Reaction Paper

Lecture Notes B

Constructing Reality/Concepts for understanding the world All human cultures offer some type of explanation as to how the world works. Religions teach about the origins of humanity, instruct adherents in proper moral living, and offer explanations of death and eternity. Similarly, various philosophical schools offer conceptual frame works for organizing thought to assist in developing an understanding of the nature of things. While various philosophical schools present differing perspectives on the world and ways of organizing thought. While philosophical differences are sometimes diametrically opposed and irreconcilable, at other times the differences are merely variations in emphasis. Realism The realist view of the world holds that everything in the world exists independent of any observer. In this view, everything has an "intrinsic" essence which exists independent of an observer. The realist view holds that the formulation of any concept or belief is merely an intellectual task of accurately identifying the inherent essence of some "thing". One is either right or wrong, depending upon how accurate one identifies the inherent essence. In this view, at least in its purest form, embraces a world of absolutes in which fact, truth, and reality are identical concepts. The philosophical tradition of "realism" which holds that truth exists independent of any observer and that we, as thinking creatures, either systematically seek it out truth and reality, or merely stumble upon and discover it. Science has recognized the existence of certain immutable facts in the physical world, which exist independent of any observer. Barring external influences, the speed of light is a constant, the rate at which an object falls to earth is a constant at terminal velocity, volume of space occupied by a gallon of water at sea level at 60 degrees, etc. While all of these phenomena can be altered, given certain constant conditions, these phenomena are recognized as immutable facts of nature. For many centuries, this view has held a preeminent position in Western thought and include such labels as literalism, fundamentalism, absolutism, and modern tradition. This position has also created justification for embracing one's belief's as inherently right and those of dissident voices as wrong. Conceptualism The "conceptualist" view regards a concept or belief about anything as subjective. That is, anything that is known or understood is ultimately defined by the beliefs of the observer. In this view, all concepts are products of human consciousness, unrelated to any "facts" of an independent reality. In this view of the world, something is true or false, right or wrong if one believes it to be that way. A concept of any thing is merely an arbitrary notion reflecting the individual and cultural bias of the observer. This concept is expressed under the labels of "relativism" and "post modernism". An integration of these two schools allows a more complete explanation of the reality of "concepts". It can be posited that both an "objective reality" exists independent of any observer,

but that this "reality" requires recognition and attribution of "meaning" by the observer. Therefore, any "objective reality", while possessing immutable factual elements, may have multiple meanings, depending upon the understanding and interpretation of various individual observers. The two major religions of the world, Christianity and Islam, posit the existence of God (Allah) as a supreme being, who exists independent of any individual observer. As such, the notion that the concept of God is a human construction challenges many who have been brought up in a culture which expects unquestioning faith in religious matters. However, such a view does not deny the possible existence of God. What the conceptualist view holds is that God may very well exist, but we have no means of understanding his existence aside from our ability to create our own concept of God. One might therefore think that any true believer of Christianity or Islam would be required to embrace a realist philosophy. However, the belief in God as an entity independent of any observer is not the same as recognizing the inherent nature of God. Any concept of God requires that each observer to create or endorse an understanding of God that is personally meaningful. Indeed some religions point out the unknowable nature of God surpasses all understanding. In regard to human knowledge and understanding, man (in the non-gender specific meaning of the term) has to be the measure, since he has to bring all things into the realm of the humanly knowable. This notion is particularly helpful in developing a framework for "cross cultural counseling." which typically pairs a counselor and client with culturally divergent points of reference. Any view of a "reality" (e.g. concept, behavior, event, etc.) will invariably be filtered through the culturally differing perspectives of each observer. Counselors are taught to speak the language of the client. This is important in terms of joining and understanding the client's reality. However, there are situations when the client's view of reality is clearly "out of touch" with their environment, at least in a functional sense. Effective counseling is not just a matter of "speaking the client's language", but assisting the client in developing a way of thinking, or more accurately behaving, in a manner that is more functional in the cultural context of the client's world. The notion of the client being able to construct reality and meaning independent of the context of the society and culture in which the client lives ignores the social rules and pressures which shape expectations of client behavior. Clients who deviate too far from cultural behavioral norms are invariably punished in some manner. In order to evaluate something, it is necessary to accept several axiomatic principles. For the most part, all of our concepts, all our ideas and notions about the world are formed on the basis of differentiation and integration, the ability to compare similarities and contrast differences. It is through this process that we attribute meaning to all things. Through this

process, the concept of "chair" is distinguished from the concept of "table", the concept of "fast" from "slow", "slavery" from "freedom", etc, etc. This intricate process of differentiation and integration applies to all of our concepts except the concepts of "existence", "identity", and "consciousness". Existence, identity and consciousness are concepts in that they require identification in conceptual form. However, their uniqueness lies in the fact that they are perceived or experienced directly, but grasped conceptually. The concepts of "existence" and "identity" are every entity, attribute, action, event, or phenomenon that exists, has ever existed, or ever will exist. The concept of "consciousness" refers to every state or process of awareness that one experiences, has every experienced, or will ever experience. Consciousness is a state of awareness. We become aware through a process of comparison. We examine a new "thing" in terms of how it is similar (integration) or different (differentiation) with what we know. This process of awareness or "consciousness" begins at birth and is initially limited to the level of physical "sensation". Sensations are experienced immediately in the physical sense and are not retained in memory. However, after experiencing a sensation, the human mind immediately creates a perceptual memory or "percept". It is through the formulation of a percept that we "conceptualize" and retain in our memory experiences of physical sensations such as "pleasure" or "pain". However, the actual experience of "pleasure" or "pain" remains experiential. We cannot conjure up an actual physical sensation from memory, only the concept of the sensation. Similarly, while percepts of sensations are retained in our memory and provide a certain link to the past, we cannot project theses sensations into the future. Sensations are merely an awareness of the present and cannot be retained beyond the immediate moment. Perceptual awareness is merely a collective memory of physical sensations. Conceptual awareness is the only type of awareness capable of integrating past, present, and future. Epistemologically, each human is the measure, since each of us must conceptualize phenomena to a degree that it becomes "known". In order for this to occur, it becomes necessary to accept our own existence and consciousness as fundamental and basic. Any questioning or evaluation of the "existence" or "consciousness" of the evaluator (by the evaluator) is paradoxical and a logical impossibility. As observers of concrete phenomena we must accept as fundamental, our own "existence", "identity", and "consciousness". These concepts are not created through the process of differentiation and integration but rather exist as fundamentals. One can study what exists and how consciousness functions, but one cannot analyze and prove existence, or consciousness as such. Logically, the concepts of "existence" and "consciousness" are irreducible primaries. Aristotle held the view that only concrete things exist. But he held that definitions refer to metaphysical essences, which exist in concretes. Aristotle regarded essence as "metaphysical",

objectivism regards it as "epistemological" Man is the measure - epistemologically not metaphysically.

B, Canfield