Emotion (Draft Work - Outdated)

This is a very old and outdated article, but I am publishing it as an insight into my process of discovery and growth of my philosophy.

Our experience of the world is shaped and more so engendered by our rational faculties. Our experience is known to us a posteriori, and diametrically we say that the rational faculties are known a priori. We must understand however, that the notion of 'a priori' knowledge as being the seed of 'a posteriori' knowledge is fundamentally and inextricably linked to the world as perceived and experienced itself. The soul is beyond 'knowledge', beyond the rational thinking faculties.

We presented a concept of 'cognition' in an earlier article concerning the nature of the self. Cognition is the result of the active and continuous exercising of the thinking faculties, whose very existence is drawn by volition of the human Will. Alongside a capacity of thought humans equally, and perhaps more strongly, experience emotion. Emotion is completely unlike thought, emotions are felt. It is here that we can address a basic point of the 'levels of feeling'; there is the physical level caused by a biological response of the body, which can be said to be a reflection of a greater pure emotion itself. In other words the physical feeling of emotion is a form of its abstracted singularity. There is also a mental state of emotion, in which the whole mind is aligned with this focused state.

It is true that the physical feeling of emotion is not aligned perfectly with its mental state, individuals may experience mood swings due to hormonal imbalances and other conditions. This is not to say that the emotion is misaligned, for example that we are sad when we should be happy, but it is to say that this apparent state of 'sadness' is illusory and not real 'sadness' at all. Note carefully that in this situation I am talking about a condition in which the physical experience of emotion does not match its mental state, i.e. the individual here would be happy in his mind but would experience physical symptoms of sadness. Addressing this distinction early on allows for a meaningful discussion on the actual abstract nature of emotion, than transcends the limitations of the body and of the physical reality.

We have not thus far in my philosophy addressed a full hierarchy of the self, it should not be assumed that the rational faculties are of the highest order of existence besides the soul. The rational faculties represent the apex and totality of rational thought, the singularity of known ontology. If we may recall my previous articles, I have time and time again noted the incapacity for thought to ascertain fundamental truth, for truth is an act of becoming - a totality, and thought is a single wave upon the ocean of the mind. This act of becoming is for the waters themselves to hold the truth in their essence, the mind is as such a manifestation of this truth.

To generalise this argument we can speak of an unknowable realm above the faculties of reason. This is not to say it cannot be spoken of, but that our knowledge of the realm is a reflection of its true being into the intelligible realm. Due to the nature of ontological logic we can formulate concepts pertaining to the understanding of the unknowable realm, just as we formulate concepts related to the knowable realm. The distinction, is that application of reason illuminates the concepts in the realm of knowledge, but we need a different faculty of understanding to illumine the unknowable realm. This is where the true beauty of Ontological Logic is found, in concepts being rested upon a pure ontology and being, it becomes possible to formulate concepts pertaining to that which lies outside of the knowable bounds, that which is concerned with an absolute totality beyond the measure of words. This is precisely where the unknowable realm comes into the picture, in containing a faculty of feeling beyond the known.

This faculty is the act of becoming. The unknowable realm is the totality and singularity of the known; the singularities of the unknowable realm are states of existence. This links back to the idea that the universe of experience is a projection of the self, all elements of existence stem from the tree of being, the Will, the Soul. Our awareness of the world leads to reason, an understanding of the singularities of ideals.