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IONIAN AND CARTESIAN CONSCIOUSNESS – SUMMARY OF MAIN THEMES
Philosophical Anthropology
The character of Ionian consciousness – the distinction between appearance and reality and the concept of infinity. The emergence of the Either/Or as Either: materialism and despair, Or: puritanical dualism and the shadow problem.
The concept of immortality within Ionian consciousness and the phenomenology of the Self/Soul
Kantian distinction between the Self and Cartesian soul – the Cogito and the Sum. The empirical ego, ego illusion and states of consciousness. Bundle theory of the self – refutation of the interpretation of the doctrine of anatta as the utter impermanence of the self. The body-soul problem from within Cartesian and Kantian consciousness compared. Argument of Parmenides for the immortality of the soul. Doctrine of the mirror – relation between empirical “incarnate” and transcendent self. Phenomenology of remorse and despair.
The Transcendental Deduction
The transcendental deduction in the work of Plato as a proof of the immortality and/or transcendence of the Self-soul. Philosophy of perception in Plato and Kant. Universals, forms and the Form of the Good. The transcendental deduction of Kant. Concept of objective time. Phenomenology of subjective time. Impossibility of deriving subjective time from objective time.
History of Religion
The crisis of paganism – withering critique of the morality of paganism from within Ionian consciousness – the rise of patriarchal religion – concept of monotheism – transformation of the Storm-God into Zeus Almighty. Rise of the doctrine of Fall. Further transformation of the archetype of Dionysus – evolution of the archetypes of Prometheus, Lucifer and Heracles. Development of orphism – mysteries of Eleusis – irony and the critique of Aristophanes. Contribution of Plato and the emergence of Platonism. The construction of hell and the emergence of the concepts of purgatory and eternal damnation. Emergence of the concept of redemption. Hypothesis that Persian (Mazdeism) and Indian (Buddhism) religious movements arose from stimulus from the Ionian cognition of the West rather than a converse movement. Idealistic monism of Parmenides.
History of Rome and Roman religion
Radical explanation of the “Roman anomaly” (that Rome appears to have no mythology) as the product of a late patriarchal revolution within Rome and the construction of a State religion. Thesis that Rome was until late – the time of the second Punic War – a developed matriarchy along the lines of Etruscan society. Analysis of Etruscan religion. Analysis of the Roman Twelve Tables. Thesis that legendary Roman history is a fabrication arising from this late revolution in Roman religion and society. Practise of ritual human sacrifice at Rome and vestiges of the original matriarchal religion within Roman religion. Evolution of the Roman archetype; Roman piety and the Roman bargaining religion of sacra and signa.
The mutiliation of the Hermae
History of the episode occurring at the time of the Peloponnesian war known as the mutilation of the Hermae – vindication of the actions and character of Alcibiades.
The character of Ionian consciousness – the distinction between appearance and reality and the concept of infinity. The emergence of the Either/Or as Either: materialism and despair, Or: puritanical dualism and the shadow problem.
The concept of immortality within Ionian consciousness and the phenomenology of the Self/Soul
Kantian distinction between the Self and Cartesian soul – the Cogito and the Sum. The empirical ego, ego illusion and states of consciousness. Bundle theory of the self – refutation of the interpretation of the doctrine of anatta as the utter impermanence of the self. The body-soul problem from within Cartesian and Kantian consciousness compared. Argument of Parmenides for the immortality of the soul. Doctrine of the mirror – relation between empirical “incarnate” and transcendent self. Phenomenology of remorse and despair.
The Transcendental Deduction
The transcendental deduction in the work of Plato as a proof of the immortality and/or transcendence of the Self-soul. Philosophy of perception in Plato and Kant. Universals, forms and the Form of the Good. The transcendental deduction of Kant. Concept of objective time. Phenomenology of subjective time. Impossibility of deriving subjective time from objective time.
History of Religion
The crisis of paganism – withering critique of the morality of paganism from within Ionian consciousness – the rise of patriarchal religion – concept of monotheism – transformation of the Storm-God into Zeus Almighty. Rise of the doctrine of Fall. Further transformation of the archetype of Dionysus – evolution of the archetypes of Prometheus, Lucifer and Heracles. Development of orphism – mysteries of Eleusis – irony and the critique of Aristophanes. Contribution of Plato and the emergence of Platonism. The construction of hell and the emergence of the concepts of purgatory and eternal damnation. Emergence of the concept of redemption. Hypothesis that Persian (Mazdeism) and Indian (Buddhism) religious movements arose from stimulus from the Ionian cognition of the West rather than a converse movement. Idealistic monism of Parmenides.
History of Rome and Roman religion
Radical explanation of the “Roman anomaly” (that Rome appears to have no mythology) as the product of a late patriarchal revolution within Rome and the construction of a State religion. Thesis that Rome was until late – the time of the second Punic War – a developed matriarchy along the lines of Etruscan society. Analysis of Etruscan religion. Analysis of the Roman Twelve Tables. Thesis that legendary Roman history is a fabrication arising from this late revolution in Roman religion and society. Practise of ritual human sacrifice at Rome and vestiges of the original matriarchal religion within Roman religion. Evolution of the Roman archetype; Roman piety and the Roman bargaining religion of sacra and signa.
The mutiliation of the Hermae
History of the episode occurring at the time of the Peloponnesian war known as the mutilation of the Hermae – vindication of the actions and character of Alcibiades.