Ontic v. Ontological
4,076 views · Published 9 January 2008 · 7:12 · Indexed 14 October 2026
Channel: Footnotes2Plato · 2008 · Science & Technology
Facts v. Meaning, Physical v. Experiential, Matter v. Mind, Nature v. Human.... So here is my dilemma: I agree completely that (what I experience as) the human being is a function of the brain and body. That being the case, I find it difficult to find the transcendental perspective from which I as a human being might observe the world such that I were capable of representing its truths objectively. How is it that my experiential being can come to have absolute knowledge of the objective state of my physical being without ceasing to continue being an experiential being? I think the real beauty of such extreme materialism is that it forces us to consider the implications of our situation under completely new terms. I'm all for a paradigm shift in our understanding of the mind. I just think all the theory in the world is worthless without the action to go with it; in other words, even if we know exactly what the brain is doing, we still wouldn't know exactly what we'd want it to do. The ultimate ethical issue in all this is about how or whether human beings ought to technologically/chemically alter the brain for the supposed good of society.... how on earth do we approach questions like this?
