To Be Is To Be Perceived

To Be Is To Be Perceived To be is to be perceived, esse est percipi. This empirical statement was made by the 17th century Irish philosopher Bishop Berkley. He was a foundationalist that aimed to restore the role of religion in philosophy and consequently eradicate scepticism. He was the first philosopher to coherently refute the Cartesian revolution. One generally assumes that empiricism and modern science go hand in hand. That anyone who aims to study the ways of our material world would empirically be studying it, and would thus be an empiricist. However, as we later will discuss, appearances are sometimes not as they seem. In order to critically assess Berkleys statement and his notion that reality is an infinite mind, we must first cover the influential material put forward by Locke and Descartes. These two philosophers from an epistemological point of view were in disagreement, however, from a metaphysical point of view both believed that matter furnished our world. Their only metaphysical difference was how each of them got to their metaphysics. They had opposed epistemological views due to their different opinions regarding the ways in which humans acquire knowledge. Locke was an empiricist, the view that the source and test of contingent knowledge is experience (pg 486 yellow book) Descartes on the other hand was a rationalist, believing that the chief route to knowledge is intellectual rather than sensory. (pg 486 yellow book) In a hypothetical conversation between Locke and Descartes, Descartes would for example ask Locke how he believes to have acquired the notion of infinity. The term Infinity being an idea that cant be experienced would thus leave Locke response less. However, Locke would probably claim that he could empirically sense that numbers for instance will exponentially continue forever, and forever presumes the idea of infinity. When analysing both their epistemological doctrines, it is inevitable that these fall into the area of metaphysics as well. One cannot discuss the ways of acquiring knowledge without mentioning the mind/body problem. This being the main focus of the rest of this essay. Lockes philosophy had a big impact on the world and to a certain extent on Berkleys philosophy, simply because his doctrines transcend empirical methodology. He attempts to prove in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding the relationship between knowledge and ideas. Ideas to Locke came about through sensation and reflection, thus there being no such thing as innate ideas. Sensation and reflection take into account various categories of material intuition for example: extension, solidity and duration. Resulting in simple ideas, which our mind later combines with two or many other simple ideas, creating as Locke calls it: complex ideas. He then makes the important distinction that later is re-interpreted by Berkley and opens the door to his theory of idealism. Locke points out that properties that make up an object are divided into primary and secondary qualities. Primary qualities belong not only to observable substances, but also to the minute corpuscles which make them up. Seconda ry qualities such as colour and taste belong to the substance but not to its corpuscles (Woolhouse, 1998, p.870) This reference of corpuscles in Lockes philosophy is remarkable, simply because of the prematurity of Newtonian physics at the time. Primary qualities are therefore the properties that Newtonian physicists analysed in objects. Whilst secondary qualities are for example those of colour, because its unreliability ceases to be a fixed quality of the actual object being perceived. When the lights go out the object ceases to have a colour. All of this experience then amounts to knowledge through intuition, logical entailment and sensation. However, the knowledge that one empirically deduces from experience, Locke claimed that due to our sensory limitations there are complex objects in the world whose essence will remain unperceivable. It is probable that they exist however empirically impossible to prove. He takes this concept of an objects unperceivable essence from Aristotles concept of substance. Berkley picks up on this notion and cunningly points out that declaring the existence of the unperceivable, strictly conflicts empirical rules. We now move the focus of the essay to Berkley and how from Lockes doctrines he develops his own. What Berkley counters in Lockes theory is: to what extent do objects or matter in general have the ability to cause these proclaimed ideas; and if these objects actually have independent qualities that can excite our perception of them. How can it be known, that the things that are perceived, are conformable to those that are not perceived, or exist without the mind? (A. C. Graylingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦p.509) Berkley uses Lockes and Descartes theories and rules concerning dualism and is able to demonstrate its flaws. For dualism to function it has to abide to three rules: 1. Material events have to cause neural brain events. 2. In order to have knowledge, ideas in the mind have to be represented by these material events that caused them. 3. Ideas in the mind consequently have to cause neural changes. Berkleys idealism is an outcome of proving that these three dualistic rules are in fact incoherent. It is bizarre, Berkley claimed, how there is a relationship between immaterial ideas that do not abide to physical laws and material objects in space. How can my immaterial idea of a beer take after its material conception of a beer. I cannot drink my idea of a beer. There is a flaw in dualism that isnt able to account for the transition between space and non-space. We are unable to think of any mind-independent properties; all properties that we are aware of exist in our minds. Therefore, since the only thing we can, with certainty, claim that we experience is our perceptions. It is thus irresponsible to claim that there is anything else but our own perceptions. Thus there are no primary qualities of objects/matter, everything is secondary, and everything is in the mind. Berkley has therefore destroyed Lockes distinction between primary and secondary qualities and due to his failed definition of primary qualities, Locke was judged as a contradicting empiricist. Now that dualism has been scratched out, either Berkley adopts a purely material view of the world or a purely immaterial one. Descartes proved, and Berkley agrees, that there has to be a mind I think therefore I am(R. Descartes, 1644, part 1, article 7) Berkleys dogmatic idealism was thus born. What we experience is in fact experience itself and in order to exist one has to be perceived. Having no matter means that in order for something or someone to exist, there has to be a mind to conceive of its existence. It is at this point that Berkleys doctrine becomes a theological one. He attempted to disprove matter because he viewed it as an atheistic doctrine. If matter exists, it is to say that it has a nature of its own, independent of God. His doctrine entails that we communicate with God through our experiences and that experience is Gods language and science and mathematics its grammar. God is the infinite mind that coordinates all of our finite minds. From a macro point of view and as far as research indicates: Berkleys immaterialism is a doctrine that was constructed on top of the building blocks that Descartes created. If we reject the Cartesian super-premise on which his project is groundedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦his views are not so resilient (A. C. Grayling, p. 516) Berkleys foundationalism was to disprove matter in order to remove scepticism and atheism, thus glorifying theology. The loophole in dualism and Descartes super-premise allowed him (in a very intellectual manner) to succeed in his aimed philosophical foundation. However, what if there is no such thing as an immaterial mind? The two main jointly agreed facts that the three philosophers agree on were: we posses an immaterial mind, independent of space; and that God is responsible for this immaterial mind. What if the super-premise to whom three philosophers dedicated their entire lifes work is false? If we reject the idea of an immaterial mind and substitute it with the idea of a mechanical intelligent body, the simple notion of matter is reborn. Lockes epistemology is once again viewed as valid, however not from the perspective of the mind but from the perspective of a material complex brain. Materialism does not rule out the existence of a God, it doesnt have to be viewed as atheistic. It however makes us finite beings whose laws of reality are Newtonian. For Descartes an infinite substance requires nothing but itself in order to exist. This brings us to my favourite and final philosopher: Spinoza. Spinoza like Descartes was a rationalist. However, unlike Descartes, he combined God with metaphysics and was able to supply a material solution to the mind/body problem. He claimed that Whatsoever is, is God, and without God nothing can be, or be conceived.(Ethics pt.1, prop15) In other words if God is infinite, there isnt anything that isnt God. For Spinoza a dependent substance cant exist, there is only one substance that can in fact be independent and that is the whole. God and Nature therefore are the same substance, and this substance is both material and spiritual. His theory on the surface might seem too poetic and similar to eastern philosophies; it however is a plausible and analytical metaphysical doctrine. He believed that mental and physical effects didnt cause each other, they happened in parallel; and God linked these paralle l chains of events. To conclude,

Chinese Somatic Science Essay

In 1984 when the Japan-France symposium was held, scholars of religion, medicine and psychology were gathered from both sides, and they engaged in discussion in order to promote the movement of New Age Science. I included a suggestion, made from the Japanese side, presentations on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Parapsychology, Eastern martial arts and their demonstrations. In the martial arts demonstration there was included the performance of a technique in which a master martial artist, by emitting ki-energy (chi-energy), makes opponents, who are spatially distanced from him, fall down. This technique is called â€Å"distant hitting† [to-ate: é   Ã¥ ½â€œÃ£  ¦], and it became a conversation piece, attracting people’s attention. As a result, many q(g(ng (Chi-gong) masters came to visit me. I studied their techniques, and experienced ki-energy as a subject of their q(g(ng techniques. Afterwards, I went to China to learn about its actual situation. While I was staying in Beijing in 1997, the Chinese Society for Somatic Science (CSSS) was established. The leaders of this society came to see me with a request to make efforts to propagate q(g(ng in Japan. In the following year, I invited scholars and q(g(ng masters from China and held a symposium â€Å"Ki (Chi) and Human Science† in Tokyo.[i] At about this time, a q(g(ng boom was being generated. After this conference, I went to China many times to investigate and study q(g(ng. I will introduce its fundamental ideas, while incorporating my own opinion. Chinese Somatic Science focuses on the three fields of traditional Chinese medicine, q(g(ng and special abilities as its main objects of research. â€Å"Special abilities† refer to what parapsychology calls psi-ability (paranormal ability). A central focus in each of these fields is ki-energy as the object of research. Traditional Chinese Medicine understands the fundamentals of the human body’s organization by means of the network of meridians. Meridians are channels of energy which circulates in the interior of the human body. However, they are an invisible system which cannot be discovered by dissecting a corpse. In other words, they are a system unique to the body that is active while it is alive. I am taking this to mean, for now, like a system that organizes the subject-body (i.e. the lived body) of which Merleau-Ponty speaks. An important point, when it is seen from a theoretical point-of-view, is that the meridians are a system which does not agree with the mind-body dichotomization established since Descartes. That is to say, ki-energy is conceived to be a life-energy which has both physical and psychological characteristics. The fundamental principle of needle therapy used in traditional Chinese medicine lies in activating the circulation of ki-energy within the human body by infusing fresh ki-energy into the human body, while eliminating the stagnant and inferior flow of ki-energy. Next is q(g(ng. Q(g(ng teaches us that the activity of ki-energy can be heightened through a repeated training. Consequently, we can understand that q(g(ng, theoretically speaking, has a characteristic commensurate with the training in martial arts. It is a bodily technique with a tradition stretching from ancient times. In the case of medical therapy, a mature q(g(ng doctor guides patients to train themselves and practice q(g(ng on their own. Here we can discern a methodology different from the therapeutic method of modern medical science. While modern medical therapy leaves patients to assume a passive standpoint of simply receiving doctor’s treatment, q(g(ng lets them assume an active standpoint of training themselves. The point of this training lies in activating the natural healing power latent in the interior of one’s own body. Ki-energy is thought to be the energy that controls the foundations of life-activity. The training means to promote and purify the activity of ki-energy inside of one’s own body, and to transform it to the ki-energy of a better and higher quality. Therefore, it is a therapeutic method as well as a method of maintaining and promoting health. That is, it can become a method of maintaining health by continually training oneself daily, while it is not limited to a time of sickness. Q(g(ng is divided into internal and external q(g(ng for the purpose of convenience. The training which a patient performs after receiving guidance belongs to the inner q(g(ng, while the outer q(g(ng refers to cases in which a mature q(g(ng master performs therapy on a patient or subject. In these cases, the q(g(ng master usually touches the patient’s body with his hand, but there are cases in which a q(g(ng master, distancing himself from the patient, performs a therapeutic technique without making contact. It is probably safe to think that it is based on the same principle as the technique of therapeutic touch, which in recent years is beginning to spread in American. The third field that is called â€Å"special† ability in China, overlaps with the research of what is referred to in the West and Japan as parapsychology. On numerous occasions, I met with q(g(ng masters in China who have paranormal ability, and observed their technique, while engaging them in dialogue. I encountered people who can demonstrate a wonderful technique, not to mention clairvoyance and psycho-kinesis, which Rhine’s research problematized. Insofar as my research can confirm, there are cases of people who innately possess these abilities, and cases of people who have acquired them through training. If these abilities are used in the field of medicine, they can fulfill the same role as the external q(g(ng. Moreover, there are cases among master martial artists who can demonstrate this kind of ability, though its number is limited. One impression I have received when encountering these people is that there is a great difference between the East and the West in the foundational idea, when dealing with this kind of issue. While in the East this kind of issue has been dealt with as part of the issue related to self-cultivation, which traditionally has a cultural and religious background, there was no such historical and cultural background in the West. Consequently, parapsychological research in the West is preceded by an interest and concern from a theoretical point-of-view. This brings in the background of contemporary scholarly research where there is no concern for its relationship to daily activity. By contrast, in China’s case the practical purpose, as in the case of q(g(ng, looms in the purview of research. This kind of stance is based on the traditional ethos found in the history of science and technology in China. (Modern technology of the West emerged as an application of theory, where theoretical research does not take into account the relationship it has with the practical, daily activity of human beings.) When we examine it from a broader perspective, this kind of tendency is rooted in the philosophical tradition of the East which highly values the practical standpoint. However, there is a tradition in the East which admonishes people, as they are prone to fall into an ethically wrong tendency regarding paranormal phenomena. The tradition of East Asia such as that of China and Japan maintains that the bodily technique must conform to an ethical standpoint. Although I could hardly see such a spiritualistic stance in the contemporary situation in China and Japan, there were occasions where I met persons with such a stance, especially among the masters of martial arts, who are living among people, but not related to universities or academic institutions. In the tradition of Buddhism, this kind of â€Å"special† ability has been called â€Å"siddhi† [jints(riki; ç ¥Å¾Ã©â‚¬Å¡Ã¥Å â€º] and is considered a kind of a by-product that naturally emerges in the course of self-cultivation. Buddhism has persistently maintained that self-cultivation should not aim at acquiring this as its goal. For example, D(gen, a famous Japanese medieval Zen monk, teaches in the chapter of â€Å"Jints(† [Divine Power, i.e. paranormal power] in Sh(b(genz( that although Buddhism recognizes this kind of siddhi, it is a â€Å"small† siddhi, and the true â€Å"great† siddhi exists in the midst of such everyday activities as drinking tea and eating a meal. This reminds me of Yang Xin, a q(g(ng master, who is now actively promoting q(g(ng in America. When I saw him in Beijing some time ago, he told me that he was now studying â€Å"distant q(g(ng† [Chin. yu(g(q(g(ng; Jap., enkaku kik(, é   Ã©Å¡â€Ã¦ °â€"功]. He was accompanied by a twelve-year girl, who was his experimental subject. I asked him why he was conducting such an experiment. He replied: â€Å"I am not trying to become famous by showing off this kind of technique. As I read a description in a classic on the method of self-cultivation that one can perform this kind of technique, I just wanted to know if it is true or not.† Then he wrote on a piece of paper â€Å"Ã¥ ¤ §Ã© â€œÃ§â€ž ¡Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã¢â‚¬  [Chin., d(d(ow(y(n; Jap., daid(mugon] This phrase means that â€Å"The Great Dao remains silent and does not speak.† Herein lies, it would seem, a difference in the traditional ethos between the Eastern martial arts and Western sports. The historical origin of Western sports goes back to the Olympian events in ancient Greece. They emerged, based on the demands of a battlefield such as physical strength, stamina, running, throwing, and the handling technique of a house-drawn cart. We might say that the custom of the modern Olympics in which a record is valued more than anything else inherits this traditional idea. By contrast, in the tradition of the martial arts in the East runs an idea which emphasizes spirituality, even though the martial arts developed, like those of ancient Greece, through techniques used on the battlefield. The history of the Chinese and Japanese martial arts was nurtured through the influence of Buddhism and Shintoism. It came to develop the idea that training in martial arts has the meaning of enhancing one’s ethical personality. Consequently, the stance of respecting the opponent’s personality and capacity was sought in performing techniques. For example, Mr. Ueshiba Morihei, founder of Aikid(, states that â€Å"Martial art is love.† The ultimate goal of martial arts is not to win by defeating an opponent, but to harmonize with an opponent such that people can love each other under â€Å"that which is great† transcending humans. It would seem that â€Å"research on the prayer,† which has been recently initiated in America, incorporates this kind of spiritual idea. Incidentally, I came to realize in the course of investigating the Chinese Somatic Sciences that the standpoint of psychology was lacking. In modern China, which used Marxist materialism as its guiding principle for establishing the nation, psychology was not studied until the time of the Cultural Revolution, as anti-thetical to materialism. Even q(g(ng was an object of suppression. Today, however, the study of psychology is recognized to be legitimate, and the exchange with Japan is making an advance. I have practiced meditation since my youth, and have continued to research and study it. Meditation methods in the Chinese tradition were called â€Å"quiet q(g(ng† and stands a pairing relationship with the usual â€Å"moving q(g(ng† which mobilizes the body. However, almost no meditation methods are practiced in contemporary China. This is probably due to the fact that meditation methods such as those of Buddhism and Daoism were developed within the tradition of religious culture, and declined as a consequence of persecution after the modern period. When somatic science was established in Japan in 1991, we used for its English designation the Society for Mind-Body Science (SMBS), as I felt the importance of psychology. The fundamentals of meditation lie, after all, in promoting the circulation of ki-energy. When it is seen from the point-of-view of psychology, ki-energy designates libido. It is life-energy equipped in the unconscious and the body. The foundational idea that is placed in The Secret of the Golden Flower, a meditation text of Daoism, is to transform and sublimate ki-energy from the state of libido (Chin., j(ng; Jap., sei, ç ² ¾) to the state of â€Å"divine subtle energy† (Chin., sh(n; Jap., shin, ç ¥Å¾). Ki-energy changes into a spiritual energy, when the instinct and desire in one’s unconscious region are purified. Freud insisted that neurosis develops when conscience suppresses the activity of libido, while Jung claimed that libido is an energy related to religiosity. When one touches the activity from the dimension of primal origin, the love of others is transformed from the eros of flesh to spiritual love. To summarize the foregoing, ki-energy is an energy that controls the whole of psychology, medicine, and bodily technique, including the relationship between the environment and the human body. The philosophical guideline that comprehensively includes all of these fields is sought in the idea of the y(n-y(ng exchange of ki-energy which has its origin in the Yà ¬j(ng. According to its conceptual paradigm, nature as an environment is endowed with life, and is fostered to grow, by means of the activity of ki-energy issuing from the Dao that exists in the ultimate dimension. Human beings, along with other life activities, are receptive of this energy and are made to live. Purifying it to a sublime level brings about an enhancement of ethical personality.

Korean Pop - 6843 Words

â€Å"Korea had become trendy because it provided what the youth wanted throughout the region. The phenomenon can be partially explained by noting how Korean popular culture catapulted forward during the 1990s, leaving much of Asia behind as it abandoned conservatism and censorship, diversifying, appropriating, absorbing and innovating. In its fusions, it created an Asian equivalent of European and American pop. Japanese pop, of course, had long had this function throughout the region, but the 1990s was a time for re-examining the Pacific War’s legacy, and Korea offered a less-tainted alternative to Japan.† - Keith Howard Background of the Study The global world widely perceives modern mass media. With the recent technology†¦show more content†¦Fandoms are usually implied to be those crazy, raving fans, mostly female ones, who always stalk (in Korean pop vocabulary, *spazz) their Korean pop idols. They are usually thought of as obsessive, brainless and foolish people. People who criticize them just do not know how passionate these fandoms are. Although they are known for showing their support through watching their Korean pop idols and buying Korean pop merchandise, they go beyond than that; these fandoms also organize parties and charitable events to help the needy and at the same time, to mingle with their fellow KPop fans. Through this, it can be observed that Filipinos form these groups so that they can socialize with other people who also have the same inclinations, as demonstrated by the subculture of KPop fans, in the country, flamed by activities of fandoms. More than a recreation and hobby, for KPop fans, i t is their happiness and fulfillment to support their idols. Through a brief research, it has been observed that the Korean wave is popular among many Filipino teenagers because it offers a fresh cultural aspect, encourages self-expression and serves as a psychological and social urgency. 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Discover the Common Green Darner Dragonfly

The common green darner, Anax junius, is one of the best-known North American dragonfly species. The green darner is easy to spot, thanks to its large size and bright green thorax, and can be found almost anywhere in North America. Identifying the Green Darner Dragonfly Green darners are strong fliers  and rarely perch. Look for adults flying low over ponds or bogs during the breeding season. This species migrates seasonally, often forming large swarms when heading south in the fall. Green darners are one of the earliest species to appear in northern habitats in the spring. Both male and female green darners have an unusual blue and black bulls-eye marking on the frons (or forehead, in laymens terms), just in front of their large, compound eyes. The thorax is green in both sexes. The long abdomen is marked by a dark line, which runs down the center of the dorsal surface. In immature common green darners of either sex, the abdomen appears red or purple. Mature males bear a bright blue abdomen, but in the  early morning or when temperatures are cool, it may turn purple. In reproductive females, the abdomen is green, matching the thorax. Older individuals may have an amber tint to their wings. Classification Kingdom - AnimaliaPhylum - ArthropodaClass - InsectaOrder - OdonataFamily - AeshnidaeGenus - AnaxSpecies - junius What do Green Darners Eat? Green darners are predaceous throughout their lives. The large, aquatic nymphs prey on other aquatic insects, tadpoles, and even small fish. Adult green darners catch other flying insects, including butterflies, bees, flies, and even other, smaller dragonflies. Their Life Cycle Follows All Dragonflies Like all dragonflies, the common green darner undergoes simple or incomplete metamorphosis with three stages: egg, nymph (sometimes called larva), and adult. The female green darner oviposits her eggs while in tandem with her mate, and is the only darner in North America to do so. Common green darners oviposit their eggs in aquatic vegetation by carefully cutting a slit in a stem or leaf, and placing the egg inside it. This probably provides her offspring with some protection until it hatches. The aquatic nymph matures over time in the water, molting repeatedly. It then climbs up the vegetation until its above the waters surface, and molts one last time to emerge as an adult. Habitat and Range Green darners live near freshwater habitats, including ponds, lakes, slow-moving streams, and vernal pools. The green darner has an extensive range in North America, from Alaska and southern Canada all the way south to Central America. Anax junius is also found on islands within this geographic range, including Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the West Indies. Sources Field Guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies of New Jersey: Allen E. Barlow, David M. Golden, and Jim Bangma: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; 2009.Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West; Dennis Paulson; Princeton University Press; 2009.