[MD] The End of Faith - Spirituality

[Ham Priday]

Hi Marsha --


> Below couldn't you have just as easily written:  'Value is the
> actualization of experience.'?

Yes, I could have written that.  But it would have been an 
over-simplification, hence imprecise.

The actualization of value requires a cognizant subject who stands outside 
the source.  This source represents "all that is"--including Value--as an 
absolute.  Therefore the subjective self is not value, but only 
value-sensibility.  What the self actualizes (i.e., objectifies) is 
pre-intellectually sensed value which is differentiated by the organism and 
interpreted intellectually as being-aware.  The process of actualizing 
finite phenomena is what we call experience.

We think of experience as a passive (affective) reaction to objects and 
events in an external world.  My epistemology is "phenomenalistic" in that 
it regards the relational universe as the "effective" experience of value. 
In other words, we effectively choose the values that make up the reality of 
our being, and to a great extent fashion the world as we want it.  You do 
this when you create a work of art.  Others do it when they design a bridge, 
cure a disease, solve a puzzle, draft a constitution, or negotiate a peace 
settlement.  Human beings are the choicemakers of the world.  (I seem to 
recall reading that somewhere.)

You posed a thoughtful question, Marsha, and I thank you for another 
opportunity to answer it "my way".

Kindest regards,
Ham