Tag Archives: archic matrix

architectonics, fourfolds, Philosophy, sixteenfolds

The Archic Matrix

September 13, 2018 Martin K. Jones 1 Comment

Now that I am presenting sixteen-folds, let me briefly return to a subject I’ve mentioned previously. The Archic Matrix of Walter Watson and David Dilworth is a four-by-four matrix representing different aspects of the “personalities” of philosophers, determined by their writings. It is adapted from the Philosophical Semantics of philosopher Richard McKeon.

The four aspects of the Archic Matrix (also called Archic Variables) in this diagram are Perspective (upper left), Reality (lower left), Method (upper right), and Principle (lower right). The archic variable Perspective can have values Personal, Agonistic, Existential, and Creative, and similarly for the other three variables.

Each of the values of each of the variables is conditioned by one of the variables. For example, Personal is only conditioned by the Archic Variable Perspective, even though it is already a value of that variable. The value Agonistic is conditioned by the Archic Variable Method, Existential by Reality, and Creative by Principle.

Whereas the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a two-by-four matrix giving sixteen different combinations for its four personality “variables”, each having two values, the four-by-four Archic Matrix has four values for each of four variables and so gives 256 different combinations. It would be interesting if someone mapped the larger scheme into the smaller.

Walter Watson and David Dilworth’s Archic Matrix

December 2, 2011 Martin K. Jones 11 Comments

Throughout the history of philosophy, there have been many conflicting stances both towards claiming what exists (ontology), and how we can know our claims are valid (epistemology). There are the oppositions between idealism and realism, between rationalism and empiricism, between thinking all is change and all is changeless, between all is many and all is one, and so on. One approach to overcome these oppositions is to combine them to form their Hegelian synthesis. Another is to deconstruct them à la Derrida. Another pluralistic approach is to consider that there is a germ of truth on each side of the conflicting stance, an aspect of reality for which that stance is valid. Some might think that pluralism is the same as relativism, but it is not. Relativism and pluralism form yet another philosophical opposition like others mentioned above.

Regardless of the validity of pluralism, it can be very useful to analyze what philosophical stances are possible and how they relate to one another. The philosopher Richard McKeon created a rich schema for philosophical semantics that deserves greater recognition. This schema was both simplified and elaborated on by Walter Watson and David Dilworth in their books about the Archic Matrix. There are four main aspects, all exemplified by ancient philosophers: the Sophists, Democritus, Plato, and Aristotle. Everything else is a combination of these original aspects, or essentially a rehashing of them. The main aspects are perspective from the Sophists, reality from Democritus, method from Plato, and principle from Aristotle. These partition “what is”, however it is conceived, into four aspects, each of which can be interpreted in four different ways.

Considering Whitehead’s Criteria, note that perspective has consistency, method has coherency, reality has applicability, and principle has adequacy.

Plato’s Divided Line

August 23, 2011 Martin K. Jones 2 Comments

How to display Plato’s Divided Line? Instead of a continuous line going from low to high as it is usually shown, I’ve shown it as two continuous crossed lines, a fourfold or double dual. Eikasia (imagining) and Pistis (belief) together are Doxa, the phenomenal. Dianoia (understanding) and Noesis (knowledge) together are Episteme, the intelligible. Doxa should indeed be horizontal, corresponding to the phenomenal of Richard McKeon’s Aspects of Knowing, and the subjective or content of other double duals. I believe Eikasia should come before Pistis, as the substance and form of content in Hjelmslev’s Net. Considering the vertical axis, Episteme as Dianoia and Noesis should surely be there for Plato, corresponding to McKeon’s ontic. But how do Dianoia and Noesis relate?

By the measure of the Aspects of Knowing or the Archic Matrix, Dianoia could be considered the method/knowledge and Noesis the reality/knowable of Plato’s Divided Line. Thus Dianoia should be above Noesis, as method/knowledge is above reality/knowable. Yet by other measures, that of the Here and Now or Hjelmslev’s Net, Noesis should be above and Dianoia below. Noesis is the form to the substance of Dianoia. Dianoia can also be thought of as meroscopic, reducing all to number and quantity, and Noesis can be thought of as holoscopic, combining all thing into the hierarchy of forms that culminate in that ultimate form, “The Good”.

The difficulty may be because the lower position, here Noesis, serves both as the position of the real in some fourfolds, as well as the position of earth and matter in others. This is a bias that I would like to avoid, but a resolution will need to come later.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy_of_the_Divided_Line

[*6.158-*6.165, *6.186]

architectonics, fourfolds, Philosophy

Archic Matrix: Principles

August 12, 2011 Martin K. Jones 3 Comments

Creative	cause functioning by virtue of (indeterminate) potentiality	transcend what is given, functioning caused is without limit	different for different things, indeterminate in kind of functioning caused
Elemental	cause functioning by virtue of (determinate) potentiality	immanent in what is given, from which the functioning emerges	same for all things, all things are the same in their being
Comprehensive	cause functioning by virtue of actuality (of totality)	transcend what is given, functioning of all things transcends any given thing	same for all things, all things are differentiated parts of same whole
Reflexive	cause functioning by virtue of actuality (of functionality)	immanent in what is given, as the functioning itself	different for different things, determinate in kind of functioning caused

Since the Archic Matrix can be thought of as the union of four separate fourfolds, each of the fourfolds of perspective, reality, method, principle can be considered on its own. Here is the fourfold of principles consisting of creative, elemental, comprehensive, and reflexive principles. The content of the table and the bottom figure is derived from Walter Watson’s Architectonics of Meaning.

[*6.146-*6.148]

architectonics, fourfolds, Philosophy

Archic Matrix: Methods

August 12, 2011 Martin K. Jones 4 Comments

Agonistic	parts are primary, producing whole through endeavors	two voices are tested against each other to organize whole	close off intermediate wholes because of external forces
Logistic	parts are primary, producing whole while remaining same	one voice beginning from determinate towards determinate whole	extend towards ultimates (least parts)
Dialectic	whole determines parts directly	two voices are united with each other to organize whole	extend towards ultimates (all-inclusive whole)
Problematic	whole determines parts reciprocally	one voice beginning from indeterminate towards determinate whole	close off intermediate wholes because of own internal unity

Since the Archic Matrix can be thought of as the union of four separate fourfolds, each of the fourfolds of perspective, reality, method, principle can be considered on its own. Here is the fourfold of methods consisting of agonistic, logistic, dialectic, and problematic methods. The content of the table and the bottom figure is derived from Walter Watson’s Architectonics of Meaning.

[*6.146-*6.148]

architectonics, fourfolds, Philosophy

Archic Matrix: Realities

August 11, 2011 Martin K. Jones 5 Comments

Existential	individual, infinite	separate changing (real) from unchanging	reality found in appearances (themselves)
Substrative	individual, infinite individuations of common substratum	persists through change (substratum)	reality lies behind appearances (underlying)
Noumenal	general, one ideal individual apart from many	separate changing from unchanging (real)	reality lies behind appearances (transcending)
Essential	general, many individuals themselves	persists through change (essence)	reality found in appearances (that which appears)

Since the Archic Matrix can be thought of as the union of four separate fourfolds, each of the fourfolds of perspective, reality, method, principle can be considered on its own. Here is the fourfold of realities consisting of existential, substrative, noumenal, and essential realities. The content of the table and the bottom figure is derived from Walter Watson’s Architectonics of Meaning.

[*6.146-*6.148]

architectonics, fourfolds, Philosophy

Archic Matrix: Perspectives

August 11, 2011 Martin K. Jones 4 Comments

Personal	distinction between (primary) subject and object	personal, merely but infinite in number	constitutive of (individual) content
Objective	distinction between subject and (primary) object	impersonal, subjectivity excluded	non-constitutive, subordinate to content
Diaphanic	unity between subject and object (to be obtained)	personal, subordinated to higher and absolute perspectives	non-constitutive, subordinate to superior views
Disciplinary	unity between subject and object (initial condition)	impersonal, subjectivity universalized	constitutive of (universal) content

Since the Archic Matrix can be thought of as the union of four separate fourfolds, each of the fourfolds of perspective, reality, method, principle can be considered on its own. Here is the fourfold of perspectives consisting of personal, objective, diaphanic, and disciplinary perspectives. The content of the table and the bottom figure is derived from Walter Watson’s Architectonics of Meaning.