I. Philosophical Ingredients
Continuity is our first principle.
Continuity is:
- unending divisibility (ingress)
- unending extensibility (progress)
Continuity is the essence of temporality.
Temporality is the primordial existential mode of Dasein (the being that is always Being-in-the-world).
Temporality is conceptualized by Dasein as time (a unidirectional series of events).
II. The Derivation
In order to construct the universe, we are going to need a universal particle. That is, each of the parts must be essentially the same as the whole. This universal particle is called a Unit-of-Continuity (UoC), and can best be understood as a “period of time”.
Each UoC, as is, is ontologically indistinguishable from any other. That is, it is meaningless to say whether any particular UoC is truly “a part of a whole” or “a whole with parts”.
It must also be understood that a UoC, as such, is not ontologically significant. It is simply a conceptual device that allows us to carry on a derivation of the universe.
Within each UoC, we will count a number of differences. The value that we obtain will be known as: potential (also known as energy value or mass value… there is no conceptual difference between the two).
Each UoC consists of an arbitrary number of constituent UoCs and is also one of an arbitrary number of constituents of a larger UoC. Again, the precise boundaries that define each UoC are merely conceptual devices.
From here on out, for the sake of readability, I will refer to a Unit-of-Continuity as an “atom”.
Now, atoms can be said to be continually interacting with one another. Once again, because there is no “inner reality” to the boundaries of an atom (that is, they are arbitrarily determined), these interactions are not to be understood as “true external relations”.
It is important to recognize here that although an atom is understood essentially as a “period of time”, the general notion of spatiality is already contained within that of temporality. That is, events of relatively small periods of time are implied to have occured within relatively small regions of space.
The interactions that atoms have with each other occur within a 6-level range, and each level has a subjective and an objective sense, respectively denoted by S and O:
-
Quantum Physics
S: Absorption
O: Excitation/Emission -
Classical Physics
S: Sensation
O: Reaction -
Animal Nature
S: Perception
O: Action -
Pre-Human
S: Cognition/Recognition
O: Intention -
Early Human
S: Abstraction
O: Interpretation -
Modern Human
S: Formulation
O: Deconstruction
The first level, quantum physics, generally happens when two similarly sized atoms “externally interact” with one another. These atoms are not identifiable, in the classical sense of having distinguishable characteristics that persist through time. This most fundamental level grounds the possibility of all others.
Next, the classical physics level (which includes all “relativity” theories) gives us persistantly identifiable material bodies. The quantum level interactions form a complex that we can generalize as a “neural sensation”, which we can also more vaguely call a “feeling”. It is here where we get the physical picture of anything from billiard balls crashing into each other… all the way to a mechanical concept of a living organism (such as a bacterium). All that is happening here is blind reactivity.
Animals, as we know them, are able to perceive, or to “see” objects within their environment. Although there is not yet any kind of planning, animals are at least able to become instinctually pro-active about what it immediately “sees”. (I use the word see in quotes, because animals are able to perceive things with a wide variety or sensory devices).
In the pre-human stage, we have ape-like creatures who are able to cognize, or recognize, the basic meanings of symbols and signs. It is at this level that we start to understand in animals a kind of intentional behaviour towards things that are removed from them, and are thus “held in memory”.
Early humans were able to construct the first languages, and thereby inquire about the sense of the individual terms contained therein. These primitive languages are able to do such things as passing down historical traditions and instructing others how to learn basic techniques. Memory contains not just “pictures” of individual things, but also the words that put these things into various situations.
Moderns humans are able to construct sophisticated lines of reasoning using concepts of a highly derivative nature. It is here that the desire to know “truth” comes into play. This is the level of the “moral person”.
III. Final Considerations
Even if you don’t completely follow the logic of what I am trying to say here, you should at least be able to sense that I have undertaken a very ambitious project: from a first philosophical principle, I am trying to derive everything other concept that humans can possibly have… from quantum physics (the basic principle of the phenomenal universe) all the way to philosophy itself!
Now, while I feel very happy about the progress that I’ve made over the last decade of philosophical activity, I realize that a philosopher’s value is always limited by his power of description. That is, no matter how brilliant is a philosopher’s intuitions, if he is not an equally brilliant wordsmith, then it all falls on deaf ears.
Because of the advanced philosophical level at which my mind works (yes, I am very proud… so sue me!), I realize that the vast majority of my audience here will just be baffled about what I am trying to say, no matter how simply I construct my arguments. Your confusion might anger you, possibly leading to name calling. If you want to call me names, that’s your perogative. But I’ve been called worse by better, so it is all water off a duck’s back.
For those of you who are already working at a fairly high level (say you’ve already spent a good amount of time on Kant, for instance), I don’t mind answering thoughtful questions about my basic ideas. But even more, I am looking for others to attempt to deconstruct what I am trying to say. To understand what I mean by that, read my introductory post.
