Method in the Broad Sense¶
“Every object requires a definite attitude on the part of the knowing subject.”
We call this attitude method in the broadest sense. For systematics it is just as important to know the relationship among methods as it is to know that among objects, because the structure of the system is determined equally by both. The discussion of the relation between objects and methods belongs within the section on the "Foundation": of the sciences of being. Method in the broadest sense has four interrelated sides, which change with the alteration of the fundamental attitude.
Note: The summary under 1. The goal of knowledge for the law, sequence and gestalt sciences provide a description of the methods in the right-hand column describe the method used in their “native sense,” i.e. as an autogenous method. See the next section for the important distinction between autogenous and heterogenous methods in The Sciences of Being.
Methods in the broad sense The Sciences of Thought: Foundation | Discussion of Method in the Broad Sense |
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"Method in the broadest sense has four interrelated sides, which change with the alteration of the fundamental attitude. " | |
1. The goal of knowledge | The goals of knowledge correspond to the forms of being. Nothing can be reflected upon unless it has previously been thought; that is, nothing can be known unless it has previously been formed by thought, and nothing can be known except according to how it has been formed. |
law | Thought attempts to confine being completely within its universal forms and thus to extinguish diversity and individuality. The "propositions" of the sciences of thought are analogous to the "laws" of the empirical sciences. They are similar because both disregard the individual; they are different because the thought sciences do not even refer to the individual. They provide pure forms that are infinitely remote from every individual reality while the empirical sciences attempt to grasp individual reality. Physical laws annihilate the individuality of things in order to control them. Law is therefore that goal of knowledge in which the individual is subsumed under the universal. |
sequence | On the other side there is a concept that refers to the fact that the individual is inserted into a context, not in order to abolish this individual but in order to represent it. We will call this context a "sequence" context. We place the temporal context within a sequence. |
gestalt | The law and sequence sciences cognize either universal or particular processes that are not part of a self-contained gestalt. The objects of these sciences are incomplete or open gestalts (a chemical process, a historical series). The contexts they create are, so to speak, linear. On the other hand, the gestalt context is circular, so to speak: it represents a self-contained system. Every gestalt is both a law and a member of s sequence series.
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2. The attitude or position of knowledge | perception, experience, and empathy The Attitude of Knowledge in the Empirical Sciences |
3. The procedure of knowledge | description, explanation, construction The Procedure of Knowledge in the Empirical Sciences |
4. The degree of knowledge | probability, conviction The Degree of Knowledge within the Empirical Sciences |
Note: The summary under 1. The goal of knowledge for the law, sequence and gestalt sciences provide a description of the methods used in their “native sense,” i.e. as an autogenous method.
See the next section for more details on “Autogenous and Heterogenous Methods in the Sciences of Being”.