Primacy…
Estudia: Phi, I’ve got a question.
Philo: Shoot. I’m at your service.
Estudia: You talked a lot about the axioms of existence and identity, but you haven’t said much about consciousness. You said we possess consciousness and so it must be an entity with specific properties. Can we say anything about its action? Does it cause things to react?
Philo: Objectivism holds, and I agree, that existence comes first. Things are what they are in spite of any consciousness. Think back to when you were a child again. You began to understand that you are separate from objects and that your inner world was a product of your senses. You could close your eyes and block out reality for instance. You implicitly understood that you had consciousness and that was your means of perceiving objects or entities in existence. You probably hope and prayed and wished that you could affect reality many times but you learned that it just doesn’t work that way. Maybe you developed some superstitions like the stepping on the crack rhyme or if you dropped the soap you’d lose something of value. Whatever, you learned that existence comes first or as we say: existence has primacy. Objectivism holds the “Primacy of existence” as a fundamental aspect of metaphysics.
Estudia: So things are what they are. Identity in other words.
Philo: Yes but also they are what they are independent of consciousness. Consciousness is dependent on the objects in existence. It takes the results of the stimulation of the senses and uses them to perceive existence. No amount of wishing can affect existence... without action of course. Consciousness in its ability to imagine can direct our actions so we can shape reality to our desires. But the thinking alone will not do a thing. Consciousness can discover what is what, but it can not alter or control objects on its own.
Estudia: So it takes a child a while to understand this.
Philo: Relatively a while, but that is only because they first have to understand that there is existence made up of entities with identity and certain causal relations. All that has to come first so consciousness is the last of the basic axiomatic concepts a child grasps.
Estudia: Objectivism holds existence primary and not consciousness. Most religions hold consciousness as primary I would say.
Philo: That’s true. You can have God’s or man’s consciousness as your primary starting point and hope for the best. Pun intended. Look, here’s an example of the two views of existence. Say you are being held hostage by terrorists and they are threatening to behead you if someone else doesn’t do what they want, say; release some of their friends from prison. Well if you held the primacy-of-existence view of things you would work on ways to escape, lie your way out of the hands of the terrorist, or kill them if you could. If you held the primacy-of-consciousness view, you might just begin praying and hoping and wishing for help and miss any chance to escape. Even if hundreds were praying with you it wouldn’t affect the outcome or the terrorists’ actions.
Estudia: Is the primacy-of-existence then an axiom.
Philo: A corollary. “Existence exists” comes before the “you exist possessing consciousness”. You have to be conscious of something, some object or entity. But entities are objects and act according. So consciousness is just a means of awareness. Consciousness can grasp what it is, but it can not alter or control entities or their nature.
Estudia: Hummm… well, can you prove the primacy-of-existence.
Philo: Please, proof, proof of existence. I’ll tell you what you can prove next time.
Estudia: OK, I can’t wait.
Philo: Shoot. I’m at your service.
Estudia: You talked a lot about the axioms of existence and identity, but you haven’t said much about consciousness. You said we possess consciousness and so it must be an entity with specific properties. Can we say anything about its action? Does it cause things to react?
Philo: Objectivism holds, and I agree, that existence comes first. Things are what they are in spite of any consciousness. Think back to when you were a child again. You began to understand that you are separate from objects and that your inner world was a product of your senses. You could close your eyes and block out reality for instance. You implicitly understood that you had consciousness and that was your means of perceiving objects or entities in existence. You probably hope and prayed and wished that you could affect reality many times but you learned that it just doesn’t work that way. Maybe you developed some superstitions like the stepping on the crack rhyme or if you dropped the soap you’d lose something of value. Whatever, you learned that existence comes first or as we say: existence has primacy. Objectivism holds the “Primacy of existence” as a fundamental aspect of metaphysics.
Estudia: So things are what they are. Identity in other words.
Philo: Yes but also they are what they are independent of consciousness. Consciousness is dependent on the objects in existence. It takes the results of the stimulation of the senses and uses them to perceive existence. No amount of wishing can affect existence... without action of course. Consciousness in its ability to imagine can direct our actions so we can shape reality to our desires. But the thinking alone will not do a thing. Consciousness can discover what is what, but it can not alter or control objects on its own.
Estudia: So it takes a child a while to understand this.
Philo: Relatively a while, but that is only because they first have to understand that there is existence made up of entities with identity and certain causal relations. All that has to come first so consciousness is the last of the basic axiomatic concepts a child grasps.
Estudia: Objectivism holds existence primary and not consciousness. Most religions hold consciousness as primary I would say.
Philo: That’s true. You can have God’s or man’s consciousness as your primary starting point and hope for the best. Pun intended. Look, here’s an example of the two views of existence. Say you are being held hostage by terrorists and they are threatening to behead you if someone else doesn’t do what they want, say; release some of their friends from prison. Well if you held the primacy-of-existence view of things you would work on ways to escape, lie your way out of the hands of the terrorist, or kill them if you could. If you held the primacy-of-consciousness view, you might just begin praying and hoping and wishing for help and miss any chance to escape. Even if hundreds were praying with you it wouldn’t affect the outcome or the terrorists’ actions.
Estudia: Is the primacy-of-existence then an axiom.
Philo: A corollary. “Existence exists” comes before the “you exist possessing consciousness”. You have to be conscious of something, some object or entity. But entities are objects and act according. So consciousness is just a means of awareness. Consciousness can grasp what it is, but it can not alter or control entities or their nature.
Estudia: Hummm… well, can you prove the primacy-of-existence.
Philo: Please, proof, proof of existence. I’ll tell you what you can prove next time.
Estudia: OK, I can’t wait.
posted by Rp | 9:01 PM
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