Changes

In this merely penultimate analysis, and to the extent that the question of ends has been analyzed up to the present, it needs to be noted that more than a bit of ambiguity yet remains.  When one speaks of a form of discourse each of whose instances necessarily has an end, does one mean that the definition of the form requires each instance to have an end, and does one then mean that each valid instance actually achieves its end, or does one only mean that each instance of some empirically given class of discourses actually reaches some end or another?

In this merely penultimate analysis, and to the extent that the question of ends has been analyzed up to the present, it needs to be noted that more than a bit of ambiguity yet remains.  When one speaks of a form of discourse each of whose instances necessarily has an end, does one mean that the definition of the form requires each instance to have an end, and does one then mean that each valid instance actually achieves its end, or does one only mean that each instance of some empirically given class of discourses actually reaches some end or another?

The word &ldquo;reflection&rdquo; first entered this discussion in what seemed like a purely incidental and instrumental way, as a part of the definition of a &ldquo;meditation&rdquo; as &ldquo;a discourse intended to express its author's reflections or to guide others in contemplation&rdquo; (Webster's).  I converted this term to my own use as a name for a particular class of activities, describing the class of ''meditations'', <math>M,\!</math> as a brand of ''measured'' and ''motivated'' discussions that can serve to mediate formalizations within the realm of discussions at large.  Thus, I borrowed the term for no better reason than that of interposing a middle term between formalized discussions and discussions in general, thereby yielding the relationship <math>F \subseteq M \subseteq D.</math>

The word "reflection" first entered this discussion in what seemed like a purely incidental and instrumental way, as a part of the definition of a "meditation" as "a discourse intended to express its author's reflections or to guide others in contemplation" (Webster's).  I converted this term to my own use as a name for a particular class of activities, describing the class of "meditations", M, as a brand of "measured" and "motivated" discussions that can serve to mediate formalizations within the realm of discussions at large.  Thus, I borrowed the term for no better reason than that of interposing a middle term between formalized discussions and discussions in general, thereby yielding the relationship F c M c D.

In this respect, it seems to be instructive that the issue of reflection first arrived on the present scene, quietly enough, under the aegis of a borrowed term, imported without deliberate design among the components and the connotations of its associated sample of discourse, and involved in a process that seeks to negotiate the conflicting claims that arise between formal and casual discourse.  In the simplest sense of the word, an activity of reflection implies only that an agent thinks quietly and calmly about a matter, the etymology of the word suggesting the actions of bending, bounding, casting, folding, giving, turning, throwing, or yielding back again, and hence a pause, a return, or a review.  In this regard, the word "reflection" barely alludes to the idea that what the agent turns back to is something that involves itself, its own patterns of activity, and thus the word only hints as yet at the complicities of self reference and self application that are involved in an agent turning back to view its past, its present, or its ongoing forms of conduct.

In this respect, it seems to be instructive that the issue of reflection first arrived on the present scene, quietly enough, under the aegis of a borrowed term, imported without deliberate design among the components and the connotations of its associated sample of discourse, and involved in a process that seeks to negotiate the conflicting claims that arise between formal and casual discourse.  In the simplest sense of the word, an activity of reflection implies only that an agent thinks quietly and calmly about a matter, the etymology of the word suggesting the actions of bending, bounding, casting, folding, giving, turning, throwing, or yielding back again, and hence a pause, a return, or a review.  In this regard, the word "reflection" barely alludes to the idea that what the agent turns back to is something that involves itself, its own patterns of activity, and thus the word only hints as yet at the complicities of self reference and self application that are involved in an agent turning back to view its past, its present, or its ongoing forms of conduct.

When one crosses a critical threshold or a threshold of decision, ...

When one crosses a critical threshold or a threshold of decision, ...

A notion of reflection, in a more authentically "reflexive" sense, was implicitly involved in the application of inquiry to itself, y0 = y.y, and was eventually encountered on a recurring basis in the application of each newly recognized component of inquiry to itself:  y.y >= d.d, f.f.  In a more substantial role, the option of a capacity for reflection was already noticed as a significant parameter in the constitution of an IF.

A notion of reflection, in a more authentically "reflexive" sense, was implicitly involved in the application of inquiry to itself, y0 = y.y, and was eventually encountered on a recurring basis in the application of each newly recognized component of inquiry to itself:  y.y >= d.d, f.f.  In a more substantial role, the option of a capacity for reflection was already noticed as a significant parameter in the constitution of an IF.