Rational choice is not between science and common sense; it is a choice of both, of science to master the universal, and of common sense to deal with the particular. -Bernard Lonergan
Lonergan has shown us five features of an insight. The release of the tension of inquiryIts sudden and unexpected characterIts resulting from inner rather than outer conditionsThat it pivots between the concrete and abstractThat each new insight eventually becomes habitual Additionally, he has shown us how the various elements of an insight relate, resulting in … Continue reading Insight as mathematical development
This post completes a series of posts in on the nature and moments of insight. Nominal and explanatory definition Lonergan's sixth observation concerns different kinds of definition. To begin with, he has nominal and explanatory definition in mind. As Euclid defined a straight line as a line lying evenly between its extremes, so he might … Continue reading Insight: Definitions and primitive terms
I have read this section of Insight many times. Each time I’ve tried to summarize, restate, or rephrase it, but have failed each time. Perhaps it’s because the content is an exposition of an example. Whatever the cause, know that much of what follows quotes whole passages of Lonergan's text. My previous post introduced Lonergan's … Continue reading Defining a circle
I get the sense that I have finally identified where my argument will start. Of course, I've written a prospectus, spent years reading and loosely organizing notes, but my recent discovery of Robert Henman's work on the implications of Lonergan's Generalized Empirical Method for neuroscience has provided me with a case study of sorts that … Continue reading Insight is pivotal for epistemology
Elsewhere, I have argued that it is both necessary and sufficient to articulate a theory of knowing by analyzing the consciously transparent processes and operations of the knower. I want to deepen that argument by referring to Robert Henman's work, in which he makes the argument that a more robustly articulated theory of cognition (i.e. … Continue reading Neuroscience cannot dispense with conscious mental acts
I am trying to flesh out the following argument at length: Aristotle mathematized science by modeling knowledge upon ancient geometrical reasoning. Much like Euclid's Elements after him, Aristotle envisioned knowledge as having an axiomatic-deductive structure. Granted, this was his description of a final, complete science rather than our contemporary, fallibilist conception of scientific inquiry, but … Continue reading Aristotle’s science according to J.L. Ackrill
Finally, the end of chapter 2 is nigh. McGilchrist finishes the chapter by drawing attention to several broader differences between the hemispheres in the following sections: Meaning and the implicit Music and time Depth Certainty Moral sense Meaning and the implicit Earlier, McGilchrist associated left hemispheric processing with abstraction rather than context, with attention to … Continue reading “What Do the Two Hemisphere’s Do,” in The Master and his Emissary by Iain McGilchrist (part III)
These reading notes cover the following sections: Context versus abstraction Individuals versus categories The personal versus the impersonal The living versus the non-living Reason versus rationality Context versus abstraction For the same reason that the right hemisphere sees things as a whole, before they have been digested into parts, it also sees each thing in … Continue reading “What Do the Two Hemispheres ‘Do'” in The Master and his Emissary by Iain McGilchrist (part II)
Jordan Peterson is not known primarily for his work as a scientist. Instead, much of the popular attention paid to him is filtered through the lens of politics, which is unfortunate. Though I must admit that I discovered him through Youtube as many other have. However, in addition to his recorded lectures and speeches, … Continue reading “Maps of Experience” in Maps of Meaning by Jordan B. Peterson
McGilchrist continues his slog through the neurological evidence for his argument. The footnotes provide 535 references for this chapter alone. I am grateful for his efforts because, undoubtedly, most of this data is beyond my ability to understand without such a commentary. He has argued up to this point that human bihemispheric neurology results in … Continue reading “What do the Two Hemispheres ‘Do'” in The Master and his Emissary by Iain McGilchrist (part I)
Dissertating Outloud 