on the world drives history. This unfolding of history, and ones impact on it, is determined by an effective interplay between oneself and the changing world. An effective dialectic between one and the world determines ones effectiveness in action.

Theories About the Dialectical Process

The use of forms of the dialectic have a long history. The idea of a dialectic comes early with the Socratic Method.[3] Plato’s dialectic, examined opinion to arrive at truth. Through examination of someone’s position, Socrates would dissect the position and then dispassionately deconstruct it. This was brought about by a give and take dialogue where principles are necessarily derived or discarded based on logical conclusions or contradictions.

While Plato used his dialectic to prove or disprove the truth of someones position, Hegel, an idealist, found that the unfolding of history as spirit, was engaged in a sort of dialectic.[4] While this was not the dialectic of Plato, Hegel’s dialectic theory based on his logical theories, rather than reconciling individuals political and social beliefs like Plato, through history was found a resolution of problems on a grand scale. Unlike materialist communism, Hegel’s grand scheme followed the history of spirit or mind rather than matter coming to know itself through ever expanding knowledge.

Marx, a student of Hegel, rather than embracing Hegel’s idealism, dismissed it. Marx transformed Hegel’s idealism of history, to the physicality of existence. The result was that because of the centrality of matter, the revolutionary change in the productive forces under capitalism was constantly transforming social relations. Marx was a philosopher of action and felt that the academic study of philosophy was largely useless, because it was not applicable to the material conditions in day to day life.

Mao’s Epistemology

Mao, a materialist like Marx, in his essay “On Practice”, develops a system of engagement with the world that is made relevant by one’s ability to effect change, and therefore change the world. Like Marx, Mao thought that if philosophy was to be important, it had to be more than an academic exercise. Mao took Marx’s position of matter driving history, to developing a way of engaging the world, and by doing so he develops a theory of knowledge (e.g., epistemology) which he characterizes as the true scientific method. Mao calls this method the “dialectical-materialist theory of knowledge”.

Mao eschewed empiricism (knowledge based on experience) as being useless in itself. This was because acquired sensory knowledge was subjective, and therefore the perceiver was unable to bring about change. According to Maoist theory, one must instead have a direct, outward looking orientation. Like other rationalists, Mao believed knowledge based on rational principles, is the only reliable way of knowing the world. Mao believed that knowledge ultimately is based on sense perception, but was only useful when it was transformed into rational knowledge, and only then could it be used effectively. How this transition from empirical to rational principles occurred is a matter of debate.

Mao embraced science, and his epistemology, like the scientific method, is if it works (produces useful results) then it is knowledge. If one engages in simply abstract thought without any real word testing, then the truth of one’s philosophical position is unproven. It is necessary for knowledge to be honed in matter, through the application of learned principles in the driven world.

The Importance of the Dialectical Process

According to Mao, only through encounters with the external world can one attain knowledge, and one can not have knowledge until they engage the world. When something does not work effectively, then the strategy is modified until it is effective, and then what is brought about is the advancement of truth.

The dialectical process has been important throughout the history of philosophy. Different philosophers have different ideas about what is essential in a dialectical system. Where one is talking about idealism or materialism, history or ethics, a dialectical system is about the advancement of dynamic knowledge in the personal or public sphere. Whether such order, as shown by dialectics, really exists in the world, or rather is a construct of human logic is uncertain. One can look at the uncertainty of quantum mechanics or the seeming randomness of evolution, and wonder.

Notes

1 Cucchisi, Jennifer Lynn. The Causes and Effects of the Chinese Civil War, 1927-1949. Master’s Thesis Seton Hall University: New Jersey. (2002) http://domapp01.shu.edu/depts/uc/apps/libraryrepository.nsf/resourceid/D907B53FF4DF604F85256E2300524545/$File/Cucchisi-Jennifer-Lynn_Master.pdf?Open

2 Mao Tse-Tung. On Practice: On the Relation Between Knowledge and Practice, Between Knowing and Doing. 1937

Retrieved on September 7, 2011 from http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_16.htm

3 “ The question-and-answer method of philosophizing (dialectic) used by Socrates in Plato’s early dialogues (e.g., Euthyphro} often in conjunction with pretended ignorance (Socratic Irony), whereby a self-professed expert’s over-confident claim to knowledge is subverted.” Ted Honderich ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995. Socratic Method Page 837.

4 Excerpt from Hegel for Beginners. Retrieved on September 9, 2011 from http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/help/easy.htm

Douglas Frame metaphysics, philosophy of religion, political philosophy

Weltanschauung and the Nature of Self

Introduction

The more individualistic a society is, the more objectivized is its worldview. The more deeply one looks inside oneself, the more resolutely one looks at things external to oneself. This attitude about objectifying the world has produced many great innovations in science, but ultimately our connection with others and the world has suffered.

Nothing is said about the impact on the world of this scientistic attitude. With feelings of superiority and invincibility, with this inward looking hyper-individualism, personal characteristics become paramount. These judgments of moral stature depend on these individualistic attitudes. Because of hyper-individualism, this self- identification is turned outward and objectified. It is similar to what is had in psychology, in the case of reactive formation, but on a more general level, which can impact overall society. This objectification includes attitudes about race, class, gender, and specie, often attributing the worst moral qualities inherent in ones being to others.

Science and Myth

How has the position of hyper-individualism evolved? The cornerstone of science is that all things must be objectified so they can then be quantified. For example if one were to measure the distance to Alpha Centauri, one would construct a triangle measuring the distance between two points on the earth and then triangulate them to find the difference in apparent position of Alpha Centauri in space. One could, through the angle derived, find the distance. This strategy would use tools that existed in the real world, but are ultimately the measure of ideas (e.g., ideas of triangles) using our cognitive space (e.g., the mind) that provides the objectification of spatially disparate entities, in this case the earth and Alpha Centauri.

This objectification in science, with this cognitive space, finds its foundation in the Occident in an objectified God, who dwells in the otherworld or transcendent realm, where He judges and then punishes us and rewards us at his whim. Religious affectations are not necessary for cognitive attitudes. For example the Pythagorean School was originally a mystical cult in ancient times, but now its mathematics are simply used as a useful way of solving problems.

With a personal monotheistic, God we are separate from him, and his actions upon us are tendered, based on our separateness, which his existence delineates. In his transcendent realm, he determines the nature of all thing as his creation; the freedom of humans as an intended outcome of his divine magnificence. It is this independence that determines our freedom to choose in all things, including whether to accept his existence; or to deny him in a sinful act, to reject him. Because we are separate from him and can freely act, we are able to objectify the world.

Occidental Creation Myths and Metaphysics

The philosopher Aristotle (1) refers to that which is primary as the unmoved mover. This attitude results in a dualistic structure of ontology. Aristotle’s God is the prime mover and therefore is uncreated. If there was a creator that created this prime mover (e.g., God), then that God too must to have a creator and so on resulting in an infinite regress or a circular reasoning. Because of Gods ability to create himself, it is easy to draw the conclusion that God is omnipotence, and with omnipotence comes omniscience and omnipresence.

According to believers, in Occidental culture God is perfection. It is my claim that while many do not believe in God as a anthropomorphic entity and reject God, this does not negate the cultural attitude of objectification, individualism and its correlates which are deeply imbedded in culture, that serve as the foundation for capitalism.

Since this God must be unique and permanent, how then must one account for the fact that the world exists separate from the creative impulses of God?  In order to find this, incommensurateness must be found between the thing that creates and the thing that is created. In order for the world to be an object of Gods creation, it must be radically different or rather, in its nature must be completely dissimilar where the Godly realm is spiritual (non-temporal and non-spatial), unlike the Gods of Mount Olympus, and the material realm is that which is spatial and temporal. This positioning, in turn, gives humans the physical and cognitive space, including the freedom to be creative.

This special position of humans is not only as the caretakers of the inert and objectified earth, but are also its exploiters. The predestination of the world results in a sort of lack of accountability, in seeming contradiction to our freedom, and often there is talk in Christian circles about the end times. Nevertheless humans are considered free, and freedom is especially important to Abrahamic culture because of the slavery of the Jews in Egypt and the abuse of the early Christians.

The world becomes a theatre where one acts to establish their credibility in the eyes of the infinite for their entry into heaven along the side of God. The earth is the final way station, unlike in Hinduism, the impersonal God where transmigration occurs. So while we have freedom to act, because of our separation from God, we also are bound by Gods dictates to achieve everlasting life, where life in the world is somehow incomplete. Because of this we have an imperative to act. This serves to buttress our objectification of personality.

The morays traditionally accepted by Occidental societies are not particular to those who are religious but are adopted by Occidental culture in general. We have the ability to be ethical creatures, unfortunately while it is asserted that we have choice, and therefore the capacity to be moral creatures, nearly all tread like cattle to the slaughter.

Individuality

God then is the ultimate spirit whose creative instincts bring life to the universe. There is usually no direct bond posited between God and the world (although weather conditions are sometimes attributed to Gods wrath), except through the Holy Ghost or spirit, which dwells among us. Yet somehow, as Saint Augustine argued, it is the light of God, which sheds light to our minds, where we can then have productive thought (2) that leads us out of the metaphorical darkness. Like a flashlight showing us the way, it is the spirit of God that illuminates our minds enabling us to objectify and quantify things around us. This seems to be primarily the way divine nature finds its way into the world through the intellect. Yet how this connection occurs seems unclear.

Not unlike Augustine, Descartes searched for a basis for thought that emphasized the mind or spirit. Descartes asserted that the way we can know the world without doubt is to find an epistemological basis for certainty of what is perceived (3). This is accomplished by finding an irrefutable basis that the senses are reliable. He begins with his famous cogito I think therefore I am. Like Augustine, with the divine nature of heavens, and the mundane realm of matter, Descartes posits the idea of the separation of mind and body in what is classically called dualism.

By using the Cartesian method one can show without a doubt (ostensibly) that the way things are perceived in the world are known reliably and beyond doubt. These windows of perception (e.g., the eyes, ears, smell) are reliable and can be used in the analysis of the world and therefore knowledge can be acquired through objectification.  This proof of the validity of objectification is the primary contribution Descartes makes to epistemology and provides a foundation of certainty for scientific proofs, and scientific law based on observation and experience.

While Descartes method works well when demonstrating the reliability of observations, for example, using triangles to finding the distance to Alpha Centauri, an epistemological claim, this method tells us nothing about the nature of the relationship between mind and body (e.g., a metaphysical claim). Using this method we can have practical knowledge about the world, but we have no idea about how the mind and body interact. This is primary problem for Descartes metaphysics, which calls into question his epistemology.

Some may claim that the nature of mind and body are not essential in Descartes method, perhaps he was attempting to placate the clerical powers that be. The scientist exemplifies the creative impulse that identifies, cogitates, evaluates, and formulates theories, quanta, paradoxes and scientific laws, superimposed on the objectified world. This sort of examination is made possible by the inspirited self, directed outward or objectified on the seemingly dead or spiritless world. Like the light of Augustine’s flashlight providing cognitive space to know the world, this inspiration in oneself provides us the ability to objectify and therefore quantify existence.

But when one looks at the mind and body one sees two things that are incommensurate. We have the body, which is spatial and temporal, and the mind which is aspatial and atemporal. The two things are opposites and in some ways diametrically opposed. How can these two disparities matter commingle with spirit at all? And if they cannot commingle, how can we say that they interact at all? Where is the point where mind enters and directs matter? In a more general way one might ask, how can the world be objectified at all? Descartes tries to explain this interaction of the two via the route of the pineal gland.

Occidental Culture

Descartes objectification can be applied to provide a light of certainty on the thing being perceived and processes that which were previously unknown. In Occidental culture, the primary creation story in the bible is that God gave Adam dominion over the earth, being the creation of the divine and holy God. This objectification often results in valuing the things that are inspirited over the things that essentially in their nature are devoid of spirit, or are viewed as simply objects (e.g., the world) It is this creation story that brings about our relationship between ourselves and the world. Our assumed relationship between ourselves and God or ones attitudes about science, results in objectification of self. This objectification results in a sort of determinateness in our Weltanschauung or worldview.

In our technocracy, scientism stands as a testament to human’s greatness as inspired beings. There are elements of arrogance in this attitude though. This arrogance has consequences. We now see that the world is warming, and life itself is in danger. This global warming is the result largely of fossil fuel emissions, which has resulted in the rising of the sea level, increasingly toxic air, as well as changes in climate. Because of the advances in science, the population continues to grow, as waste disposal becomes a bigger and bigger problem. Species are becoming extinct because of the displacement of natural habitats and the global ecosystem is thrown into jeopardy. Extracting natural resources has caused the fowling of the air, water from many pollutants including heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and other destructive elements.

Truth is more than solving practical problems. So is this scientific certainly really a benefit to the world at large? Is another way of looking at the world possible?

Indian Metaphysics (4)

At least from a metaphysical perspective, dualism seems indefensible. The scientist takes the position if it works then it is true. Truth is traditionally thought to refer to an ideal, and not something that can be demonstrated through quantification in science. But this pragmatic view about truth does not validate the objectivist’s perspective in science. Talking about how things work, tells us little about the big picture of how things are. Attempts in science are always made to find a final all-inclusive theory but this always fails.

The only other possible alternative to dualism must be non-dualism.  The predominant non-dualist was named Shankara, a mystic in the 8th century in India. In defense of yoga he formalized the system of Advaita Vedanta. Under this system all that is, is Brahman (God). Both the self and the non-self is Brahman. The Brahman within, called Atman, is Brahman as well. In fact all is Brahman according to Hinduism. Ultimately there is no individual self.

Under this ultimate formulation there is no individuality. There is essentially no subjectivity. The changes one sees in the material world are simply the result of illusion.  All life follows Dharma or cosmic law. But ironically in a sort of inversion of materialism in the Occident, that which is most real is the spiritual, while the seeming existence of material is simply a form of error or ignorance (e.g., Maya).

This is counterintuitive. That which is most real seems not to be (e.g., spirit) and that which seems to be most real is not (e.g., the material). While this position may surmount the problem of the mind and body, where the spirits come into the body through the pineal gland to form some sort of odd intermingling, this presentation of Advaita Vedanta seems to have another problem, that is, how does one come to see the spirit as matter and why? Why is this the source of so much error? When someone sees water in the desert where it is dry land, or mistakes a rope for a snake, why are people so often mistaken?

It is clear that it is difficult to find the sensory thread linking ontological Being to individual identity and the resulting social structure whether it is Occidental thought or Hinduism. But ultimately the true metaphysical reality may be irrelevant when ones ideas about self are based on creation myths.

Living in Occidental culture, we have a plethora of knowledge, which depends on the theory of dualism. This has an ancillary effect on ones self-identity and social structure. While dualism and Advaita Vedanta non-dualism, form a philosophical standpoint, both seem indefensible and both rely on skilled apologists. The myths that one is presented about the nature of the otherworld, this world and the stories of ethics and morays abound and inform ones beliefs, character, and by extension, societies structure.

Because of the disparate contradictions between the beliefs of reality as being dualistic or non-dualistic, it seems clear that Indian and Occidental philosophical systems vary substantially, and the impact on social structure is pronounced. For example in India we have the caste system, while in the occident we have the upwardly mobile, supposedly, class system. In Indian thought ones place in society is due to ones karma and one has many lifetimes to work that out. The true nature of reality (either monistic or pluralistic) brings little to bear on individuality or social structure, and that these characteristics, in both India and the Occident, depends on the beliefs we tell ourselves. These stories rest heavily on the ones theory of the nature of reality.

In Indian thought, since all lies in the spiritual realm, the physical world is a place where one works out ones divine nature, where finally this spiritual karma can be released and then can escape rebirth. There seems to be no emphasis or a moral judgment on worldly existence as being separate from the eternal, and transmigration is the attempt of the soul to remediate karma, and eventually escape rebirth. On the other hand, in Occidental culture, the world serves as a proving ground for righteousness and fealty to God.

Individuality and Social Structure

Because we are completely dissimilar to God like mind/matter is different in the theory of dualism, our nature is the image of the fallen from grace. We live in a capitalistic society where we pay lip service to survival of the fittest where God favors those who can achieve and survive. With hyper-individualism, which is ever increasing in intensity in modern day US culture, class prerogative is thought of as being a sign of the blessings of God bestowed on the virtuous. Selfishness rules the day. Objectivizing this attitude of empowerment and superiority (a value judgment) those less blessed are looked upon as being aligned with evil. The poor unfortunates are often looked on as little more than stupid, ugly, worthless, lazy, as well as possessing other dehumanizing characteristics.

The divine characteristics are moral in nature, and demonstrate the evil of the physicality of the lower classes over the beauty and grace of the well to do. This moral degradation with its repulsive physicality is applied to groups dissimilar to those that possess the qualities of purity, brilliance, and power. In the case of Occidental culture, and the US in particular, these qualities of purity, are most often attributed to the wealthy landed white elite. The elite are the best educated and their ability to think, the most highly valued trait in humans, gives them the ability to rationalize their prerogatives.

With the objectification by the elite of their own self-identity with their supposed inspired minds, they can project their own worst qualities outward toward these unfortunates. Like God finding a distinction between his divinity and his mundane creation, the objectivized are often thought of as being of less value and are often discriminated against, imprisoned or often left to die when homeless. It is common to blame the victim for their plight, especially for not following Gods laws, encoded in Occidental law, while embracing evil.

With this attitude, not only are the elite not responsible for the well being of these unfortunates, but also their bias is used through objectification to further buttress the elites moral prerogatives. The forms of discrimination are many, especially racism, classism, sexism and even involve attitudes about nature including species. Without addressing the culture of hyper-individuality and objectification, the planets bounty will become spoiled. Even more important, perhaps, is rigidified world-views, especially those reinforced by the elitists, giving the less fortunate little freedom to assert ones values and goodness in life, because ones righteousness depends on the ability to make virtuous choices.

 

Notes

1)  Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosopy.Retrieved on November 28, 2012 from  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-natphil/#5

2) But distinct from [the objects of the intellect] is the light by which the soul is illumined, in order that it may see and truly understand everything, either in itself or in the light. For the light is God himself, whereas the soul is a creature; yet, since it is rational and intellectual, it is made in his image. And when it tries to behold the Light, it trembles in its weakness and finds itself unable to do so. Yet from this source comes all understanding it is able to attain.Augustine. Bourke, V., Compiler, The Essential Augustine. (Hackett Publishing Company: Indianapolis 1974). Page 97

3)  Descartes, R.,Meditations. in The Rationalists.  Veitch, J trans (Doubleday: New York 1990) 99-175

4)  Radhakrishnan, S., Moore, C., Vedanta in  A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy. (Princeton University Press: New Jersey 1957) pages 506-572