Conatus: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

8. Taking Things to the Next Level

‘Mysticism wonders not how the world is but that it is.’

Wittgenstein

In previous chapters we’ve seen how universals might be hinting at a split in the world we observe, and how some philosophers believe in a deeper split — where the properties of objects and other beings might be permanently hidden from us. In the last two chapters there were hints that all of consciousness might fall into this hidden aspect of reality. The next logical step (other than backing off at this stage) is to suggest that, not only is there some kind of transcendent ‘realm’ where things like physical laws dwell, but actually this transcendent, mysterian world is the only true reality. Everything else, such as the everyday world observed around us, is actually just secondary or derivative from the mysterian. To generalise, it might be said that fundamental reality transcends the world.

Like the ideas initiated by Schopenhauer, the transcendent realm takes things to the next level — all the meaning and purpose in life are transposed to a different world! So there’s no easy way back to those earlier splits examined in previous chapters — splits that might be amenable to mending!

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