Answering the Challenge of Neostatic Transcendentalism:2nd Response To Dume Droven

Answering The Challenge of Neostatic Transcendentalism: 2nd Response to Dume Droven by Helath Haermon

Archmage Droven has issued his response to my counterarguments, and I must say from the tone of his writing that I feel compelled to defend my reasoning once more.

Since my opponent has neglected to pick up any of the textbooks used by the Whirling School for the last decade, I will begin by explaining the main tenants of Amaranthine Romanticism and why the faculty of the Whirling School has stood behind them since their inception.

Amaranthine Romanticism is essentially an attempt to describe reality in the fullest possible way, with the end of eventually transcending it altogether. We have three main affirmations.

1. I AM ARE ALL WE. We affirm that there is an ontological unity to all beings in the Aurbis, but at the same time we maintain that there is a boundary between the various hypostasis(defined as different entities) within that unity.

2. Divine Dream Cosmology. Whether considered literally or figuratively, the common understanding of cosmology is that of one which can be molded and theoretically escaped altogether in a process called PSJJ. There are no rules, only guidelines.

3. The centrality of Love. Love defined here is not strictly affection, but an immense act of will for the sake of personal enlightenment.

These three doctrines together provide a unified theory of metaphysics, ethics, and cosmology. They are not so different from what has been taught by ancient Padomaics for thousands of years. We have just formally developed them.

The Whirling School feels that the combined weight of the Aurbis' history, philosophical inquiry, magical theory, and other evidences provide sufficient reason to claim this is the way in which mortals must walk to escape their chains.

Now Dume and his cohorts may try to attack these tenets, but thus far that is not what he has done. He seems to be content devouring a thousands mirages while comfortably missing the real target.

His invocation of Amiel's Axe is uncalled for in this situation. Yes, one should not multiply causes when there is no warrant. However, there is warrant in this case. The earliest mythic texts describe an entity that came from another world and created this world. That is at least two worlds, and no more are required for Amaranth to be possible. He may deny that such an entity exists, but such an archetype is a bedrock to every philosophy, including his own. Anu can be logically deduced by the sharp distinction between the et'Ada. The Daedra do not hold the same position of many Aedra concerning change and stasis. Even Dume would say that there lies this distinction, one between Padomaics and Anuics.

His attempt to characterize Amaranthine Romanticism as anti-realist is also baseless. Our position is not incompatible with a realist understanding of properties. As my good friend S'thajj pointed out in his article, you can easily be a realist by holding to a divine conceptualist theory of properties.

Nonetheless, there is a place for the anti-realist in Amaranthine Romanticist circles. Anti-realism does not imply lack of truth, only that the truth is in some way not real.

My statement that reality is unreal is not a contradiction. It is an expression of the Divine Fictionalism position. Real and unreal are relative to the observer. From our perspective, this world is real, but from the Dreamer's perspective, this world is unreal.

Take the story of Azura and the Box. Dwemer, Dunmer, and Azura are all real things to us, but not it the story. We see them as fictional. However, the setting is real to the characters, even if they were determined to believe so by the authors. So it is with us and the Dreamer. Our world is as real as ever for our purposes, but for the Dreamer it is just another fiction.

Under this paradigm, there is no need to dispense with necessary truths or truth value at all. Properties, objects, and everything else are all real things for our purposes.

Dume's comments on personal identity stumble closely to the I AM ARE ALL WE doctrine of Padomaics held since Vivec. This is a dangerous subject, but if one is willing to venture into the waters with me, there is great treasure to be found.

There are two errors to avoid here. First, one must affirm that beings do have personal identities all their own. Second, they must also affirm that there is a unity between everyone. One can hold this position.

By token of Divine Fictionalism, a personal identity can exist as a real thing. I am definitely Helath Haermon. I am not Dume Droven. Each of us has a real soul. The thoughts and emotions emanating from that soul establish who we are as people.

However, while I am certainly not the same person as Dume Droven, he and I are the same being. The ontology of everything in the universe boils down to thoughts in the Dreamer's mind. If we can in some way say that our thoughts and emotions are part of us, then so can the Dreamer. And if that is the case, then everything that exists is the Dreamer. Just not the same person as the Dreamer.

Error can lead to disaster in this subject. If one holds too closely to the idea that we are different persons and different beings, he develops a wrongheaded view of the universe as Dume has. If one holds too closely to the notion that we are the same being and the same person, an attempt at CHIM can lead to a zero sum.

I can personally attest that contrary to Dume's argument, CHIM is real and zero summing is not an arbitrary disappearance from reality. I have seen far too many brash young students who, after studying CHIM for a few weeks, recklessly pursue it and meditate themselves out of existence.

Dume may respond by asking why there are so few CHIM users if it is real. The answer is that it is just too dangerous. Even I, one more versed in Amaranthine Metaphysics than anyone else in recent history, have not dared to try and achieve that state of enlightenment. Perhaps I will attempt it someday, but that day is not going to be any time soon.

Dume Droven is wrong and his philosophical speculation threatens to undo centuries of progress in the Psijic Endeavor. The Whirling School has stood behind Amaranthine Romanticism and will continue to teach it until the next Amaranth finally fulfills his destiny.