Re: Identity Boundary

Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Sat, 07 Mar 1998 00:30:49 -0700


> Brian D Williams (duening@oss1.cba.uh.edu) wrote:
> >Ian Goddard writes that the mystical notion of "holism" is more
> >likely the "Truth" because it doesn't impose the boundaries that the
> >mind uses to make its way in the world.

An appropriate parody might be: boundaryism is more likely the "Truth"
because it doesn't impose an artificial sameness on a heterogen(e)ous
universe.

> >I find this whole line of thinking to be unconvincing. Centuries of
> >thought have tried to convince people that one or another point of
> >view is "Truth" and everything else is mere illusion. The notion
> >that there is some "Super" truth behind mere, everyday truth is a
> >religious notion that serves no purpose whatever.
> >
> >Why should we think that holism is more real than boundaryism?

Ian Goddard wrote:
> IAN: Why should we think that boundaries are more
> real than holism? What I'm getting at is maybe
> because holism is winning the truth test, one
> suddenly thinks "Ah, who needs truth anyway?
> 'The truth' is a religious concept." Which
> constructs a scenario in which a holistic
> paradigm cannot be allowed to prevail.
>
> That may not be your intention at all,
> but in the set of all counters, it
> tends to fit that interpretation.

You are missing the point, if I read Brian right, he objects not to
your *choice* of primal truth, but to your claim of priority for one
end of the axis - it doesn't matter which end.

As for me, I think you confuse description ("Tom Thumb is the
shortest man in the world") with identity.

-- 
"How'd ya like to climb this high without no mountain?" --Porky Pine
70.6.19
Anton Sherwood   *\\*   +1 415 267 0685
!! visiting New Mexico, end of March !!