Kant and UFOs

[lkwalker]

The Rational Absurd as a subject for enquiry

General Striker said-

I would further note that Jung and Vallee both eventually came to the position that the phenomena include a nuts and bolts (ETH/UTH) attribute as well as an Archetypal transcendence. That fact illustrates my point that we may be dealing with that rarest of scholarly anomalies- the rational absurd.

The General may as well have lifted that concept straight from Kant. (Or perhaps he did!) Kant's great contribution to Philosophy was his discovery of the principle of the synthetic a priori- a realm of ideas that are both absurd and rational at once. He further termed those types of propositions, Categorical Imperatives. "Critique of Pure Reason" and "Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics" stand as his proofs. His contention in both works was the simple proposition that the Irrational, ie. 'the Absurd,' serves as the necessary presupposition of Reason itself. If you're following me so far I'd ask you: How can it be otherwise?

Solipsism and Reality

To begin this discussion it is necessary to consider the conundrum of Solipsism as the the essential, or primal, condition of consciousness. Solipsism poses this question: If all that I know is accessed through my senses how is it possible to assume that any reality exists beyond me?

...to be continued as i gather my thoughts

[Egg]

You have to have faith that your senses aren't fooling you.

[lkwalker]

You have to have faith that your senses aren't fooling you.

I'll get to that. Have patience.

[Egg]

Where can I acquire some?

[lkwalker]

By reading this tedious thread.

[Egg]

Oh, I thought all I got out of that was constipation.

[lkwalker]

Square One: Cogito ergo Sum

Before we can understand Kant we need to visit with Descartes. Descartes can be somewhat summed up in his famous proposition: Je pense donc je suis, Cogito ergo Sum- or in English- I think so I am. For Descartes, reality- and existence- was a matter of self-consciousness. The 'examined life,' with apology to Plato, sufficed to establish independent reality for Descartes. The solipsist trap was never a consideration. Of course, to the Great One this assumption was either an oversight or of little consequence. I doubt that he overlooked anything- so I assume the 'little consequence' presumption most likely prevailed in his mind. But was he correct in assuming that? I think not. The 'je pense' principle, to my mind, was a simple tautology. After all, "cogito" contains within itself both the 'je' and the 'pense.' So the proposition is self-referenced. Isn't that the very definition of 'tautology?' And so isn't the famous Cartesian proposition necessarily circular? I contend that Kant struggled with precisely this problem in formulating his idea of synthetic a priori. He was attempting to escape from the Cartesian conundrum by positing the 'Categorical Imperative.'

But at this point either your eyes are glazing over or your wondering about the relevance of the foregoing to the problem of UFOlogy as the subject of Philosophical enquiry. Right?

The relevance has to do with the nature of epistemological validity in itself: the possibility of the reconciliation of the absurd with the rational. It is the case that even the very best of Western minds have struggled with the problem to no obvious avail. The problem is both cloying and deep.

...to be continued...

[Ozfactor]

Why are you studying the ones studying? The more important opinion or view would be your own. No?

I stopped reading Vallee, Jacobs, the whole lot of them because I was only being jerked from one notion to another, having no idea of my own notions.

The fear factor that had been woven through this subject over the years by self proclaimed experts was what killed any understanding we may have ever had as a whole about this phenomenon. Turned obscene and untouchable.

I see a wave coming, a wave of people that have come to their own understanding through personal experience, or minus the experience, just simply not carting around the paradigm of the day.

Disclosure is happening....just out of reach from the experts.

[TraumaT]

But at this point either your eyes are glazing over or your wondering about the relevance of the foregoing to the problem of UFOlogy as the subject of Philosophical enquiry. Right?

While the philosophers sit there and muse and think and then muse and tink some more about UFOs and aliens, the true space explorers are building spacecrafts and telescopes and satelites and Mars rovers and solar sails that can travel trough space without any need for fuel other than solar wind and sun particles. They are the ones who will some day discover alien life out there.

What will the philosophers have accomplished?

[Egg]

The philosophers helped lead science to a place where spacecraft could be manufactured.

And, when you can't afford a spaceship, philosophy can at least get you off the ground.