BEING PHILOSOPHICAL

1. Since being and philosophy are intimately connected, even to the point of seeming synonymous, one can be philosophical either metachemically (through love), chemically (through pride), physically (through pleasure), or metaphysically (through joy), the latter alone genuinely philosophical in its association with the soul-of-souls, the metaphysical soul.

2. Being philosophical is therefore a quintessentially soulful, or emotional, experience, having reference to a level or type of contentment ... from love and pride on the libertarian, or objective, side of the gender divide, to pleasure and joy on its conservative, or subjective, side.

3. For philosophy is about the achievement of soul, not about the achievement, or triumph, of ego, spirit, or will, for which, in any case, the literary disciplines of fiction, drama, and poetry would be more suitable.

4. Even truth is not commensurate with being philosophical, since truth is the metaphysical mode of ego which appertains to form and not to content(ment).

5. As the metaphysical mode of ego, truth is less philosophical than fictional or, in a certain narrow sense, theosophical, since truth is that which falls laterally short of joy as God falls laterally short of Heaven or, if that sounds too paradoxical, is that which appertains to egocentric profanity as distinct from psychocentric sanctity, the quality of metaphysical self as distinct from its essence.

6. One could speak, more exactingly, of taking notational (whether theosophically or, to resort to a slightly invented term for the sensible context, meritosophically) as opposed to being philosophical in connection with truth, since truth is what the metaphysical self thinks about metaphysical issues, including God, rather than what it experiences, via the soul, in relation to metaphysical being.

7. Certainly, taking is the qualitative attribute of ego, no less than being the essential attribute of soul, and in thinking about truth, about issues appertaining to metaphysical ego (which is associated, after all, with air, the metaphysical element par excellence), one does a fair amount of note-taking, whether or not such notes subsequently spill over, as it were, into properly crafted aphorisms.

8. Thus whereas joy is the metaphysical mode of soul, the soul-of-souls, truth is the metaphysical mode of ego, the 'once-bovaryized' ego that stands laterally apart from joy as God from Heaven or profanity from sanctity.

9. In fact, one could even maintain that truth is as distinct from joy, the ego from the soul of metaphysics, as folly from wisdom, albeit the folly, being metaphysical, is 'once bovaryized' (in comparison with physical folly) and the wisdom, also being metaphysical, is the per se, or genuine, manifestation of that which philosophy is intended to achieve and/or encourage anyway.

10. For philosophy is about being, remember, not about taking, which, by contrast, is simply a means, in metaphysics, to a more perfect end, a species of 'bovaryized' egocentricity which serves to formulate that (truth) by means of which the goal of perfect contentment can be achieved.

11. And it is this goal of perfect contentment which is the ultimate test of philosophy, since wisdom is only genuine in relation to metaphysical being, the joyful being-of-beings that not only surpasses the pleasurable being of physics, but stands at a contrary, if not antithetical, remove (both relatively and absolutely) from the proud being of chemistry and the loving being of metachemistry.

12. Hence only in joy is one truly and genuinely being philosophical, whether in the sensual context of aural metaphysics or, more profoundly, in the sensible context of respiratory metaphysics, the joy of a meritocratic as opposed to a theocratic association, and such a consummate level of philosophical being is the summation of wisdom and vindication of philosophy.

13. Thus being philosophical is equivalent to being wise, since philosophy involves the pursuit of wisdom, and wisdom only comes through being.

14. All being is wise, whether it be the fourth-fate being (metachemical) of love, the third-rate being (chemical) of pride, the second-rate being (physical) of pleasure, or the first-rate being (metaphysical) of joy, the wisdom not of Hell, purgatory, or the earth, but of Heaven. For wisdom is contentment, and however and whenever one achieves contentment it is because of the being of soul, the essence of self.

15. Likewise, all taking is folly, whether it be the fourth-rate taking (chemical) of strength, the third-rate taking (metachemical) of beauty, the second-rate taking (metaphysical) of truth, or the first-rate taking (physical) of knowledge, the folly not of woman, the Devil, or God, but of man. For folly is formal, and however and whenever one achieves form it is because of the taking of ego, the quality of self.

16. Similarly, all giving is good, whether it be the fourth-rate giving (physical) of unholiness, the third-rate giving (metaphysical) of holiness, the second-rate giving (metachemical) of unclearness, or the first-rate giving (chemical) of clearness, the goodness not of vegetation, air, or fire, but of water. For goodness is glorious, and however and whenever one achieves glory it is because of the giving of spirit, the quantity of selflessness.

17. Finally, all doing is evil, whether it be the fourth-rate doing (metaphysical) of impression, the third-rate doing (physical) of depression, the second-rate doing (chemical) of compression, or the first-rate doing (metachemical) of expression, the evil not of noumenal subjectivity, phenomenal subjectivity, or phenomenal objectivity, but of noumenal objectivity. For evil is powerful, and however and whenever one achieves power it is because of the doing of will, the appearance of not-self.

18. Just as the soul is always wise in its contentment, so the ego is always foolish in its form, the spirit always good in its glory, and the will always evil in its power.

19. And this applies to any manifestation of soul, ego, spirit, or will, be it genuine or pseudo, per se or 'bovaryized', first- and second-rate or third- and fourth-rate.

20. One can no more be evil than do wisdom, no more give folly than take goodness. One can only do evil, give goodness, take folly, or be wise, even though every behavioural pattern, from metachemically and chemically libertarian on the objective side of life to physically and metaphysically conservative on its subjective side, embraces each of these several factors to greater or lesser extents within the overall compass of its particular element.

21. Thus even metaphysics, the airy element of philosophy par excellence, is subject to evil, goodness, and folly in addition to wisdom, since there can be no metaphysical being without metaphysical giving, and no metaphysical giving without metaphysical doing, and no metaphysical doing without metaphysical taking, the truthful starting-point, within the metaphysical ego, for the attainment of joyful soul via impressive will and holy spirit.

22. Therefore even the achievement of supreme wisdom requires the utilization, by metaphysical ego, of both metaphysical will and spirit, impressive power and holy glory, fourth-rate evil and third-rate goodness, if the second-rate folly of truth is to be redeemed in the first-rate wisdom of joy, the wisdom-of-wisdoms and being-of-beings, that transports the metaphysical self from godliness to heavenliness, as from ego to soul.