NEGATIVE
COUNTERPARTS TO SUPREME VALUES
1. I do not intend to discuss Antidaughters and Antimothers on
the one hand, and Antifathers and Antisons
on the other, except to say that all such negative reference-points have
relevance to that which precedes the organic as its inorganic precondition.
2. Since everything that pertains to the organic
is supreme in its positivity, whether that positivity be metachemical, chemical, physical, or
metaphysical, so all that pertains to the inorganic is primal in its
negativity.
3. Thus anything cosmic (noumenal)
and/or geologic (phenomenal) assumes the negative characteristics of inorganic
primacy, and stands in an inferior relationship to the personal (phenomenal)
and/or universal (noumenal) characteristics of
organic supremacy, which are ever positive.
4. Since supremacy can only be found in the
organic, it follows that nothing inorganic, whether cosmic or geologic, will
have reference to supremacy but only, as noted, to primacy, and thus to primal
modes of doing, giving, taking, and being, as germane to negative
manifestations of metachemistry, chemistry, physics, and metaphysics.
5. One should not confound the supremacy of
universal modes of doing and being with the primacy of cosmic modes of doing
and being, nor the supremacy of personal modes of giving and taking with the
primacy of geologic modes of giving and taking.
6. No more than one should confound the devils
of metachemical supremacy with the antidevils
(negative devils) of metachemical primacy, or the gods of metaphysical
supremacy with the antigods (negative gods) of
metaphysical primacy, or the women of chemical supremacy with the antiwomen (negative women) of chemical primacy, or the men
of physical supremacy with the antimen (negative men)
of physical primacy.
7. For there is as much difference between antidevils and devils as between ugliness and beauty, and
as much difference between antigods and gods as
between falsity (illusion) and truth, and as much difference between antiwomen and women as between weakness and strength, and
as much difference between antimen and men as between
ignorance and knowledge.
8. The positivity of
organic supremacy means that the doing of devils, whether sensual or sensible,
will always be supreme (beautiful) rather than primal (ugly); that the being of
gods will always be supreme (truthful) rather than primal (false, or illusory);
that the giving of women will always be supreme (strong) rather than primal
(weak); and that the taking of men will always be supreme (knowledgeable) rather
than primal (ignorant).
9. That which is supreme has reference to
fundamentalism when metachemical, to nonconformism
when chemical, to humanism when physical, and to transcendentalism when
metaphysical, whereas that which is primal has reference to materialism when
metachemical, to realism when chemical, to naturalism when physical, and to
idealism when metaphysical.
10. Hence to contrast the materialism of antidevils with the fundamentalism of devils in respect of negative
and positive modes of metachemical doing, or doing per se; to contrast
the realism of antiwomen with the nonconformism
of women in respect of negative and positive modes of chemical giving, or
giving per se; to contrast the naturalism of antimen
with the humanism of men in respect of negative and positive modes of physical
taking, or taking per se; and to contrast the idealism of antigods with the transcendentalism of gods in respect of
negative and positive modes of metaphysical being, or being per se.
11. The primacy of materialism is no less inferior
to the supremacy of fundamentalism than the primacy of realism to the supremacy
of nonconformism, or the primacy of naturalism to the
supremacy of humanism, or the primacy of idealism to the supremacy of
transcendentalism.
12. In such fashion we esteem - at any rate if
sufficiently organic and, hence, sane - beauty above ugliness, strength above
weakness, knowledge above ignorance, and truth above illusion, never
forgetting, however, that in the distinction between sensual and sensible
manifestations of each positive value it is the sensible one which always
accords, whether relatively or absolutely, with wisdom and/or goodness as
opposed to folly and/or evil.
13. But even positive evil and folly are
preferable, from an organic standpoint, to negative evil and folly, just as
sensual beauty and truth are preferable to sensual ugliness and falsity, their noumenal inorganic counterparts, or sensual strength and
knowledge (carnal) preferable to sensual weakness and ignorance, their
phenomenal inorganic counterparts, which, of course, are negatively evil or
foolish on relative terms.
14. Be that as it may, those of us who esteem
wisdom and goodness above folly and evil will not make the mistake of preferring
their negative manifestations in inorganic primacy to those modes of wisdom and
goodness which accord with organic supremacy, but will know that there is as
much difference between truth and falsity or beauty and ugliness or strength
and weakness or knowledge and ignorance in sensibility as ever there is, or
was, in sensuality, and that only in the sensible modes of organic supremacy is
wisdom and goodness, whether relatively in the phenomenal or absolutely in the noumenal, positively genuine.
