Filosofisk brannfakkel

For every conscious thought and every enquiry, there is a dark precursor that points out the path for the following thought. This is often the presuppositions, raising our temperament, or locking the thoughts into certain tracks – unavoidable, but nevertheless also possible to reflect upon. Such presuppositions can form a first approach to the subject of study. The following studies, followed by a conscious reflection upon the initial approach, can lead to the re-evaluation of the initial approach. We are born, live, and die in the material world. As far as this goes, our existence is materially constituted. What forms the basis for the material world can be a subject of discussion, and will not be discussed further here. Humans are of the material world, and interact with the material world – both the human and the non-human. Although these interactions are of various characteristics, one cannot state that one is privileged as compared to the other. Experiences of the human and the non-human, although different, have in common a factor of objectification; to gain knowledge about something that is not oneself. If humans did not have this capability, chances are that a sable tooth-tiger would put an end to human history even before we got going. Humans interact with the world in a myriad of ways. The western natural sciences are a set of traditions that has the material world as subject of study.