Reflecting on today’s call, and going in to this week’s inquiry, I’m finding myself challenged already.\u00c2\u00a0 (Not that that’s a bad thing!).\u00c2\u00a0 But in recent years, in other contexts, I’ve reflected a lot on the notion of a “view from nowhere,” and have come to believe that that is an untenable holdover from various systems of metaphysics.\u00c2\u00a0 I think we can possibly have an insight into the co-arising and co-determination of subject and object, but I am not comfortable calling that a “view from nowhere” — if by that we mean a “direct contact” with “reality itself,” a context-free apprehension of “what is.”\u00c2\u00a0 For instance, is this sort of insight into the co-arising and co-determination of subject and object, of the givenness of “self” or observer along with what is observed, available to a seven-year-old child?\u00c2\u00a0 If not, why not?\u00c2\u00a0 If this sort of knowing transcends all contextuality, it should be available to anyone, at any time, but I haven’t found this to be the case.\u00c2\u00a0 I have found it takes a lot of “work” to even begin to glimpse something like the co-arising of subject and object, and I read this as a developmental (not-context-free) attainment. I am open to being “wrong” about this, but at present it appears to me that the idea that we can actually assume a view from nowhere, and have immediate, context-free awareness of what is, is an out-moded metaphysical view, a myth.<\/p>\n
I would welcome anyone’s thoughts on this — or questions, challenges, suggested inquiries or investigations…<\/p>\n
Best wishes,<\/p>\n
Bruce<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reflecting on today’s call, and going in to this week’s inquiry, I’m finding myself challenged already.\u00c2\u00a0 (Not that that’s a bad thing!).\u00c2\u00a0 But in recent years, in other contexts, I’ve reflected a lot on the notion of a “view from … Continue reading