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Note: Neologies and ambiguities clarified in GLOSSARY
are marked "(G]".
SECOND ENLIGHTENMENT,
ESSAY IN PHENOMENOLOGICAL ONTOLOGY AND REASON.
Rational Ontology is the most
inclusive Cognitive Model
of concurrent knowledge,
interacting with all current
crucial domains and disciplines.
Unlike Dogmatism imposing its Dogma
on cognitive domains,
Rationality acts as their servant,
supplying them with foundations
which enhance their coherence
and providing a platform
for further development.
ABSTRACT
A.TWO PHILOSOPHIES
An unfortunate homonymy collects under "Philosophy"
two strictly disjoined domains and opposed attitudes:
Dogmatism and Rationality. Before contrasting them we
shall briefly recall some essentials of the human
faculty of reasoning and of the deductive/inductive
inference.
AA.DOGNA AND AXIOM
"Theory" will denote a hypothetical structure of
statements deduced top-down from "founding" top
"Presumptions", which are taken for granted.
Bottom statements may be assessable by facts, which
allows inductive verification / falsification of
Presumptions. Factually controllable Presumptions will
be called "Axioms" and a Theory founded in them - an
axiomatic Cognitive "Model".
Otherwise, the uncontrollable Presumptions will be
called "Dogma" and the Theory founded in them - a
"Dogmatic Theory".
Axiomatic Models get justified exclusively by facts
and by the capacity to coordinate them.
While Axiom admits doubt and factual falsification,
Dogma is taken as absolutely true and admits no doubt,
nor refutation.
AB.DOGMATISM AND RATIONALITY
ABA.DOGMATISM
By Dogmatism we shall understand the attitude
supporting Dogmatic Theories.
Dogmatism presumes that human mind can ascertain by
Apriori speculations the rules underlying transcendent
reality and imposes them on Cognition as absolute,
dogmatic foundations.
Disdaining facts, Dogmatism gets its Entities from
intuitive Naive View, aka, Naive Realism, as "real
things" having "real properties" exactly as perceived.
Whatever its highbrow verbiage, Dogmatism boils down
to Naive View. Its Entities -containers of properties-
are called Noumena: Dogmatism is synonymous with
Noumenalism.
It is not necessarily religious. The Dogma of Aether
damaged Physics for more than a Century.("BBC Physics
and Aether"). Naive Dogma of noumenal "property
containers" damaged Logic for over two Centuries till
our own days.("BBB Dogmatic Logic").
Finally, dogmatic ideologies presided over foremost
massacres, atrocities and genocides. ("BBAA Fichte and
Romanticism", "BBAB Hegel and utmost Dogmatism").
ABB.RATIONALITY
By Rationality we shall understand the attitude
supporting axiomatic Cognitive Models.
Rational Ontology is the most inclusive Cognitive
Model of concurrent knowledge, interacting with all
crucial domains and disciplines.
Rationality is Phenomenal: deeming transcendency
unknowable, it reduces its Entities to structures of
observable Aspects (aka, Properties or Attributes) of
Phenomena. A single Attribute is a full-fledged Entity
and Entity void of Attributes is a nonsense.
Unlike Dogmatism imposing autocratically its Dogma on
cognitive domains, Rationality acts as their servant,
supplying them with foundations which enhance their
coherence and provide a platform for progress.
B.FIRST ENLIGHTENMENT
Naive View guided original Humans in the struggle for
survival, assisted by natural languages which came
forth to communicate in terms of naive Noumena.
Entirely taken up by this struggle, they had no time,
nor motivation for abstract inquiries and were taking
the hostile "Reality" dogmatically, at the face value.
However, having gained some security and leisure, they
started to investigate deeper and finer patterns of
the apparent "Reality" and abstract intellection was
born.
Thereafter, human history became an incessant conflict
of enlightened Rationality and obscure Dogmatism. Kant
compared it to an obscure ocean from which emerge at
times enlightened isles of Rationality, rare and far
between. The astounding self-generating and sticking
power of Dogma stems according to Kant from laziness
and cowardice. Laziness to think, rather than to enjoy
snug platitudes of Naive View. Cowardice to stray off
beaten tracks and to follow Horace's "Sapere Aude"
(Dare to Reason).
Modern times start with the First Enlightenment which
has been triggered by the First Scientific Revolution.
BA.FIRST SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
BAA.GALILEO
Galileo's main achievement was the Galilean Relativity
which laid the cornerstone of scientific Physics valid
till our days as support of low speed Mechanics.
Its main principles are:
-Steady state of an IR (Inertial Referential[G],
a body on which act no forces) is uniform movement.
-Movements of IRs are mutually relative. There is no
absolute movement.
-Galilean Transformation (G-TR) of speed between IRs
is additive: speed of somebody walking at v within a
train moving at V appears to an outside observer as
V+v. For Galilean Relativity speed is "covariant"
among IR's by G-Tr.
-Speed covariance extends over totality of Mechanics
whose rules and events are covariant by G-Tr among
all IRs.
-Space and Time are invariant, i.e. absolute and
identical for all IRs.
BAB.DESCARTES
His main achievements are:
-Permanent Doubt as source of inquiry, completing
Galileo's Relativity with Uncertainty.
-Cogito ergo Sum, which, in literary form, set
thinking as the unique certain bedrock of inquiry,
postulated primacy of subjective Aspect of
Observation[G] over the objective, eradicated
anterior beliefs in naive "objective reality"
and established primacy of subjectivity in Science.
-Arming Galilean Relativity with exact mathematical
tools, namely Referentials and Analytic Geometry
which founded Calculus and all subsequent scientific
Models.
BAC.NEWTON
Newton may be considered as founder of modern Physics
and one of the greatest scientist of history, due to
his Model of Gravitation, which is a remarkable
instance of Galilean Relativity developed with
Cartesian tools.
BACA.NEWTON'S PARADOXES
Emerging Rationality did not eradicate the anterior
Dogmatism and First Enlightenment witnessed perverted
coexistence of rational Reason with most absurd
Dogmatism. Mechanistic Dogma of Absolute #Space[G]
and of "Reality" having the fabric of "billiard balls"
engendered Newton's Paradoxes:
1.Gravity acts at large distances which contradicts
the dogma of local "billiard balls".
2.#Space (distance) determines the Gravity Force,
which does not act in any way on #Space, thus
contradicting the action/reaction principle.
Both Paradoxes represent Facts contradicting Dogma of
absolute, mechanistic #Space. Questioned about it,
Newton answered with the famous "hypotheses non fingo"
clearly implying that science coordinates events and
ignores transcendency.
BAD.KANT'S PHILOSOPHICAL SYNTHESIS
Kant enlightened Philosophy by banning Noumena from
cognition and by accordingly, for the first time,
inducing Ontology from concurrent Science, viz. from
Newton's Model. However, foundations of Science were
afflicted at his days by several dogma: mechanistic
fabric of "Reality", absolute time/space and certain,
absolute Science. Newton dodged the refutal of
mechanistic "Reality" by facts with his "hypotheses
non fingo", but Kant could not follow him there.
His job consisted precisely in making hypotheses and
sincerity of his Ontology could be bought only at the
cost of truly reflecting its roots: from paradoxical
Science Kant rigorously derived paradoxical Ontology.
In spite of having banned Noumena (Dinge an Sich)
from cognition, he founded his Ontology in absolute
time/space, and other Noumena or "absolute categories
of Pure Reason". His Synthetic Propositions A Priori
reposed in these Noumena in order to satisfy the Dogma
of certain, absolute Science.
Although fallen prey to dogma, Kant did not play down
rational Science, but, on the contrary, overestimated
and absolutized it. Paradoxically, his dogma supported
the strongest ever argumentation against dogmatic
obscurantism and for enlightened Rationality.
He gives excellent example and guidance to those who,
in our days, seek to understand the concurrent world.
-Example of sincerity, rigor and respect for Science.
-Guidance resumed in "Sapere Aude", "Dare to Reason!".
BAE.SOCIO-POLITICAL
Socio-Political is the best known domain of the First
Enlightenment, due to its impact on subsequent
revolutionary changes of socio-political structures.
However, chronology did not respect the foundations
order: Kant came too late for Voltaire, Diderot,
Montesqieu and Rousseau. Lacking consistent basis, the
socio-political reflects uncritically current
controversies: its apparently rational form and
declarations conceal noumenal utopianism.
Oblivious of its rational roots, it slipped almost
entirely into dogmatic irrationality. French
Revolution triggered by Enlightenment's ideology
radically denied its roots replacing Diderots with
Robespierres.
BB.REACTION OF DOGMATISM
First Enlightenment did not eradicate concurrent
Dogmatism and soon collapsed under its reactionary
assaults. This reaction went on uninterrupted till
our epoch which is dominated by dogmatic obscurantism,
out of which tries timidly to emerge the Second
Enlightenment, triggered by the Fin-de-Siecle Crisis.
BBA.GREAT IDEALISTIC SYSTEMS
Dogmatic reaction reached its apogee in "Great German
Idealism" starting with Fichte's Romanticism and
culminating with the utmost, unyielding Dogmatism of
his famous student Hegel.
BBAA.FICHTE AND ROMANTICISM
Romanticism is known mainly as esthetic current
praising spontaneous improvisation, but in that aspect
it had no noticeable practical impact. It's true that
romanticist artists followed innovated rules, but they
applied them as meticulously as their predecessors.
Romanticism impacted principally the Socio-Political
in the form of Nationalism. Fichte became the flagship
of Nazism and, implicitly, of all nationalistic wars
and genocides.
BBAB.HEGEL AND UTMOST DOGMATISM
UNEQUALLED CONCEIT:
In his dissertation Hegel asserted a priori that the
solar system may only have seven planets, seven being
some metaphysically privileged number. Informed about
the discovery of the new planetoid "Cesna", he
commented: "if facts contradict my theory, so much
the worse for the facts"
ABUSE OF THE TERM "DIALECTIC":
"Dialectic" whether that of Socrates, Plato, Sartre or
of contemporary Physics and Biology denotes reasoning
attempting to reconcile pretended logical and factual
contradictions. Hegel misnamed with it the following
pseudo-reasoning:
Pure Being(?), upon examination, is indistinguishable
from Nothingness(?). When it is realized that what is
coming into being(?) is returning to nothingness(?),
both Being(?) and Nothingness(?) are united as
Becoming(of what?).
To resume:
Thesis: BEING (a nonsense; fallacious inflection of
the copula[G] "be";
Antithesis: NOTHINGNESS (non-Being, nonsense squared)
Synthesis: ANYTHING ("A very small bird", would
probably say Andre Breton)
SOCIO-POLITICAL IMPACT
Hegelian Dialectic, slightly touched up by Engels
became the Credo of Communist Empires. Whatever the
Thesis and Antithesis, the Synthesis invariably
declared that the KGB questioner was right and the
suspects guilty and doomed to Gulag or to death.
BBB.DOGMATIC LOGIC
Naive View (NV) guided original Humans in the struggle
for survival, assisted by natural languages which came
forth to communicate in terms of naive Noumena. Their
main constructs, propositions, predicate properties-
attributes on entity-subject in form of "[Subject]
is/has [Property]", eg. "my-car is green" or "- has
greenness". Now. such entity/container-of-attributes
is precisely a dogmatic Noumenon. One discovers with
astoundment this naive "kitchen" language expression
as basis of the dominant Predicate Logic (PL), which
pretends to be the absolute foundation of Mathematics
and Science.
As to Mathematics PL IMPORTS from it several concepts:
relations, constants, variables, valence, equality and
"logical" boolean operators, or rather the whole
Boolean Algebra corrupted and incorporated into PL
under the misnomer "Propositional Calculus".
(see CA1.INTRODUCTION TO PROPOSITIONAL CALCULUS )
Thus, PL imports from Mathematics enough to found
Mathematics in Mathematics in a clear vicious circle.
One would expect Logic to be founded in Ontology and
Epistemology and to found in turn Mathematics,
Linguistics and other disciplines. One finds instead
a double circularity, 1.Mathematics-PL-Mathematics
2.NV-PL-NV: NV founding PL via natural languages and
PL founding in turn NV via its noumenal predicative
propositions. The conjurer trick of Mathematics
founding Mathematics via PL, bestowed upon PL the
fame of the absolute foundation of Science.
(More in CA2.INTRODUCTION TO PREDICATE LOGIC )
BBC.PHYSICS AND AETHER
Dogmatism impaired Physics by founding it in the Dogma
of Aether. which is discussed in
0D AETHER AND DOGMATIC THINKING .
Here we shall concentrate on its interest
for Epistemology, as illustration of the contrast of
dogmatic and axiomatic attitude. A question indeed may
arise if Aether was Dogma or Axiom. It postulated that
light is a wave and, by analogy with known wave
phenomena such as sound, must be supported by
oscillating particles of some fluid, some cosmic gas
or liquid: the Aether.
So far so good, at the outset Aether looked like an
Axiom. True, from the very beginning it raised unusual
amount of exceptionally tough problems: it had to
behave like a solid with respect to light, like
no-interaction vacuum with respect to "matter" of
stellar bodies, while interacting with permeated
"matter", like glass or water. Yet, for each new
problem falsifying a current version of Aether a new
version was duly created, at the expenditure of effort
and ingenuity hardly ever matched in the history of
Science. Physicists were certainly not lazy, but if
they were less busy adjusting Aether, they might have
heard Ockham whispering that its odd complexity called
for some simpler Postulate. Still, so far, Aether
could pass for a particularly complex Axiom.
Decisive blow came with the MM (Michelson-Morley)
experiment showing that C is invariant, independent
of the speed of source and Observer, contradicting the
Galilean additive speed Transformation and falsifying
Aether beyond repair. From this moment the superhuman
efforts to save it at any price and at the expense of
facts, glaringly reveal its dogmatic nature.
BBD.FIN-DE-SIECLE CRISIS
BBDA.THE PARADISE
19th Century Physics and Logic were dominated by
reaction of Dogmatism against Rationality of the First
Enlightenment. Physics was founded in the dogmatic
delusion of Aether. Logic was dominated by the naive,
noumenal Predicate Logic (PL), assumed to be the
universal, absolute foundation of transcendental
"Reality" and of human knowledge thereof. All areas of
Science, momentarily excepted Mathematics were assumed
to be recursively founded in PL. Finally, in 1873
Cantor conceived the naive Set Theory which supplied
the missing link and completed the hierarchy of
"Cantorian Paradise":
1.(naive) Logic, the universal, absolute foundation,
2.(naive) Set Theory, founded in (naive) Logic,
3.Mathematics, founded in (naive) Set Theory,
4.Physics, founded in Mathematics and in the mechanistic
Dogma, itself founded in (naive) Logic.
5.Other "hard" Sciences, founded in Physics,
6."Soft" Sciences, founded in "hard" Sciences.
This edifice of Science was apparently solid as Cheops
Pyramid, bestowing upon scientists the gratifying
conviction that THEIR Logic, explains and determines
the "Real Universe".
BBDB.LOST PARADISE
At the end of the 19th century two breaches appeared
in the Pyramid setting off the Fin-de-Siecle Crisis
of Thought and the Second Scientific Revolution:
1.In Physics, the Michelson-Morley experiment showed
invariance of C, which wrecked the mechanistic Dogma.
2.In Logic, Russell's Paradox wrecked the foundations
of PL and of founded in it Set Theory.
Question arose, if apparently local breaches in the
solid Pyramid may be patched locally, or rather set
off global reconsideration of the whole structure.
In Physics Einstein has chosen the global approach,
scrapped Aether with the mechanistic dogma and created
new Physics, extending Galilean Relativity over
electro-magnetism, non-inertial Referentials, Gravity
and #Space/Field equivalence, in the manner founding
the new Rationality of the Second Enlightenment.
Logicians, contrarily, did not notice that Russell's
Paradox wrecked the naive PL beyond repair and try
in vain, till our own days to patch it, rather than to
scrap the wreck and to conceive in its place a new
rational Logic.
C.SECOND ENLIGHTENMENT
CA.SECOND SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
Expelled from the Paradise of reassuring certainties
of the Olympian "Reality", Science detached itself
unprecedentedly from the Naive View and, compelled to
count on itself, engaged entirely in the way of
"Sapere Aude".
Revolutionary concepts of Extended Relativity are
discussed in "OUTLINE OF EINSTEINS RELATIVITY". Here
we shall briefly mention a few, especially contesting
the Naive View:
-C invariance. Light passes me at C whether I move at
0.9 C in its direction or against it.
-#Space[G], which not only supports Field propagation,
but is P(henomenally)-Equivalent[G] with Field.
-Cosmos entirely reduced to P-Equivalent #Space/Field.
-Relative Time and Space components of #Space, which
respectively dilate and contract in relatively moving
Referentials[G] in function of their speed.
-Non-Euclidean #Space, whose local curvature is
P-Equivalent with local Field Force.
CB.RATIONALITY OF THE SECOND ENLIGHTENMENT
In "ABB Rationality" we defined rational Ontology as
the most inclusive Cognitive Model deriving its
concepts from the concurrent knowledge. Consequently,
it replaces the dogmatic, authoritarian hierarchy
Ontology/Epistemology/Science by its inverse:
Science/Epistemology/Ontology. Having reviewed the
Second Scientific Revolution, we endeavor to derive
from it the Epistemology and Ontology of the Second
Enlightenment, respectively, "Relativistic Dialectic"
and "Relativistic Phenomenology".
CBA.RELATIVISTIC DIALECTIC AND PHENOMENOLOGY
Their full derivation would exceed by far the Abstract
and we shall restrict it here to superficial review of
essential phenomenal concepts derived from Extended
Relativity:
-Observation or Event: Polar Structure or Dialectic
Dichotomy (see below) of Terms Subject/Object or
Observer/ Observandum, fundament of Cognition.
Relativity of Observation makes it essentially
uncertain. It extends its polarity and uncertainty as
the basic fabric of the whole Phenomenal Universe.
-Phenomenon: particular spatio-temporal structure of
Events.
-Aspects (of Phenomenon): Events composing it.
-Entity: linguistic and logical synonym of Phenomenon.
-Referential: Entity solidary with an Observer
(a human or a technical detector).
-Reference System: A system of coordinates associated
with a Referential.
-Phenomenal Equivalence (P-Equivalence): Relation of
Aspects of a Phenomenon (Continuous Field wave and
Discrete photon are P-Equivalent aspects of the
Phenomenon "Light").
-Polar Structure of Phenomenon: apparently opposed,
but in fact complementary, P-Equivalent Aspects or
Poles, eg. Light with P-Equivalent Aspects of
continuous wave and discrete photons.
-#Space, abstract topological concept such as Riemann
#Space, sharply distinct from its unfortunate homonym
"space" of direct perception.
-Dialectic Dichotomy (short "Dichotomy"): synonym of
Polar Structure, appropriate outside of Physics and
"hard" disciplines. Terms of Dichotomy are synonyms
of Poles.
-Cosmos reduced to P-Equivalent #Space/Field.
-Awareness: Dialectic Dichotomy of Mind and Brain.
Brain Aspect interests mainly neurologists. Mind
Aspect is crucial for our cognitive inquiry. Its
basic structure, defined in "STRUCTURES OF MIND",
encompasses "Sensorium", "Imagery" and "Symbolics".
-Sensorium: Domain of 2D sensations, which evoke
Plato's allegoric shadows on the wall.
-Imagery or PS (Phenomenal #Space): continuous domain
of 3D Image Patterns constructed from sensations by
Morphogenetic faculty of Mind, appearing illusorily
to Awareness as "real objects" of Transcendency. This
illusion underlies Naive View. Rationality starts
by overcoming it. Patterns of Imagery evoke Plato's
allegoric "Ideas".
-Symbolics, or AS (Abstract #Space): domain into which
Images are mapped as discrete Symbols organized in
symbolic or Abstract structures such as Languages,
Logic and Mathematics.
-Reflection, or Lateral Thinking: two-way interface
between Imagery and Symbolics which comprises:
-Symbolizing or Mapping Image Patterns into Symbolic
or Abstract Structures.
-Understanding, or recurring symbolic Structures to
Imagery Patterns. Recurred Imagery Patterns embody
the "Meaning" of Symbols.
NOTE: definitions of Theory and Model from "AA Dogma
and Axiom" may now be completed. They are Abstract
Structures, maps of PS events, deemed to coordinate
them, respectively hypothetical and verifiable.
-Locality: PS Events are said to be locally related
when their Model's representations are continuously
transportable via a geodesic of Model's #Space
Continuum to its common point. Locality is Model
dependent and AS being by definition discrete, it
presupposes the Model fitted with some discrete
simulator of Continuum, such as Calculus.
-Causality and Implication: Given locally related
Events A,B they appear respectively as "Cause" and
"Effect" if B has never been observed without A,
while A might have been observed without B.
Causality transforms into Implication Relation of
Model's Abstract #Space. Thus, Causality is covariant
with Implication: to say "A is cause of B" is
equivalent with "A implies B". Causality is never
certain, but at best not (yet) falsified by an
Observation of Effect lacking its apparent Cause.
Given the fundamental uncertainty of Observations,
Causality is falsifiable and uncertain, extending
these qualities over all cognitive Models.
CBB.LOGIC
CBBA.ESTABLISHED NOUMENAL LOGIC
Numbers speak for themselves: the totally renewed
post-Crisis Physics covers just two basic Models,
Extended Relativity and Quantum Field Theory, while
the post-Crisis established "Logic" counts over 150
Systems, all equally naive and empty.
Mainstream consists of different patches of the
Predicate Logic, whose fatuity we have seen above, in
"BBB Dogmatic Logic".
As marginalia we shall mention:
-Corrupted Boole Algebra dragged illegitimately from
Mathematics to Logic under the name of Propositional
Calculus. It underlies a legion of toys such as
3 and 5 valued Systems and about 70 Modal Logics.
-Trials of Fuzzy Logic circularly ill founded in
naive "Fuzzy Sets" and restricted to fixed, 2-Operand
naive Operators. (Compare with the Fuzzy Logic of the
Cognitive Network in the following paragraph.)
CBBB.RATIONAL PHENOMENAL LOGIC
Event Patterns of Phenomenal #Space (PS) map into
Abstract #Space as Entity structures
( BAA.STRUCTURE OF MIND )
Patterns related by Causality map into Networks of
Entities related by Implication
( CAUSALITY ), or "ER" (Entity/
Relation) Networks. We define Logic as Minds faculty
to create ER's and to process them with help of the
dynamic faculty "Inference". Logic is thus a Mind's
subconscious construct supporting the daily behavior.
Irreplaceable as pilot of simple activities, it may
be misleading due to the vagueness of Causality, to
Mind's limited working memory and to its incapacity to
concentrate simultaneously on numerous issues.
Facing shortcomings of their natural faculties, humans
usually produced compensating tools: hammer to assist
striking and extrinsic "Logical Systems" to assist
intrinsic Mind's reasoning.
A Logical System, may be justified exclusively by its
capacity to support Mind's intrinsic, ER based Logic.
Our "Cognitive Network" (CN) and its applications have
so far stood this test.
CN is supposed to deal with large practical problems
and for that purpose has been programmed as kernel of
several Artificial Intelligence applications. We have
chosen one of them, destined to identify misfunctions
in spacecrafts, to support a tutorial providing an
epistemological description and an introduction to
development of CN applications.
It's expressed in terms used in medical diagnostics,
more familiar to the average reader and may be
consulted in CCA.COGNITIVE NETWORK
