The word philosophy derives from classical Greek terms and can be translated as meaning, ‘love of truth/ wisdom’. In practise philosophy is concerned with exploring the nature of our reality: what we can definitively claim to know; what the limits of reality might be; how we can communicate that possible knowledge; and the ways in which we might establish those knowledge claims.
Whereas Science develops its arguments about the nature of the world through experiment, Philosophy develops its arguments through the application of logical frameworks. This can lead to the criticism that philosophy is too abstract to be useful. However, if the framework through which a particular philosophy operates doesn’t stand up to real world scrutiny will not survive. In the same way that an architect’s plan needs to be capable of being built in the actual world to be of value, a philosophical framework needs to be capable of being applied to the world of experience for it function as a credible philosophical model.
There are multiple and often competing and contradictory philosophical models that can be explored – from fully materialistic models such as logical positivism which go as far as stating that questions which cannot be answered through its paradigm are not valid questions, through to the opposite extremes of post-modernism in which even the ability to form a question is challenged on the basis that meaning is always in a state of flux. It would not be feasible to try and give even a surface coverage of the range of philosophical models available for exploration. That said, we can separate out a key distinction between various schools, which is whether the processes of consciousness (idealism) or phenomena in the world (empiricism) are the starting point for the construction of a philosophical model. Another major point of disagreement between various philosophical approaches is which should take priority – a theory of knowledge or a theory of being/ existence.
Historically, Philosophy has had four key branches of activity:
Epistemology – which is concerned with the processes by which knowledge is produced/ discovered and at a deeper level how we establish what it means for something to be known and how we can effectively distinguish between what is known and what is not known or can be shown to be a false claim.
Ontology – which is concerned with the nature of existence: what are the criteria that allow us to describe a thing as existing? Do non-actual entities (such as negative numbers for instance) exist? How do we determine whether something exists and what does that imply about the nature of existence? In modern philosophy, Ontology has also been increasingly concerned with the nature of being, which shifts the focus from the fact of existence in the world to the experience of being in the world.
Ethics – which is concerned with the questions of what constitutes ‘the Good Life’ as it was termed by classical philosophers. This encompasses practical ethical issues such as how do we define what it means to be a person (is a person in a persistent vegetative state still a person?/ is a chimpanzee a person?) as well as attempts to establish overarching principles that might enable answers to those practical questions to be consistent and coherent. Ethical models tend to either take the view that a thing is always bad or good by its nature; or that a thing is bad or good by virtue of the underlying intention; or that the outcomes of actions rather than their intent or what the action involved are what determines its relative goodness or badness.
Metaphysics – which is concerned with questions that transcend the observable and/or experienced world. Metaphysics attempts to grapple with the question of divinity: whether it can be demonstrated; what if anything is its necessary nature; what is the purpose of the Universe’s existence and other matters that are by definition speculative and not capable of being fully resolved.
Philosophy and the work of the Gild
The Gild has no official philosophical model by which it interprets the Universe or its Mystery. This is in keeping with our anti-dogmatic model which avoids the construction of pseudo-religious orthodoxy that all members must follow in favour of requiring our members to do the work and develop their own understanding and interpretations.
It is necessary that Gild members follow a structured route and that we all work from the known towards the unknown and don’t simply assert our preferred personal view without evidence or supporting experience. This means that while there is no specific Gild Philosophy, it is a given that the Gild does not align with solipsistic Schools of thought. Similarly, the centrality of Mystery to our work means that it would be, at the very least, extremely difficult to engage with the Gild’s work while maintaining a wholly materialistic world view.
It might be argued that since the Gild has no detailed philosophical commitment and is primarily concerned with the work of self-transformation and Self-becoming that we need not be concerned with philosophy at all. However, when we look at the original meaning of the word, ‘Philosophy’ it should be immediately apparent that it has great relevance to our work.
The Gild requires us to ‘Seek the Mystery!’ The aim of Philosophy is to uncover the framework of reality. Both the Gild and those who examine the world philosophically are doing so out of a love of Truth and a desire for Wisdom. Without Philo-Sophia (Love of Wisdom) there would be no urge for us to seek Mystery.
On a more practical level, the work of the Gild will inevitably involve the experience of non-ordinary consciousness – this is at the heart of any system that seeks to explore the world less-seen; to encounter the hidden-folk; to hear the whispers of Runa – and without a rigorous framework through which to interpret those experiences it is all too easy to lose one’s grip on the day to day world with which we must all still grapple. Perhaps worse than the risk to our state of mind, is the danger that without a means to translate those experiences into something that informs who we are and what we do, those experiences are either wasted or used as a platform for self-aggrandisement and self-delusion.
There is one more reason why I would urge anyone working with the Mysteries to explore philosophy and it relates to the state of the world in which we now live. The world is currently dominated by the paradigm of consumption as an end in itself in which novelty is regarded as the primary source of value. This can easily reduce activities which should be profound to mere hobbies.
One way to avoid the ‘hobbi-fication’ of the Work is to ensure that we don’t separate off our experiences in the Gild from the rest of our experience in the world. If your experience with Gild workings opens up a realisation that magic can be effective in the world of phenomena then this needs to be incorporated into your overall world view. Similarly, the internal realisation of the reality of Mystery (as opposed to its intellectual contemplation) needs to be factored into the way you think about the nature of existence. If you incorporate philosophical thinking into your work then you will have the necessary tools to construct a personal paradigm of reality that incorporates what you learn from your work in the Gild. For example, if you now know that there is a Mystery which transcends the phenomenal world, it doesn’t make sense to still regard the Universe as no more than a physical manifestation. It is difficult to make sure that you aren’t creating a hobby box in which all the insights from your Gild Work are kept safely away from your day to day understanding of the world. Philosophy offers a set of techniques and ways of thinking that help make sure that in self-transforming you are transforming the whole Self and not simply a small corner of your Self-complex.