Here we are again, another week has passed by, precious time spent on books pondering which direction to take in my beloved sea: Philosophy.
I thought of you, actually, of the benefits of reading these lines and of the overall sense of my thinking committed here to virtual paper and I finally selected a lane, at least to begin with ...
"After all this time?"
" Always," said Snape.
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -
Last time you read a major adjective, effectively hidden, der Wolf im Schafspelz, I'm telling you ... Here you are: 'immanent'. Has your voice not trembled? It should have.
"Was bedeutet eigentlich immanent?"
We are going to start our journey today by answering this questionable elementary question.
As Eisler said: "Immanent ist jeder Begriff, Erkenntnis, die nicht über die Grenzen der Erfahrung hinausgehen."
[Immanent is every concept, understanding that does not go beyond the limits of the experience.]
Anything else, not falling in the realm of immanence is said to be transcendent.
However, this apparently innocuous definition opens up another Pandora's box, namely: 'What does it mean to know something? When we can surely affirm we have acquired a piece of knowledge?' and further, 'Knowledge of what exactly? What are the objects under investigation?'
Tip: Yes, the language is conveying the right association ... Well-done!
Categories: Aristotle and the effort of ordering things
At this point, please take a moment for you, make a break from the chaotic life moving around there, suspend your activity, merge into this discourse and reflect on the reality that is in your surroundings, what can you say about it? Which kind of simple affirmations are you muddering under your breath? Do you have what within your sight? What can you state of them?
Let's see if we can place your ideas about individuals (objects and people = primary substances) and groups of them (secondary substances) under this simple tenfold classification:
Substance;
Quantity;
Quality;
Relation;
Place;
Date;
Posture;
State;
Action;
Passion.
Try with this: The cup of coffee lies forgotten on the table since yesterday.
Can you split it and categorise the parts? I hope in an affirmative answer.
This is, indeed, all Aristotle made: Classify simple statements about the reality, i.e. judgments - This term though needs a rigorous introduction. His categories lay the foundations of its logic and, in my opinion, gave a rigorous model to any reasonable logic.
See you next time!
Federica
P.S. Have a look to the etymology of the word 'category' meanwhile. Surprise! (Hausaufgaben)
References:
Eisler, R., Kant - Lexikon, available at: https://www.textlog.de/32992;
Thomasson, Amie, "Categories", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), available online at: <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/categories/>;
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