Changes

On macroscopic scales of organization, with medium sized bodies and bodies of media that extend over considerable distances, with masses of activity that successfully propagate their own forms through vastening expanses of time, the general condition of thoughtfulness cancels out and compensates for all but the most singular of disturbances, namely, those that are peculiar to the microscopic realm of observation.  If the matter is regarded on this grander scale, then it is not hard to find a sufficient reason for the stubborn persistence of the cosmic order, and thus the desirable necessity of doing just this is never far from mind.  In the case of whole societies, a like reason is often enough to explain their inertia, their resistance, and their overall slowness to change.

On macroscopic scales of organization, with medium sized bodies and bodies of media that extend over considerable distances, with masses of activity that successfully propagate their own forms through vastening expanses of time, the general condition of thoughtfulness cancels out and compensates for all but the most singular of disturbances, namely, those that are peculiar to the microscopic realm of observation.  If the matter is regarded on this grander scale, then it is not hard to find a sufficient reason for the stubborn persistence of the cosmic order, and thus the desirable necessity of doing just this is never far from mind.  In the case of whole societies, a like reason is often enough to explain their inertia, their resistance, and their overall slowness to change.

If there is felt a need to devise an object explanation, a presumptive sources of troubles that is already compact, concrete, and thus confined enough to accuse, apprehend, and hopefully imprison on account of the mass's retarded potential, then resorting to a hypostasis posed in the form of an “archaic object” is a prototypical way of controlling anxiety, and it frequently, if not infallibly, can serve just as well as any other device on which to pin the common blame.  This highlights the question:  What sort of archaic object would account for the general malaise in a community whose dedication to inquiry has become root bound?

If there is felt a need to devise an object explanation, a presumptive sources of troubles that is already compact, concrete, and thus confined enough to accuse, apprehend, and hopefully imprison on account of the mass's retarded potential, then resorting to a hypostasis posed in the form of an “archaic object” is a prototypical way of controlling anxiety, and it frequently, if not infallibly, can serve just as well as any other device on which to pin the common blame.  This highlights the question:  What sort of archaic object would account for the general malaise in a community whose dedication to inquiry has become root-bound?

<pre>

I wish to apply a determinate philosophical method to a determinate problem, that of the constitution of the symbol, which I described as an expression with a double meaning.  I had already applied this method to the symbols of art and the ethics of religion.  But the reason behind it is neither in the domains considered nor in the objects which are proper to them.  It resides in the overdetermination of the symbol, which cannot be understood outside the dialecticity of the reflection which I propose.

Paul Ricoeur, The Conflict of Interpretations, [Ric, 175]

<p>I wish to apply a determinate philosophical method to a determinate problem, that of the constitution of the symbol, which I described as an expression with a double meaning.  I had already applied this method to the symbols of art and the ethics of religion.  But the reason behind it is neither in the domains considered nor in the objects which are proper to them.  It resides in the overdetermination of the symbol, which cannot be understood outside the dialecticity of the reflection which I propose.</p>

| align="right" | Paul Ricoeur, ''The Conflict of Interpretations'', [Ric, 175]

The archaic object of this global aimlessness, that informs the course of the general drift, that the total condition and the specific culture of inquiry revolve about in their orbits, as if they aim to be constantly accelerated toward it, but never quite manage to resolve their situation toward it, as if they fear to dissolve into it, is very likely nothing more than the whole community of interpretation itself, effectively realized as an object of its own devising.

The archaic object of this global aimlessness, that informs the course of the general drift, that the total condition and the specific culture of inquiry revolve about in their orbits, as if they aim to be constantly accelerated toward it, but never quite manage to resolve their situation toward it, as if they fear to dissolve into it, is very likely nothing more than the whole community of interpretation itself, effectively realized as an object of its own devising.

The community of interpretation, whose currency funds the community of inquiry as a going enterprise within its fold, has sufficient reason to preserve itself in its present form as a valuable object, commodity, or resource.  But the dialectical nature of the process that is currently conducted between them, due in part to the dialectrical charges of the "-ionized" terms that pass for information between them.  A term of this charge splits the action from the end and shares it between the parties to an ambiguity, the active and passive objects that together comprise its full denomination.  This division of denotation forces interpretation to vacillate between the two extremes of meaning in a vain and eternal effort to rejoin their senses of value to the realm of the rendered and misspent coin, in hopes of regaining the meaning what was mint in their original condition.  The stowing away of one portion or the other drives the potential that drives both themselves and all the actions that they are meant to convey toward their designate and their destinate ends, but the unstable equilibrium that is their due, especially when it is permitted to be waged by uncontrolled forms of oppositional attraction, does not permit the dialogue to rest.  It continues to remain in doubt and does not fail to renew its ambivalence regarding the maintenance of any fixed form it happens to take, always wondering whether its present form is literally necessary, precisely sufficient, or whether it is but transiently and contingently convenient.  Accordingly and otherwise the whirl of dialogue, for all its own reasons, is always in imminent danger of wasting away into the echo of its own narcissism.

The community of interpretation, whose currency funds the community of inquiry as a going enterprise within its fold, has sufficient reason to preserve itself in its present form as a valuable object, commodity, or resource.  But the dialectical nature of the process that is currently conducted between them, due in part to the dialectrical charges of the &ldquo;-ionized&rdquo; terms that pass for information between them.  A term of this charge splits the action from the end and shares it between the parties to an ambiguity, the active and passive objects that together comprise its full denomination.  This division of denotation forces interpretation to vacillate between the two extremes of meaning in a vain and eternal effort to rejoin their senses of value to the realm of the rendered and misspent coin, in hopes of regaining the meaning what was mint in their original condition.  The stowing away of one portion or the other drives the potential that drives both themselves and all the actions that they are meant to convey toward their designate and their destinate ends, but the unstable equilibrium that is their due, especially when it is permitted to be waged by uncontrolled forms of oppositional attraction, does not permit the dialogue to rest.  It continues to remain in doubt and does not fail to renew its ambivalence regarding the maintenance of any fixed form it happens to take, always wondering whether its present form is literally necessary, precisely sufficient, or whether it is but transiently and contingently convenient.  Accordingly and otherwise the whirl of dialogue, for all its own reasons, is always in imminent danger of wasting away into the echo of its own narcissism.

The problem arises of how to bring these systematic distortions under systematic control.  It helps to stand back a bit from the problem and to cast a somewhat wider net.  Accordingly, let the whole category of phenomena that are gathered around this issue be thematized under the family name of an "obstruction to inquiry" (OTI).  This includes as a subordinate genus the panoply of systematic distortions, generated by disingenuous reflections, that can be hypothesized to have their source in protecting the favored assumptions and defending the implicit claims of a particular status quo, no matter whether the implicated propositions are held to be the prerogatives of a privileged POV or whether they are delivered up to indictment as the prejudices of a more widely sanctioned world view.  The archetype of this behavior is appropriately addressed under the mythological or the psychological category of "narcissism".

The problem arises of how to bring these systematic distortions under systematic control.  It helps to stand back a bit from the problem and to cast a somewhat wider net.  Accordingly, let the whole category of phenomena that are gathered around this issue be thematized under the family name of an ''obstruction to inquiry'' (OTI).  This includes as a subordinate genus the panoply of systematic distortions, generated by disingenuous reflections, that can be hypothesized to have their source in protecting the favored assumptions and defending the implicit claims of a particular status quo, no matter whether the implicated propositions are held to be the prerogatives of a privileged POV or whether they are delivered up to indictment as the prejudices of a more widely sanctioned world view.  The archetype of this behavior is appropriately addressed under the mythological or the psychological category of ''narcissism''.

It is important to note that the family OTI and the genus "narcissus" differ in the levels of hypothesis that are involved in their concepts, both in their speculative formation and in their provisional attribution.  The presence of an OTI is fairly easy to surmise from its distinguishing traits:  the dissipative conduct and the rambling course that affect the inquiry in question.  To the degree that the suspicion of its effect and the verification of its force can be assembled from superficial traces, this makes its maintenance supportable on circumstantial evidence alone.  In a phrase, one says that the wider hypothesis lies "nearer to nature" than the narrower construction, or that it makes its appearance closer to the purely phenomenal sphere.  In contrast, unraveling the precise nature of the obstruction requires a deeper investigation.  There is an additional hypothesis involved in guessing the source of the resistance, no matter how prevalent a particular genus of distortion is found and no matter how likely an individual species of explanation is in fact.

It is important to note that the family OTI and the genus ''narcissus'' differ in the levels of hypothesis that are involved in their concepts, both in their speculative formation and in their provisional attribution.  The presence of an OTI is fairly easy to surmise from its distinguishing traits:  the dissipative conduct and the rambling course that affect the inquiry in question.  To the degree that the suspicion of its effect and the verification of its force can be assembled from superficial traces, this makes its maintenance supportable on circumstantial evidence alone.  In a phrase, one says that the wider hypothesis lies &ldquo;nearer to nature&rdquo; than the narrower construction, or that it makes its appearance closer to the purely phenomenal sphere.  In contrast, unraveling the precise nature of the obstruction requires a deeper investigation.  There is an additional hypothesis involved in guessing the source of the resistance, no matter how prevalent a particular genus of distortion is found and no matter how likely an individual species of explanation is in fact.

Within this wider setting it may be possible to focus more clearly on the species of threats to accurate reflection that need to be clarified here.  Already, besides the stigma of stubborn error that hangs over the whole refractory horde, there is a germ of paradox that hides within the very folds of this classification.  Namely, it is that the first obstacle one finds to reflection, and hence to every form of reflective inquiry, is a kind of narcissism or self love.  It begins naturally enough, ensconced in the not unnatural desire of every form of life to preserve itself in its present form.  But the simple desire to remain as is can be diverted into a blinded esteem of the self, one that admires its present condition only as reflected in the array of disingenuous reflections and contrived presentations that make up a fixed, idealized, and very selective image.  Finally and strangely enough, this unreflective form of narcissism even comes to prefer the simplistic and beautiful lies to the realistic forms that a veritable mirror would show.

Within this wider setting it may be possible to focus more clearly on the species of threats to accurate reflection that need to be clarified here.  Already, besides the stigma of stubborn error that hangs over the whole refractory horde, there is a germ of paradox that hides within the very folds of this classification.  Namely, it is that the first obstacle one finds to reflection, and hence to every form of reflective inquiry, is a kind of narcissism or self love.  It begins naturally enough, ensconced in the not unnatural desire of every form of life to preserve itself in its present form.  But the simple desire to remain as is can be diverted into a blinded esteem of the self, one that admires its present condition only as reflected in the array of disingenuous reflections and contrived presentations that make up a fixed, idealized, and very selective image.  Finally and strangely enough, this unreflective form of narcissism even comes to prefer the simplistic and beautiful lies to the realistic forms that a veritable mirror would show.

The danger of narcissism, with respect to the prospects of a reflective inquiry, is not in the dynamic attractions and the realistic affections that a person or a society bears toward its truer self, and that in turn inform their respective bearings toward the selves they are meant to be, but in the static character of its attachment to a fixed, idealized, and partial image of that self.

The danger of narcissism, with respect to the prospects of a reflective inquiry, is not in the dynamic attractions and the realistic affections that a person or a society bears toward its truer self, and that in turn inform their respective bearings toward the selves they are meant to be, but in the static character of its attachment to a fixed, idealized, and partial image of that self.

Once again, the quality that distinguishes reflection from introspection, its fallibility, is a trait that sufficiently reflective agents can find reflected in their own conduct of reflection, and needless to say, their conduct in general.  This quality of fallibility, thus cognized and thus converted, that is, once its application to oneself is acknowledged and its consequences for one's experience are recognized, becomes a type of self recognizant character, an internalized trait that leads reflective agents to become more corrigible, more docile, and thus more educatable.  This makes it possible for reflective agents to build up their images of reality from scratch materials, to proceed through steps that are always revisable and edifiable, and to leave the finishing of their forms to the work of future editions.  In the final analysis, while this mannerism of aesthetic distance and tempered discretion prevents any affection or any impression from becoming too "immediate", in the strictest sense of that word, it is just this mode of detachment that assures the sensible image of its eventual remediation.

Once again, the quality that distinguishes reflection from introspection, its fallibility, is a trait that sufficiently reflective agents can find reflected in their own conduct of reflection, and needless to say, their conduct in general.  This quality of fallibility, thus cognized and thus converted, that is, once its application to oneself is acknowledged and its consequences for one's experience are recognized, becomes a type of self-recognizant character, an internalized trait that leads reflective agents to become more corrigible, more docile, and thus more educatable.  This makes it possible for reflective agents to build up their images of reality from scratch materials, to proceed through steps that are always revisable and edifiable, and to leave the finishing of their forms to the work of future editions.  In the final analysis, while this mannerism of aesthetic distance and tempered discretion prevents any affection or any impression from becoming too &ldquo;immediate&rdquo;, in the strictest sense of that word, it is just this mode of detachment that assures the sensible image of its eventual remediation.

The nature and use of reflection in inquiry, as it currently appears, can be described as follows.  Reflection on conduct leads to a description of that conduct, posed in terms of a reflective image.  Over an interval of time or an extended period of investigation, these descriptive images are accumulated into exhaustive theories and compiled into compact models of the conduct in question.  To be useful in science, or empirical inquiry, these theories and models must be capable of being false with respect to their intentions, amenable to being tested in further experience, and subject to being amended on subsequent reflection.

The nature and use of reflection in inquiry, as it currently appears, can be described as follows.  Reflection on conduct leads to a description of that conduct, posed in terms of a reflective image.  Over an interval of time or an extended period of investigation, these descriptive images are accumulated into exhaustive theories and compiled into compact models of the conduct in question.  To be useful in science, or empirical inquiry, these theories and models must be capable of being false with respect to their intentions, amenable to being tested in further experience, and subject to being amended on subsequent reflection.

In sum, the very feature of reflection that seems to be its chief defect, the fact that it can generate false images, casting reflections that are false to the actions they intend to represent and even leading to wholly distorted perspectives on the objectified scene of activity, is the very characteristic that saves its appearance in experience and the very trait that permits it to show its face at the court of inquiry, which all along admits that distortions acknowledged to be imperfect images can still be disclosed to subsequent experience and remedied in future reflections.

In sum, the very feature of reflection that seems to be its chief defect, the fact that it can generate false images, casting reflections that are false to the actions they intend to represent and even leading to wholly distorted perspectives on the objectified scene of activity, is the very characteristic that saves its appearance in experience and the very trait that permits it to show its face at the court of inquiry, which all along admits that distortions acknowledged to be imperfect images can still be disclosed to subsequent experience and remedied in future reflections.

===6.2. A Candid Point of View===

===6.2. A Candid Point of View===