ASSUMED EXISTENCE

den Hollander, Peter M. and Ruys, Kees (2007) ASSUMED EXISTENCE. In: 11th annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, 22-25 Jun 2007, Las Vegas, USA.

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Abstract

Man has the ability to affirm himself and his environment. Without that ability he would not be able to experience anything, there would be no question of an “I” or of a world. Just as undeniable is the human Will, which rises whenever the situation does not satisfy the individual. If such a situation arrives unannounced, there is no question of Will; something outside Will is a condition of the situation arising and is also a condition for the simultaneous rising of (self)-affirmation, except that this latter can be confirmed which distinguishes it in some way from that which is considered the basic situation. As soon as a object itself presents to a subject and distinguishes itself from the surroundings, it is confirmed as something that did not exist for the subject until then and his Will validates it. Only after it has distinguished itself from the surroundings does it exist; only then can the individual ‘sees’ it. That which man experiences has meaning because of Will. Without (self)-affirmation man would not be able to experience, but without Will, the experience would have no meaning. Both are responsible for full experience and one cannot exist without the other.

Comments/Discussion

This is a philosophical viewpoint about assumed reality, will and human accountability.

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