Philosophy of the Pseudoabsolute :: Philosophical Philosophy Essays

Philosophy of the Pseudoabsolute ABSTRACT: Since human knowledge is relative, human beings consciously (or often unconsciously) dismiss the relative by creating the absolute. The absolute thus created is the psuedoabsolute which, by virtue of its human origins, is relative. However, it functions in both the practical and theoretical life of homo sapien as a genuine absolute. Hence, the psuedoabsolute is relatively absolutized by the human person. The psuedoabsolute is a dialectical unity of the absolute and relative and, as a "third reality," plays a great role in the spiritual life of humankind. 1. First of all, it is necessary to elucidate the meaning of concepts of the absolute and relative. "Absolute" means an "unconditional", which exists by virtue of the intrinsic necessity and therefore is completely independent, irrelative being. It is invariable, infinite, objective and eternal, everlasting. This is the ontological character of the absolute. But in the gnoseological sense the fundamental feature of the absolute is unambiguity. The absolute is unambiguous, it has always and everywhere only one meaning. Relative is, on the contrary, conditional, it exists only in reference to other beings; it is variable, unstable, it changes in various relations. That is the ontological status of the relative, which in gnoseological language means ambiguity, it has multimeaning. Relative is ambiguous. One of the most difficult problems of philosophy is the investigation of the role of the absolute and relative in human mental life. Our present paper, in which we state very briefly our theory of pseudoabsolute is dedicated to the investigation of this problem. 2. The reality, as a universal being, has ontological strata, which are arranged according to the degree of the profundity and community. The ontological structure of the reality (being) consists of three strata of levels: the world of phenomena, the world of special essences and the substantial essence or substance1. 3. All things and events in the world of phenomena, i.e. in the field of empirical reality are interdependent; that means that they are relative. And what is more, natural phenomena are not only interdependent, but also they depend on the special essences, because they are appearance of these essences. Relativity of the world of phenomena is well-founded in the modern natural science and in the philosophy of natural sciences. Not only the world of phenomena is relative, but also the world of special essences. They are special essences, i.e. essences of the definite field of the reality.