[Buddha-l] Moment of individuation

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Thu, 2005-04-14 at 22:45 -0400, Stanley J. Ziobro II wrote:

> I don't know that we are dealing only with opinions.  People (sometimes
> large crowds of them) have experienced visitations by those who had passed
> from this realm of existence.

The problem, of course, is that there are no uninterpreted facts of the
matter. There are people who interpret their experiences within the
framework of a belief that visitations from those who have passed beyond
this realm are possible. Those who operate within a different framework,
however, would interpret those experiences differently. 

And so I think we are still dealing here almost entirely with opinion.
For that reason, I would still want to see with William James that the
great diversity of possible ways of interpreting our experience
"absolutely forbids us to be forward in pronouncing on the
meaninglessness of forms of existence other than our own; and it
commands us to tolerate, respect and indulge those whom we see
harmlessly interested and happy in their own ways, however
unintelligible those may be to us. Hands off: neither the whole of truth
nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer, although each
observer gains a partial superiority of insight from the peculiar
position in which he stands. Even prisons and sick-rooms have their
special revelations. It is enough to ask of each of us that he is
faithful to his own opportunities and make the most of his own
blessings, without presuming to regulate the rest of the vast
field." (Final paragraph in essay entitled "On a certain blindness in
human beings.")

> But granted there are things that function solely on
> mechanical principles, these are artificially constructed by beings (human
> beings) who do not operate only on mechanical principles.  How is this
> possible?

You are committing the fallacy of begging the question. The very thing
that is controverted is whether or not human beings operate only on
mechanical principles. And on this, opinion is divided and has been for
a very long time, and I see no prospects for anyone providing conclusive
evidence for one side or the other of the debate. In other words, both
sides are operating entirely on faith. But that's fine, so long as we
allow each man or woman the freedom to follow the kind of faith that his
or her conditioning makes possible.

Yours in maddening relativism,
Richard

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico