Evaluation and Health -- By David Bain, 1979
The value judgments we make determine our actions, and upon their validity rests our mental health and happiness. -- Erich Fromm (1947)
Introduction
The issue of values and evaluation represents a crucial problem in regard to our lives. On the one hand, we are free to evaluate and respond to the situations we are confronted with in our day-to-day lives as we please. But on the other hand, we are not free from the very real consequences that these evaluations and responses have on our lives and well-being.
Our evaluations then, can be said to be 'healthy' and/or 'functional' to the extent that they are life-serving -- that is, they work towards protecting or enhancing our personal health and happiness. Conversely, our evaluations can be said to be 'pathological', 'neurotic', and/or 'dysfunctional' to the extent that they are life-negating -- that is, they work towards sabotaging the person's health and happiness.
Now to be sure, there are numerous areas of complication here such as the matter of 'individual taste', and also the matter of 'short term pleasures' of the 'healthy' and/or 'unhealthy' variety vs. 'longer term life-serving and life-preserving choices'.
For example, if I like bananas and you like apples, there is not much to be said about this -- both are generally 'healthy' choices (unless it is a rotten apple or rotten banana). However, if over time, you develop a deficiency in calcium, magnesium, and/or potassium, then 'rational-empirical logic' would suggest that you introduce more bananas into your diet to address your nutritional deficiency and imbalance -- and to correct this deficiency/imbalance. The same would go for me if I was missing some important nutritional needs that could or can easily be found in 'apples' but not as much so in 'bananas'. (Obviously, eating both would probably be a generally good health practice for both of us, all else being equal.)
Then there are the 'unhealthier' pleasures that we may or may not disregard when warning signs start cropping up relative to our health and/or happiness. Too much food, not enough food, not enough nutritional food, too many carbs, too much alchohol, too many exotic desserts, dangerous drugs, smoking, not enough exercise...and on and on we could go...The older we get, the more we are likely to realize that there is the very real issue of our 'mortality' -- and that life is not forever -- unfortunately, some young people never reach this level of 'wisdom' before they run into tragic disaster and for my fellow aging 'baby boomers' (obviously this is me writing in 2009, not 1979), there is the issue of all of the acute and/or chronic diseases that can start to hit us in our 40s and/or 50s -- clogged arteries, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, adrenal fatigue, liver problems, kidney problems, colon problems, cancer, male problems, female problems, and on and on we could/can go...Welcome to our 50s for those who have made it this far...
And then there are all the psychological, economic, political, social, relgious, moral, and ethical issues...
Enough to more than fill an essay of this size with issues that could require an essay of 10 or 20 or 50 times this size to even begin to properly address...(See 'Hegel's Hotel'...)
What we are primarily interested in here is what might be called: 'Central Ego Functioning' including language, perception, interpretation, evaluation, a brief introduction to the idea of balancing 'Narcissistic-Dionysian' impulses with 'Apollonian moral-ethical restraints', generating response-alternatives, judging possible consequences of different actions, making decisions and choices, and the execution of action. Followed by the perception, interpretation, and evaluation of feedback -- and the resulting 'learning and/or mislearning' process.
That is the essence of 'Evaluation and Health'.
The essay will be divided into 3 parts.
In Part 1, we will look at three different 'sub-processes' in Central Ego Functioning -- specifically: 1. The Stimulus-Evaluation Stage; 2. The Response-Evaluation Stage; and 3. The Feedback-Learning Stage.
In Part 2, we will look at potential 'disturbances', 'neuroses', and/or 'pathologies' within each of the previously mentioned stages of Central Ego functioning.
In Part 3, we will look at a more 'wholistic' -- as well as 'reductionistic-compartmentalized' -- model of the personality, including The Central Ego in the centre of all the 'soap opera conflict-generating and conflict-resolving or unresolving action' as what we might also call the 'Chief Executive Officer' (CEO) in our personality. The model is designed to give us some idea of how we might approach the 'art and science of living -- from a (Post-Hegelian, multi-Dialectic, Humanistic-Existential) DGB-GAP perspective. Part 3 was never written in the original 1979 essay but will be 2009 addition from the context of 'Hegel's Hotel'.
Let's look at the interactive dynamics of language, epistemology, evaluation, response choice, action or inaction -- and the resulting effects on our health.
Let's look at 'Evaluation and Health'.
-- March 5th, 2009.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
The Four Idols of Francis Bacon
From the internet...google...The Four Idols, Sir Francis Bacon
I don't know much about Sir Francis Bacon -- I plan to learn more -- but I love the way he thinks...as attested by the following essay on Bacon written by Manly P. Hall. To me, Bacon is a 'good idol' of what it means -- and how -- to be a good epistemologist.
-- dgb, August 24th, 2008.
................................................................................
The Four Idols
of Francis Bacon
&
The New Instrument of Knowledge
by Manly P. Hall
In the Novum Organum (the new instrumentality for the acquisition of knowledge) Francis Bacon classified the intellectual fallacies of his time under four headings which he called idols. He distinguished them as idols of the Tribe, idols of the Cave, idols of the Marketplace and idols of the Theater.
An idol is an image, in this case held in the mind, which receives veneration but is without substance in itself. Bacon did not regard idols as symbols, but rather as fixations. In this respect he anticipated modern psychology.
Idols of the Tribe are deceptive beliefs inherent in the mind of man, and therefore belonging to the whole of the human race. They are abstractions in error arising from common tendencies to exaggeration, distortion, and disproportion. Thus men gazing at the stars perceive the order of the world, but are not content merely to contemplate or record that which is seen. They extend their opinions, investing the starry heavens with innumerable imaginary qualities. In a short time these imaginings gain dignity and are mingled with the facts until the compounds become inseparable. This may explain Bacon's epitaph which is said to be a summary of his whole method. It reads, "Let all compounds be dissolved."
Idols of the Cave are those which arise within the mind of the individual. This mind is symbolically a cavern. The thoughts of the individual roam about in this dark cave and are variously modified by temperament, education, habit, environment, and accident. Thus an individual who dedicates his mind to some particular branch of learning becomes possessed by his own peculiar interest, and interprets all other learning according to the colors of his own devotion. The chemist sees chemistry in all things, and the courtier ever present at the rituals of the court unduly emphasizes the significance of kings and princes.
(The title page of Bacon's New Atlantis (London 1626) is ornamented with a curious design or printer's device. The winged figure of Father Time is shown lifting a female figure from a dark cave. This represents truth resurrected from the cavern of the intellect.)
Idols of the Marketplace are errors arising from the false significance bestowed upon words, and in this classification Bacon anticipated the modern science of semantics. According to him it is the popular belief that men form their thoughts into words in order to communicate their opinions to others, but often words arise as substitutes for thoughts and men think they have won an argument because they have out talked their opponents. The constant impact of words variously used without attention to their true meaning only in turn condition the understanding and breed fallacies. Words often betray their own purpose, obscuring the very thoughts they are designed to express.
Idols of the Theater are those which are due to sophistry and false learning. These idols are built up in the field of theology, philosophy, and science, and because they are defended by learned groups are accepted without question by the masses. When false philosophies have been cultivated and have attained a wide sphere of dominion in the world of the intellect they are no longer questioned. False superstructures are raised on false foundations, and in the end systems barren of merit parade their grandeur on the stage of the world.
A careful reading of the Novum Organum will show. Bacon used the theater with its curtain and its properties as a symbol of the world stage. It might even be profitable to examine the Shakespearean plays with this viewpoint in mind.
*************
After summarizing the faults which distinguish the learning of his time, Bacon offered his solution. To him true knowledge was the knowledge of causes. He defined physics as the science of variable causes, and metaphysics as the science of fixed causes. By this definition alone his position in the Platonic descent is clearly revealed. Had he chosen Aristotle as his mentor the definition would have been reversed.
It was Bacon's intention to gather into one monumental work his program for the renewal of the sciences. This he called Instauratio Magna (the encyclopedia of all knowledge), but unfortunately the project was never completed. He left enough, however, so that other men could perfect the work.
The philosophy of Francis Bacon reflects not only the genius of his own mind but the experiences which result from full and distinguished living. The very diversity of his achievements contributed to the unity of his thinking. He realized the importance of a balanced viewpoint, and he built his patterns by combining the idealism of Plato with the practical method of Aristotle. From Plato he derived a breadth of vision, and from Aristotle a depth of penetration. Like Socrates, he was an exponent of utility, and like Diogenes a sworn enemy of sophistry. Knowledge was not to be acquired merely for its own sake, which is learning, but for its use, which is intelligence. The principal end of philosophy is to improve the state of man; the merit of all learning is to be determined by its measure of usefulness.
Bacon believed that the first step was to make a comprehensive survey of that which is known, as distinguished from that which is believed. This attitude he seems to have borrowed from Paracelsus and shared with Descartes. Knowledge may be gathered from the past through tradition. It may be accumulated and augmented by observation, but it must be proved and established by experimentation. No theory is important until it has been proved by method. Thus Bacon set up the machinery of control which has since become almost the fetish of science.
Upon the solid foundation of the known, trained minds can build toward universal knowing, which is the end of the work. Knowledge alone can preserve and perfect human life. In spite of his scientific approach, Bacon in no way discounted the spiritual content in the world. Knowledge might arise from inspiration and the internal illumination of the consciousness, but this illumination is not knowledge until, through experimentation, the truth is physically established.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on the 4 IDOLS
I don't know much about Sir Francis Bacon -- I plan to learn more -- but I love the way he thinks...as attested by the following essay on Bacon written by Manly P. Hall. To me, Bacon is a 'good idol' of what it means -- and how -- to be a good epistemologist.
-- dgb, August 24th, 2008.
................................................................................
The Four Idols
of Francis Bacon
&
The New Instrument of Knowledge
by Manly P. Hall
In the Novum Organum (the new instrumentality for the acquisition of knowledge) Francis Bacon classified the intellectual fallacies of his time under four headings which he called idols. He distinguished them as idols of the Tribe, idols of the Cave, idols of the Marketplace and idols of the Theater.
An idol is an image, in this case held in the mind, which receives veneration but is without substance in itself. Bacon did not regard idols as symbols, but rather as fixations. In this respect he anticipated modern psychology.
Idols of the Tribe are deceptive beliefs inherent in the mind of man, and therefore belonging to the whole of the human race. They are abstractions in error arising from common tendencies to exaggeration, distortion, and disproportion. Thus men gazing at the stars perceive the order of the world, but are not content merely to contemplate or record that which is seen. They extend their opinions, investing the starry heavens with innumerable imaginary qualities. In a short time these imaginings gain dignity and are mingled with the facts until the compounds become inseparable. This may explain Bacon's epitaph which is said to be a summary of his whole method. It reads, "Let all compounds be dissolved."
Idols of the Cave are those which arise within the mind of the individual. This mind is symbolically a cavern. The thoughts of the individual roam about in this dark cave and are variously modified by temperament, education, habit, environment, and accident. Thus an individual who dedicates his mind to some particular branch of learning becomes possessed by his own peculiar interest, and interprets all other learning according to the colors of his own devotion. The chemist sees chemistry in all things, and the courtier ever present at the rituals of the court unduly emphasizes the significance of kings and princes.
(The title page of Bacon's New Atlantis (London 1626) is ornamented with a curious design or printer's device. The winged figure of Father Time is shown lifting a female figure from a dark cave. This represents truth resurrected from the cavern of the intellect.)
Idols of the Marketplace are errors arising from the false significance bestowed upon words, and in this classification Bacon anticipated the modern science of semantics. According to him it is the popular belief that men form their thoughts into words in order to communicate their opinions to others, but often words arise as substitutes for thoughts and men think they have won an argument because they have out talked their opponents. The constant impact of words variously used without attention to their true meaning only in turn condition the understanding and breed fallacies. Words often betray their own purpose, obscuring the very thoughts they are designed to express.
Idols of the Theater are those which are due to sophistry and false learning. These idols are built up in the field of theology, philosophy, and science, and because they are defended by learned groups are accepted without question by the masses. When false philosophies have been cultivated and have attained a wide sphere of dominion in the world of the intellect they are no longer questioned. False superstructures are raised on false foundations, and in the end systems barren of merit parade their grandeur on the stage of the world.
A careful reading of the Novum Organum will show. Bacon used the theater with its curtain and its properties as a symbol of the world stage. It might even be profitable to examine the Shakespearean plays with this viewpoint in mind.
*************
After summarizing the faults which distinguish the learning of his time, Bacon offered his solution. To him true knowledge was the knowledge of causes. He defined physics as the science of variable causes, and metaphysics as the science of fixed causes. By this definition alone his position in the Platonic descent is clearly revealed. Had he chosen Aristotle as his mentor the definition would have been reversed.
It was Bacon's intention to gather into one monumental work his program for the renewal of the sciences. This he called Instauratio Magna (the encyclopedia of all knowledge), but unfortunately the project was never completed. He left enough, however, so that other men could perfect the work.
The philosophy of Francis Bacon reflects not only the genius of his own mind but the experiences which result from full and distinguished living. The very diversity of his achievements contributed to the unity of his thinking. He realized the importance of a balanced viewpoint, and he built his patterns by combining the idealism of Plato with the practical method of Aristotle. From Plato he derived a breadth of vision, and from Aristotle a depth of penetration. Like Socrates, he was an exponent of utility, and like Diogenes a sworn enemy of sophistry. Knowledge was not to be acquired merely for its own sake, which is learning, but for its use, which is intelligence. The principal end of philosophy is to improve the state of man; the merit of all learning is to be determined by its measure of usefulness.
Bacon believed that the first step was to make a comprehensive survey of that which is known, as distinguished from that which is believed. This attitude he seems to have borrowed from Paracelsus and shared with Descartes. Knowledge may be gathered from the past through tradition. It may be accumulated and augmented by observation, but it must be proved and established by experimentation. No theory is important until it has been proved by method. Thus Bacon set up the machinery of control which has since become almost the fetish of science.
Upon the solid foundation of the known, trained minds can build toward universal knowing, which is the end of the work. Knowledge alone can preserve and perfect human life. In spite of his scientific approach, Bacon in no way discounted the spiritual content in the world. Knowledge might arise from inspiration and the internal illumination of the consciousness, but this illumination is not knowledge until, through experimentation, the truth is physically established.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on the 4 IDOLS
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