Читать книгу Reality - Wynand De Beer - Страница 4

What is metaphysics? The term is derived from the Greek phrase meta ta physika, which means ‘after the physics.’ It first appeared as the title of a collection of writings by the Hellenic philosopher Aristotle, which followed upon his writings on physical phenomena.1 Extrapolating therefrom, we could say that the metaphysical follows upon the physical. In other words, if the physical denotes the reality here and now, then the metaphysical indicates those realities beyond the here and now. The metaphysical therefore includes the invisible and intangible realities denoted by terms such as God, the One, Spirit, Intellect, the Logos, the Forms, and Soul.

What is metapolitics? In view of the previous paragraph, it makes sense to state that metapolitics stands in the same relation to politics as metaphysics stands in relation to physics. We could therefore say that from a metapolitical perspective one views the political world ‘from above,’ just as from a metaphysical perspective one views the physical world ‘from above.’ It should be self-evident that metapolitics has nothing to do with the ridiculous spectacle of party-politics, just as metaphysics has nothing to do with the futile practice of armchair philosophizing. On the contrary, both metaphysics and metapolitics are crucially important issues, dealing as they do with the nature of reality and how human societies should be ordered according to its precepts, respectively.

In the first part of the book, we draw a distinction between that which exists, or being, and that which does not exist, or non-being. Within the realm of being, we then differentiate between its various levels of reality. It may be asked whether an investigation is really needed to distinguish the real from the unreal and the more real from the less real. This question must be answered in the affirmative, given the preponderance of misconceptions among human beings.2 For example, there are many who view the material world as the only reality, while it is actually the lowest level of reality. In addition, just as there are different levels of reality, so there are different levels of perception thereof. And since we are living in a world in which semantic confusion, conceptual obfuscation, and deliberate distortion of the truth are all-pervasive (especially at the hands of the mass media), we will also consider this issue pertaining to the knowledge of reality.3

In the second part, we touch upon various philosophical and theological themes in the light of the preceding metaphysical discussion on the nature of reality. As before, we discuss these issues from a combined Hellenic and Patristic perspective.4 They include well-being and love, time and eternity, good and evil, truth and knowledge, and the most vital issue of all—the survival of the soul beyond bodily death, as the only kind of immortality that humans may attain.

In the third and final part, we subject some salient aspects of the Western socio-cultural phenomenon known as ‘political correctness’ to critical scrutiny. In the process, these ideologically driven and media-promoted ‘isms’ (including liberalism, feminism, and globalism) are contrasted with both Hellenic and Christian political philosophy (as presented by Plato, Aristotle, and St Augustine) and the penetrating writings of a range of traditionalist and/or anti-modernist thinkers from different parts of the world, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Oswald Spengler, Francis Parker Yockey, Alexander Dugin, and Nicolas Laos.5

It is our sincere hope that this publication will contribute, however modestly, to serving the interests of the eternal Kingdom of truth and justice—the same Kingdom that was proclaimed by the God-man from Galilee around 2000 years ago.

1. The term ‘Hellenic’ is more accurate than the customary ‘ancient Greek,’ since these people referred to themselves as Hellenes and to their culture as Hellenic. The term ‘Greek’ came to be applied to the Hellenes by their Roman conquerors, through whose Latin language it entered other European languages. However, for the sake of convention we will use ‘Greek’ when referring to the Hellenic language as well as to the Christian theologians writing in it.

2. Therefore, the scientific name for the human species, Homo sapiens (Latin, ‘wise man’), ought to be viewed as one of the grandest misnomers in intellectual history.

3. A pertinent example of media-instigated semantic confusion is the label of ‘homophobia,’ which is applied by the enforcers of political correctness to those who are unwilling to support homosexual marriages. This term is derived from the Greek words homos, meaning ‘one and the same,’ and phobos, meaning ‘fear’ (LSJ, 488, 764). Homophobia therefore literally means ‘fear of the same,’ which is utterly nonsensical.

4. The term ‘Patristic’ denotes the Greek and Latin theologians of the early Christian era, most of whom employed insights from Hellenic philosophy in their writings. The teachings of these theologians, generically referred to as Church Fathers, have remained normative in the Orthodox and Catholic traditions to this day.

5. In this context, ‘anti-modernist’ involves a rejection of the humanist and rationalist assumptions that underlie modernism, which manifested ideologically in projects to promote ‘freedom’ and ‘equality.’ These in turn culminated in the ‘hard’ totalitarianisms of communism and fascism, as well as the ‘soft’ yet surreptitious totalitarianism of liberalism.