Refining the ideas

The following research topics are of interest in the application and development of the ideas of the essay

General

While the following conceptual concerns are basic, it is essential to the character of the journey and the ambition to now focus on the phase of Transformation and experiment

The entire system –including the ambitions and underlying values– is subject to criticism, objection, rejection and affirmation. It is important to review, improve and perhaps make systematic the existing objections and responses… and perhaps to weave these into the analysis

Every topic is capable of refinement, elaboration and improved relations – to the whole and to the other topics. The unitary character of Objects is improved on account the syntheses of abstract and particular object and of becoming-object (including ethics from the old section Ethics and objectivity) with the general (dynamic) object (all objects are dynamic) and should be scrutinized for further synthesis, implicit and latent. The system of fundamental topics may be capable of further coherence and, perhaps, depth. An axiomatic treatment in the manner of Spinoza’s Ethics (completed 1675, published posthumously, 1677) may suggest improvement, coherence and depth

Every concept and assertion may be subject to review, to criticism and objection, to rejection or affirmation

Critical and imaginative analysis and construction of the fundamental ideas and their relations. The concepts of being, void, universe; form, logos or logic; and the normal are perhaps central to the foundation. These ideas should be subject to especially critical attention. Sentience and identity are also crucial and are perhaps already woven into the idea of being; these concepts and their identity with or immanence in being should also be subject to attention. The assertion that The void exists and contains neither thing nor form is critical to the development and it and its place in the development should be subject to sustained and intense criticism and counter-criticism. It will also be valuable to search for (equivalent) alternatives to this fundamental principle

Specific topics

Ideas

Logic and logics. Further analysis of the recent improvements, resolution and simplification of the concepts of Object and Logic. That simplification of sense to the point of triviality may be deepening of power and reference to an ultimate place. Continue the discussion of Logos as the actual and, equivalently, the possible and Logic as the Theory (proper description, depiction, and conceptualization) of Logos i.e. of the actual and the possible; that the triviality of this idea is no more than an apparent one; that as the theory of description (especially in language,) Grammar is identical to Logic. Introduce consistency in thought, terminology and case (i.e. lower versus Title) for ideas and their immanent forms especially in the case of Logic, Logos and logic

Reference as crucial to Logic (via the immanence of its object, the Logos.) Improper reference as a source of paradox. That proper reference appears to be sufficient to valid Logic (logic) – with a possible (important) exception in the infinite case that requires analysis (note that the infinite is analyzed in Objects.) That although proper reference may not be necessary but may be the most sound (are other sound ways to eliminate paradox finally grounded in reference?) A study of the Russell system for semantic paradoxes and the systems of Zermelo-Fraenkel-Skolem and von Neumann-Bernays-Gödel for the consistency of set theory may be undertaken. Achieving consistency through proper reference (grounding) may be rich in consequence. A general study of the nature of ‘logical objects’ and infinite objects may be undertaken to analyze necessary and sufficient conditions of validity including the important case of the necessity and sufficiency of proper reference. Similarity and difference of these ideas with those of Wittgenstein’s Tractacus Logico-Philosophicus on the same topics. Possibility of rewriting the relevant themes of the Tractacus with backward (deepening of) foundation and elimination of substance thinking from Wittgenstein’s logical atomism

That in the above sense of Logic, mathematics and science are chapters of Logic. That the kind of chapters that they are, however, seems to be different. Logic concerns the actual and its descriptions. Mathematics appears to concern those forms that are amenable to ‘formal’ treatment. Science, as it is typically practiced, concerns the forms –patterns, theories and laws– of this cosmological system. Whether, in the case of mathematics, the including of mathematics in Logic is the logicist thesis of Russell shall depend on where logic is thought to stop and where mathematics begins (it is not the case that what is classically taken to be logic, e.g. in the Frege-Russell Logicism is here shown to found or contain mathematics)

Development of logics along the lines established in the narratives and immediately above. Is there one logic of which any special ‘logics’ are part? Are there many independent logics? In view of the emerging view of Logic, these questions are perhaps narrow in scope

Logic and general cosmology. Analysis of meanings and realizations of the phrase, entire system of consistent descriptions, depictions, and conceptualizations; this topic may be amenable to axiomatic treatment and may have consequences for theoretical physics. The source of the idea to this project is the intuition that while an infinite variety is being revealed, that variety may have profound, interesting and intricate limitations

There is a project to investigate the meanings of cause according to which the void may be said to cause the manifest or a domain or in which one domain may be said to cause or create another domain

Modern physics and biology. Quantum theory, the relativistic theory of gravitation and the theory of evolution. The primary topic to investigate is the relation between Metaphysics, Cosmology and the basic concepts and principles of theoretical physics and evolutionary biology that have been suggestive for but not necessary to the development of the Theory of being. Pertinent ideas that arise in this narrative are those of being, of the void, of local and global description, of extension, duration and the completeness versus incompleteness of extension and duration in defining the manifold of being; of the intimate relations among logic, mathematics and science; of indeterminism in origins and process, of mechanism, of relative stability and near symmetry; of form, pattern, and law; of the nature of causation and its extension; of formed or normal cosmological systems and the relation between durability and population; and of sentience and its contribution in the known and knowable population. Concerns that arise include the nature of conservation laws – they are perhaps features of stable systems i.e. the relative stability of formed cosmological systems is perhaps the reign of dominance in interactions that are not a source of runaway in extension due to imbalance in transaction, i.e. that are balanced in transaction or conserving and whose character may require and result from symmetry of arrangement. The idea that a slight deviation from symmetry and conservation may be amplified and therefore and such deviation must be extremely small for stability. These concerns are perhaps related to the issues of second order dynamics and dimensionality of space that are of interest in themselves

Space, Time, and Manifest Being or ‘matter’ (and the nature of their interrelationships and interactions.) That (propagation of) interaction characterizes any immanent space-time manifold; origins of constancy of propagation (rate;) possible origin in stability, conservation and symmetry… Is second order dynamics universal and what is its origin? Stability may be critical in the origin of dynamics of order two and space of dimension three; and regardless of necessity, the relations among dimensionality, order, symmetry and stability are of interest. Stability is perhaps not the only determining or selective principle; another is perhaps topology but it is important to ask whether these and any other ‘alternates’ have equivalence

Relativistic theory of matter and fields. The thoughts of the preceding paragraph and those in Metaphysics and, especially, Cosmology on space, time and being suggest that Metaphysics of immanence may provide framework and perhaps (some) foundation for a relativistic theory of matter and fields

Quantum theory. Possible connections between quantum theory and Metaphysics of immanence and (partial) foundation of the former in the latter have been pointed out especially in Metaphysics and Cosmology. The void of the metaphysics is the state of the universe defined by absence of being that has the characteristic of absolute indeterminism—which is also an absolute determinism (any apparent paradox is treated earlier.) The analogy to the ideas of ‘ground state’ in quantum mechanics, to the quantum vacuum, and to the quantum but not classical (deterministic) relation between indeterminism and form is unmistakable. The consequence of the metaphysics that every element of being must interact with every other element may be related to quantum entanglement

A quantum or genetic theory of laws. The idea of a theory of laws is that a law may be regarded as an object just as a particle. Therefore, in analogy to quantum theories that describe particle creation and destruction, a quantum theory that describes the genesis of a cosmological system together with laws is conceivable. Would such a theory be at a higher level of abstraction than the quantum theories of particle creation? It might seem so but this is not clear. It is pertinent to ask whether equations that describe particle creation have particle structure (analogous to law) built in. If there can be a quantum theory of laws, the first place to turn might be the physicists because of their familiarity with quantum theory but, for the same reason, the physicists might confuse the way it seems to be in modern physics with the way it is. A quantum theory of laws may seem to be absurd but on account of the metaphysics of immanence it is not: Form and Law are immanent in being, i.e. they are elementary in the way that the ‘elementary particles’ are elementary, The metaphysics of immanence may be (the first step toward) a quantum theory of laws. Regardless whether a quantum theory of laws should prove possible and adequate, a more general genetic theory with roots in the metaphysics of immanence may prove possible and may be useful to develop alongside a quantum theory

Human being. Elaboration of the study of life; elaboration of the treatment of mental functions; treatment of personality and social theory; cultivation of personality and charisma; Faith – further depth, living faith, elaboration. Transformation – for investigation and action. Co-development of Theories of being and of human being; relations to Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit. Continue to develop a coherent and grounded view of the Human world

A principled approach to personality. An approach to personality, dimensional or other, that is not ad hoc. Start with variables that define necessities and parameters of integration the development and adapted or co-formed character of the variables. A simple example: concept formation as the articulation of novel, free, formed, aspect of psyche that functions below the threshold of valence requires balance and integration with a bound, valent, internally ‘located’ named emotion. The integration and balance may be taken as one of the variables

Transformation

Transformation of being and identity. Experiments in a variety of bases, ways and paths of transformation of Being and Identity. Social experiments in charisma, patriarchalism and transformation within groups and society. Design versus immersion; flow, opportunity, risk, and freshness of approach… as a way; place of unconscious processing. Continuing analysis and reference to a conceptual base in Description (theory) of being and human being as begun in the respective divisions

Conceptual design, technology and actual or ‘material’ implementation. Theoretical understanding, design and construction of machines with Mind, life, being. Technological and logical design, simulation, and enhancement of actual organisms including those known through experience and through theory (see System of experiments.) Significance and deployment of iterative design and selection from learning, designed and random features, and of actual selection

Narrative form

Review the present linear form as defined in First things and in Story

Explore alternative narrative forms that will preserve essential content but may enhance presentation. Objectives include (1) Transition to the experimental and action phases of the journey. (2) Minimizing inherent difficulty in presenting ideas that do not fit an existing mold and from the newness and ultimate depth and breadth of the core metaphysics and its implications. Consider the relevance of the idea of presentational form of Suzanne Langer (b. 1895, New York, New York, United States.) This idea contrasts the form of a system of ideas and the more or less linear form of its narrative and emphasizes the elements of narrative form that are effective in making the actual form of the ideas accessible. Presentational form is related to the idea of conceptual holism. These thoughts stand in contrast to the relative ease of restriction to piece-meal analysis and its impoverishment. (3) Publication for recognition and critical appreciation of the ideas. (4) Addressing resistance to the ideas, especially from experts and professionals, that may result from immersion in established molds of ideas. Readers may recall the famous quotation, due to the physicist Max Planck, b. April 23, 1858, Kiel, Schleswig, Germany, about the acceptance of unfamiliar ideas ‘A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.’ Here, the word ‘resistance’ is not entirely appropriate; since an individual’s vision may be conditioned by a world view, she or he may experience the objects of a new or alternate way, especially those of a more inclusive way, as invisible i.e. may not encounter them even when in the ‘line of sight’

Consider the following forms. (1) A shorter version that emphasizes what is essential – options include a version aimed at general readers that omits technical details and formal version that presents the technical aspects succinctly. (2) An example of formal presentation might be the form of ‘axiom or given, theorem and proof’ somewhat in the manner of Spinoza’s ethics. (3) Artistic and perhaps non-linear forms of novel, dialog, poem (with or without meter,) and drama (and film.) These versions might explore biographical and autobiographical elements, real and dramatized, that contrast success and failure and that show origin and developments of ideas and their translation into action. (4) Personal versus impersonal narrative. Mixed form and selection of form according to narrative phase

The way ahead

They held two ambitions for the future

The first ambition…

A continuation of the path so far

This will include criticism and improvements of the ideas and foundation – the Theory of being and related developments. It would emphasize transformation, inviting others to share in the process, and ‘application’ (social; and, perhaps, a development of ideas or theory and practice in manifestation of life and intelligent beings)

Although they had thought, ‘transformation will be the final way,’ they felt something further, perhaps an admission of finitude (if only in this form,) perhaps an expression of the infinite in the finite

A second ambition and hope…

Experience of a time of Being over becoming, of perception over thought and action

Experience, perhaps, of the infinite in the finite, of this world