Sunday, July 10, 2022

Lord of the Rings & Things

I apologize in advance for the woo-wooliness of this post, which is either in the nature of the subject or the nature of the author.

Let's get back to the subject of emergence per se. The term

applies in those cases where the distinctive quality that emerges is not the mere sum of separate elements, but instead embodies a new kind of relation (by definition relations cannot be present in the relata as the relations are not yet in being at the lower level).

That's a subtle point, because we naturally think of the world as consisting or "things," i.e., objects, stuff...

I was trying to think of more synonyms, but there really aren't any, because what's more general than a thing? Things exist, and existence consists of things. And knowledge consists of finding out what these things are

A few posts back we mentioned a passage by Schuon going to what we see when we look at the world:

First, existence; second, differences; third, movements, modifications, transformations; fourth, disappearances.

Objects fall under the heading of differences, in that we see one thing only because it is distinct from another. Each thing exists in its own right, but is subsumed under the even more general category of Being, which includes potential existence, so it's a larger concept. 

Potential existence doesn't yet exist, but nor is it nothing. Here we see the importance of time, which, from our perspective, is thoroughly entangled with the movements, modifications, transformations, and disappearances alluded to above. Time is change, and to say change is to say cause-and-effect.  

Now, as Garrigou-Lagrange reminds us, the soul of every judgment is the verb "to be." This may sound esoteric, but it really just means determining whether or not the thing in question actually exists, whether in the domain of religion, science, or everyday life. 

If you think about it, every argument comes down to the question of is. In fact, even ought questions may be reduced to is -- for example, ought we abort the baby? It depends on what the baby is

But where things have clear existential outlines, relations are more ambiguous. Marriage, for example, is a relation. I know I'm married, but does my dog know? No, but does that make the relation less real? 

Conversely, two homosexuals say they are married, and they even enlist the violence of the state to enforce the claim, but does this make the relation real? If I say I am married to my toaster, am I? 

Beyond nominal definitions is the ontological status of relations, something with which science as such has a great deal of difficulty, since a relation isn't observable. Now, what if this is fundamentally a relational universe? 

Well, it is. It is only up to us to figure out how and why, and what to do about it.

This question of relationality is precisely one of the characteristics that distinguishes Christianity from other religions, philosophies, and belief systems. One might say that the soul of Christianity comes down to the real existence of two principles: Trinity and Incarnation, the rest consisting of entailments, commentary, and assimilation (or vertical metabolism).

The important point -- our First Principle of Isness -- is that ultimate reality is a relation of Persons, or as Norris Clarke puts it, an irreducible substance-in-relation. 

Can anyone point to a relation? No, not exactly. We can elucidate a relation, but it's not actually something we can perceive with the senses. 

This blog, for example, is all about relations of various kinds, e.g., the relationship between science and religion, or religion and politics, or man and God, or metaphysics and theology, or leftism and mental illness, etc. 

My hobby, as it were, is writing about relations of various kinds, especially vertical relations. But the deeper question always comes down to ontology: does or does not the relation actually exist; for if the soul of every judgment is to be, the soul of all being is to relate.

But that is not all, for relations can only exist in the context of time. However, it appears that our experience of time isn't all there is to it. In our four-dimensional world we have direct access only to the irreversible flow of time from past to present to future. And again, this flow is precisely what reveals cause-and-effect.

But we can also discern another type of cause-and-effect at play in the cosmos: vertical, or top-down causation. For example, back in the day, a fellow named Thomas à Kempis wrote a book called The Imitation of Christ, which is all about a vertical causation that is not so much out of time as involving another kind of time. 

You could say that this form of time is a measure of the distance between image and likeness: the standard equipment of the human person has a blueprint of the image, but actualizing this implicit potential into the actual likeness takes time. It reminds me of something Schuon says:

There are basically but three miracles: existence, life, intelligence; with intelligence, the curve springing from God closes on itself, like a ring which in reality has never parted from the Infinite.

It seems that vertical time is an ascending or descending spiroidal movement around -- or away from -- a tri-spiroidal Center. 

To be continued....

26 comments:

julie said...

If I say I am married to my toaster, am I?

The saddest part about that question is that there really are people who claim to be married to objects (a bridge, a car, an airplane, and the Eiffel Tower, if memory serves). But of course, the answer is still no.

Cousin Dupree said...

Like Bill to Hillary. Or Jill to Brandon.

julie said...

Ha - exactly.

Gagdad Bob said...

With every passing day thousands more realize the election was rigged, as they discover for themselves Brandon's senility that was hidden by the media and big tech.

Gagdad Bob said...

As always, Roger Kimball speaks for me: If Trump is the candidate, Americans will vote for him not in spite of January 6, but in part because of it.

Gagdad Bob said...

My grown-up side would prefer DeSantis, but that is easily swamped by the immature side for whom the Vengeance of Trump will be epic.

julie said...

I am a little torn on the idea of Trump in 24. On the one hand, it would indeed be epic, and it would be wonderful to try and get tired of winning again; on the other, I really hope the good Lord preserves his health.

I wish that DeSantis could be governor of more than one state. Vanderleun posted Newsom's latest campaign video, and the worst part about it is knowing that a lot of Californians think it's great. Freaking clown world.

Anonymous said...

It is astounding that any thinking person would believe anything for which there is 0 evidence and much evidence to the contrary. All of the Republican election officials claim no fraud. Those why cry election fraud stop there and never provide any remote evidence of their claims - aside from Italian satellites that change votes in voting machines from orbit and other equally ridiculous claims in 70 lawsuits that were thrown out of court and many recounts and investigations. Instead of a smart-ass quip, how about if anyone that follows this blog provide one remotely believable piece of evidence to back up your claim.

If once again nobody can provide any, does that mean you are ok with anyone candidate from this point forward that looses can holler fraud and not provide any evidence and the election should be thrown out? What if situation was reversed and it was Biden making the exact false claims under the same circumstances. What would your reaction to that?

julie said...

Clown. World.

Anonymous said...

Is the clown world comment in regard to the no-evidence-of fraud post? If so, could you please elaborate what you find clownish about that post? I find it to be very reasonable. All that is being asked is for claims to be backed up with evidence.

Anonymous said...

Nor is there any evidence that Hunter and Joe are crooks, since our betters have looked into it and told us so.

Anonymous said...

Hunter and his father being crooks are not related to the claims of election fraud. Even if they were crooks, that would not impact whether and election was fraudulent or not, unless there was evidence of that.

Anonymous said...

Hunter and his father being crooks are not related to the claims of election fraud. Even if they were crooks, that would not impact whether the election was fraudulent or not, unless there was specific evidence of that.

julie said...

Say it one more time, maybe that will make it more valid.

Anonymous said...

(posting issue - didn't mean to post the same thing 3 times)

Cousin Dupree said...

Who said anything about fraud? Bob said rigged.

Zuckerberg said...

Leave me out of it.

Joey B 2020 said...

We have put together I think the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics.

Mollie said...

The J6 clowns are lying about fraud to cover up the rig.

Anonymous said...

anon @7/10/2022 04:51:00 PM,

Modern conservative Christianity isn't about being reasonable. Not at all anymore.

It’s all about making up all your very own facts because the Bible keeps getting less and less plausible the longer Jesus won’t show up in any kind of meaningful way. The rapture, the end of days, Jesus coming back… none of that stuff ever seems to happen.

It's been 2000 years since he declared he'd be returning, as clearly stated in the Bible.

And so modern conservative Christians are getting seriously angsty. What the hell does God want now? Does he want a Christo-fascist Taliban-style superpower for the rest of the worlds billions to be terrified of? Shoot, we already made his chosen clown car nutjob our Dear Leader. Yet still all these churches keep shutting down. WTF do we have to do next, start mass-shooting innocent people?

There is no debate possible here because these people have convinced themselves that they already know everything and there's nothing any outsider can teach them. Especially if you're black or left or antifa. They know everything that's important.

Except for that bit about when the hell Jesus is going to return.

Nicolás said...

Whoever wants to know what the serious objections to Christianity are should ask us. The unbeliever has only silly objections.

julie said...

*sigh*

I miss the days when trolls were actually kind of entertaining. Not enough to want to bring them back, but at least there was fine insultainment to be had.

Anonymous said...

I guess it depends on your definition of rigged. Donald Trump seems to use this as a synonym of fraud: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/01/06/fact-check-donald-trump-2020-election-results/9115875002/. Some seem to define it as an dirty-trick change in the process that gave Biden an unfair advantage (https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/what-republicans-mean-rigged-election.html). Although nothing illegal was found, an argument could be made that mailing unsolicited ballots and dishonestly claiming that this was due to Covid would fall into a shady area of unscrupulousness.

julie said...

Shifting gears, at risk of mentioning something interesting only to myself, in Truth is Symphonic, HvB brings up something I had never considered when he discusses Christ's Crucifixion & descent into hell. I had always thought/ assumed that He went in, in a sense, like one on a rescue mission in order to throw open the gates. From the outside, as it were.

If I'm reading correctly, HvB posits He goes in the same way as any other inmate, condemned and fulfilling completely the forsakenness of the suffering servant. It is only after that that the gates are thrown open. Thought it worth mentioning because it turned my understanding on its head a little.

Gagdad Bob said...

If I'm not mistaken, that's a controversial opinion, but I don't know enough to agree or disagree. I wonder if he got it from Adrienne von Speyr?

julie said...

Good question; it wouldn't be surprising. I may have to read that passage over again for wider context. I can see a lot of what he writes in this being more than a little controversial for mainstream Christianity, but it fits really well with Gödel.

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