Revelation page 8
~ The Study of Threes ~
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| Preface page 1 | Preface page 2 | Preface page 3 |
| Preface page 1b | Preface page 2b | Preface page 3b |
| ANC Prologue Page 1 |
ANC Prologue Page 2 |
ANC Prologue Page 3 |
| ANC Prologue Page 1b |
ANC Prologue Page 2b |
ANC Prologue Page 3b |
| Communism and Societal Collapse |
| ANC Epilogue Page 1 |
ANC Epilogue Page 2 |
ANC Epilogue Page 3 |
In as much as the present topic of a New Communism proposes a transcendence beyond the Old formulas of Communism and that they have been positioned from the pulpits of their respective political platforms to propose a transcendence beyond Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism and other ideologies, the idea of a different existence calls for a need to examine the idea of existence, quite often referred to as Existentialism in philosophical discourse. However, as is so often the case, when a word becomes singled out as a representation to a proposed idea, there comes along someone, or several someones who want to limit a word to a constraint, thereby using it to consolidate their efforts to assume control of an area of thought that is dominated by a singular word. Existence, and hence Existentialism is being used by me to represent an impression of freedom of possibility since we are only making guesses about reality anyway.
Existentialism: any of the various philosophies dating from about 1930 that have in common an interpretation of human existence in the world that stresses its concreteness and its problematic character.
Nature of existentialist thought and manner
According to existentialism:
- Existence is always particular and individual—always my existence, your existence, his existence.
- Existence is primarily the problem of existence (i.e., of its mode of being); it is, therefore, also the investigation of the meaning of Being.
- This investigation is continually faced with diverse possibilities, from among which the existent (i.e., the human individual) must make a selection, to which he must then commit himself.
- Because these possibilities are constituted by the individual's relationships with things and with other humans, existence is always a being-in-the-world—i.e., in a concrete and historically determinate situation that limits or conditions choice. Humans are therefore called Dasein ("there being") because they are defined by the fact that they exist, or are in the world and inhabit it.
- With respect to the first point, that existence is particular, existentialism is opposed to any doctrine that views as the manifestation of an absolute or of an infinite substance. It is thus opposed to most forms of idealism, such as those that stress Consciousness, Spirit, Reason, Idea, or Oversoul.
- Second, it is opposed to any doctrine that sees in human beings some given and complete reality that must be resolved into its elements in order to be known or contemplated. It is thus opposed to any form of objectivism or scientism since these stress the crass reality of external fact.
- Third, existentialism is opposed to any form of necessitarianism; for existence is constituted by possibilities from among which the individual may choose and through which he can project himself.
- And, finally, with respect to the fourth point, existentialism is opposed to any solipsism (holding that I alone exist) or any epistemological idealism (holding that the objects of knowledge are mental), because existence, which is the relationship with other beings, always extends beyond itself, toward the being of these entities; it is, so to speak, transcendence.
Starting from these bases, existentialism can take diverse and contrasting directions. It can insist on the transcendence of Being with respect to existence, and, by holding this transcendence to be the origin or foundation of existence, it can thus assume a theistic form. On the other hand, it can hold that human existence, posing itself as a problem, projects itself with absolute freedom, creating itself by itself, thus assuming to itself the function of God. As such, existentialism presents itself as a radical atheism. Or it may insist on the finitude of human existence—i.e., on the limits inherent in its possibilities of projection and choice. As such, existentialism presents itself as a humanism.
From 1940 on, with the diffusion of existentialism through continental Europe, its directions developed in keeping with the diversity of the interests to which they were subject: the religious interest, the metaphysical (or nature of Being) interest, and the moral and political interest. This diversity was rooted, at least in part, in the diversity of sources on which existentialism draws:
- One such source is the subjectivism of the 4th–5th-century theologian St. Augustine, who exhorted others not to go outside themselves in the quest for truth, for it is within them that truth abides. "If you find that you are by nature mutable," he wrote, "transcend yourself." (H.O.B. Note: this is similar to the aphorism "Know thyself" which is attributed to 6th century Thales of Miletus.)
- Another source is the Dionysian Romanticism of the 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who exalted life in its most irrational and cruel features and made this exaltation the proper task of the "higher man," who exists beyond good and evil.
- Still another source is the nihilism of the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who, in his novels, presented human beings as continually defeated as a result of their choices and as continually placed before the insoluble enigma of themselves.
As a consequence of the diversity of these sources, existentialist doctrines focus on several aspects of existence.
- They focus, first, on the problematic character of the human situation, through which the individual is continually confronted with diverse possibilities or alternatives, among which he may choose and on the basis of which he can project his life.
- Second, the doctrines focus on the phenomena of this situation and especially on those that are negative or baffling, such as the concern or preoccupation that dominates the individual because of the dependence of all his possibilities upon his relationships with things and with other people; the dread of death or of the failure of his projects; the "shipwreck" upon insurmountable "limit situations" (death, the struggle and suffering inherent in every form of life, the situation in which everyone daily finds himself); the guilt inherent in the limitation of choices and in the responsibilities that derive from making them; the boredom from the repetition of situations; and the absurdity of his dangling between the infinity of his aspirations and the finitude of his possibilities.
- Third, the doctrines focus on the inter-subjectivity that is inherent in existence and is understood either as a personal relationship between two individuals, I and thou, such that the thou may be another person or God, or as an impersonal relationship between the anonymous mass and the individual self deprived of any authentic communication with others.
- Fourth, existentialism focuses on ontology, on some doctrine of the general meaning of Being, which can be approached in any of a number of ways: through the analysis of the temporal structure of existence; through the etymologies of the most common words—on the supposition that in ordinary language Being itself is disclosed, at least partly (and thus is also hidden); through the rational clarification of existence by which it is possible to catch a glimpse, through ciphers or symbols, of the Being of the world, of the soul, and of God; through existential psychoanalysis that makes conscious the fundamental "project" in which existence consists; or, finally, through the analysis of the fundamental modality to which all the aspects of existence conform—i.e., through the analysis of possibility.
- There is, in the fifth place, the therapeutic value of existential analysis that permits, on the one hand, the liberating of human existence from the beguilements or debasements to which it is subject in daily life and, on the other, the directing of human existence toward its authenticity—i.e., toward a relationship that is well-grounded on itself, and with other humans, with the world, and with God.
The various forms of existentialism may also be distinguished on the basis of language, which is an indication of the cultural traditions to which they belong and which often explains the differences in terminology among various authors. The principal representatives of German existentialism in the 20th century were Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers; those of French personalistic existentialism were Gabriel Marcel and Jean-Paul Sartre; that of French phenomenology were Maurice Merleau-Ponty; that of Spanish existentialism was José Ortega y Gasset; that of Russian idealistic existentialism was Nikolay Berdyayev (who, however, lived half of his adult life in France); and that of Italian existentialism was Nicola Abbagnano. The linguistic differences, however, are not decisive for a determination of philosophical affinities. For example, Marcel and Sartre were farther apart than Heidegger and Sartre; and there was greater affinity between Abbagnano and Merleau-Ponty than between Merleau-Ponty and Marcel.
Nicola Abbagnano: Emeritus Professor of History of Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy, 1936–76. Foremost Italian Existentialist philosopher. Author of Critical Existentialism and others.
- Nicola Abbagnano- Emeritus Professor of History of Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy, 1936–76. Foremost Italian Existentialist philosopher. Author of Critical Existentialism and others.
"existentialism." Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite, 2013.
It is rather fortuitous that this portion of Existentialism ends with a reference to Language, since its usage is in large part made possible by being able to hear and that upon closer examination we find the ear representing identifiable patterns which repeat, such as patterns-of-three. For those readers who come upon this page without having encountered a reference to the recurring "threeness" in audiology that I have placed elsewhere, let me (again) provided a single image:
The reason for showing the image and making reference to the recurring pattern is that the pattern may be thought of as predisposing human language along a given orientation and this in turn influences human thought. Hence, viewing developmental biology and developmental behavior as stages in transcendence, the word "Communism" is a label that has been used to express a transcendent political view but is also a hindrance because its meaning has become largely constrained to represent Marx and Engles' ideas and is therefore begging for a redemption by being redefined to permit it to transcend its previous primitive status of Marxian-Engles' existence which acts more like the babbling of an infant engage in bouts of peeing, pooping, eating, sleeping and semi-consciously engage with interacting with the world, if not the mumblings of a primitive; than an articulate "self" identity, though this primivity is well articulated by its advocates. All too often the articulate behavior of proponents is misinterpreted to suggest that an idea is just as articulate, thereby concealing its actual primivity of development. As noted elsewhere on different pages, if the human ear were otherwise expressed with some other pattern, than language and though might well be different, as would the concepts of existentialism, transcendence and Communism.
Let us look at the pre-cursive development of Existentialism:
(Existentialism): The immediate background and founding fathers
The theses of existentialism found a particular relevance during World War II, when Europe found itself threatened alternately by material and spiritual destruction. Under those circumstances of uncertainty, the optimism of Romantic inspiration, by which the destiny of humankind is infallibly guaranteed by an infinite force (such as Reason, the Absolute, or Mind) and propelled by it toward an ineluctable progress, appeared to be untenable. Existentialism was moved to insist on the instability and the risk of all human reality, to acknowledge that the individual is "thrown into the world"—i.e., abandoned to a determinism that could render his initiatives impossible—and to hold that his very freedom is conditioned and hampered by limitations that could at any moment render it empty. The negative aspects of existence, such as pain, frustration, sickness, and death—which 19th-century optimism refused to take seriously because they do not touch the infinite principle that these optimists believed to be manifest in humans—became for existentialism the essential features of human reality.
The thinkers who, by virtue of the negative character of their philosophy, constituted the exception to 19th-century Romanticism thus became the acknowledged masters of the existentialists. Against Hegelian necessitarianism, Kierkegaard interpreted existence in terms of possibility: dread—which dominates existence through and through—is "the sentiment of the possible." It is the feeling of what can happen to a person even when he has made all of his calculations and taken every precaution. Despair, on the other hand, discovers in possibility its only remedy, for "If man remains without possibilities, it is as if he lacked air." The German philosopher and economist Karl Marx, in holding that the individual is constituted essentially by the "relationships of work and production" that tie him to things and other humans, had insisted on the alienating character that these relationships assume in capitalist society, where private property transforms the individual from an end to a means, from a person to the instrument of an impersonal process that subjugates him without regard for his needs and his desires. Nietzsche had viewed the amor fati ("love of fate") as the "formula for man's greatness." Freedom consists in desiring what is and what has been and in choosing it and loving it as if nothing better could be desired.
Emergence as a movement
Modern existentialism reproduced these ideas and combined them in more or less coherent ways. Human existence is, for all the forms of existentialism, the projection of the future on the basis of the possibilities that constitute it. For some existentialists (Heidegger and Jaspers, for example), the existential possibilities, inasmuch as they are rooted in the past, merely lead every project for the future back to the past, so that only what has already been chosen can be chosen (Nietzsche's amor fati). For others (such as Sartre), the possibilities that are offered to existential choice are infinite and equivalent, such that the choice between them is indifferent; and for still others (Abbagnano and Merleau-Ponty), the existential possibilities are limited by the situation, but they neither determine the choice nor render it indifferent. The issue is one of individuating, in every concrete situation and by means of a specific inquiry, the real possibilities offered to humans. For all the existentialists, however, the choice among possibilities—i.e., the projection of existence—implies risks, renunciation, and limitation. Among the risks, the most serious is the descent into inauthenticity or alienation, the degradation from being a person into being a thing. Against this risk, for the theological forms of existentialism (e.g., Marcel, the Swiss theologian Karl Barth, and the German biblical scholar Rudolf Bultmann), there is the guarantee of the transcendent help from God, which in its turn is guaranteed by faith.
Existentialism, consequently, by insisting on the individuality and non-repeatability of existence (following Kierkegaard and Nietzsche), is sometimes led to regard one's coexistence with other humans (held to be, however, an ineluctable fact of the human situation) as a condemnation or alienation of humanity. Marcel said that all that exists in society beyond the individual is "expressible by a minus sign," and Sartre affirmed, in his major work L'Être et le néant (1943; Being and Nothingness), that "the Other is the hidden death of my possibilities." For other forms of existentialism, however, a coexistence that is not anonymous (as that of a mob) but grounded on personal communication is the condition of authentic existence.
Existentialism has had ramifications in various areas of contemporary culture. In literature, Franz Kafka, author of haunting novels, walking in Kierkegaard's footsteps, described human existence as:
- The quest for a stable, secure, and radiant reality that continually eludes it (Das Schloss [1926; The Castle])
- Or as threatened by a guilty verdict about which it knows neither the reason nor the circumstances but against which it can do nothing—a verdict that ends with death (Der Prozess [1925; The Trial]).
The theses of contemporary existentialism were then diffused and popularized by the novels and plays of Sartre and by the writings of the French novelists and dramatists Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus. In L'Homme révolté (1951; The Rebel), Camus described the "metaphysical rebellion" as "the movement by which a man protests against his condition and against the whole of creation." In art, the analogues of existentialism may be considered to be Surrealism, Expressionism, and in general those schools that view the work of art not as the reflection of a reality external to humans but as the free immediate expression of human reality.
Existentialism made its entrance into psychopathology through Jaspers's Allgemeine Psychopathologie (1913; General Psychopathology), which was inspired by the need to understand the world in which the mental patient lives by means of a sympathetic participation in his experience. Later, the Swiss psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger, in one of his celebrated works, Über Ideenflucht (1933; "On the Flight of Ideas"), inspired by Heidegger's thought, viewed the origin of mental illness as a failure in the existential possibilities that constitute human existence (Dasein). From Jaspers and Binswanger, the existentialist current became diffused and variously stated in contemporary psychiatry.
In theology, Barth's Römerbrief (1919; The Epistle to the Romans) started the "Kierkegaard revival," the emblem of which was expressed by Barth himself; it is "the relation of this God with this man; the relation of this man with this God—this is the only theme of the Bible and of philosophy." Within the bounds of this current, on the one hand, there was an insistence upon the absolute transcendence of God with respect to the individual, who could place himself in relationship with God only by denying himself and by abandoning himself to a gratuitously granted faith. On the other hand, there was the requirement to demythologize the religious content of faith, particularly of the Christian faith, in order to allow the message of the eschatological event (of salvation) to emerge from among human existential possibilities.
Nicola Abbagnano
Marxian-Engles' Communism is essentially a Theosophical offshoot being called a Political Ideology or "Scientific Sociology" because of the language being employed to describe it. Its underpinning is a dualism hiding behind the structure of an embellished dichotomy known as a dialectical, as represented by the overarching emphasis between the lower class Proletariat and middle class Bourgeoisie (like the youngest and middle child in a perpetual sibling rivalry), and therefore constitutes a Major and Minor premise model, though the elite... or upper class (eldest sibling), is not entirely excused from all discussions and responsibility for the plight of the lower class. An extension of this dichotomy is found when the Bourgeoisie is cast as both a hero and villain to the Proletariat in that like so many other social movements to improve their own lot (like Lords and Nobles of early England), the Bourgeoisie become cast a Janus-faced (or, more explicitly, a two-faced) character. Whereas Marx saw the French Revolution as a representation of the Middle class seeking greater demand for equal political empowerment from the well-to-do Aristocracy, and that following this the Proletariat would thus need a similar conciliation, he does not also attend to the historical representation which this illustrates; namely that prior to the middle class revolution the upper class had to have its own revolution from spiritual practices that forced an obeisance that a raging Narcissism confronted by making proclamations that a leader was either a god, a son of god, or some chief representative thereof, like the many narcissistic theologians existing today who view themselves as special people because of their title, position, behavior, raiments, idioms, vernacular, social discourse, expected deferences from others, etc...
Instead of a greater spiritual reality as that promoted by Theosophists, a greater social reality is thought to be achievable by Communists. With respect to Theosophists, we can identify orientations which focus on a monism, dualism or threeism, with the latter being a reference to the form of Theosophy called Freemasonry. The significance of the philosophically-based numerical values being used is related to a human cognitive profile of which a Threesological philosophy underwrites.
(Theosophy is an) occult movement originating in the 19th century with roots that can be traced to ancient Gnosticism and Neoplatonism. The term theosophy, derived from the Greek theos ("god") and sophia ("wisdom"), is generally understood to mean "divine wisdom." Forms of this doctrine were held in antiquity by the Manichaeans, an Iranian dualist sect, and in the Middle Ages by two groups of dualist heretics, the Bogomils in Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire and the Cathari in southern France and Italy. In modern times, theosophical views have been held by Rosicrucians and by speculative Freemasons. The international New Age movement of the 1970s and '80s originated among independent theosophical groups in the United Kingdom.
Beliefs
The various forms of theosophical speculation have certain common characteristics. The first is an emphasis on mystical experience. Theosophical writers hold that there is a deeper spiritual reality and that direct contact with that reality can be established through intuition, meditation, revelation, or some other state transcending normal human consciousness. Theosophists also emphasize esoteric doctrine. Modern theosophists claim that all world religions contain such an inner teaching, and much attention is devoted to deciphering the meaning concealed in sacred texts. In addition, most theosophical speculation reveals a fascination with supernatural or other extraordinary occurrences and with the achievement of higher psychic and spiritual powers. Theosphists maintain that knowledge of the divine wisdom gives access to the mysteries of nature and humankind's inner essence. Finally, theosophy displays a characteristic preference for monism (see pluralism and monism)—the view that reality is constituted of one principle or substance, such as mind or spirit. Although theosophists recognize the basic distinctions between the phenomenal world and a higher spiritual reality and between the human and the divine, which suggests dualism, most theosophists also affirm an overarching, all-encompassing unity that subsumes all differentiation. Associated with their monism are the beliefs that God is utterly transcendent and impersonal, that creation is the product of spiritual emanations from God, and that humans are sparks of the divine trapped in the material world who desire to return to their spiritual home.
Now, let us re-cast the foregoing last paragraph into a traditionalized Marxian=Engles' Communist framework, noting there are of course multiple exceptions to be encountered:
The various forms of Marxian-Engles' Communist speculations have certain common characteristics. The first is an emphasis on a common you-deserve-more economic experience. Communist (and Socialist... along with Democracy) writers hold that there is a deeper social reality and that direct contact with that reality can be established through indentured hard work, sacrificial patriotism and mindless deference to leaders; or some other collective activity transcending all political ideologies except for the one being advocated. Communists also emphasize a fairy tale "and they lived happily ever after" doctrine. Modern Communists claim that their texts contain an inner teaching, and that much attention must be devoted to deciphering the meaning concealed in their respective texts in order to show that someone truly embraces the political ethic. In addition, most Communist speculation reveals a fascination with a supernatural or other extraordinary emergent property to occur at some point in a to-be-realized Utopia, guaranteeing the achievement of a higher purpose and meaning of life. Communists maintain that knowledge of their (divinized) wisdom gives access to the mysteries of a natural presence of humankind's inner essence. Finally, present day Narcissistic Communism displays a characteristic preference for monism— the view that reality is constituted of one Communist principle or one Communist substance, such as one mind or one spirit, though the tripartite ideology of a three-in-one mind/body/spirit is fully appreciated; but down-played because it resembles the Christian and Hindu religious trinities and is not presented as a profile of human cognition expressed in multiple subject genres. Although Communists recognize the basic distinctions between the phenomenal world and a higher spiritual reality and between the human and the divine, which suggests dualism, most Communists also affirm an overarching, all-encompassing unity that subsumes all differentiation, like an old Mother earth philosophy that refuses to cut the umbilical cord, or a mother hen orientation which strives to restrict the movements of its brood with its desires for growth. Associated with their monism are the beliefs that:
- No human-fabricated God is utterly transcendent and impersonal.
- Tat creation is the product of emanations from an unrealized origin.
- That humans may be little more than specks of dust of the Cosmos trapped in the present Earthly world who desire to embrace a greater realization beyond it.
Date of Origination: Tuesday, January 21st, 2020... 4:18 AM
Initial Posting: Saturday, February 1st, 2020... 1:36 PM
Herb O. Buckland
herbobuckland@hotmail.com