Reality Principle

In Sigmund Freud’s theory, this is a learned psychological function that seeks to gratify instinctual desires through adaptation to the external world.

The reality principle exists in a state of tension with the innate pleasure principle.

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Religion

is flickr a religion? by the|G|™ / Paul G

Definitions of religion vary widely.

Some contend that almost any belief or activity that ‘moves the soul,’ ‘activates,’ ‘energizes’ or ‘inspires’ is a religion. For example, Marxism, Scientism and Athleticism may loosely be taken as religions.

Some scholars even say that the TV program Star Trek is a religion. And The Economist published an article suggesting that Google is like a religion.¹

Others suggest that a religion must make some kind of reference ideas like God, gods, goddesses, spirit beings, the numinous and the afterlife.

Still, others insist that a religion must refer to a group, not just an individual.

Western jurisprudence stipulates that a religious group must exhibit some degree of organization and be legally registered to be recognized as a legitimate institution.

And then there are those who insist that religion requires scripture, rites, ritual obligations, representatives and leaders, as well as a route to transcendental liberation or salvation.

William James, Max Weber, Rudolf Otto and several other scholars of religion suggest, each in their own way, that religion differs from magic.

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¹ http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/001018google_as_religion.php

At Earthpages.org

• Many items about religion at earthpages.org. Here’s a site search using keyword religion.

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Relations of Production

Marx for Sale: malias / Gideon

Some interpreters of Karl Marx’s theory of history, such as G. A. Cohen, suggest that a distinction may be made between the forces of production and the relations of production.

According to this schema, the relations of production refers to the uniquely social aspects of production in a given society, usually the legal or brute force mechanisms of exploiting labor, extracting surplus and maintaining social dominance of the few over the many.

By way of contrast, the forces of production refer to the way a given society actually produces commodities.

At Earthpages.org

• Revisiting Marx (essay in PDF)

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Reincarnation

Second hand reincarnation: shaggy359

Also known as metempsychosis and transmigration, reincarnation is a manmade theory based on beliefs found in different philosophical systems and religions, including ancient Greek, Egyptian, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Jain, African and New Age perspectives.

Reincarnation usually involves ideas of karma and grace. It’s believed that after the death of the physical body, the soul (or in some schools, temporary personality attributes) returns for another birth.

In most traditions the self is on an evolutionary path from unconsciousness to consciousness–that is, from lower to higher, or gross to subtle forms of consciousness.

In some branches of contemplative Hinduism, the soul is said to begin in the mineral world and then move upward to the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Eventually it takes birth as a human being. After learning about and practicing good ethics from innumerable human incarnations, the soul may reincarnate in astral and heavenly realms before reaching ultimate liberation, awareness and bliss.

But bad ethical choices send the evolutionary process into reverse. If a human being abuses their freedom, they may reincarnate backwards into the animal kingdom or possibly further down into one of various temporary hells.

According to popular wisdom it’s often said that God provides perfect punishments and rewards for one’s deeds. So generally speaking, if one makes good ethical choices in an embodied life, one gains merit and reincarnates into a more auspicious life the next time around.

However, if one makes bad ethical choices, one returns to a less auspicious life. Again, the alleged purpose of reincarnation is to instruct the soul, preparing it for an ultimately perfect, eternal existence. The exact nature of this perfection is described differently among various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Taoism.

Once complete liberation is achieved, the soul (or temporary personality attributes) no longer returns to a body, gross or subtle. This idea is expressed in an old Taoist tale, paraphrased as follows:

A man had led a dissolute life and reincarnates as a horse. After a few years the horse grows weary of being whipped by his masters, refuses to eat and dies. He then returns as a dog. Despising this incarnation the dog bites his master’s leg who has him destroyed. He returns as a snake. By now he’s finally learned his lesson. One must play out the hand one is dealt, patiently seeing it through to learn how to be virtuous. As a reformed soul, the snake avoids doing harm to other animals by eating berries and tries to keep itself out of danger. But one day the snake mistakenly dies under the wheel of a cart. Pleading his case before the King of Purgatory, he finds himself reborn a man—a reward for his good intentions (Raymond Van Over, ed. Taoist Tales, New York: Meridian Classic, 1973, pp. 52-53).

According to this view, suicide is like ‘skipping school’ (in the cosmic sense) and causes regression to a less desirable birth.

But not all believers in reincarnation would take this attitude. Some believe that the very same kind of life situation would arise again, as if the suicide is forced to repeat the same cosmic classroom he or she didn’t pass the first time around.

Meanwhile some New Age thinkers say that every life is consciously chosen prior to birth.

In most Asian religions God’s grace can mitigate or even erase the effects of bad karma, a fact often overlooked in specious critiques of reincarnation.

African pre-colonial tribal beliefs about reincarnation differ from Asian variants. African ancestors are believed to reincarnate into one or several descendents to give a particular family more power. Somewhat similar to the Asian idea, however, the African Ibo believe that one chooses between two bundles before birth – one bundle holds auspicious fortune, the other inauspicious. While the spirit tries its best to choose a favorable incarnation, a formerly evil person undergoes a difficult incarnation as a human or animal.

More variants of reincarnation are found within ancestor cults. And in The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare’s character Gratiano suggests that Shylock is a reincarnated wolf.

In contrast to the belief in reincarnation, the Old Testament says that evil actions are repaid with evil, but not through reincarnation. Evil begets evil through one’s offspring:

The Lord…a God merciful and gracious…forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 34:7).

In Catholicism, St. Thomas Aquinas refutes reincarnation on the basis of Romans 9: 11-12:

For when they were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil…not of works, but of Him that calleth, it was said to her: The elder shall serve the younger.

The Christian New Testament view of the body and its relation to the afterlife is expressed in I Corinthians 15; 51-52; 2 Corinthians 5:1; I Thessalonians 4:14; John 3: 4-7.

Some suggest that the Catholic notion of purgatory was created as a Christian counterpart to the temporary process of punishment and purification as found in non-Christian theories of reincarnation.

At Earthpages.org:

• Articles about reincarnation and karma.

» Anatman, Anthroposophy, Avatar, Cayce (Edgar), Chinmoy (Sri), Deva, Fenris, Free-John (Da), Gawain (Shakti), Hell, Hermes Trismegistus, Karma, Meno, Origen, Ram Dass, Parvati, Plato,  Ramacharaka (Swami), Republic, Roberts (Jane), Samsara, Skandhas, Theosophy, Transmigration, Werewolf, Pythagoras

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Reification

State Theater, Congress Avenue: DaveWilsonPhotography / Dave Wilson

Reification is a sociological, philosophical and literary concept having to do with language and the pretty much universal process of symbolization.

According to sociologists, reification occurs when ideas, concepts or theories are assumed to accurately represent some real entity or thing–for instance, a theory about the ‘individual’ or, perhaps more easily understood, the ‘state.’

For instance, what is “Canada” or “The United States of America”? Aren’t these somewhat abstract ideas having a different meaning for each and every individual who ponders them? And even if we resort to the argument that these nations are distinguished by laws, citizenship and geographic boundaries, the same argument could apply.

Although it’s difficult for many to understand the notion that geographic boundaries are not absolute and indisputable markers, when we deconstruct the whole notion of physicality, things become less clear cut.¹

In philosophy the Greek Heraclitus alluded to reification when he asserted that we cannot step into the same river twice. And Willard Quine touches on the idea of reification by saying that empiricism contains “two dogmas.” One dogma is the distinction made between intellectual constructs and facts. The second dogma is reductionism; that is, the belief that naming and meaning are the same.

In the literary sense, reification may be said to occur whenever a metaphor is employed, although here it is accepted, encouraged and evaluated as to its poignancy. Meanwhile in rhetoric, it’s often a matter of debate whether reification is used appropriately.

While reified concepts may be simple or complex and involve detailed legal entities, the question remains as to whether the thing written and talked about really (or fully) exists as described.

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¹ Not to say that every thinker would agree or be able to appreciate this perspective.

On the Web:

• Wikipedia outlines several meanings for this term with useful illustrations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reification

» Sociology, Unconscious

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Regression

coloring time: foreverdigital / Jenn Vargas

In Freudian theory regression is a defense mechanism where the ego partially or fully regresses to an earlier phase of libidinal development due to unresolved anxiety that threatens everyday functioning.

Obviously, this is usually maladaptive as the individual re-experiences anxiety associated with an infantile stage of psychological development to which he or she is to some degree fixated.

Accordingly, aspects of the world are interpreted from the perspective of an anxious child. And this can lead to all sorts of unpleasant personality qualities–from paranoia, grandiosity, manipulation, pathological lying or some disturbing combination of these.

But controlled or therapeutic regression, as in creative play, reading old childhood books or listening to old records need not be maladaptive. In fact, it can be a necessary stage in integrating the total personality and moving on to new types of awareness and experience. It can also just be plain fun.

The difference between healthy and unhealthy regression is whether one does this consciously and progressively or is simply unconsciously playing out old neuroses, over and over like a broken record.

The one is childlike, the other childish.

At Earthpages.org:

• In the eyes of a child

On the Web:

• Freud’s Psychosexual Stage Theory

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Reductio ad Absurdum

356/365... Absurd room #3 Balance and serenity: Desirée Delgado

[Latin: "reduce to the absurd"]

A method of philosophical argumentation said to prove a conclusion to be true by demonstrating the contradiction, absurdity and therefore impossibility that would result if it were false.

Consider Descartes‘: “I think, therefore I am.” And its falsification: “I think, therefore I am not.” Here the question arises: If one thinks that one does not exist, then who is doing the thinking?

By falsifying the original statement, the resultant absurdity apparently proves the original statement to be true.

C. G. Jung used a form of reductio ad absurdum to try to refute the Buddhist notion of no-self. Basically, Jung asked: Who experiences the bliss of Nirvana if no self is present to experience it?

Buddhists, however, could reply that the locus of consciousness merely changes from an illusory individualism to an actual totality, a stance which theists, in turn, would question.

» Anatman, Theism

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Reason and Revelation

Listen To Reason: jaredchapman

In philosophy and also in theology a distinction is made between knowledge obtained through reason and knowledge obtained through revelation.

This distinction could be questioned. For instance, it’s conceivable that concepts and their arrangement in a logical argument could be revealed to a person from God.

However, traditional Catholic theologians usually call this “inspiration” as a result of “illumination,” suggesting that it somehow differs from a revelation communicated directly by God.

» Aquinas (St. Thomas), Duns Scotus, Revealed Knowledge

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Realism

realism: dkeyjon / Jones

In arts and culture realism refers to representations appearing to be natural, accurate and perhaps bluntly, poetically or politically so.

Just what constitutes a realist artist, however, is not usually clear-cut. The famous American painter, Norman Rockwell, for instance, is still debated as to whether or not he falls under the realist tag.

To most non-artists, Norman Rockwell is perceived to be a Realist. He isn’t. And he is.¹

Realism is also a philosophical view that external objects exist, even when not perceived by an observer. This view is related to the question – “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” – posed in philosophy.

In theology, realism refers to the belief that universal essences are more real than any individual temporal manifestation. This view was, of course, outlined in Plato’s theory of the eternal, unchanging Forms. Subsequent Medieval European theologians picked up on Plato’s pre-Christian theory and basically Christianized it.

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¹ See Create and Relate: http://wwwcristinaacosta.blogspot.com/2008/02/norman-rockwell-how-real-is-realism.html.

» Akhenaton, Idealism, Nominalism, Surrealism

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Reaction Formation

Freud Quiere Bailar + OU: Wookie Sidecar

In Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, a defense mechanism in which the subject exaggerates the opposite of a repressed, socially unacceptable impulse.

The original impulse remains unresolved in its infantile form within the unconscious, thus feeding the fires of a neuroses.

But reaction formation can lead to a successful sublimation of the original impulse.

An example of the negative, neurotic type of reaction formation would be the gay basher who has repressed his or her own homosexual fantasies.

The positive, adaptive type would be the father who sublimates inappropriate sexual desire for his daughter into buying her fine, attractive articles of clothing.

Some would say, however, that the best solution to the above scenario would be to become conscious of and entirely resolve the unacceptable impulse through analysis, prayer and/or purification techniques.

Critics of this approach believe it’s impossible to eradicate sexual desires, appropriate or not. This view is at loggerheads with personal accounts from saints like Faustina Kowalska who claim to have received celibacy as a divine gift. » Reversal

References:

• Charles Rycroft, A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, Harmondsworth: Penguin 1977, pp. 136-137.

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