Modes of the Finite Contents

Modes of the Finite

George A. Blair

General Description

This is a comprehensive survey of the whole of philosophy from a scientific point of view, giving objective evidence and drawing the necessary conclusions from that evidence. It includes even a study of the medthod for making philosophical investgations as solid as those of empirical science, as well as a way of critiquing philosophical theories. It is in seven parts (volumes).

Contents

Part One: Modes of Being 1

Part One deals with whether there is such a thing as objective truth, how we can know about reality outside our minds and what it is, whether there is a God or not and what He is like based on the evidence for His existence, what truth, goodness, and moral rightness and wrongness are.

   Section 1: Knowledge and Facts 1.1
      Chapter 1: Objective truth? 1.1.1
      Chapter 2: Where we are 1.1.2
      Chapter 3: The starting-point 1.1.3
      Chapter 4: Doubt 1.1.4
      Chapter 5: Certainty 1.1.5
      Chapter 6: Absolute truth 1.1.6
      Chapter 7: The Principle of Contradiction 1.1.7
      Chapter 8: Identity and the Excluded Middle 1.1.8
      Chapter 9: Facts 1.1.9
      Chapter 10: Opinions 1.1.10
      Chapter 11: Consciousness 1.1.11
   Section 2: Causality and the Method 1.2
      Chapter 1: Apparently contradictory situations 1.2.1
      Chapter 2: Effects 1.2.2
      Chapter 3: Effects and what is affected 1.2.3
      Chapter 4: Explanations 1.2.4
      Chapter 5: Cause, causer, and the Principle of Causality 1.2.5
      Chapter 6: Theorems about effects and causes 1.2.6
      Chapter 7: Analogy 1.2.7
      Chapter 8: Causality 1.2.8
      Chapter 9: Condition 1.2.9
      Chapter 10: The method 1.2.10
   Section 3: Finite Consciousness 1.3
      Chapter 1: An overview 1.3.1
      Chapter 2: Evidence 1.3.2
      Chapter 3: Consciousness of unconsciousness 1.3.3
      Chapter 4: Interrupted consciousness 1.3.4
      Chapter 5: The form of consciousness 1.3.5
      Chapter 6: The finite 1.3.6
      Chapter 7: The form of consciousness as nothing 1.3.7
      Chapter 8: Consciousness as finite 1.3.8
   Section 4: Finite Existence 1.4.
      Chapter 1: Non-finite consciousness 1.4.1
      Chapter 2: Multiple existences 1.4.2
      Chapter 3: The real and the imaginary 1.4.3
      Chapter 4: Possible being 1.4.4
      Chapter 5: Existence as analogous 1.4.5
      Chapter 6: Existence as finite 1.4.6
      Chapter 7: God 1.4.7
      Chapter 8: Proofs for God's existence 1.4.8
      Chapter 9: Existence as activity 1.4.9
      Chapter 10: An objection 1.4.10
   Section 5: Truth and goodness 1.5
      Chapter 1: Subjectivity 1.5.1
      Chapter 2: The object of consciousness 1.5.2
      Chapter 3: The epistemological problem 1.5.3
      Chapter 4: The solution 1.5.4
      Chapter 5: Mistakes 1.5.5
      Chapter 6: Facts 1.5.6
      Chapter 7: Truth 1.5.7
      Chapter 8: Aspects 1.5.8
      Chapter 9: Ideals 1.5.9
      Chapter 10: Goodness 1.5.10
      Chapter 11: Rightness and wrongness 1.5.11
      Chapter 12: The problem of evil 1.5.12
      Chapter 13: The "transcendentals" 1.5.13

Part Two: Modes of Energy 2

Part Two deals with material reality: what quantity (measurability) is, and energy, what bodies are, their parts, and their properties, what change is, process, and time.

   Section 1: Energy 2.1
      Chapter 1: The form of activity 2.1.1
      Chapter 2: Quantity 2.1.2
      Chapter 3: Energy 2.1.3
      Chapter 4: Fields 2.1.4
      Chapter 5: Distance, position, and space 2.1.5
   Section 2: Bodies 2.2
      Chapter 1: "Substance and accident" 2.2.1
      Chapter 2: Bodies 2.2.2
      Chapter 3: "Matter" 2.2.3
      Chapter 4: Properties 2.2.4
      Chapter 5: Inanimate bodies 2.2.5
   Section 3: Change 2.3
      Chapter 1: Change itself 2.3.1
      Chapter 2: Change and materiality 2.3.2
      Chapter 3: Instability 2.3.3
      Chapter 4: Direction and purpose 2.3.4
      Chapter 5: Process 2.3.5
      Chapter 6: Time 2.3.6

Part Three: Modes of Life 3

Part Three deals with what life is as opposed to the inanimate, the characteristics of all living bodies (vegetative life), including what the soul is, consciousness and animals, and finally human life and personhood

   Section 1: Life 3.1
      Chapter 1: The living vs. the inanimate 3.1.1
      Chapter 2: Nutrition 3.1.2
      Chapter 3: Growth 3.1.3
      Chapter 4: Repair 3.1.4
      Chapter 5: Adaptation and evolution 3.1.5
      Chapter 6: Reproduction 3.1.6
      Chapter 7: Life 3.1.7
      Chapter 8: The soul 3.1.8
      Chapter 9: Faculties 3.1.9
   Section 2: Consciousness and Sensation 3.2
      Chapter 1: Unconscious consciousness? 3.2.1
      Chapter 2: One act or two? 3.2.2
      Chapter 3: A form of energy? 3.2.3
      Chapter 4: Sensation 3.2.4
      Chapter 5: The sense faculty 3.2.5
   Section 3: Understanding and choosing 3.3
      Chapter 1: Are humans different? 3.3.1
      Chapter 2: Is understanding a distinctive act? 3.3.2
      Chapter 3: Understanding as spiritual 3.3.3
      Chapter 4: Abstraction 3.3.4
      Chapter 5: Language 3.3.5
      Chapter 6: Choice 3.3.6
   Section 4: The Human Soul and Person 3.4
      Chapter 1: A spirit organizing a body? 3.4.1
      Chapter 2: The human soul's spirituality 3.4.2
      Chapter 3: Immortality 3.4.3
      Chapter 4: What life is all about 3.4.4
      Chapter 5: Fallenness 3.4.5
      Chapter 6: Self and person 3.4.6

Part Four: Modes of Thought 4

Part Four deals with the various types of human thought: mystical experiences and "altered states of consciousness," logic, mathematics, science, esthetics, humor, and values

   Section 1: Mysticism 1 4.1
       Chapter 1: The different kinds of thought 4.1.1
       Chapter 2: Empty consciousness 4.1.2
       Chapter 3: Altered states of consciousness 4.1.3
       Chapter 4: Absolute consciousness 4.1.4
   Section 2: Formal logic 4.2
       Chapter 1: The different kinds of logic 4.2.1
       Chapter 2: Logic and truth 4.2.2
       Chapter 3: Propositions and their parts 4.2.3
       Chapter 4: Operations using a single proposition 4.2.4
       Chapter 5: Compounding propositions 4.2.5
       Chapter 6: Compounds using subjects and predicates 4.2.6
       Chapter 7: The categorical syllogism 4.2.7
   Section 3: Mathematics 4.3
       Chapter 1: The different kinds of logic 4.3.1
       Chapter 2: The foundation of mathematics 4.3.2
       Chapter 3: Some mathematical problems 4.3.3
   Section 4: Science 4.4
       Chapter 1: Logic and the real world 4.4.1
       Chapter 2: Observation and hypothesis 4.4.2
       Chapter 3: Experiment 4.4.3
       Chapter 4: Theory and verification 4.4.4
   Section 5: Beauty and art 4.5
       Chapter 1: Esthetic understanding 4.5.1
       Chapter 2: Emotions and objectivity 4.5.2
       Chapter 3: Esthetic facts and beauty 4.5.3
       Chapter 4: Beauty and art 4.5.4
   Section 6: Humor 4.6
       Chapter 1: Is humor just nastiness with a smile? 4.6.1
       Chapter 2: What is humor? 4.6.2
       Chapter 3: Types of humor; satire 4.6.3
   Section 7: Values 4.7
       Chapter 1: Values vs. morals 4.7.1
       Chapter 2: Goals and values 4.7.2
       Chapter 3: Essential acts and necessities 4.7.3
       Chapter 4: Kinds of values 4.7.4

Part Five: Modes of Conduct 5

Section 1: Morality 5.1

Part Five deals with the basis of morality, its relation to human choice, conscience, and the situation of the act; then it deals with moral issues involving the individual by himself: his finiteness, his life, his faculties, and his acts.There is then a section on religion.

      Chapter 1: The place of this discussion 5.1.1
      Chapter 2: The starting-point 5.1.2
       Chapter 3: Theories that don't work 5.1.3
       Chapter 4: The theory that works 5.1.4
       Chapter 5: Morality and the choice 5.1.5
       Chapter 6: Conscience 5.1.6
       Chapter 7: The situation 5.1.7
   Section 2: Personal Morality 5.2
       Chapter 1: Some preliminary things to clear up 5.2.1
       Chapter 2: Finiteness and bodiliness 5.2.2
       Chapter 3: Life 5.2.3
       Chapter 4: Faculties and acts 5.2.4
       Chapter 5: The act itself 5.2.5
   Section 3: Religion 5.3
       Chapter 1: Laying my cards on the table 5.3.1
       Chapter 2: Why religion? 5.3.2
       Chapter 3: The common elements in religion 5.3.3
       Chapter 4: Why a revealed religion? 5.3.4

Part Six: Modes of Interaction 6

Part Six distinguishes two basic kinds of human interactions:the economic and the social; in the first, it deals with rights and economic activity, and in the second with society and the "natural societies" of marriage, the family, and civil society, and finally the two interactions are combined in a discussion of the complex firm.

    Section 1: Rights 6.1
       Chapter 1: Basic human interactions 6.1.1
       Chapter 2: History of "rights" and "person" 6.1.2
      Chapter 3: Rights and their basis 6.1.3
       Chapter 4: Rights claims and titles 6.1.4
       Chapter 5: Defending a right 6.1.5
       Chapter 6: Kinds of rights 6.1.6
       Chapter 7: Human rights 6.1.7
   Section 2: Economics 6.2
       Chapter 1: The basis of economic activity 6.2.1
       Chapter 2: The six great myths 6.2.2
       Chapter 3: Ownership 6.2.3
       Chapter 4: Transactions 6.2.4
       Chapter 5: Service, cost, and price 6.2.5
       Chapter 6: Introducing money into the equation 6.2.6
       Chapter 7: The entrepreneur and the firm 6.2.7
   Section 3: Society 6.3
       Chapter 1: The necessity of society 6.3.1
       Chapter 2: The essence of society 6.3.2
       Chapter 3: Laws and sanctions 6.3.3
       Chapter 4: Justice 6.3.4
       Chapter 5: Authority 6.3.5
       Chapter 6: The member 6.3.6
   Section 4: Societies 6.4
       Chapter 1: Introduction 6.4.1
       Chapter 2: Marriage 6.4.2
       Chapter 3: The family 6.4.3
       Chapter 4: Civil society 6.4.4
       Chapter 5: The complex firm 6.4.5

Part Seven: Modes of Development 7

Part Seven traces the universe in its development as a dialectic of love, from its inception in the Big Bang through inanimate evolution of stars and galaxies and planets, through living evolution and animal evolution, and then human evolution in the individual and in society through ancient, medieval, and modern times.

   Section 1: Inanimate Evolution 7.1
       Chapter 1: The hypothesis 7.1.1
       Chapter 2: The beginning 7.1.2
       Chapter 3: Stars and galaxies 7.1.3
       Chapter 4: Planets 7.1.4
   Section 2: Animate Evolution 7.2
       Chapter 1: The impossible leap 7.2.1
       Chapter 2: The living body 7.2.2
       Chapter 3: Animal life 7.2.3
   Section 3: Human Evolution 7.3<
       Chapter 1: The human being in himself 7.3.1
       Chapter 2: The human being for himself 7.3.2
       Chapter 3: The human in and for himself: society 7.3.3
   Section 4: Ancient Civilization 7.4
       Chapter 1: Civilization and history 7.4.1
       Chapter 2: Civilizations in equilibrium 7.4.2
       Chapter 3: The ancient West 7.4.3
       Chapter 4: The second fall 7.4.4
   Section 5: Medieval Civilization 7.5
       Chapter 1: The Christians and the pagans 7.5.1
       Chapter 2: The victory of Christianity 7.5.2
       Chapter 3: The Muslims 7.5.3
       Chapter 4: The late medieval spirit 7.5.4
   Section 6: Modern Civilization 7.6
       Chapter 1: The Reformation and its consequences 7.6.1
       Chapter 2: The individual and society 7.6.2
       Chapter 3: Independence run rampant 7.6.3