Reason and Action

In the previous lesson, we have studied the idealist explanation of sensations among the living creatures. In examining new functions such as reason, knowledge, action, fabrication, and society, we shall enlarge the idealist vision to the entire phenomenon that we observe in our daily reality.

I must underline that it's impossible to understand this lesson if you have not read the lesson "Sensation"

1-REASON 2-KNOWLEDGE 3-ACTION 4-FABRICATION 5-SYMBOLISATION 6-CONCLUSION

1-REASON

Reason takes importance among men. The cause of my ability to reason is just the same as the genuine ability of the transcendental subject because the self is unique. The only difference is that the global reasoning is universal while our own reasoning is local.

11-Origin of reason

Some philosophers think that our reason comes from the sensations. With the flow of sensations, men observe regularities, can anticipate and finally form some abstract concepts. This interpretation fits with Materialism but does not seem valid. Of course we get sensations in first. A young child seems to have only sensations and his reason appears with age. Secondly it's true that without sensations, a reason cannot exercise. However, we can observe that a sensation or even a perception is not a thought by itself. Sensations just bring sensations. A sensation never brings the tools for analyzing it.

Clearly, this dispute comes from a confusion between the conditions of the reason to exercise and the origin of the reason by itself. Without sensations reason cannot work but the sole sensations are not the reason and cannot generate it. Our logical ideas do not come from sensations and must preexist in the mind.

In the Menon, Plato shows a young man who discovers by himself all the first mathematical principles. It means, according to Plato, that he has a remembrance of the divine forms that he had contemplated in a previous life. Our explanation relies on a different idea because as we have said we are not conscious of our form. What is more this form is only a logical network. It means that the reason cannot be found in the forms by themselves. The reason holds into the transcendental subject and consequently this reason is also into his individual modality, that is to say you and me.

12-Role of the brain

The reason is in our self. It means that at birth, all men have the same reason and only sensations and education make the difference. However a reason that applies to nothing is nothing. The exercise of the reason then depends on the quantity and quality of the sensations. These sensations have themselves for conditions (and not for cause) the existence of a form and notably of its most complex part that corresponds to the brain: If this part is not very complex such as a bird brain, the tool is limited and only produces poor sensations. When the tool is developed like the human brain, it can produce great sensations that give a base for the reason. This fact explains why we do not exercise reason during the prime childhood. As the transcendental subject creates our form step by steps, the first step are not enough complex to bring great sensations and consequently we have only poor ideas.

What is the role of the brain? According to Bergson, the brain, could be compared with a violin. A violin does not produce the symphony by itself (except in the materialist theory!). The subject produces the symphony in using the violin (1). The part of your mathematical form corresponding to the brain is not the cause of your sensations or thoughts but only a condition. Of course when the violin or the brain are damaged, you have neither symphony, nor sensations or thought. It just means that the association of the forms corresponding to the damaged brain with other simple forms do not give the expected results. Therefore, you cannot get new sensations and then your reason cannot exercise. It the same when death occurs.

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2-KNOWLEDGE

Since the transcendental reason is mainly mathematical, it's not surprising to observe that our own reason is obviously mathematical: Aristotle explains that the syllogism is just a replication of a mathematical calculation. Kant also argues that the mathematical concepts are the basic of our reason.

This fact enables us to know the ultimate reality and to create tools and symbols. This process results in the appearance of knowledge- representations. As our reason is mainly based on numbers, we apply a numeric analysis to every sensation. For example we try to decompose every sensation into a multitude of elementary sensations. Once we have attained the limits of our sentient perceptions, we continue this decomposition by forming the representation of smaller particles and then of units and numbers and finally we get an abstract knowledge-representation.

These knowledge-representations are the third mirror of reality. The transcendental subject creates the forms that are reflected in his consciousness (first mirror). These forms are then reflected as sensations in our own consciousness (second mirror). Finally these sensations through reason are transformed in knowledge-representations in our mind (third mirror).

Consequently, we understand the mathematical structure of the nature and get a first knowledge of the real forms that exist in the transcendental consciousness. The following drawing shows this process.

DRAWING 1

We get closer to the truth but we never reach it, because we have not a direct access to the forms. Nevertheless our intelligence is able to perceive, through a thick fog, some aspects of the universal thought. The problem of knowledge is only to organize our own thought in order to get a good communication with the transcendental thought. The solution to this problem is that we call education.

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3-ACTION

Once again the ability to act is limited: Vegetals have tropisms. Most of animals just react through impulses: On the contrary, upper animals (and human) are able to make choices and to act because their subject implies a will.

In fact action is just a complement of the sensation but it implies two new elements: The subconscious and the freewill.

31-Role of the subconscious

We have seen in a previous lesson the origin of the subconscious. It plays the role of a transmission belt between the two modalities, global and individual of the unique subject.

32-The free will

When I say "I " it is in fact the transcendental subject who is speaking through me. It means that the will is really free because the eternal and uncreated transcendental subject is the first cause without any previous cause. Nevertheless it could mean that the individual subjects have no will at all and are only guided like automat.

However, if our will was just the transcendental will, all our desires should be realized. Our failures are indeed the best proof of the existence of a will independent of the transcendental subject. Consequently, we must admit that there are two possible wills, one in the global modality and another in the individual modality (that is to say you and me ).

How could we explain the coexistence of these two different wills? The global modality only follows some logical laws while the individual modality has to balance pain and pleasure through actions. It means that there are two wills because there are two distinct process. On the other hand, a will independent of the global modality can lead to a failure.

33-Global process

Consequently we can easily describe the acting process:

1-A sensation appears: I get pain,

2-The sensation is analyzed. Our analyze discovers that it is the fire which is burning me.

3-This analyze leads to a will: I give an order to myself to stand up and ward off from the fire.

4-This will is transferred in the subconscious which is the transmission belt or the common part of individual and global subject. Being modified by our will the global subject changes his thinking program of the forms.

5-This change is reflected in the transcendental consciousness through new forms (atomic reality)

6-The result of this process appears in my individual consciousness through a new sensation: I make the effort to stand up ( sensation of effort). I see myself standing up ( visual sensation), I go away from the fire ( effort and visual sensation). Look at the drawing:

DRAWING 2

7-Once again, for understanding this process you must have mastered the sensation process.

34-Causation

Firstly, we must answer to a classic question: Let's us suppose that I push somebody: I see him fall in my sentient universe, and he also sees himself fall in his own sentient universe. Since each sentient universe is different, and since a sensation, never gets out from the consciousness which contains it, how could you explain the relations and communications we experience?

Once again the relations between these two perceptions come up from the fact that there is solely one atomic reality where these events really appear. In fact, the true communication is established in the transcendental subject and then their results are reflected through sensations in our individual consciousness.

The real problem of causation is the connection between our will and the global subject. I say: I want to stand up and then I am standing up. In fact there is between these two events a complex mechanical process of nerves, muscles and so on. For the dualist the will launches this material process but it conducts to the impossible communication between a mental substance (the will) and a material one (the nervous and muscles process). The materialists have the same problem and they can only reduce the role of the will: The will should be an illusion or a material process by itself.

In our explanation, and although the will and the forms corresponding to the nervous and muscles process are both mental events, I cannot claim that my will creates or moves these forms ( Recall that an individual subject does not create or associate the forms in the transcendental consciousness). It means that these operations on the forms must be launched by the transcendental subject. How does the global subject know my will? He knows it because the global and the individual modalities are common in the subconscious (1).

However, the global subject only realizes the wills that are in accordance with the logical laws of the forms. It means that some action succeed and some other not. As the individual subject does not exactly know these logical laws, errors are frequent and quite unavoidable. In order to limit errors we have to know these laws. That is the goal of Science.

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4-FABRICATION

Franklin said that a man is an animal who knows how to fabricate tools. Fabrication is an human process and brings some novelties in our description.

At first glance, fabrication is just a particular mode of action. The objective is to produce new sensations that are useful for our comfort (For example a Combustion engine). We shall describe the process steps by steps.

1-A sensation appears: A coconut and as I am hungry I want to eat its milk. Beside the coconut, there is another sensation: a flint pebble.

2-The sensations are analyzed: I realize that the only way for opening the coconut is to use a flint axe. The image of the flint axe is a representation and my goal.

3-This analyze leads to a will: I give an order to myself to seize the pebble and to hit it with another stone. This will is transferred in the subconscious which is the transmission belt or the common part of individual and global subject. Being modified by our will, the global subject changes its programs.

4-This change is reflected in the transcendental consciousness through new forms (atomic reality) and then in new sensations in my individual consciousness: I make the effort to seize the stone ( sensation of effort) and I see myself hitting the pebble ( effort and visual sensation). In daily language, it means that I am performing a manual work.

5-Now I compare these new sensations with my representation of the project: The flint axe. Obviously there is yet a difference: the pebble does not yet look like a flint axe. Consequently, I give a new order to myself: hit hard! As a result, we find again the process described in 3 and 4.

6-I will go on with this process and finally I will get a sensation corresponding exactly to my representation: the flint axe. When looking at this new sensation (the silex axe) I can assume that I have fabricated a new tool. Look at the next drawing:

DRAWING 3

The black path shows the sequence 1 to 4. The red path shows the other sequences going to an identity between my representation and the final sensation (blue arrow). Any simple or complex manufacturing process obeys to the scheme we have just described: An aircraft like a flint axe (Flint is silex in french!).

There is an interesting point to note: Usually, any sensation corresponds to a form created by the transcendental subject. Regarding a manufactured object, the process begins with a knowledge-representation in our own mind (the image of the silex axe or the sketch of the combustion engine). Through the different actions the transcendental subject combines some existing forms in order to create the form corresponding to our knowledge-representation. By the end, there is really in the transcendental consciousness (atomic reality) a new combination of forms corresponding to the manufactured object.

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5-SYMBOLISATION

Aristotle defines man as a social animal. You could object that there are many animals societies such as the bees. In fact and notably among insects, the society looks like some unconscious and collective living process. On the contrary, in human societies, we find mainly a very complex network of relations and symbols.

All the events whom you can have sensations and which are described as a material world come from the forms realized by the transcendental subject. Now, let's suppose that you are in your office, managing people, suppliers, customers and so on. Obviously, you have sensations of your own body, of your desk ( a tool), of other people as living bodies. You have sensations of the sounds when they are speaking to you or of the physical shake hand. However could you say that all these sensations and their relations are just sufficient to describe your job? Of course not. It means that societal relations are specific.

Your job and your social power do not exist neither in the transcendental subject and nor in his atomic reality. Clearly, these relations only exist in your own mind and in other people minds. Social power and hierarchical relations are mainly the product that men and societies have implemented through the ages.

Social power and hierarchical relations only exist in your own mind and in other people minds. however, these specific ideas must be represented in the sentient world. So the ideas are transformed in symbols attached to some sensations.

The human Language is certainly the first symbol. An idea is attached to a voice sound and becomes a word. A bank note is a symbol: an idea is attached to a specific piece of paper (the paper is a sensation). I could multiply the examples. We are living among symbols and they dictate our social life. At the beginning of his adventure, Robinson does not use any symbols: He just needs tools and real objects (sensation). However, Robinson begins to create symbols when he gets a companion.

The civil society is made up of symbols. History is mainly the history of symbols. It means that an ethical knowledge must be applied to the societal relations.

Idealism is the sole to answer to the following question: How could we know an external world. Since the world is by itself a thought, the answer is obvious. As a result, the theory of knowledge demonstrates in turn the validity of our hypothesis.

However a scientific knowledge has only a meaning if it is followed by an ethical knowledge that can be applied to the societal relations. On the other hand, an ethical knowledge must be attached to a transcendental goal. We shall describe this goal in the next lesson.

1-This explanation is close of those of Malebranche. His theory, the "Occasionalism", postulates that our wills are taken in account by God who realizes the body process that enables the action. Unfortunately, Malebranche just like Descartes was a dualist and thought that the bodily process was a material process. Hence he just transferred to God the problem of communication into substances.