The On-line Book


The entire book is available here on-line.

Introduction Booth

Chapter 1: Understanding reality: a basic human need Booth

Chapter 2: Dialogues Hlatky and Booth

Dialogue 1: Existence, activity and the original cause
The Being and consciousness; concrete vs abstract, existence vs activity; science - inner and outer; theology and pantheism: abstract original causes; can God be understood?; Hlatky's view of God, the Being and creation; differences from theology; the whole and its parts; theology and philosophy; the need for mutual love; science and the old traditions; the Big Bang and the problem of the original cause; science and 'why?'; modern science and philosophy; time

Dialogue 2: Consciousness and identity
The philosophical education of children; the mystical 'I'; 'free' will; human will and Nature's will; the problem of identity; our absolute identity and our 'relative identity'; animals' undivided love of life; unlimited consciousness; is the universe alive? 'life' and 'death' vs conscious and non-conscious; God's activity and the activity of the conscious parts; the need of consciousness: undivided love; the necessity for agreement; 'freedom' from reality?

Dialogue 3: Objects, subjects and love
Can love be one-sided?; can we love an object?; love and preference; helping and understanding; whom can we have exchange with? the bondage of love; identity; the parts of the Being; consciousness and creation; God-consciousness; God: the original object, including his parts; object/quantity and quality,; the quantity and quality of consciousness; science and consciousness; the need to understand and to be understood; animals, love and understanding; love or power; use of language: to cover reality or to express oneself; 'who am I?'; children's questions and child-rearing; 'the god within'

Dialogue 4: Philosophical logic and its basis: the self-evident
Our relationship to reality; a separate life or a common life?; 'agape' vs 'eros'; subjective relation and objective experience; philosophical reflection vs thinking; resolving creation's apparent contradictions; a common, concrete start for thinking; checking Hlatky's hypothesis; is creation perfect for its purpose?; philosophical logic; agreeing on axioms; authoritarian traditions or Nature-based logic?; consciousness vs thinking; philosophical reflection; creation is self-explanatory; the axioms; the opposite of an axiom; creation's contradictions; types of whole; equality and likeness; God - the only conscious, living whole; the original cause is self-evident; human vs animal thinking; what is our identity?; subjective and objective needs

Chapter 3: The organic view of unity Hlatky
What is religion?; what is the organic view of unity?; what counts as evidence?; science cannot lead to philosophy; distinguishing between philosophy and technology; the abc of philosophy; God and the conscious mind; scientific research offers evidence; experience of life nowadays; experience of life in the future

Chapter 4: Are we alike or unlike? Hlatky
Part I What is philosophy?
The whole and the part; the need for truth and mental health; the two parallel cultures; the problem of dissemination; the difficulty that led to errors; natural science's view of philosophy; technology becomes an end in itself and philosophy is dismissed; Energy and Matter; The Organic View of Unity: the cause 1. Empty space; 2. Reality's existence; 3. The image of the universe; 4. Our Earth; 5. Biology in embryo state; 6. Biology in evolution
Part II Historical background
The great cultures: background; the cause; the human being; meaning; social guidelines
Natural science: the historical background; the cause; the human being; meaning; social guidelines

Chapter 5: Science, religion and philosophy Hlatky
1. Two kinds of understanding; 2. Change, relative and absolute existence; 3. Inner and outer science; 4. Parallel traditions; 5. Belief in God or belief in human beings? 6. Creation or development? 7. The Greek thinkers; 8. The appearance of Christianity; 9. Scholasticism; 10. The beginning of rationalism; 11. Modern materialism; 12. The resurgence of methods of inner research; 13. Technology in place of philosophy; 14. The new positivism; 15. The timeless task of philosophy

Appendix A Language

Appendix B What is dialogue?

Glossary

Chapters 3 and 4 in Swedish can be found at http://hem1.passagen.se/lanor

Chapter 5 in its original German can be found in the articles section of this web site