Foundations

The framework for debate: definitions,rules and boundaries

Seven Major Chakras
Seven Major Chakras

In order to have a meaningful dialog on mysticism, science, art and spirituality, we need to set rules: we need a foundation on which to build this discussion.

  • What kind of knowledge are we talking about
  • What kind of statement are we going to compare?

The human mind is capable of two kinds of knowledge, or two modes of consciousness: the rational and the intuitive

Epistemology: the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

Science without epistemology is--in so far as it is thinkable at all--primitive and muddled

The scientist must appear to be the systematic epistemologist

  • A realist in describing a world independent of the acts of perception
  • An idealist looking upon concepts and theories as the free inventions of human spirit (not logically derivable from what is empirically given)
  • A positivist in so far as his concepts and theories are justified only to the extent of logical representation of relations among sensory experiences
  • A Platonist or Pythagorean in so far as he considers the viewpoint of logical simplicity an effective and indispensable