Absolute (philosophy)
Encyclopedia
The Absolute is the concept of an unconditional reality which transcends
limited, conditional, everyday existence. It is sometimes used as an alternate term for "God
" or "the Divine
", especially, but by no means exclusively, by those who feel that the term "God" lends itself too easily to anthropomorphic presumptions. But, in this stage of social development up to scientific evolutions through quantum mechanics to theory of relativity, some special form of consciousness have been developed as scientific study like as telepathy, merphogenetic field and certian sciences of yogas. the concrete study of consciousness have been seen in behavior of social development. thus, Absolute form of philosophical research and study shouldn't only be classified as the synonym of 'God' or 'Divine'. some of absolute and concrete study among consciousness is in the order of definition, and been categorized study affiliated to physical sciences to philosophical stream. The concept of The Absolute may or may not (depending on one's specific doctrine) possess discrete will
, intelligence, awareness
or even a personal nature. It is sometimes conceived of as the source through which all being emanates. It contrasts with finite things, considered individually, and known collectively as the relative
. As such, the word "Absolute" signifies a negative concept: non-relative, non-comparative, or without relation to anything else. This is reflected in its Latin origin absolūtus which means "loosened from" or "unattached."
, Hinduism
, Jainism
, Taoism
, Islam
, some forms of Jewish philosophy
, and existential
or metaphysical
forms of Christianity
. Terms which serve to identify The Absolute among such beliefs include Wu Chi, Brahman
, Adibuddha, Allah
, Para Brahman
, God, the Divine and numerous other appellations. In East Asia, the concept of the Tao, and in South Asia, the concept of Nirvana is synonymous in description to the attributes of the Absolute as used in the West.
The human
vital essence - soul, spirit
, spark of awareness, is said to have originally derived in each case from the Absolute, and to be indestructible after the nature of the Absolute, and to be capable of returning to its source. This returning is the goal of those Eastern religions that have such a concept.
The general commonalities between the various versions of the Absolute are: infinity
, indescribability, formlessness, transcendence
and immanence
. An additional commonality is that one must renounce and/or transcend physical existence and its distractions, in some cases even to the point of extinguishing identity and individual awareness, in order to understand or co-exist with the Absolute. Uniformly, human passions and vices are regarded as barriers to spiritual advancement, and such virtues as humility
, charity
and righteousness
or pacifism
are felt to help pave the way to enlightenment
.
Parallels may be drawn between such traditions and Judeo-Christian-Islamic monotheistic
(i.e., Abrahamic) thought. The concept is of a universal subconsciousness
, undivided and incapable of being depicted through gods or icon
s, parent to the individual souls of men, and to which men strive to return. This sought-after return is impaired by evil
thought and deed, and facilitated by altruism
. In addition, the traditions share a general value system
that discourages worldliness and encourages seeking higher, more intangible principles, such as righteousness
, justice
, and good deeds done for their own sake.
However, rather than distinguishing from the relative, the thing in itself is used to distinguish an actual object from phenomenon (the appearance of things-in-themselves to the senses).
concerned himself with the knowable portion of the Absolute with his Logos
. Plotinus
, a Neo-Platonic philosopher, saw all forms of existence as emanating from 'The One'. The One of Plotinus being is a trans-sentient power or force
. The concept of the Absolute was re-introduced into philosophy by Hegel
, Schelling, and their followers; it is associated with various forms of philosophical idealism
. The Absolute, either under that name, or as the "Ground of Being", or some similar concept, also figures in several of the attempted proofs of the existence of God, particularly the ontological argument
and the cosmological argument
. In scholastic philosophy the Absolute was regarded as Pure Act
, unadulterated with remaining potential.
The concept was adopted into neo-Hegelian British idealism
(though without Hegel's complex logic
al and dialectical apparatus), where it received an almost mystical
exposition at the hands of F.H. Bradley. Bradley (followed by others including Timothy L.S. Sprigge) conceived the Absolute as a single all-encompassing experience, rather along the lines of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta
. Likewise, Josiah Royce
in the United States
conceived the Absolute as a unitary Knower Whose experience constitutes what we know as the "external" world.
The mathematician Georg Cantor
equated the mathematical concept of the Absolute Infinite
with God.
Recently, certain philosophers have attempted to reconceive Christianity
as a Gnostic religion (see Mary Magdalene
). Here "the Absolute" is referred to as "the All".
However, the concept need not be taken to imply a universal unitary consciousness. American philosopher Brand Blanshard
, for example, conceived the Absolute as a single overarching intelligible system but declined to characterize it in terms of consciousness or experience.
explicitly argues that the universe lacks an essence; he instead critiques positions
regarding an ultimate nature of reality — such as those found in the Upanishads — in the manner of later Prasangikas. The Buddha of the early texts does speak of experiencing "luminous consciousness" beyond the six sense media. Passages in which the Buddha criticizes those who talk about things not amenable to experience are quite common in the early texts.
Nagarjuna
, one of the most prominent philosophers of Mahayana Buddhism, was considered by early scholarship as propounding an absolutist doctrine with his development of the Buddhist concept of shunyata
. This is criticized by many modern scholars as incorrect and not grounded on textual evidence. The consesnsus is that Nagarjuna defended the classical Buddhist emphasis on phenomena. For him shunyata is explicitly used as a middle way
between eternalism and nihilism, and that is where its soteriological
power lies. It does not refer specifically to an ultimate, universal, or absolute nature of reality. Holding up emptiness as an absolute or ultimate truth without reference to that which is empty is the last thing either the Buddha or Nagarjuna would advocate. Nagarjuna criticized those who conceptualized shunyata: "The Victorious Ones have announced that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views
. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incorrigible." By contrast, many schools of Mahayana Buddhism, particularly those in alignment with the Tathagatagarbha scriptures, affirmed some notions regarding a positive absolute, identifying it with the true or original substance or Self of the Buddha
.
questioned whether the absolute can be thought.
Nietzsche
criticized Hegel's claims about the non-relative Absolute.
Transcendence (philosophy)
In philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey the basic ground concept from the word's literal meaning , of climbing or going beyond, albeit with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural stages...
limited, conditional, everyday existence. It is sometimes used as an alternate term for "God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
" or "the Divine
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
", especially, but by no means exclusively, by those who feel that the term "God" lends itself too easily to anthropomorphic presumptions. But, in this stage of social development up to scientific evolutions through quantum mechanics to theory of relativity, some special form of consciousness have been developed as scientific study like as telepathy, merphogenetic field and certian sciences of yogas. the concrete study of consciousness have been seen in behavior of social development. thus, Absolute form of philosophical research and study shouldn't only be classified as the synonym of 'God' or 'Divine'. some of absolute and concrete study among consciousness is in the order of definition, and been categorized study affiliated to physical sciences to philosophical stream. The concept of The Absolute may or may not (depending on one's specific doctrine) possess discrete will
Will (philosophy)
Will, in philosophical discussions, consonant with a common English usage, refers to a property of the mind, and an attribute of acts intentionally performed. Actions made according to a person's will are called "willing" or "voluntary" and sometimes pejoratively "willful"...
, intelligence, awareness
Awareness
Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects or sensory patterns. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding. More broadly, it is the state or quality of being aware of...
or even a personal nature. It is sometimes conceived of as the source through which all being emanates. It contrasts with finite things, considered individually, and known collectively as the relative
Relativism
Relativism is the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration....
. As such, the word "Absolute" signifies a negative concept: non-relative, non-comparative, or without relation to anything else. This is reflected in its Latin origin absolūtus which means "loosened from" or "unattached."
Similarities and differences in various traditions
Examples of religions and philosophies which embrace the concept of the Absolute in one form or another include HermeticismHermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
, Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
, Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
, Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, some forms of Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
, and existential
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
or metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
forms of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Terms which serve to identify The Absolute among such beliefs include Wu Chi, Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
, Adibuddha, Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
, Para Brahman
Para Brahman
Para Brahman or Param Brahman - is a term often used by Vedantic philosophers as to the "attainment of the ultimate goal". Adi Shankara has said that there is only one Supreme Para-Brahman and all the other deities are the forms and expansions of this Para-Brahman...
, God, the Divine and numerous other appellations. In East Asia, the concept of the Tao, and in South Asia, the concept of Nirvana is synonymous in description to the attributes of the Absolute as used in the West.
The human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
vital essence - soul, spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
, spark of awareness, is said to have originally derived in each case from the Absolute, and to be indestructible after the nature of the Absolute, and to be capable of returning to its source. This returning is the goal of those Eastern religions that have such a concept.
The general commonalities between the various versions of the Absolute are: infinity
Infinity
Infinity is a concept in many fields, most predominantly mathematics and physics, that refers to a quantity without bound or end. People have developed various ideas throughout history about the nature of infinity...
, indescribability, formlessness, transcendence
Transcendence (religion)
In religion transcendence refers to the aspect of God's nature which is wholly independent of the physical universe. This is contrasted with immanence where God is fully present in the physical world and thus accessible to creatures in various ways...
and immanence
Immanence
Immanence refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence, in which the divine is seen to be manifested in or encompassing of the material world. It is often contrasted with theories of transcendence, in which the divine is seen to be outside the material world...
. An additional commonality is that one must renounce and/or transcend physical existence and its distractions, in some cases even to the point of extinguishing identity and individual awareness, in order to understand or co-exist with the Absolute. Uniformly, human passions and vices are regarded as barriers to spiritual advancement, and such virtues as humility
Humility
Humility is the quality of being modest, and respectful. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.-Term:The term "humility"...
, charity
Charity (virtue)
In Christian theology charity, or love , means an unlimited loving-kindness toward all others.The term should not be confused with the more restricted modern use of the word charity to mean benevolent giving.- Caritas: altruistic love :...
and righteousness
Righteousness
Righteousness is an important theological concept in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism , Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
or pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
are felt to help pave the way to enlightenment
Enlightenment (spiritual)
Enlightenment in a secular context often means the "full comprehension of a situation", but in spiritual terms the word alludes to a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with or understanding of the mind of God, profound spiritual...
.
Parallels may be drawn between such traditions and Judeo-Christian-Islamic monotheistic
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
(i.e., Abrahamic) thought. The concept is of a universal subconsciousness
Universal Intelligence
Universal Intelligence is a term used by some to describe what they see as organization, or order of the universe. It has been described as "the intrinsic tendency for things to self-organize and co-evolve into ever more complex, intricately interwoven and mutually compatible forms."A general...
, undivided and incapable of being depicted through gods or icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s, parent to the individual souls of men, and to which men strive to return. This sought-after return is impaired by evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
thought and deed, and facilitated by altruism
Altruism
Altruism is a concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures, and a core aspect of various religious traditions, though the concept of 'others' toward whom concern should be directed can vary among cultures and religions. Altruism is the opposite of...
. In addition, the traditions share a general value system
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
that discourages worldliness and encourages seeking higher, more intangible principles, such as righteousness
Righteousness
Righteousness is an important theological concept in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism , Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
, and good deeds done for their own sake.
Thing in itself
Roughly, the Absolute may be distinguished from the following concepts, although there is debate of the synonymity between them:- Thing-in-itself, an actual objectObject (philosophy)An object in philosophy is a technical term often used in contrast to the term subject. Consciousness is a state of cognition that includes the subject, which can never be doubted as only it can be the one who doubts, and some object or objects that may or may not have real existence without...
and its properties independent of any observer. - The noumenon is a posited object or event that is known (if at all) without the use of the senses.
However, rather than distinguishing from the relative, the thing in itself is used to distinguish an actual object from phenomenon (the appearance of things-in-themselves to the senses).
The Absolute in Western philosophy
HeraclitusHeraclitus
Heraclitus of Ephesus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Asia Minor. He was of distinguished parentage. Little is known about his early life and education, but he regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom...
concerned himself with the knowable portion of the Absolute with his Logos
Logos
' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...
. Plotinus
Plotinus
Plotinus was a major philosopher of the ancient world. In his system of theory there are the three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His teacher was Ammonius Saccas and he is of the Platonic tradition...
, a Neo-Platonic philosopher, saw all forms of existence as emanating from 'The One'. The One of Plotinus being is a trans-sentient power or force
Dunamis
In philosophy, Potentiality and Actuality are principles of a dichotomy which Aristotle used throughout his philosophical works to analyze motion, causality, ethics, and physiology in his Physics, Metaphysics, Ethics and De Anima .The concept of potentiality, in this context, generally refers to...
. The concept of the Absolute was re-introduced into philosophy by Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
, Schelling, and their followers; it is associated with various forms of philosophical idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
. The Absolute, either under that name, or as the "Ground of Being", or some similar concept, also figures in several of the attempted proofs of the existence of God, particularly the ontological argument
Ontological argument
The ontological argument for the existence of God is an a priori argument for the existence of God. The ontological argument was first proposed by the eleventh-century monk Anselm of Canterbury, who defined God as the greatest possible being we can conceive...
and the cosmological argument
Cosmological argument
The cosmological argument is an argument for the existence of a First Cause to the universe, and by extension is often used as an argument for the existence of an "unconditioned" or "supreme" being, usually then identified as God...
. In scholastic philosophy the Absolute was regarded as Pure Act
Actus purus
Actus Purus is a term employed in scholastic philosophy to express the absolute perfection of God. It literally means, "pure act."Created beings have potentiality that is not actuality, imperfections as well as perfection. Only God is simultaneously all that He can be, infinitely real and...
, unadulterated with remaining potential.
The concept was adopted into neo-Hegelian British idealism
British idealism
A species of absolute idealism, British idealism was a philosophical movement that was influential in Britain from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. The leading figures in the movement were T.H. Green , F. H. Bradley , and Bernard Bosanquet . They were succeeded by the...
(though without Hegel's complex logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
al and dialectical apparatus), where it received an almost mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
exposition at the hands of F.H. Bradley. Bradley (followed by others including Timothy L.S. Sprigge) conceived the Absolute as a single all-encompassing experience, rather along the lines of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...
. Likewise, Josiah Royce
Josiah Royce
Josiah Royce was an American objective idealist philosopher.-Life:Royce, born in Grass Valley, California, grew up in pioneer California very soon after the California Gold Rush. He received the B.A...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conceived the Absolute as a unitary Knower Whose experience constitutes what we know as the "external" world.
The mathematician Georg Cantor
Georg Cantor
Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor was a German mathematician, best known as the inventor of set theory, which has become a fundamental theory in mathematics. Cantor established the importance of one-to-one correspondence between the members of two sets, defined infinite and well-ordered sets,...
equated the mathematical concept of the Absolute Infinite
Absolute Infinite
The Absolute Infinite is mathematician Georg Cantor's concept of an "infinity" that transcended the transfinite numbers. Cantor equated the Absolute Infinite with God...
with God.
Recently, certain philosophers have attempted to reconceive Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
as a Gnostic religion (see Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
). Here "the Absolute" is referred to as "the All".
However, the concept need not be taken to imply a universal unitary consciousness. American philosopher Brand Blanshard
Brand Blanshard
Percy Brand Blanshard was an American philosopher known primarily for his defense of reason. A powerful polemicist, by all accounts he comported himself with courtesy and grace in philosophical controversies and exemplified the "rational temper" he advocated.-Life:Brand Blanshard was born August...
, for example, conceived the Absolute as a single overarching intelligible system but declined to characterize it in terms of consciousness or experience.
Criticism
There is no text in which the BuddhaGautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
explicitly argues that the universe lacks an essence; he instead critiques positions
View (Buddhism)
View or position is a central idea in Buddhism. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action...
regarding an ultimate nature of reality — such as those found in the Upanishads — in the manner of later Prasangikas. The Buddha of the early texts does speak of experiencing "luminous consciousness" beyond the six sense media. Passages in which the Buddha criticizes those who talk about things not amenable to experience are quite common in the early texts.
Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
, one of the most prominent philosophers of Mahayana Buddhism, was considered by early scholarship as propounding an absolutist doctrine with his development of the Buddhist concept of shunyata
Shunyata
Śūnyatā, शून्यता , Suññatā , stong-pa nyid , Kòng/Kū, 空 , Gong-seong, 공성 , qoγusun is frequently translated into English as emptiness...
. This is criticized by many modern scholars as incorrect and not grounded on textual evidence. The consesnsus is that Nagarjuna defended the classical Buddhist emphasis on phenomena. For him shunyata is explicitly used as a middle way
Middle way
The Middle Way or Middle Path is the descriptive term that Siddhartha Gautama used to describe the character of the path he discovered that led to liberation. It was coined in the very first teaching that he delivered after his enlightenment...
between eternalism and nihilism, and that is where its soteriological
Soteriology
The branch of Christian theology that deals with salvation and redemption is called Soteriology. It is derived from the Greek sōtērion + English -logy....
power lies. It does not refer specifically to an ultimate, universal, or absolute nature of reality. Holding up emptiness as an absolute or ultimate truth without reference to that which is empty is the last thing either the Buddha or Nagarjuna would advocate. Nagarjuna criticized those who conceptualized shunyata: "The Victorious Ones have announced that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views
View (Buddhism)
View or position is a central idea in Buddhism. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action...
. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incorrigible." By contrast, many schools of Mahayana Buddhism, particularly those in alignment with the Tathagatagarbha scriptures, affirmed some notions regarding a positive absolute, identifying it with the true or original substance or Self of the Buddha
Dharmakaya
The Dharmakāya is a central idea in Mahayana Buddhism forming part of the Trikaya doctrine that was possibly first expounded in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñā-pāramitā , composed in the 1st century BCE...
.
Quotations
KantImmanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
questioned whether the absolute can be thought.
Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
criticized Hegel's claims about the non-relative Absolute.
See also
- Absolute InfiniteAbsolute InfiniteThe Absolute Infinite is mathematician Georg Cantor's concept of an "infinity" that transcended the transfinite numbers. Cantor equated the Absolute Infinite with God...
- BrahmanBrahmanIn Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
- Chaos (mythology)Chaos (mythology)Chaos refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth....
- Conceptions of GodConceptions of GodThe God of monotheism, pantheism or panentheism, or the supreme deity of henotheistic religions, may be conceived of in various degrees of abstraction:...
- CosmosCosmosIn the general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from the Greek term κόσμος , meaning "order" or "ornament" and is antithetical to the concept of chaos. Today, the word is generally used as a synonym of the word Universe . The word cosmos originates from the same root...
- Dialectical monismDialectical monismDialectical monism, also known as dualistic monism, is an ontological position that holds that reality is ultimately a unified whole, distinguishing itself from monism by asserting that this whole necessarily expresses itself in dualistic terms...
- GodheadGodheadGodhead , may refer to:*Deity*Divinity, the quality of being God*Conceptions of God*Godhead , the totality of gods, in Platonism the Transcendent One....
- Intrinsic valueIntrinsic valueIntrinsic value can refer to:*Intrinsic value , of an option or stock.*Intrinsic value , of a coin.*Intrinsic value , in ethics and philosophy.*Intrinsic value , in philosophy....
- Meaning of lifeMeaning of lifeThe meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general. This concept can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", and "What is the meaning of it all?" It has...
- Para BrahmanPara BrahmanPara Brahman or Param Brahman - is a term often used by Vedantic philosophers as to the "attainment of the ultimate goal". Adi Shankara has said that there is only one Supreme Para-Brahman and all the other deities are the forms and expansions of this Para-Brahman...
- Paul TillichPaul TillichPaul Johannes Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was one of the most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century...
- PleromaPleromaPleroma generally refers to the totality of divine powers. The word means fullness from comparable to πλήρης which means "full", and is used in Christian theological contexts: both in Gnosticism generally, and by Paul of Tarsus in Colossians Colossians 2:9 KJV .Gnosticism holds that the...
- TaoTaoDao or Tao is a Chinese word meaning 'way', 'path', 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle'...
- The AllThe AllThe All is the Hermetic or panentheistic view of God, which is that everything that is, or at least that can be experienced, collectively makes up The All...
- UniverseUniverseThe Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
- Yoism