Divine Illumination and Revelation
Section Two
THE CREATION OF KNOWLEDGE
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Part Three THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE CREATION Of the two distinct sub-problems which emerged from the analysis of the problem of idea innovation, the first, which concerns the definition of the psychological processes through which knowledge is achieved, has been discussed above. The second, which concerns the explanation of how new ideas are created, is the subject of this part. The Cosmos appears as a set of problems of experience which may be solved and understood. The solutions to the problems are given by an Inner Resource, consisting of creative and logical entities and psychological processes, which lies beyond the bounds of the intellect. The psychological processes lead to intellectual enlightenment through understanding. This process of enlightenment is seen as one of cause and effect where the understanding of the problem and the requisition of the solution through the solution specification are the cause, and intellectual enlightenment in the form of the solution is the effect. It is found that the process of enlightenment involves an interaction between the intellect and an anonymous Source from which ideas and understandings come. The character of the Source of new ideas is no more than another problem and as a problem it is open to attack in the normal problem solving manner. Its essential character is found to be unlimited creativity which may be seen as a definition of God. It would be an easy step to equate the Source with God. Not all understandings are true. Some, and perhaps most, are plain false. The idea that God gives false understanding seems to contradict the idea of a moral God. The source of knowledge is defined as a system of God. The nature of a system is that it works to rules. When the rules are understood and obeyed knowledge follows. The system cannot be separated from God. God deals systematically with all requisitions for understanding and knowledge. The Theory of Knowledge Creation Chapter One THE ACCOUNT OF THE CREATIVE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE The intellect grows from nothing at conception to the level of a competent operating system able to model reality as it is understood from the processing of experience. The evidence for the intellect indicates that there is nothing innate within it that would account for the ability to create new ideas. The probing of the creative facility shows that another intelligence is at work and interacting with the intellect. The external intelligence is here labelled the Creative Source of new ideas. In normal individual experience the Creative Source is simply the point of origin of new understandings. The Source does not intrude itself into the conscious but deposits new ideas into the subconscious to be discovered intuitively by the conscious. A study of the Source starts from the assessment of the nature and value of these new understandings, and since all understandings were once new, the assessment of all human understandings. In this, all false, as well as true, understandings have to be considered. From the study two questions emerge. The first is epistemological and concerns the correct method for consistently obtaining true understandings. Epistemological theories are a normal case of theory creation, and follow from an understanding of the epistemological problem and its solution. This book reflects answers to such questions. The second objective is to find out more about this creative entity. This second project makes use of the methods discovered as the result of the first question. The problem-solution methodology by which understanding is gained can be applied to achieve understanding of the Creative Source. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ Investigating the Creative Source To
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◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ The Theory of Knowledge Creation Chapter Two THE OLD CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE TRADITION The old Christian knowledge theory knew nothing of psychological processes but does have something to say regarding the creation of new ideas. According to St.Augustine, the starting point for knowledge lies in our own thoughts. The basic claim is that the intellect is enlightened by new understanding after some thought concerning a problem. The intellect is unable to create, invent, or otherwise to discover the truth from within itself. It cannot look out over a field of ideas and abstract or otherwise annex the truth. The truth as understanding is placed within the intellect from an external source. This agrees with common experience among problem solvers that after a period of thought concerning a problem, its solution simply appears within the intellect. How it has been formed or where it came from are not usually clear to the newly enlightened intellect. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ The Augustinian Paradigm The old Christian knowledge tradition concerned itself with how God may be known. It is re-examined here to bring into consideration the old explanation for the problem of how new ideas are constructed and deposited in the intellect. The old Christianity saw reality as having three forms. The most immediate reality was the world of ideas. Its basic model was that of the thinker, as intellect, engaged in a programme to understand reality. The most significant reality was that of the Creator whose purposes and actions must be understood if the programme was to be brought to success. The least significant reality was the world of matter. The real existence of the material world was accepted but the universe, however, had no contribution to make to the programme since it offered no path to truth or ultimate reality. The old Christianity was therefore content to dismiss knowledge of the world as irrelevant to its objectives. To
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◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ The Theory of Knowledge Creation Chapter Three THE AUGUSTINIAN PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE The history of Augustinian knowledge theory reveals two major problems with the old paradigm. They are:- * The inability to explain the material universe. * The lack of an objective knowledge methodology. These problems were, in the Middle Ages, serious deficiencies in Christian knowledge theory. St.Thomas Aquinas defined the necessary changes to Christian method to enable it to account for the world of experience. The Augustinian paradigm is entirely compatible with science, which remedies the other deficiency in Christian theory by supplying a method for objective knowledge. St.Augustine did not give a precise definition of the method of Divine illumination of the intellect and such explanations as exist have the appearance of being rather sketchy and superficial. The difficulties of the Franciscans in the Medieval debates about the methodology of knowledge stem from this imprecision. It may be observed that knowledge of the human psyche was not well developed at any period of the Middle Ages and a detailed psychological explanation of the Augustinian paradigm would not have been possible. St.Augustine and his immediate successors would have seen the matter as one of practice and not of theory. The importance of practice may be emphasised by comparing the method to swimming or riding a bicycle, where all the theory in the world is of no help to the novice, and is entirely superfluous to the expert. It is the demand of objective knowledge for an explanation of the method that makes the theory necessary. Meditation, as the path to Divine illumination of the intellect, was a common practice in the monasteries, and the meditative was keenly aware of the nearness of the Presence of God. To
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