Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

   Post 92. July 25, 2019 continued . . .

  Ultimate Enforming Principle

   EnFormAction

 A common objection to the concept of cosmic conscious-ness is that such an infinitely complex “thing” has a low probability of existing. But Ward replies that “there are infinitely more complex possible states than simple states”. In fact, there is only one conceivable absolutely simple & singular state, and that is BEING itself : the power to be, which makes all beings possible. As Ward puts it, “Probability does not really work when considering the likelihood of anything at all existing”. Existence is not probable, it’s a fact. However, the next question is : how to explain our contingent universe popping out of apparent nothingness, which is highly improb-able, indeed magical. The essayist offers two types of explan-ation : Nomological — appeal to a general law which makes the existence of this universe necessary; and Axiological — which is an appeal to motives or reasons, or to the irresistible force of divine Will. Since natural laws are contingent, the only universal necessity that we know of is the law of Logic. In my thesis, Enformationism, the ultimate enforming principle is Logos, otherwise known as the Mind, or Reason, or Will of G*D.

The Logos is essentially a disembodied Mind. But materialistic thinkers can’t imagine such a thing. So, Ward discusses the old mind/body problem by substituting modern Information lang-uage for the pre-scientific terms of ancient religions. In our experience, minds are always emergent from bodies. In imagination though, humans can conjure ghosts and spirits that function as agents without physical forms. Yet, even those who believe in ghosts, sometimes assume they have “spiritual bodies”, or as ghost hunters call them : “ecotoplasmic” forms or “ethereal” bodies. Those terms refer to something invisible and intangible, but with the power to influence the real world. And the same spiritual qualities also apply to Information and Energy, or as I call it, EnFormAction. Energy (EFA) can trans-form into matter, and thence emerge as the mental function of the physical body we call the brain. But each mind is bound to its body, as evidenced by the cessation of both physical and mental activity at death. As for minds hanging around and spooking living people, that’s the stuff of scary campfire stories.

However, Ward makes an exception : “So it is possible to have a consciousness without a body — God is such . . .” But he doesn’t explain how that works. For humans, consciousness is an emergent quality from the holistic functions of complex bodies and brains. No brain, no mind. Yet, G*D is the ultimate simplicity : not a being, but BEING per se; not a conscious being, but Omniscience; not Energy, but Omnipotence. Ward continues, “Human consciousness lies on an emergent con-tinuum with primitive and non-conscious stimulus-response entities, and it is by nature embodied.” But G*D is singular and super-natural, hence no need for a dualistic body + mind. To conclude his essay on God as the Enformer, he summarizes : “. . . The idea of a cosmic, unembodied consciousness, which carries and transmits the informational code for the construc-tion of this and any possible universe. That is the mind of God.” Which pretty much sums-up my own G*D concept, as the infinite power to enform, and EnFormAction as the means to transmit the creative code to a space-time world. As for other possible universes, or multiverses, G*D only knows. 

End of Post 92             

To Enform
a World,
first
bring it
into being

NOTE :
   As a Doctor of Divinity, Ward is not content to argue for a theoretical technical mathematical philosophical Principle.
   “It must be kept in mind that if this is to be more than an interesting hypothesis, it must have some experiential impact. Religion, ambiguous as it is, aims at its best to promulgate disciplines of mind that can relate humans to the cosmic conscious-ness that it sees as compas-sionate and perfectly good.”
  That’s the difference between Religion and Philosophy. The latter can accept the deity as an abstract principle that is neither good nor evil, but merely is, period : “I AM”.    But the former must translate that austere abstraction into concrete metaphors that will motivate people to “eschew evil and do good”.
   Philosophy is an individual character-building discipline. While Religion is a collective means of herding recalcitrant humans in the direction that authorities think they ought to go. In that sense, religion is an arm of secular govern-ment, with all its inherent power struggles and party biases.
   I’m sure that Ward assumes his particular brand of religion is promulgating the will of God. But, its inherent ambiguity leaves gaps for individuals to decide what’s best for them.

LOGOS :
   Greek term for the mental qualities of reason, as revealed in the power of the spoken & written word. It was later regarded as a divine principle of order and knowledge. The apostle Paul used it to symbolize both the written word of God, and the Spirit of God in the world. Today, the tech-nical meaning of “Information”, as both Knowledge and a generic ordering principle is coined as “Enformation”, a modern Logos.