Mid-morning.
You spent breakfast catching up with the three daily papers of the week. You
cleaned/swept the kitchen, dining and living room and have the bedroom and
upstairs bathroom floors to clean. It is obviously a quieter morning without
the fun of grandchildren sparking up the day. – Amorella
1014
hours. Last night I did roll out 200 plus words on Dead 6 and earlier, upon
waking, I consciously realized that ‘transparency’ is the chapter six theme
word and that privacy does fit in. It surprises me sometimes that I work on two
levels almost constantly at the same time. This is weird but generally the two
levels are not consciously noted at the same time. Mostly, in fact, almost
always, I am in one level or the other with no reference to the other level
during those times or events. Life as it is; life as it has been, perhaps since
day one. Who knows?
You
had a very late lunch at Potbelly’s in Kenwood. Presently you are waiting for
Carol in the south lot at Macy’s. Let’s go to Dead Six. – Amorella
1651
hours. This is a selection beginning about 200 words deep into Dead 6.
** **
“Why does the
soul matter?”
“The
soul takes the place of the flesh.”
“When
Ezekiel saw the wheels way in the middle of the air he said the spirit of
living creatures was in the wheels. When those wheels went, these wheels stood.
This appears to my heartanmind that the wheels Ezekiel saw were souls each with
a heartanmind enclosed and each soul protected the privacy of its heartanmind.”
“I
am not accorded privacy,” says Merlyn. “You are here. I have had other guests
within my sanctuary.”
“I
am outside your sanctuary Merlyn, not within.”
“My
soul denies your entrance then because my heartanmind would welcome you.”
“What,
were I as an Angel? Can the soul deny an Angel to the heartanmind,” asks Takis
good-humoredly.
“I
have only spoken with the Supervisor; I doubt he is an Angel, though how would
one know?”
The above is
selected from “The Dead draft”, Chapter 6, Book 2 - rho
** **
This leads me to metaphysical questions. I used to have a
list in my literature notes that I used with John Donne and other metaphysical
poets. I don’t know where the list is but I found this similarity from the
Online Philosophy Club.
** **
Metaphysics
The branch of philosophy called metaphysics deals with
understanding the ultimate nature of being, reality and the universe. The word
metaphysics comes from the Greek word meta, meaning after, and the Greek word
physika, meaning physics. Thus, the word metaphysics literally means after or
beyond physics and science. Mankind wondered about metaphysics and asked
metaphysical questions throughout their entire existence. Examples of
metaphysical questions follow:
•
What is the nature
of reality?
•
What is the
meaning of life?
•
Do people have
souls?
•
Does the world
exist outside of the mind?
•
What is the nature
of events, objects, and places?
•
What is the place
of humanity in the universe?
•
As a central branch in metaphysics, ontology consists of
the investigation of things. It asks what type of things exist in the world and
how do they relate to each other.
Additionally, metaphysicians investigate the concepts people use
to understand the universe, such as object hood, property, space, time,
causality, and possibility.
Contemporarily, people also use the term 'metaphysics' to refer
to non-philosophical topics that deal with that beyond the physical world. For
example, a so-called metaphysical bookstore does not contain philosophy books,
but rather contains books about faith healing, occultism, crystal power,
spirits, and so on and so forth.
Before developing modern science, people used to include
scientific questions as a branch of metaphysics called "natural
philosophy." However, the Scientific Revolution transformed science into a
empirical field based on experimentation, which eventually lead to it gaining
the name science.
Aristotle divided metaphysics into three main parts, which now
exist as the branches of traditional Western metaphysics:
Firstly, theology refers to the study of god(s) and religious
issues. It involves questions about the nature of religious, the existence of
divinity, the origin of the universe, and other spiritual issues.
Secondly, ontology, as mentioned before, deals with things or
entities. It includes the study of being and existence, as well as the
properties and classification of things, both physical and metal. It also
includes the nature of change.
Thirdly, universal science consists of the study of first
principles. Aristotle viewed first principles as the foundation of all other
inquires. For example, the law of non-contradiction makes up most of the
foundation for most forms of logic.
Since the advent of modern philosophy in the 1600s, metaphysics
has adopted some new issues. However, many parts of metaphysics now have their
own category, including philosophy of science, philosophy of perception,
philosophy of the mind, and philosophy of religion.
Central themes in metaphysics include:
•
objects and their
properties
•
matter and mind
•
time and space
•
identity and
change
•
possibility and
necessity
•
spirituality and
religion
•
mathematics and
abstract objects
•
freewill and
determinism
•
cosmogony and
cosmology
•
Occasionally, certain subjects of metaphysics get explained
physically and naturally, which thus makes them a part of physics. For example,
people used to think spiritual demons caused many diseases, especially
psychological ones; but advances in science found biological explanations.
Many philosophers, including David
Hume and A.J. Ayer, have rejected metaphysics. They view metaphysical
statements as inherently meaningless and/or unverifiable. Such a view often
results conduces to reductionistic philosophies such as monism, atheism,
materialism, and moral nihilism. Such philosophies base their conclusions as
well as their arguments solely on observable and verifiable phenomena. They
view it as meaningless to talk about anything "beyond this world,"
anything "out side the realm of physics," or anything
"metaphysical." To that point, David Hume wrote:
“"If We take in our hand any
volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it
contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it
contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No.
Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and
illusion."
Selected from
http://onlinephilosophyclubDOTcom/metaphysicsDOYphp
** **
Now you are involved in this segment. The
mind kicks in to the heart of the essence. Post. – Amorella
1707
hours. This segment is becoming fun. I used to love going over metaphysical
questions in Seventeenth Century British Literature. The key was to bring it up
before we got to segments of Milton’s Paradise Lost to avoid confusion.
However, over the many years a few students (usually one or two every year from
a college prep, honors and AP class would begin to see more depth in Milton
than they might not have otherwise. In any case, it worked. I know a couple of
those students became English majors themselves at least partly because of our
focus on Milton and Donne – Platonic thinkers rather than Aristotelian. I loved
teaching British literature. What a joy almost every day of every school year.
Now you have another vehicle, boy. From my
perspective it even tickled your soul a bit from time to time. – Amorella
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