CYCLE TWENTY-FOUR: LITERARY AND OTHER CATEGORIES

1. That which does, in acting, is the opposite of that which is, in being. For to do ... is the noumenal antithesis of to be, though only in being can one transcend acting and achieve the perfect content(ment) of heavenly joy.

2. In doing, by contrast, one may achieve the perfect power of beauty and the imperfect glory of love, but not the imperfect form of truth or, via that, the perfect content(ment) of joy.

3. In general noumenal terms, power connotes with the Devil and glory will Hell, whereas form connotes with God and content(ment) with Heaven.

4. In general phenomenal terms, however, power connotes with woman and glory with purgatory, whereas form connotes with man and content(ment) with the earth.

5. That which gives, in giving, is the opposite of that which takes. For to give is the phenomenal antithesis of to take, though only in taking can one transcend giving and achieve the perfect form of knowledge.

6. In giving, by contrast, one may achieve the imperfect power of strength and the perfect glory of pride, but not the perfect form of knowledge or, via that, the imperfect content(ment) of pleasure.

7. Generally speaking, there is more doing and giving than taking or being on the female side of life, because doing and giving are the respective objective attributes of metachemical materialism and chemical realism.

8. Conversely, there is generally more taking and being than doing or giving on the male side of life, because taking and being are the respective subjective attributes of physical naturalism and metaphysical idealism.

9. Whereas the materialist is generally a doer (actor) and the realist a giver, the naturalist, by contrast, is generally a taker, and the idealist a be-er.

10. While the doer experiments with perfect power, the raw materialism of the Devil, the giver experiences perfect glory, the purgatorial refinement of Hell.

11. While the taker experiments with perfect form, the raw naturalism of man, the be-er experiences perfect content(ment), the idealistic summation of Heaven.

12. One should distinguish the existence of the self, in whatever context, from the experiment of the not-self, further distinguishing the emanation of selflessness from the experience of the unself.

13. For whereas both the id and the ego exist, as objective and subjective manifestations of self, the will experiments, the spirit emanates, and both the soul and the mind, the objective and subjective manifestations of unself, experience.

14. Whereas in materialism everything exists, experiments, emanates, and experiences in relation to doing, in realism, on the other hand, everything exists, experiments, emanates, and experiences in relation to giving.

15. Whereas in naturalism everything exists, experiments, emanates, and experiences in relation to taking, in idealism, on the other hand, everything exists, experiments, emanates, and experiences in relation to being.

16. In literary terms, one should contrast the materialism of the poet with the idealism of the philosopher, while likewise contrasting, on a more phenomenal basis, the realism of the dramatist with the naturalism of the novelist.

17. For where the poet's principal concern is, or should be, with doing, the dramatist's principal concern should be with giving, the novelist's principal concern with taking, and the philosopher's principal concern with being.

18. Hence the elemental distinctions between fiery poetry, watery drama, vegetative fiction, and airy philosophy, as between literary modes of metachemistry, chemistry, physics, and metaphysics.

19. From the literary fundamentalism of the poet to the literary transcendentalism of the philosopher via the literary humanism of the dramatist and the literary nonconformism of the novelist, such is the ideological range of literature as it bears upon the use of language to achieve instinctual, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual ends, depending, by and large, upon the context or genre in question.

20. Ultimately, only the philosopher can do justice, through his literary idealism, to being, and thus to metaphysical concerns with the relationships between self and/or unself and God and/or Heaven.

21. The important thing for the philosopher is to distinguish between what properly pertains to God and/or Heaven in relation to self and/or unself from what may be called fictional, dramatic, and poetic shortfalls which may nevertheless have passed muster - and still be passing muster - as religious concepts and categories for those less than philosophically-exacting minds who constitute the generality, and then to cling to his truth and joy willy-nilly. For only in the genuine philosopher, the metaphysician, can there be spiritual leadership, where the utilization of literary means is concerned.