20210329 FIVE FILAMENTS FOR A PHILOSOPHICAL ENQUIRY =================================================== Just some notes for now. These are five filaments for a philosophical enquiry concerning our times. I take for my text an aphorism of Robert Heinlein, "Specialization is for insects." It is one of many such words of wisdom found in his "Time Enough For Love." I had read the book in my youth. His words, their context and their import have remained with me for all the decades that have followed. My words are outlined below; I claim praxology as of my coinage. Tool ---- A tool is a human means of consciously augmenting an inherent capacity mechanically. Technique --------- A technique is a human means of consciously ameliorating an aspect of a practice beyond the previous expectations of a practitioner or a community of practitionres. Practice -------- A practice is a habituated human means of achieving a personal, familial, communal or societal purpose across time and space through coherent, convergent and coordinated activities grounded in everyday life. Praxology --------- A praxology is a human means of organically advancing a practice and extending it beyond its origins in a manner than maintains its continuity with the founding community and engenders adoption and adaptation concretely in the everyday life of new communities. Consider the construction of cathedrals in medieval times. Technology ---------- A technology is a human means of rationally alienating a practice from its origins in a manner that increasingly separates that practice from its founding community and everyday life while insinuating it into other communities abstractly. Consider the building of skyscrapers in modern times. These are definitions that delimit an area of enquiry. They are filaments. They are not everything. But, seen in the right light, they direct our attention profitably. You know what I am thinking of, I am sure. You find yourself sitting in the sunlight and something catches your eye. It is the thinnest of silken threads created by the spinneret of a spider beginning to weave its web. In the gentle wind, it billows out from its anchor thrusting the spider into the larger world for a moment. The ebbing breeze allows the spider to return to its task of constructing the web by which it will catch its prey. But, we are now aware that there is something to be caught and something with which to ensnare. These five filaments are not the whole story. They allow our imaginations to billow out into the world. They catch our attention as they glint with the intellect's light. When we follow them back to their foundations and ponder the experiences that they point to, we may more fully appreciated the warp and woof of what we are weaving as knowers. Then, perhaps, we will discern what must be grasped about the realities that shape us and are, in turn, shaped by us. In doing so mindfully, we might sense the fagility of our grip on what is going foward. Having spent time developing these initial definitions, I discovered an essay that places them neatly within the context of my concern. The title of the essay is "Dostoevsky Reads Hegel In Siberia and Bursts Into Tears". It can be found in a book of the same title. The Hungarian author is Lazlso F. Foldenyi. Ottilie Mulzet translated the text into English. This essay alone is worth both the price of the book and the candle by which it might be read.