Hi all, SOM - mind and matter, it's more than a thinking convention; we have no choice but to act as if it's so - just try pretending the wall isn't there and try to walk through it, you can't.
-Peter 2008/7/29 Ham Priday <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Greetings, Platt -- > > Since you mentioned my name . . . >> >> I would say that UNLESS Value can be cognitively abstracted >> in its pure form, we could not tell any difference between good >> and bad, right and wrong. Cognitively, any differentiation >> presupposes a unitary whole -- or in plain English, logically you >> can' t have many without one. >> >> I don't understand why you separate Marsha, me, yourself or >> anyone else from the universe, as if she, me, you and everyone >> else isn't an integral product and part of the universe. >> > > Your "plain English" statement is quite correct. Everything comes from > one. Diversity is actually a negation or "reduction" of the unitary whole, > rather than something "added" to it. That's why, metaphysically speaking, > the individual self cannot be a "part" of the whole. That would invalidate > the unity principle. We are parts of the universe, of course. But, unlike > the universe, Essence is indivisible. Therefore, subjective awareness is no > more essential than objective beingness is, and values are relational, like > everything else in existence. > > You'll recall my definition of the individual subject as the "being-aware" > dichotomy. (It's a dichotomy because the contingencies are mutually > dependent; one cannot exist without the other.) But Essence is a unitary > whole which has no other. The appearance of otherness is created by the > negational power of Essence. In my creation hypothesis, I use the analogy > of the diameter inscribed in a circle to divide it into two semicircles. > That imaginary line is nothingness, and the "creation" of two from one is > actually a negation. The principle of negation not only accounts for the > separaion of sensibility from being, but it's how we delineate every thing > and event in experience. You could say that all otherness is an illusion, > since from the perspective of Essence there is no other. (re: Cusa's first > principle) > > How does value figure into this scheme? Selfness is sensibility divided > from Essence. > Sensibility is what perceives, knows, feels, and desires for itself, > relative to the other. > It is the pre-intellectual (non-cognitive) awareness of the other's value, > but not its essence. (There's your "pure abstracted" Value, Platt.) But > the human individual is a conscious organism, a being-aware, and, as such, > its sensibility is mediated by organic receptors and the organizing > faculties of the cerebrum. That's why, like everything that exists, value > is experienced differentially -- morally, esthetically, qualitatively, etc, > -- and within a range from excellent or most desirable to poor or least > desirable. It is this differentiation of value which makes free choice and > morality possible. > > To me the universe not only has value to us, but values itself >> through us. Indeed there is no difference, only thinking makes it so. >> > > The universe represents our value sensibility to Essence. It is Essence > which "values itself through us". Yes, if we stopped thinking there would > be no difference. There would also be no value, no experience, no > being-in-the-universe for you or me. Please don't get me wrong ... we need > the SOM perspective if we are to participate effectively in this relational > world. It would be imbecilic to go around shouting "We're deceived -- > reality is only an illusion!" At the same time, once we realize this > truth, it does not profit us to ignore it. > > Cheers and best wishes, > Ham > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
