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Showing posts from January, 2020

Abolish the Archons!

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‘Gnosis’ is necessary for self governance; self governance is the foundation of anarchist society. Jesus embodied and taught that affirmed alignment with Unknown God (Father God) allows for individual gnosis which naturally co-creates collective harmony, eliminating external governing structures. Some ancient forms of Gnosticism had many things in common with modern ideas of anarchism: their members lived on communes with little to no private property and they practiced ceremonies led by people chosen each time by lots rather than hierarchical authority. Gnostic groups also practiced equity among the sexes; some were vegetarians. Central to all Gnostic philosophy was an individual attainment of affirmed alignment with the Unknown God  (Father God) as taught by Jesus to the first ‘gnostic’ sects,a personal experience rather than one based on dogma. They often had decentralized church structure and, given that early Gnostics believed we are all precious and holy children of

Metaphysical Metaphors: Techgnosis and Ecognosis

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Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge. It is best known from Gnosticism, where it signifies a knowledge or insight into humanity’s real being as cosmic, leading to the deliverance of the divine spark within humanity from the constraints of plain existence. The Gnostics considered the most essential part of the process of salvation to be this personal knowledge.  Gnosis is knowledge of the cosmos. Techgnosis and ecognosis reflect knowledge of the realm of technology and the realm of earth. Techgnosis frames existence as a machine-like metaphor. Ecognosis frames existence as an organism-like metaphor. Each offers a greater insight into metaphysical reality. It is by way of Gnosis however that we leave behind any notion of materiality. Through Gnosis we are not linked with either the machine-like or the organism-like metaphors. Instead we transcend these metaphors by way of Gnosis of the Cosmos. Metaphysical metaphors of supermachine and superorganism will not suffice.

Pragmatic Anarchism

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Anarchist rejection of authority has application in epistemology and in philosophical and literary theory. One significant usage of the term shows up in American pragmatism. William James described his pragmatist philosophical theory as a kind of anarchism: “A radical pragmatist is a happy-go-lucky anarchistic sort of creature.” James had anarchist sympathies, connected to a general critique of systematic philosophy. Pragmatism, like other anti-systematic and post-Hegelian philosophies, gives up on the search for an  arché  or foundation, underlying principle, source of action, method of government.  Anarchism thus shows up as a general critique of prevailing methods. An influential example is found in the work of Paul Feyerabend, whose  Against Method  provides an example of “theoretical anarchism” in epistemology and philosophy of science. Feyerabend explains: “Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise: theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to enco