03.12.2016 Views

Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

an over-simplification. Thus the criticism <strong>of</strong> a theory does not start from<br />

the question, True or false? It consists in noting its scope <strong>of</strong> useful<br />

application <strong>and</strong> its failure beyond that scope. It is an unguarded<br />

statement <strong>of</strong> a partial truth. Some <strong>of</strong> its terms embody a general notion<br />

with a mistaken specialization, <strong>and</strong> others <strong>of</strong> its terms are too general<br />

<strong>and</strong> require discrimination <strong>of</strong> their possibilities <strong>of</strong> specialization.<br />

Section II. Philosophy is a difficult subject, from the day <strong>of</strong> Plato to the<br />

present time haunted by subtle perplexities. This existence <strong>of</strong> such<br />

perplexities arising from the common obviousness <strong>of</strong> speech is the reason<br />

why the topic exists. Thus the very purpose <strong>of</strong> philosophy is to delve<br />

below the apparent clarity <strong>of</strong> common speech. In this connection, it is<br />

only necessary to refer to Socrates. Another illustration is to be found in<br />

the Sophist, where Plato states that 'not-being' is a form <strong>of</strong> 'being'.<br />

This statement is at once an extreme instance <strong>of</strong> the breakdown <strong>of</strong><br />

language, <strong>and</strong> the enunciation <strong>of</strong> a pr<strong>of</strong>ound metaphysical truth which lies<br />

at the foundation <strong>of</strong> this discussion.<br />

Section III. Speculative Philosophy ca be defined [Process <strong>and</strong> Reality Pt<br />

I, Ch. I, Sect I] as the endevour to frame a coherent, logical, necessary<br />

system <strong>of</strong> general ideas in terms <strong>of</strong> which every element <strong>of</strong> our<br />

experience can be interpreted. Here 'interpretation' means that each<br />

86

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!