The Now and Eternal - The real and the ideal

If we were to consider the concepts of Realism and Idealism, an entire myriad of philosophical concepts would have been touched upon- Realism would subcatagorize to objectivism (see Truth) and from objectivism further subcatagorize to Materialism (not to be confused with materialistic), Idealism would be created from the parent concept of subjective epistemology, integrated with ontological concepts, forming the 'idealism', as opposing to materialism, that we know today. An entire branch of philosophy, possibly even greater than the concepts of Epistemology and Ontology (Logic and intuitive feelings) would have to be touched upon. Indeed, it is possible to derive the concepts of 'Now' and 'Eternal' from the concepts of 'Realism- such a process would allow us to fully understand the origins of the 'Now' and the 'Eternal'; but it would be extremely tedious to do so.

From the previous topics, we have moved from the concepts of 'epistemology' and 'ontology' to that of 'Logic' and 'Feelings'. Do note that similar they may be, the former two are after all arbitrary concepts within the world of philosophy. The latter, however, are a form of practical application of the former two concepts. They seem in a way much more real, applicable, and associable than their parental concepts. In this sense I can actually state that 'Logic and Feelings' are more realistic (and Now) than 'Epistemology and Ontology', which strikes to be more Idealistic (Eternal) and impracticable.

Now, we know our real world consists of Materialistic things, and idealistic ideals. For a start we have Engineering and romantic love, and then we also have the all those crazy concepts (see above) and religious doctrines. Note that Engineering and those crazy concepts are logic based (epistemological), do also note that romantic love and religion requires intuitive feelings, and then when integrated with some logic themselves, emotions. In quick conclusion all Logic and Feelings have a realistic application to it, and also an idealistic approach to it.

Now, how from 'Realism (Materialism) and Idealism' to 'Now and Eternal'? From the previous post, we can see that our real world and selves are bounded by time and space. Reality itself is a now, while abstract concepts and God, being able to withstand the tests of time, are henceforth eternal. In fact, eternity itself is an idealistic concept- just as the concepts of infinity and zero.

Humans today have little problem perceiving the 'Nows' of our world. We ourselves, being real and exist, can therefore associate and identify materialistic Truths easily. We can be in touch with our feelings and sentiments, and hence we be beings with emotions. We design our world and think ahead for our future jobs and aspirations, we socialize and acquaint, we talk and play soccer, and we go down to Orchard and Dhoby to relax on a weekend.

But then, what about the eternals? What about the ideals? God is an ideal (perfection and eternity is ideal) and few theists really understand who he really is. As stated before, all philosophical concepts are ideal (being universally accepted ideas) but most relate it to be cheem and impracticable. Integration is an idealistic concept, but other than the applications of integration (which is integration made real or integration in today's world), we have absolutely no clue how it actually comes about. Few students would see light in studying scientific concepts unless they may apply such knowledge realistically (and in real-time) through Engineering and technology. Few people truly appreciate art and music unless they see a beautiful face (or worse pictures) or hear their favourite songs play on their radio.

On both 'logic and feeling' faculties, this tendency to the Nows and away from the Eternals are what many would associate as materialism (in layman's terms now). I am indeed sure that at some point of time we would ask ourselves why is the world so materialistic and people so superficial- these questions are directly formed due to materialism. People associate for personal gains, and seek personal gains for a 'better future'. This better future they seek is one of monetary and status-bearing rewards- they are real, gratifying, and 'here and now' so as to speak. As a result we see our friends acting superficially in the most selfish of ways- we then wonder what happened to true friendship and true love.

It is no wonder that concepts such as true friendship and love are idealistic. Unlike money and status, there is no hard and fast rule in determining what qualities a 'true friendship or love' should be, yet and again people of every ages have dreamt of such values just as how humans of every culture have came up gods and goddesses. In other words, such an idea is timeless and eternal. Materialistic people definitely lack such Eternal aspects in their lives, and values are one such form that they lack- it is no wonder why many people say people today have little or no values.

Of course this does not necessarily mean that we ought not think and feel realistically and turn to the idealistic. Very devout people are idealistic, and gurus are a very fine example of such devout people, but we hardly want to live a life exactly like them unless we are pretty certain we don't want to 'live' anymore. A tend too much to the idealistic and eternal would render us 'spirited away' or 'stuck in our own world of dreams'- indeed, it wouldn't hurt thinking once in a while on how would an ideal world be if we can allow it, but a life-long obsession in creation of a utopia would be definitely psychotic and dangerous. For extreme idealism results in fascism and narcissism. Hitler was one problem, hard-core terrorists is also another.

Of course, one of the underlying doubts we have to clear today is the fact that Ideals are also Truths. We study Ideal gases and Fluids although such gases and fluids to not exist real time. Morality is ideal and eternal in essence, and although we have screamed many a times it is no more than humanist ideals we still cannot dispense it if we were to want to survive. Finally the debate on whether God exists still continues- after all, universal ideals inevitably become real, and if eternity itself were to be considered considerably presently, it would evidently also be a 'now' so as to speak.

With this I conclude this topic of the Now and Eternal. Indeed, this concept is indeed brought forward as an eye-opener, and there are many holes left open for discussion and criticism, but I believe that such an address would be substantial as far as it is concerned. I will point out various aspects of the world and consider them in greater detail after the full integration of concepts in The Moderation itself. Hopefully by then, now that we have finally touched on all four bases of the picture, begin to see the full picture of the world and reconstruct it from there.