wiðcwedennis

"...Hegel speaks as though contradictions were a feature of the process of reality itself, of the life of the Absolute, whereas for Herbart contradictions emerge only from our inadequate ways of conceiving reality: they are not a feature of reality itself." 

Frederick Copleston 

A History of Philosophy Volume VII: Fichte to Nietzsche

page 251

There goes old Father Fred, making me think about shit again.

As I read the line quoted above, my brain immediately turned it into a question which I wanted to pose to lots of people I know, chief amongst them my big sister, who is a rocket scientist (no, really), a logical thinker, and an atheist. I would frame it in this way:

"Do you believe that contradictions are a feature of the process of reality itself, or do they only emerge from our inadequate ways of conceiving / perceiving reality?"

To me, this is the same thing that Dostoyevsky addressed when he said, "Twice two makes four seems to me simply a piece of insolence. Twice two makes four is a pert coxcomb who stands with arms akimbo barring your path and spitting. I admit that twice two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, twice two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too."

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Notes From the Underground

Part I, Chapter IX

I'm pretty sure that Sister would be inclined to embrace the Inadequate Ways of Conceiving / Perceiving Reality response to "my" question. As you may have intuited, I am not of that persuasion.

And this got me to thinking about coincidences. I experience what I think of as highly improbable coincidences on a regular basis. Almost every time I try to tell someone about one of these coincidences, their reaction seriously underwhelms and frustrates me. With some exceptions. My friendgirl Pat, for instance, is usually either appreciative or even very appreciative of my coincidence stories. And my last (absolute and relative senses of the term) girlfriend was the best reactor ever...she would actually scream when I told her a good coincidence. At least a part of the fuel for that fire was PTSD, but I appreciated it nonetheless. But you know...maybe this comes back to "my" question, too. Maybe the majority of people to whom I relate my coincidence stories are unimpressed because they see reality as essentially contradiction-less...and are, therefore, inclined to dismiss coincidences as a lack of understanding of a larger picture. 

Which means that I'm equating coincidence with contradiction. I'm good with that. The concept, that is. A coincidence is an event which seems to indicate that there is a contradiction in reality. For me, that's fine...because contradictions are a feature of the process of reality itself.

Hmmm. Now I'm thinking about The Miracles of Jesus. At this point...after a minor in Theology from Bellarmine College and a second hand Master's Degree in Divinity Studies from Notre Dame (I read X1's books and papers when she got her M.A. in etc.), I'm not certain that you have to believe in the reality of The Miracles to be a Catholic...or a Christian, for that matter...but I think that the unwillingness to believe in the reality of The Miracles probably goes back to this same point, doesn't it? I live in a world where all kinds of crazy shit can happen. That doesn't make me completely gullible, but it does mean that I'm open to listen to a story that might could be a Tall Tale. 

I'm okay with that.

After all, 

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Right?