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This website is designed for truth-seekers who feel a need to restore the values that once inspired men to found a New World on the principle of Individual Freedom. It is offered freely in the knowledge that nothing short of a psycho-philosophical revelation will awaken our nihilistic society to
the cosmic significance of Freedom and its implications in human experience. As a catalyst for discussion, the author has included an original thesis that explores the concept of Freedom from a perspective rooted in wisdom as old as the third century B.C. (The valuistic basis for our philosophy will be seen to differ from other interpretations of Essentialism that have been applied to issues outside of the philosophical domain.)
The tragedy of life in our "liberated" society is not that Freedom is denied us but that we don't know how to deal with it. Rather than accept what is our natural birthright, we defer to external authority and seek out distractions in order to avoid the responsibilities implicit in the exercise of Free Will. As a consequence, our lives are largely wasted in meaningless pursuits that enable us to exchange Freedom for a lifetime of dependency—whether monetary, moral, or psychic.
Consider the evidence . . .
We live by proxy on the fringe of a man-made reality, deluding ourselves in the notion that our mission in life is to measure up to its standards. But what are they? Religious institutions preach platitudes while their leaders debate whether a 2000-year-old doctrine is still relevant in a deterministic world. Parents, educators, and business executives pay lip service to an ethic they no longer believe in, can not replace, and are reluctant to defend. Where we were once guided by spiritual precepts and moral traditions, we've become caught up in a technological revolution that by itself offers neither wisdom nor direction for mankind.
Today we find ourselves terrorized by a horde of suicidal fanatics bent on destroying Western Civilization in the name of a deity that shows no regard for the value of human life, let alone individual freedom. Those entrusted with the security of our land look to public polls for the issues and judgments that will determine its future.
The legacy of secularism has fostered a generation of morally bankrupt dependents who worship at the altar of Celebrity and submit only to an ethic of "political correctness", as if existence had no other purpose. To a society that has forfeited the joys and challenges of romantic courtship for "recreational sex" as a youthful pastime, the idea that life can be enriched by exposure to the history, philosophy, and art of human culture no longer seems meaningful. It is ironic that by disavowing the source of Freedom we are losing our passion for life as well as our authenticity as free individuals.
The late philosophical researcher Dagobert Runes prefaced his Pictorial History of Philosophy with an apology for the meager role philosophy has played in shaping the course of science, religion and sociology. "It may be," he ventured, "that the most profound philosophers of all have never uttered a blessed word about what moved them most deeply."
I have always believed that ultimate truth had more to do with "feelings" than with reason, that sensibility—not empirical evidence—is the key to cosmic truth and, therefore, that the essence of man and his world should be the primary concern of philosophy. The ability to reason, it seems to me, is an acquired skill. While the philosopher, like the lawyer or salesman, can plead a case on the innate "reasonableness" of his argument alone, ultimate truth should be immanent, requiring neither rational proof nor empirical validation. Western philosophers have shunned mysticism which teaches that whatever reality is, it necessarily encompasses sensibility. It is self-evident to me that the notion of "otherness" is anathema to metaphysical understanding. With proprietary awareness as a starting point, I have constructed a "subjective" ontology in which Value may be realized as the essence of man's reality.
It is the author's hope that this exposition will ignite the spark of an epiphany for the reader by providing new insight as to the vital link between Value and Individual Freedom. To those whose concept of ultimate reality is tied to conventional notions of space/time objectivism, I ask your forbearance. The ideas presented here will expand your horizons while providing fresh incentive to form your own moralistic and sociological conclusions. My thesis comprises six postulates, each of which is expounded to the extent felt necessary for a fundamental understanding of the philosophy. A glossary of terms and an invitation to submit additional ideas in support of the Essentialist viewpoint are included as appendices.
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Introduction: "The Mechanical Garden"
1/ Existence — Is our material world only a "virtual'' reality?
2/ Experience — A new look at Finitude and what it means "to be"
3/ Creation — One Essentialist's view of how everything gets started
4/ Nothingness — The autonomous agent that defines existence
5/ Value — How a dispute over physics exposed our vital link to Essence
6/ Freedom — Why we can't have the answers to ultimate questions
Appendix [Glossary, Credits, Author's note]
Forum Page [with FAQs Sheet access]
★★★★ VALUE PAGE ★★★★ [Weekly Commentary and Archive]
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ESSENCE IS NOW AVAILABLE IN BOOK FORM . . .
