One issue of philosophy has been primarily that of language. From lack of similar understandings of definitions for certain words, to issues of grammar, etc. the list goes on and often times the confusion builds to such a point that “specialists” are required for certain “philosophers” just so the “message” can be translated to the masses. There has been no simple solution to this as philosophy has been separated from science and from religion (and vice verse, etc.) where in early parts of civilization these things were not viewed as fundamentally separate but as inherently connected and reflective of each other.
Reality has its own language, that of consequential imaging with “imaging” being a manifestations of existence through and within consciousness and reflective of it. Take for example the “tree”. Reality, as we observe it, has given us the “tree” in both abstract and concrete form with inherent properties that make it what it is through the eyes of reason/intuition/will(belief). It is this nature of what a tree is and is not that does not give us a clear coherent definition of what a “tree” strictly is, but rather aspects of what it is and what it isn’t. A mere formula of both thought and senses that gives us a picture while inherently having variables (different leaves, bark, stature, etc.) that leave it reflective of both the environment it is in and the environment’s effects on it. It is in this respect, that the “tree” has a language on its own terms as a metaphor for through it’s very being it communicates a variety of reflective characteristics.
It has been and often is through imaging both literally and through story telling (metaphors) that key concepts are efficiently communicated throughout all people not limiting itself to either a specific type/age/career field/etc because images/metaphors in themselves are packed full of information limited only by the will to understand what they are while on their own terms being the equivalent of “packaged multi-dimensional equations” of logic and mathematics.
It is the “seeking” of definition which has been both a weakness of not only philosophy but the sciences etc. precisely because definition comes through devisive means. We understand the natural world strictly by “cutting it into smaller pieces” rather than taking it on its own terms as how it reveals itself. Metaphorical language, takes a being on its own terms not as a strict definition of what “this or that is” but rather the potential acts which manifest from it. Take for example the tree: it grows and branches out often times produces fruit or seeds of some form. This “branching” characteristic of the tree inherent within its imaging can reflect through language that broadens one’s understanding for to compare a company to a deeply rooted tree equivocates with a group of people bound deeply together through common bonds that branch forth into the community and produce services and products for the people.
The metaphor is important on its own terms as it does not depend strictly upon actual definitions but rather the inherent possibilities of action through the very being itself. Existence, itself is fundamentally its own language as language itself (as we use it today with language/mathematics) manifests through imagery while not being limited to it. Where as the philosophical treatise gives direction of “what this or that is”, “methodologies”, “knowledge”, etc. the metaphor gives all these things without explanation but rather through strictly being observed on its own terms. Where as a “treaty” or “discourse” leaves unanswered questions, the metaphor is only limited by the individual will trying to understand it while hold multiple non-contradictory explanations in many different respects where as a philosophical discourse cannot be always approached in such manners.
With the advancement of large fields of knowledge, the possibility of metaphors as continuation of language through the perspective of being packaged equations of logic and math has to be considered not as an alternative but a viable means to knowledge in a time where the massive amounts of knowledge cannot be always viewed on their own terms.
Anonymous 3 years, 5 months ago.
