Related Questions:
§ Discuss
at least four features of the ontology of man and show how the human mind is
made active.
§ Using
the ontology of man as the study of the being of man, discuss the
characteristics of human existence.
A CONCISE EVALUATION OF “THE ONTOLOGY OF MAN”
The
ontology of man is also called the metaphysics of man or the philosophy of man.
This explains why as an ontologist, Heidegger conceives of philosophy as
“a universal phenomenological ontology of man”. The ontology of man analyses
and talks about those elements of finite human reason, which makes it possible
for man to think metaphysically via transcendence. It enables man to see those
powers that are present but hidden (dormant) within us. These metaphysical
powers are necessary for the active realisation of our projects. The ontology
of man aims to show that all of man’s activities such as forming a political
system, studying philosophy, building a car or an airplane, constructing a
bridge, forming a religious ideology and the likes, are all guided and
controlled by the power of finite transcendence (the power to reach beyond to
the region of nothingness in order to acquire mental tools and back to the
region of something, to enrich it with those tools acquired). Exercising this
power of transcendence entails a lot of things such as forming ideas and
concepts by making use of certain faculties of the mind. These ideas and
concepts are now then used to fix, construct, regulate, modify and re-create
things in our world and environment.
Accordingly,
what then is the ontology of man? In
a manner similar to ontology proper, the ontology of man is the study of the
being of man. It is not the
study of the being of this man or that man, or the study of the basic
attributes of man (which surely differ from man to man). If this were the
business of ontology, then it would not be called the ontology of man but the
anthropology of man. Instead, the ontology of man, which is the study of the
being of man, is concerned with those general modes and characteristics of human beings. By general modes and
characteristics, we mean those essential elements that are intrinsically
present in the same manner and capacity in all human beings, no matter the
race, nation, tribe or whatever. Hence, the ontology of man is the study of
what belongs to human beings in general. It is not the study of man (which is
poly-dimensional), but the study of what it means to be human at all (which is
mono-dimensional).
That being said, as a
discipline, the major task of the ontology of man, is to research (find out)
the metaphysical capacity and ability of man from which all other forms of
human activity spring from or take their footing. It is an effort to make the
being of man stand out clearly; an effort to make man see himself as he really
is; an effort to enable man to appreciate himself, such that he can realize his
full potentials through creativity, positive action and innovation. The
ontology of man takes consciousness, pure reason and finite transcendence as
the ultimate guide for experience; as the organizer, processor and synthesizer
of sense perceptions as gotten from phenomena. Nevertheless, the ontology of
man does not describe acts of consciousness or structures of thought; doing
that is the work of psychology. Instead, the ontology of man describes those
elements that belong to acts of consciousness or thought in general.
FEATURES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ONTOLOGY OF MAN
The
ontology of man, which is also called the metaphysics of man or, the philosophy
of man has some definite features. These are the characteristics of human
existence and beingness that define his intrinsic nature, which is parallel and
common to all of man; those essential elements that are intrinsically present
in the same manner and capacity in all human beings. These features can be
presented under the following headings;
1. The objectivity factor
The ontology of man focuses on the source
of the objectivity factor. By this, it is meant that which makes objective
experience in general possible. It researches on that which makes man to be
able to perceive or cognise the world the way he does; which makes man to be
able to relate and communicate with his environment. It evaluates that which
makes man feel at home in the world as its caretaker, and not as some stranger
or passer-by.
2. Concept formation
The ontology of man inquires into how man
forms notions, images and ideas, which are then synthesised into concepts. It
also evaluates how these concepts are applied to things, how they translate
into words in form of communication and how the understanding of what is being
communicated actually takes place. It deals with how we generate concepts to
affect things in our world in the form of laws, principles, standards, ideals
and the likes.
3. The infinite wealth of nothingness
The ontology of man describes the fact
that human reality possesses an inexhaustible reservoir of meaning (ideas) and
can also spontaneously bring about any desired state of affair. It explains
that man possess an endless gamut of inspiration (the world of nothingness)
whereby we derive all our creations from.
It shows that all our existential achievements so far, no matter how
supreme, is nothing compared to that which is not yet in existence; that the
world of nothing is far richer than the world of something; that the world of
nothingness is real even though it is not tangible.
4. Pure reason
The ontology of man highlights the
intrinsicness of pure reason in man. It shows that everything man dreams of,
all the things we imagine, all the things we envision, all the things we think
about, are metaphysical creations of pure reason in man; which all have the
capability of being actualised in one form or the other, no matter how
impossible it may seem. The full strength and capability of pure reason has not
and cannot be exhausted. This element is what creates feeling of awe and wonder
when some human comes up with some great invention or work of art in
architecture, engineering or any field whatsoever.
ACTIVATION OF THE HUMAN MIND
Talking
about how the human mind is made active simply entails an analysis on how the
mind of man enables him to fabricate materials ex-nihilo (from nothing). Reality is multi-dimensional in its
potentials; it has a lot to offer. For the mind to be able to make sense out of
reality it has to combine, shape, define, characterise, organize and synthesize
various individual ideas. The end result of this synthesis by the mind results
in “concepts”. Concepts are the
means by which the mind helps man to organise reality; they are the means via
which the human mind is made active. The mind as a factory collects various ideas
and packages them into concepts that are articulated in words, and which then
become the guiding principles of experience. Hence, no science or discipline
can operate; can communicate truth, without the use of concepts, as they are
the tools via which man executes things- from the smallest of duties to the
largest of projects.
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