Category Archives: ፍልስፍና

Consciousness-1

This topic requires a cautious and thoughtful approach. In recent times, many scientists seem eager to explore this subject, approaching it through scientific methods. This is an impossibility as the scientific methods themselves are contained in consciousness. Thought too is contained in consciousness. What is contained cannot fully describe what contains it.

When you hear scientists say so and so is consciousness, take an important step. Replace the subject with “a part in consciousness.” Understand it as “A part in consciousness says so and so is consciousness.”

Some ask whether consciousness is an illusion or even say that it is illusion. We ask then to whom is consciousness an illusion? If the answer is to consciousness then we ask how does itself appear for itself as illusion? Saying consciousness is an illusion leads to contradiction. Anything else can be if there is anything else apart from consciousness but consciousness cannot be an illusion.

Some say one can upload one’s consciousness into a computer. That cannot be. There is consciousness but not yours to upload or download. To do that you have to step outside of it. But you have no other ground than consciousness. Ask your self who is calling consciousness mine. None other than consciousness itself. For it alone is and only consciousness can say mine. You can upload your thought but your thought is not consciousness but of consciousness.

The party that is portrayed as the subject is a part of what is portrayed as the object- i.e. consciousness. The subject is not independent of the object of investigation and vice versa. In fact, consciousness is playing the role of both the subject and the object. The investigation cannot result in an objective truth. Consciousness is undefinable. There is nothing outside itself to define it. Defining is an act in consciousness, and the definition is contained in consciousness. You cannot step outside of consciousness to define it. You cannot limit it. You are part of it and can only be aware of it. In fact it is consciousness that is aware of itself. The approach to consciousness has to be through negation; i.e., finding out what it is not rather than what it is.

10.12.2024

Last updated 04.01.2025

Wisdom and Smartness

Kebede Michael formulated a story about three individuals with extraordinary knowledge. They set out to demonstrate their abilities to the king of the land. Along the way, they were joined by a commoner. During their journey, they encountered the scattered skeleton of a long-dead lion in a jungle. One of the knowledgeable individuals claimed he could reassemble the bones and, with a few muttered words, he did just that, fitting the skeleton pieces together perfectly. The second person asserted he could restore the body, and he succeeded, making the lion look like a fresh corpse. The third individual boasted he could bring the lion back to life.

The commoner, seeing where this was headed, protested. He said, “You three are very smart, but I am not. I am afraid the lion you are about to wake up will eat us all. I beg you not to proceed.” Despite his fears, the third man insisted, belittling the commoner. They mocked him, saying, “You think the lion we brought to life would harm us, you fool.” Realizing they would not be deterred, the commoner asked for one last favor: time to find a safe place. They agreed, and he climbed a nearby tree.

The third man muttered a few words and brought the lion back to life. Fully awake, hungry, and angry, the lion immediately leaped upon the person who revived him and devoured him. Terrified, the other two were frozen with fear. The lion then attacked the second man who had restored its body, killing and eating him as well. Satiated, the lion sought to secure more food for later. He killed the third man who had reassembled his skeleton and took him to his lair.

Watching from the tree, the commoner muttered, “A knife that is ultra sharp cuts through the sheath; ultra smartness can lead to death.”

You see…

Wise (ጠቢብ) and smart (ብልኅ) are entirely different. Wise sees wholly; smart divides, fragments and manipulates. The foundation of wisdom is love (ፍቅር); the foundation of smartness is the intellect. Smart continues to dissect even where the dissection can have dangerous consequences. Wisdom can use the intellect but can abandon it when it sees it as destructive. Wisdom sees a greater good; intellect sees a greater use. Smartness (ብልኅነት) can be ego-driven (ጠባያዊ); wisdom (ጥበብ) cannot. Wisdom is at ease; smartness requires effort. In these days, smartness is acclaimed, wisdom is not. Wise can see and understand smart, smart cannot fully grasp wisdom.

ሜታ ፊዚክስ… መግቢያ

በቅርቡ አንድ ተናጋሪ ስለ ሜታ ፊዚክስ እና ተያያዥ የሆኑ አጉራ ዘለል ልፈፋዎችን ሲያደርጉ ዐየሁ። የተለያዩ የዘመናዊ ፊዚካ ቃላት በየቦታው ጣል ጣል ይደረጋሉ። አልፎ አልፎ ሃይማኖታዊ ቃላት ይወረወራሉ ፣ ጥቅሶች ይጠቀሳሉ። እንዲህ ዐይነት አጉራ ዘለል ልፈፋዎች ሲበዙ ፣ በወቅቱ ማብረሻ ካልተበጀላቸው ማኅበረሰባዊ ውዥንብር ይፈጥራሉ። እንደዚህ ዐይነት ነገሮችንም አለምርመራ ለማኅበረሰቡ ማቅረብ ኃላፊነት የጎደለው ነው ብየ አስባለሁ።

ሜታ ፊዚክስ

የቀዳሚ መርሖችን ጉዳይ እና ሐሳባዊ የሆኑ ዕይታዎችን ፣ ስለ መሆን ፣ ማንነት ፣ ዕውቀት ፣ ጊዜ እና ቦታ ስለመሳሰሉ ይዘቶች የሚያትት የፍልስፍና ቅርንጫፍ ነው።

የዚህ ፍልስፍና ቀዳሚ ሐተታ በአሪስጣጣሊስ የተደረሰ ነው። ስሙን ያወጣው ግን አሪስጣጣሊስ ሳይሆን የአሪስጣጣሊስን ሥራዎች በአንደኛው መቶ ክፍለ ዘመን ቅልክ ስብስቦ የጠረዛቸው አንድሮኒከስ (Andronicus of Rhodes) የሚባል ሰው ነው። በጽርእ ቋንቋ ሜታ ማለት በኋላ ፣ ተከትሎ ማለት ነው። ስለዚህ የሜታ ፊዚክስ ቀጥተኛ ትርጉም ከፊዚካ በኋላ የሚል ነው። የአሪስጣጣሊስ ሥራዎች (ከሦስት ሺህ ገጽ በላይ ያለው) በድረገጽ ይገኛል። የተወሰኑትን ክፍሎች ቀደም ብየ ለማጥናት ዕድሉ የነበረኝ ቢሆንም ይኸን ክፍል በደመምሳው እንጅ አድምቸ አላነበብኩትም ነበር። ነገር ግን ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ በሜታ ፊዚክስ ሥም በሀገራችን የሚደረጉ ዲስኩሮችን ስመለከት ጥቂት ነገር ለማለት ስለፈለግሁ ይዘቱን የተወሰነ ገረፍ ገረፍ አደረገሁት። ከዛሬ 2400 ዓመት በፊት የተደረሰ ፍልስፍናዊ ድርሰት ቢሆንም ቅሉ ብዙ በሳል እና ጥልቀት ያላቸው ፍልስፍናዊ ሐሳቦችን የያዘ ነው።

በግሪክ ቋንቋ ሶፊያ ማለት በእንግሊዘኛው wisdom በአማርኛ ምናልባት ጥበብ ሊሆን ይችላል። ፊሎ ማለት ደግሞ ፍቅር ማለት ነው። ስለዚህ ፊሎሶፊ (ፍልስፍና) የጥበብ ፍቅር ፣ አፍቅሮተ ጥበብ ተብሎ ሊተረጎም ይችል ይሆናል። አሪስጣጣሊስ ሶፊያ ቀዳሚ ምክንያቶችን (anitia) ወይም  መርሖችን የሚመለከት የዕውቀት ዘርፍ ነው ይላል። ሜታ ፊዚክስም የሚያተኩረው እነዚህ ቀዳሚ (መሠረታዊ) ምክንያቶች ወይም መርሖች ላይ ለመድረስ የሚደረግ ሐተታ ላይ ነው። ይኸን የፍልስፍና ዘርፍ  መሠረታዊነቱ ከሌሎች የፍልስፍና ዘርፎች ሁሉ የላቀ መሆኑን ለማመልከት አሪስጣጣሊስ ቀዳሚ ፍልስፍና ይለዋል።

አሪስጣጣሊስ በዘርፎች (Categories) ሐተታው ላይ የመሆን ነገሮችን መድቧል ፣ ከነዚህም ውስጥ ይዘት (ሥሪት) ፣ መጠን ፣ ቅስም እና ዝምድና ይገኙበታል። የነገር ይዘት (ሥሪት) መሠረታዊ እንጅ ጥገኛ አይደለም። ሌሎች የመሆን ምድቦች ግን በነገሩ ይዘት (ሥሪት) ላይ በአንድም በሌላም መልክ ጥገኛ ናቸው ፣ ከይዘቱ (ሥሪቱ) ውጭ ሕልውና የላቸውም። ለምሳሌ ቀለም በአካላት ላይ ፣ ዕውቀትም በነፍስ ላይ ጥገኛ ናቸው ከነዚህ መሠረታዊ ይዘቶች (ሥሪቶች) ውጭ የየራሳቸው ሕልውና የላቸውም። ስለዚህም የትኛውም መሆን ሄዶ ሄዶ የሆነ ይዘት (ሥሪት) ላይ የሚደርስ እና ይዘቱን ዋቢ የሚያደርግ መሆን አለበት። የሜታ ፊዚክስ ሐተታ ይኸን መሠረታዊ የነገሮች የመሆን ማዕከል የሆነን ይዘትን (ሥሪትን) በመበየን ላይ የሚያጠነጥን ነው።

ነገሩ ሐሳባዊ እንጅ ተግባራዊ አይደለም። በሥነሞገት የሚወጠር ፣ የሚያከራክር የሚያወያይ ነው እንጅ መተግበሪያ አይደለም “በሜታ ፊሲክስ እንዲህ ማድረግ ይቻላል” የሚል ንግግር እውነት ሊሆን አይችልም። አሪስጣጣሊስ በሜታ ፊዚክስ የሚመለከተው ስለተፈጥሮ መሠረታዊ ባሕርይ እንጅ ከተፈጥሮ በላይ ስለሆነ ነገርም አይደለም።

የዘርዓ ያዕቆብ ሐተታ

In the mid of the 18th century, a catholic missionary that traveled to Ethiopia would claim to have found two books of philosophy that were written in Geez-Hateta Zer’a Yaekob (the treatise of Zer’a Yaekob) and Hateta Wolde Heywot (the treatise of Wolde Heywet). The former was supposed to have been written in the 1660’s. He sent the books to a scholar in France who studied the books. The books were received with surprise and were also translated into several languages. Some of the scholars that studied the books would later doubt the authenticity of the books and the interest in them subsided until another scholar of philosophy of Canadian origin, Claude Sumner, rekindled the interest by publishing several scientific articles on the philosophy of Zer’a Yaekob.
The writer heard about the treatise of Zer’a Yaekob but didn’t have the chance to study them until the writer got a copy of a book containing both Zer’a Yaekob’s and Wolde Heywet’s Hateta’s back in 2012. The book was in Geez. The writer invested sometime into them then in spite of limited skill in Geez. The writer could translate Zer’a Yaekob’s Hateta and release the translations for encouraging discussion on the treatise in 2013. Zer’a Yaekob’s Hateta has also been translated into Amharic in 2014 by the well-known scholar, the late professor Getachew Haile. In this document, the writer presents a draft document containing the writer’s Amharic translation of the full treatise of Zer’a Yaekob with some English excerpts from treatise of Zer’a Yaekob and of Wolde Heywet.

https://zenodo.org/records/8330273