P.XXIV. The human mind does not involve an adequate knowledge of the parts
composing the human body.
simple awareness in the sense of acknowledgment of the states of the body - is no
more than brute awareness -
it is not knowledge - in fact it is the ground of not-knowing
such awareness is the awareness that we do not know -
we experience - but what is it we experience?
in order to deal with this awareness - to operate with it - we must give it definition -
give it character -
we never start from scratch here - always we begin with the given of accepted
knowledge
that is whatever constructions - whatever imaginations - are regarded as true
and true here is what is useful - what functions
what is clear is that with any awareness of the body comes the awareness of just what
is not known -
my point is that inadequate ideas - point not primarily to what we know - but rather to
what is not known
in fact any idea is an inadequate idea just by the fact that it will always be a partial
representation of what exists
and this is all an idea can be
we operate not in knowledge - but in ignorance -
ideas themselves have no real epistemological value unless they are placed in the form
of an argument
or in a context and in relation to other ideas
any such argument will depend for its currency on its validity and the truth of its
premises - and these matters are never settled in a conclusive manner -
so in effect what we have when we speak of knowledge is really different
characterizations of the unknown
different ideas of the unknown
the value of any such idea or system of ideas is never certain -
to understand why people believe what they do about the unknown - that is how they
characterize it and why they hold to any such characterization one really needs to go
outside of logic and epistemology
it is here that power is the issue - it is not a question of logic - logic in this context is only a tool of persuasion - one though that has the mark of respectability
we may never fully understand what forces operate on belief and therefore on action
but clearly we all come into a world ready made - there is not and never has been a
clean slate - the waters are always muddied - the definitions are in place
understanding what we are dealing with - what has been imposed on us and why is a
life's work
and the understandings are not fixed - the search for truth is never finished - and in an ultimate sense is quite hopeless
we in fact only engage in it out of the necessity to deal with and survive in this world
it gives us method
the issue of life is not the end point - rather the next point -
and how we get there is the problem of knowledge
no doubt we would get somewhere anyway - and some would argue this is in fact all
that occurs
nevertheless consciousness gives us a sense of purpose even if this is illusory
- the immediate forces of our lives place us in conflict - and the point of a conflict is
that it be resolved
here is the fact of choice - choice in necessity - and the reality is we don't know in any
clear sense what is the correct or proper choice - nevertheless we must decide -
and decide in what we regard at the time to be in our best interests -
this is just where not-knowing gives us possibility - it is the source of possibility
and the fact of this possibility - the possibility that comes with not-knowing is the fact
of human freedom - and the source of human dignity
so long as one can think one can never be ruled - one can never be conquered
the illusion of knowledge is the ground of power - it is the source of corruption
not-knowing is the mark of a free man - it is the sign of an open heart
