I’ve finally finished all of my classes for my MA in philosophy, and I’m finishing up my thesis paper this term. It’s going to be a 4 chapter paper on several aspects of consciousness philosophy, and when it’s done, I’ll let you know. In the mean time, I’ll try to address your inquiry: what is Consciousness Philosophy?
Well, let me say that ‘philosophy’ is derived from the latin, meaning ‘love of wisdom’. So in this sense, philosophy is strictly an out-focused operation… a love OF something. I mean to say that it is consideration FROM the person out TOWARDS something else, be it politics, or economics, or social behavior and consideration of these things lends itself to particular interests in things like morals, ethics, ownership, human rights, national sovereignty, etc.
In fact, much of philosophy struggles to determine how reliable it is to be such an out-focused enterprise. Questions arise, such as, “what mechanisms and/or experiences allow one to make such a consideration?,” “how accurate are the considerations we can make?” and “can anyone similarly make or understand a consideration made by another person?”
Consciousness Philosphy shifts all the gears around, it turns the entire operation back upon itself. From the self, one confronts the self. I mean to say that philosophy of consciousness, simply, is the pursuit of wisdom about the self— about the reaches of our understanding, addressing the difficulties in our perceptions and the possibility of cultivating accurate ‘consideration’ for those things around us. But of course, this involves confronting instruction from others, and in this way, understanding the self requires innerconnectivity.
There are several traditions of thought that insist that one cannot accurately see outward if one has not worked on his inner self. Such philosophers assert that we are not single selves, but rather conglomerations of many different personalities, with many different—and often conflicting!—interests. For example, one personality in us might decide that its best to get to bed before 11pm everyday, while another personality thinks its best to hit the bars late whenever the opportunity should present itself. In this way, our perceptions outward are always biased or fragmented, and until there is inner unity in the person, one cannot properly (fully) consider his surroundings or his place therein .
Time and time again a feeling of ‘unsettledness’ arises in us. Perhaps we feel unsettled in our bodies, or in the way we think, or in our relationships, or in the world in general. The older we get, the feeling grows and becomes more present, until suddenly we’re on our deathbed making a list of regrets in our minds, never fully having understood the trials of life and waiting fearfully for the moment when our eyelids blink their last.
Inner work on the self is said to alleviate the pain of all three (regrets, lack of understanding, and fear of death). It is observed that nature develops man to a certain point, and further development requires one’s own efforts; tragically, most people squabble in complacency, never knowing that more is in our potential, or some recognize this potential yet never make the right efforts. The first step of inner work is necessarily linked with attention. Attention is the only act of will that one can cultivate in such a low developmental state. Attention is the tool that allows for self-study. Self-study must occur before one can make any strides towards development. This area of philosophy is often referred to as “self-culture” or “self-cultivation”.
Consciousness Philosophy is like the brainstorming stage for this entire human predicament. It situates one deep within the history and tradition of all the work and the considerations made regarding consciousness, around the globe (east, west, etc). However, philosophy only takes you so far. Once the philosophy has taken its root in the student, s/he only has one thing to do: practice.
Understanding and wisdom then, is the result of practice.
In closing, Consciousness Philosophy shows the need for practice, and further, it cultivates momentum, for the student will one day feel unmistakeable urgency for practice. In my work, I also explore the very exercises that constitute ‘practice’, but for now, all I will say is that it all begins with attention—how to open one’s attention, prolong it, and use it for self-study
(…taken from an email to an old college friend in the marines, Darren Riley…)
Posted by bell at January 6, 2007 06:38 PM | TrackBack