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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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data are somewhat narrower than for Hume: they are the sensa devoid <strong>of</strong><br />

their patterns. Hume's general analysis <strong>of</strong> the consequences <strong>of</strong> this<br />

doctrine st<strong>and</strong>s unshaken. So also does his final reflection, that the<br />

philosophic doctrine fails to justify the practice <strong>of</strong> daily life. <strong>The</strong><br />

justification <strong>of</strong> this procedure <strong>of</strong> modern epistemology is tw<strong>of</strong>old, <strong>and</strong><br />

both <strong>of</strong> its branches are based upon mistakes. <strong>The</strong> mistakes go back to<br />

the Greek philosophers. What is modern, is the exclusive reliance upon<br />

them.<br />

Section VI. <strong>The</strong> first error is the assumption <strong>of</strong> a few definite avenues<br />

<strong>of</strong> communication with the external world, the five sense-organs. This<br />

leads to the pre-supposition that the search for the data is to be<br />

narrowed to the question, what data are directly provided by the activity<br />

<strong>of</strong> the sense-organs - preferably the eyes. This doctrine <strong>of</strong> sense-organs<br />

has a vague, general truth, very important for practical affairs. In<br />

particular all exact scientific observation is derived from such data. <strong>The</strong><br />

scientific categories <strong>of</strong> thought are obtained elsewhere.<br />

But the living organ <strong>of</strong> experience is the living body as a whole. Every<br />

instability <strong>of</strong> any part <strong>of</strong> it – be it chemical, physical, or molar – imposes<br />

an activity <strong>of</strong> readjustment throughout the whole organism. In the<br />

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