The Metaphysical Foundation of Buddhism and Modern Science

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Section XIV. The main method of philosophy in dealing with its evidence is that of descriptive generalization. Social institutions exemplify a welter of chraracteristics. No fact is merely suc h-and-such. It exemplifies many characters at once, all rooted in the specialities of its epoch. Philosophic generalization seizes on those characters of abiding importance, dismissing the trivial and the evanescent. There is an ascent from a particular fact, or from a species, to the genus exemplified. 26 It is to be noted that the converse procedure is impossible. There can be no descent from a mere genus to a particular fact, or to a species. For facts and species are the product of the mingling of genera. No genus in own essence indicates the other genera with which it is compatible. For example, the notion of a backbone does not indicate the notions of suckling the young or of swimming in water. Thus no contemplation of the genus vertebrate, taken by itself, can suggest mammals or fishes, even as abstract possibilities. Neither the species nor the instance are to be discovered by the genus alone, since both include forms not 'given' by the genus. A species is a potencial mingling of genera, and an individual instance involves, among other things, an actual mingling of many species. A syllogism i a scheme for demontration of ways of mingling. Thus the business of Logic is not the analysis of generalities but their mingling. [Cf. Plato's Sophist, 253 ] 26
27 Philosophy is the ascent to the generalities with the view of understanding their possibilities of combination. The discovery of new generalities thus adds to the fruitfulness of those already known. It lifts into view new possibilities of combination. Section XV. Even the dim apprehension of some great principle is apt to clothe itself with tremendous emotional force. The welter of particular actions arising out of such complex feelings with their core of deep intuition are in primitive times often brutish and nasty. Finally civilized language provides a whole group of words, each embodying the general idea under its own specialization. If we desire to reach the generality common to these various specializations, we must gather together the whole group of words with the hope of discerning their common element. This is a necessary procedure for the purpose of philosophical generalization. The premature use of one familiar word inevitably limits the required generalization by importing the familiar special connotation of that word. For example, [Cf. Process and Reality passim, where the second of the doctrines stated below is developed.] let the working hypothesis be that the ultimate realities are the events in their process of origination. Then each event, viewed in its separate individuality, is a passage between two ideal termini, namely, its components in their ideal disjunctive diversity 27
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Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysi
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1.Summary The key terms. 1. Key ter
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are two immaterial bodies which wer
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2. Nagarjuna Preliminary note We sh
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anything else (Descartes); is exist
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making and as working with informat
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that they are not to be found (MMK
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Chapter 1: Cause and effect. A high
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Chapter 8. Action and agent. Pictur
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Commentary: Without fire there can
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Chapter 13. A teenager and an aged
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Chapter 16: Bondage and liberation.
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Father and son. Description: The au
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3. Interpretation of MMK’s 25 cha
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4. Discussion of Nagarjuna’s work
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philosophy of the ancient Greeks wh
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It became evident that fundamental
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The double-slit experiment. (see pr
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Figure 1: In this Feynman diagram,
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centimeter) and are so weak that th
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little clouds we attempt to use met
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Nagarjuna's thought and the ideas o
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5. as something between bodies by A
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Appendix 3: Alfred North Whitehead:
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had its birth with Greeks; and amon
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Page 57 and 58: its habitual ideas. It is a step by
Page 59 and 60: Section IV. Plato’s contribution
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Page 79 and 80: Alfred North Whitehead: Adventures
Page 81 and 82: 3 with a sufficient scope of applic
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Page 85 and 86: 7 But whether we be ancient or mode
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Page 91 and 92: 13 problems which have tortured Eur
Page 93 and 94: 15 Section IX. European philosophy
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Page 99 and 100: 21 'subjective form', is that I str
Page 101 and 102: The conventionalized abstractions p
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Page 111 and 112: 33 7. Notes [1] See Appendix 1 for
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Page 115 and 116: 37 [28] Einstein, A. & Infeld, L. T
Page 117 and 118: 39 Kalupahana, D. J. Mulamadhyamaka
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The Metaphysical Foundation of Buddhism and Modern Science

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