The world
When we occupy ourselves with the essence of the world, something dawns on us that may or may not be totally apparent. The world is insane. Still, we may say that the world obeys its own inner logic, and this means that we can see the world as a transcendental place of meditation and valour. What we know, is that the world can be understood through logical reasoning, and this makes us ponder the world in ever greater and greater depth. The things that occupy our direct attention are lurid and weird in the last analysis, but something may happen that constricts us in the most cosmological way, and this gives us an immediate attention to the little things that corresponds to true knowledge and intrepid focus. All these things are knoweable.
John McDowell speaks of a "bald naturalism" that permeates the history of philosophy. It is truly a tremendous thing, that makes us wonder about the meaning of life. It seems there is a God in heaven that told us what to do and how to live; but in the world of bald naturalism, this God has no say, there is not any true movement in the entirety of the world. We might call this the ontological disputation. Ontic essences are absolute and may be seen in the light of veiled discernments or sense-data, but the essence of the world remains obscure to the vehement elements of discernment-in-thought. When we live in ordinary ways, bad things happen to us, or our life is not beautiful. The things we do are limited by being arcane or weird, but the assertion of real things happens in the constancy of the universe, and this shows people what the truth might be, in the last analysis. A world consists of subject and object, and when we engage in proper thought, the little things become apparent. But a truly holy or miraculous order has yet to be discerned. It seems God is outside of the things, but the better things, or quintessential things, can be found only the real truth, which is just the analysis and synthesis of proper articulations of the higher order of beings.
The view of normal science is that there is no higher being, no difference between God and man, or nature and the symbolic realm of things that determine the existence of life here. We can posit a force that permeates the whole of reality, but that is not going to explain anything: we just have to look at the world the way it is, and there is no escape from the drudgery of life and the mundanity of everyday phenomena. Nevertheless, we can see there is a level of reality in which things happen, a soul world so to speak, or perhaps a spirit realm, that makes us needful of reanalyzing the known concepts of the world, and to reconsider the validity of the values that science relies on. I am not saying that there is magic, or that supernatural things will happen, I am only saying that we can be fascinated beyond the ordinary by thoughts and humanities in the vast infinity of the world in a way that prompts us to speak of a greater calling or vocation for thinking to happen. I personally do not find this present in stuff like process philosophy, and it is also mostly lacking in Heidegger's work, although both these schools presumebly have their own peculiar charm: I do find it in the work of great thinkers in general, although I find it hard to point at a particular person. Philosophy means something, and I believe philosophy can help discover a meaning to life, even if rational thought can never provide such a meaning. Verily, it seems that if we want rational meaning - in this world - we'll have to look at religions. Religions all provide, to some extent or other, a mystique that fills us with the proper need for real gratification, and that allows us to ponder existence in a very real and meaningful way; and to feel like the world makes sense. Philosophy, because it is so logical, cannot do this: it will always stumble and find itself at a loss for words - after all, our preference for philosophy over religion is a wholly personal choice.
