Bounce From Pole to Pole...
This essay attempts to show how relativism when taken as a strict paradigm is incompatible with the mage, and indeed may hinder their growth. The essay assumes a familiarity with differing schools of magick and that the reader will attempt to understand the material presented from a scientific, logical paradigm. If that is not your normal modus operandi, just step into it for a while.
Relativism as a school of philosophy may be defined as any theory of knowledge, truth, morality, ect., holding that criteria of judgment may vary with individuals and their environments. It postulates that there is no truth; that nothing is true, because everything is dependent upon the society one is indoctrinated into. The theory came into vogue around the turn of the last century, especially in the fields of sociology and cultural anthropology.
Magick, (whether ceremonial, chaos, what have you), is often associated with a result. Crowley defines magick as change in accordance with Will. Chaos mages often refer to their art as results-based magick. There seems to be some goal or benefit that a mage aspires to with their occult technique.
Results depend upon a decision process, where at some point the mage has to make a decision as to the result of their Working. For example, whether your intent is personal growth or external reality manipulation, at some point the mage decides what a favorable result would be and what negative results are.
Plainly, if one holds the paradigm of Nothing is True, then all results are equally false (without degree, as in one result is not a bit more false than another). If all results are false, and as some postulate, Everything is Permitted, then there is no basis for seeking a result. Inertia may become the dominant force, with no magick being performed, because there is no reason to perform it.
In an objective reality paradigm, which science often works in, a straw bridge would obviously be inferior to a stone bridge (assuming normal bridge conditions). Therefore an engineer would decide to use stone to build his bridge. Even in a subjective reality, where the user believes in only a subjective reality, the user still decides what outcomes would be more beneficial. For example, if one lost their hand in a combine, the subjective reality mage would attempt to change his mental universe into believing that they still had a hand. From an objective universe, the mage would seem delusional, but to the mage it may Work. Of course, both of these processes still rely on a decision process, incompatible to relativism.
One of the worst problems with relativism for the mage is the destruction of critical thought and perhaps the onset of intellectual lethargy (especially for the chaos mage, it can become a dogma, the very anathema the mage tried to avoid in the first place). If the mage is unable to distinguish between sets of information as shades of gray, with beneficial or negative attributes, and merely regards all information as false, then serious consequences may result. Dealing with a lack of critical thought may lead to becoming the very person the mage despises, a robot that accepts all information that is fed to it. The mage may become a willing candidate for indoctrination into any political, religious, or other cultural agent that happened upon them.
Relativism does have positive points if not carried to an all-encompassing paradigm. The theory can often allow the mage to push outside of their reality structure for a bit in order to facilitate further growth. In using it as a tool for understanding the different way others approach a problem, without immediately assuming a right/wrong duality, it can open new areas of insight and application. But, as with any tool, the mage needs to be wary of relying on it for the model of their universe.
Relativism as a school of philosophy may be defined as any theory of knowledge, truth, morality, ect., holding that criteria of judgment may vary with individuals and their environments. It postulates that there is no truth; that nothing is true, because everything is dependent upon the society one is indoctrinated into. The theory came into vogue around the turn of the last century, especially in the fields of sociology and cultural anthropology.
Magick, (whether ceremonial, chaos, what have you), is often associated with a result. Crowley defines magick as change in accordance with Will. Chaos mages often refer to their art as results-based magick. There seems to be some goal or benefit that a mage aspires to with their occult technique.
Results depend upon a decision process, where at some point the mage has to make a decision as to the result of their Working. For example, whether your intent is personal growth or external reality manipulation, at some point the mage decides what a favorable result would be and what negative results are.
Plainly, if one holds the paradigm of Nothing is True, then all results are equally false (without degree, as in one result is not a bit more false than another). If all results are false, and as some postulate, Everything is Permitted, then there is no basis for seeking a result. Inertia may become the dominant force, with no magick being performed, because there is no reason to perform it.
In an objective reality paradigm, which science often works in, a straw bridge would obviously be inferior to a stone bridge (assuming normal bridge conditions). Therefore an engineer would decide to use stone to build his bridge. Even in a subjective reality, where the user believes in only a subjective reality, the user still decides what outcomes would be more beneficial. For example, if one lost their hand in a combine, the subjective reality mage would attempt to change his mental universe into believing that they still had a hand. From an objective universe, the mage would seem delusional, but to the mage it may Work. Of course, both of these processes still rely on a decision process, incompatible to relativism.
One of the worst problems with relativism for the mage is the destruction of critical thought and perhaps the onset of intellectual lethargy (especially for the chaos mage, it can become a dogma, the very anathema the mage tried to avoid in the first place). If the mage is unable to distinguish between sets of information as shades of gray, with beneficial or negative attributes, and merely regards all information as false, then serious consequences may result. Dealing with a lack of critical thought may lead to becoming the very person the mage despises, a robot that accepts all information that is fed to it. The mage may become a willing candidate for indoctrination into any political, religious, or other cultural agent that happened upon them.
Relativism does have positive points if not carried to an all-encompassing paradigm. The theory can often allow the mage to push outside of their reality structure for a bit in order to facilitate further growth. In using it as a tool for understanding the different way others approach a problem, without immediately assuming a right/wrong duality, it can open new areas of insight and application. But, as with any tool, the mage needs to be wary of relying on it for the model of their universe.
posted by The Mad Gypsy at 5:37 AM
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