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Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

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monad can take account <strong>of</strong> another, namely for ways <strong>of</strong> awareness. But<br />

these terms are too closely allied to the notion <strong>of</strong> consciousness which in<br />

my doctrine is not a necessary accompaniment. Also they are entangled in<br />

the notion <strong>of</strong> representative perception which I reject. But there is the<br />

term [This term is used by L.T. Hobhouse, <strong>The</strong>ory <strong>of</strong> Knowledge, Ch I <strong>and</strong><br />

developed] 'apprehension' with the meaning <strong>of</strong> 'thorough underst<strong>and</strong>ing'.<br />

Accordingly, on the Leibnizian model, I use the term 'prehension' for the<br />

general way in which the occasion <strong>of</strong> experience can include as part <strong>of</strong> its<br />

own essence, any other entity, whether another occasion <strong>of</strong> experience<br />

or an entity <strong>of</strong> another type. This term is devoid <strong>of</strong> suggestion either <strong>of</strong><br />

consciousness or <strong>of</strong> representative perception. Feelings are the positive<br />

type <strong>of</strong> prehension. In positive prehensions the 'datum' is preserved as<br />

part <strong>of</strong> the final complex object which 'satisfies' the process <strong>of</strong> selfformation<br />

<strong>and</strong> thereby completes the occasion.<br />

This nomenclature has been made up to conform to the condition, that, as<br />

a theory develops, its technical phraseology should grow out <strong>of</strong> the<br />

usages <strong>of</strong> the great masters who laid its foundations. <strong>The</strong> immediate<br />

verbal usages at any moment prevalent in any school <strong>of</strong> philosophy are but<br />

a small selection from the total vocabulary <strong>of</strong> the philosophic tradition.<br />

This is rightly the case having regard to the variations <strong>of</strong> doctrine.<br />

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