Object (formerly O) — World & Nature

The Philosophy of the Objective and the Material

The First Meaning Element: Object (formerly O)

In the framework of the four meaning elements, the Object (formerly O) represents the reference to the material, objective world — the “It” or “Not-I”. It encompasses everything that confronts consciousness as given, resistant, and independent: physical things, natural processes, the body as material entity, and the laws of nature.

Objectivity as Relational Category

A central insight of reflexive philosophy is:

“Objectivity only has meaning in relation to subjectivity.”

This does not mean that the object is merely subjectively “constructed”. Rather, the object category only acquires its meaning within the relational framework of the other meaning elements. The most intense pursuit of objectivity paradoxically leads into its subjective presuppositions — as demonstrated, for example, in Heisenberg’s uncertainty relations.

Dialectic of Subject and Object

The relationship between subject and object is dialectical:

  • The subject is part of the objective world (as a natural being, body) — and at the same time it stands outside it (as self-aware consciousness).
  • This is a contradictory dialectic of “on the one hand — on the other” that cannot be resolved in a synthesis. The human being is entirely a natural being — and it is entirely not.

Nature and Natural Dialectic

Reflexive philosophy opens the view to dialectical structures in nature itself:

  • The reciprocity relations between space and mass, time and energy (Plichta)
  • David Bohm’s “implicate and explicate order” in quantum theory
  • Wave-particle duality and quantum entanglement as consciousness-analogous structures

These developments show that nature does not simply stand opposite reflexive consciousness as the realm of the non-reflexive but itself exhibits consciousness-analogous structures.

The Body as Closest Object

The most immediate object reference is the experience of the belonging of bodily-material “objects” to one’s own self. This interpenetration of body, soul, and spirit leads to the differentiated anthropology of the seven levels of consciousness.

Further Reading

All mentioned works are available from Reflexivity Press.