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14 Jul 2008 @ 09:06, by John Grieve
My Philosophy in a Nutshell
Alienation and Integration are cosmic processes, opposite and complementary, which are manifestations of Yin and Yang, those primeval expressions of duality.
Alienation is less familiar to us than Integration, which most people feel more attracted to, as representing oneness, wholeness and totality. Alienation, however, belongs to the darker side of things and is represented by separation into parts; differentiation into individual and unique entities. It is connected to the establishing of identities. In philosophy we have the instance of it given by Hegel when he says that Spirit “alienates” into Matter. This is Spirit becoming individual, differentiated material entities. Similarly in society and psychology, “undifferentiated” young people separate themselves from their parents and society, often quite rebelliously, and forge for themselves, after great struggle and hardship, their own unique identities as adults.
In Science we have the example, similar to Hegel’s, of energy, as in the Big Bang, gradually cooling into different forms of matter, first sub-atomic particles, then atoms and molecules and finally organic matter and life forms.
In history we see the process of alienation taking place as societies and people gradually evolve over millennia to higher states of consciousness and organization. This process is uniquely connected with the form of social organization we call “civilization”. Leaving earlier societies behind civilization is a unique form. As yet a higher form has never surpassed it, though dozens of civilizations have arisen and passed away. Yet many thinkers predict that a higher form will emerge; a supercivilization perhaps which will be based on a sort of higher consciousness, variously called SuperConsciousness or Cosmic Consciousness by different mystics.
This predicted process is the opposite of the previous alienation and comprises the coming together of the whole world as a unity, in a process of integration. Put simply Integration is the reverse of differentiation or alienation, and consists of all the parts reuniting into a whole or totality.
Here we hit the vexing problem of “the Other” which is intimately connected with our status as unique individuals with a dual nature. Individual identity creates the problem of the Other, and the other within ourselves, just as Self-Consciousness creates the problems of original sin, shame etc., which hardly existed in previous (tribal/clan) societies, where people were less differentiated.
Outside is but a mirror-image or reflection of the inside. In our problems with the “Other”, and in the world there are countless different others, we are confronting, essentially, the contradiction of our finite, limited individuality versus the infinite unlimited nature of the godhead of which we are part. We are both finite and infinite at the same time. We are unique, limited individuals and also non-unique, unlimited aspects of the god-head at the same time. The almost infinite number of human identities and sub-personalities of the human condition are the bridges between these two states.
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Category: Articles
2 comments
14 Jul 2008 @ 09:50 by mortimer : wow another coconut
in the nutshell, well said John.
27 Jul 2008 @ 09:38 by Glistening Deepwater @121.223.41.21 : Unity vs Duality
The apparent paradox between unity and duality can be better understood when one realises that the two are inseperable and complimentary. The difference lies in the contexts from which these concepts arise. The concept of unity is the knowing of the oneness of all that is and arises from the transcendent perspective, the concept of duality and hence the illusion of separation arises as a result of an empirical perspective.
These perspectives relate to each other through the fact that the empirical perspective is a manifestation of the transcendent perspective, and this can be known from that level of awareness, however it is not possible to comprehend transcendent knowledge from an empirical contextual experience.
More on these fascinating topics has recently been posted at [link]
and there is much information which gives deeper insights into these brief statements to be found there.
thank you for the concise overview John Grieve :)
Other entries in Articles
1 Oct 2008 @ 08:40: Consciousness, Mind and Information
9 Sep 2008 @ 08:58: The Other Erwin Schrodinger
2 Sep 2008 @ 11:30: Sexual Identity is Basic on the Material Plane
31 Aug 2008 @ 09:19: HomoRacism
27 Aug 2008 @ 08:32: Theology of the Other
24 Aug 2008 @ 15:14: Grieve''s Twin Prime Conjecture
12 Aug 2008 @ 09:13: Truth, Denial and Fascism
4 Aug 2008 @ 09:07: Why is Dialectic Important
1 Aug 2008 @ 09:10: Dual Nature as applied to Personality
3 Jun 2008 @ 09:12: Phi, the Pentagon and Self-Similarity
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