Hyponoetics - Philosophy of Mind

Project: Formalistic Philosophy

Formalistic philosophy is an attempt to describe philosophical principles, theorems, and concepts with a formal diagramming language. The formalism (graphical notation) consists of the following basic elements:

The idea behind this philosophical formalism is to visualize abstract and complex metaphysical ideas and principles. It also allows to build theorems or even whole systems of thought by using entities and entity clusters (building blocks) to logically and graphically derive a philosophical theory.

At the time of writing, this idea of a formalistic philosophy is not yet a complete formalism but just a first draft of a final definition. I will continue developing this formalism and add more symbols and constructs to it. I know that this is a very amibitious project and it will take time and experience to see if this idea pans out and can be applied in practice at all.

Notational Entities

Entity Name Attributes
object real, ideal, subjective, objective, physical, cognitive, mental, etc.
subject logical, epistemological, ontological, psychological
substance
accident primary, secondary
form
matter
time  past
 present
 future
space absolute, relative
finite, limited, constrained
infinite, unbound, free
world, universe, cosmos, evolution
whole, unity, totality
part
cause
effect
truth logical, factual
falsity, contradiction, inconsistency
essence
being, beingness, 'Dasein'
existence, life
knowledge, self-consciousness,
contemplation, reflection
universal, generic
particular, individual, concrete, specific
principle, axiom
process

Entity Construals (Examples)

Postulate: The Whole is more than the sum of its Parts.



The relationship between the two entities can be modified by attributes (modificators), such as the 'greater than...'.

Postulate: The existence of an individual form (thing, living being, etc.) can be defined as the integration of the two aspects of essence and being.



In this example two modificators are applied to the relationships: the '[defines]' and the ['integrates]'. The letter 'P' represents a particular thing or being as opposed to a universal concept.

Postulate: The principle of sufficient reason says that nothing exists without a reason for its being.



Leibniz' principle can be represented simply as the entity of cause pointing to existence. The '[depends]' modificator represents that existence is dependent on something that caused it. The '[N]' modificator further defines this dependency relationship as necessary.