CopyRight @ 1997
The most general and useful meaning of philosophy seems to be
more about why we descide we know something rather than what how we
know. How we know somehting is usually called epistomology, but
while we may have many ways of looking at anything, we make
choices about how we will.
In science, philosophy refers to what may or may not be
true, but has not yet been made science. Science is a belief
system about knowledge that is arranged in certain standard ways
(descriptive science) or that is supported by rigorous logic
(theoretical science) or by the tests of repeatability and
predictability (empirical science). Another true definition of
science is "the accepted body of knowledge, that is accepted by
the accepted leaders of the science". That may sound like goblty
gook, but it is an important description that illustrates that
science is aware of its self imposed limitations. A student
recieves a Doctorate of Philosophy in a science, for creating a
new part of the science, that is accepted by the accepted masters
in the field. When so accepted, the knowledge then is transformed
from philosophy into science. It is not that it has gained any
greater truth this way, but it has been added to the toolchest of
human scientific knowledge. What is called Eastern Science seems
to focus more on repeatability and less on theoretical cause,
than does Western Science.
The point of this is that science is a philosophy. It is a
way we know something. "This is science, so I choose to believe
it".
There are other philosophys and they may be more generally
used than science. Most of the knowledge people create for
personal use is based on logic without ever approaching the realm
of science. That is not what science is usually about. Most
anything that can be expressed in words, can be examined by the
logic that is inherent in words. Logic is another common form of
philosophy, that can be described as a type of mathematics.
"This is logical, so I believe it".
A person knows more than they can put into words. There is a
great deal of difference between what a person can describe and
what they know. Feeling as a way of knowing, represents more than
one philosophy.
Another way of knowing based on logical processes and
pattern recognition that are not put into words and we may not be
aware of. "I really feel that I have been through this before and
I believe this for that reason", or "I have a hunch".
A person very often believes something because someone taught them
it. That may be their parents or a priest. It may be something they read
in a holy book or a truth they found in literature. If they believe it, it
is a philosophy of theirs.
Other ways of knowing are not completely based on logical
processes at all. A person may fear and react to a past event at
a time when there is no logical connection with the present.
Science is based upon a system of reason and logic that allows
a person to solve problems of science. We have other ways of solving
things. Our main problem in life is survival. We have methods of solving
moral problems that are not science. Science is not inherently about
survival. It cannot tell a person they should survive. Humans have a variety
of facets of a moral sense that solves moral problems. In most cases, it is
more important than science.
These are all philosophies and there are more that are known and
unknown. They contribute to how we survive.
The nature of human conciousness is plural. We can hold more
than one, even conflicting, opinions at the same time. A healthy
person should have multiple points of view. A person can at the
same time believe in both a science that says that "God cannot be
proven to exist and so does not exist according to science" and
yet can clearly say "I feel God and so know God's existence".
This is to be human. It is an apparent chaotic weakness that
actually leads to strength.
Know this, so that you will know how you know things. It is
part of how one knows oneself. It is how one can reconcile
differing beliefs that a single person or a group, may have.
This book is to describe humans in a variety of ways that
will apply to different philosophys. It uses science to describe
humans, but it also uses reason and basic human premises. I have
said all along, that "this book should sound familiar, because it
is what people already feel, they just have rarely put it into
words". The book is written to describe humans in ways that
address different methods of believing. It also takes advantage
of different ways of belief to describe different things. Some
things about humans can be well described by science. Some things
are better described by archetypes and familiar situations, or by
describing feelings that are commonly experienced. The objective
is to give a useful description of humans in a form that could be
called science, but more importantly, to illustrate human
problems and survival methods. Many different philosophys will be
used to do this and humans use many different philosophies to
survive.