Pylkkänen, p (ed ) bohm biederman correspondence, vol 1 (routledge, 2002)

BOHM-BIEDERMAN CORRESPONDENCE BOH M-BI EDERMAN CORRESPONDENCE DAVID BOHM AN D CHARLES BIEDERMAN Volume One: Creativity and Science Edited by Paavo Pylkkänen London and New York First published 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002 Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 The letters of David Bohm © 1999 Sarah Bohm The letters of Charles Biederman © 1999 Charles Biederman Selection and editorial matter © 1999 Paavo Pylkkänen All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Bohm, David Bohm-Biederman correspondence/David Bohm and Charles Biederman; edited by Paavo Pylkkänen p cm Includes bibliographical references Contents: v Creativity and science— Bohm, David—Correspondence Physicists—England— Correspondence Biederman, Charles Joseph, 1906– —Correspondence Artists—United States—Correspondence Art and science Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.) Creative ability in science I Biederman, Charles Joseph, 1906– II Pylkkänen, P (Paavo) III Title N72.S3B64 1999 001'.092'2–dc21 [B] 98–24759 CI P ISBN 0-415-16225-4 (Print Edition) ISBN 0-203-00803-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-20158-2 (Glassbook Format) CONTENTS Acknowledgements PAAVO PYLKKÄNEN vii Foreword M.H.F.WILKINS ix Preface CHARLES BIEDERMAN xii Editor’s Introduction PAAVO PYLKKÄNEN I II xiii A New Vision of Totality March 6, 1960 March 26, 1960 April 11, 1960 April 24, 1960 May 22, 1960 June 6, 1960 June 28, 1960 19 27 35 Creative Determination August 1, 1960 October 3, 1960 November 17, 1960 December 28, 1960 45 54 61 73 vi III IV V Contents Thought and Reality February 2, 1961 March 2, 1961 February 24, 1961 May 29, 1961 87 98 103 115 Truth and Understanding December 22, 1961 December 26, 1961 January 18, 1962 December 29, 1961 December 30, 1961 February 24, 1962 125 140 149 160 165 170 Beyond the Subject-Object Distinction February 2, 1962 February 9, 1962 March 17, 1962 March 18, 1962 April 14, 1962 April 23, 1962 March 23, 1962 April 27, 1962 April 15, 1962 May 7, 1962 April 24, 1962 179 181 182 190 191 194 200 209 215 222 228 Chapter Summaries PAAVO PYLKKÄNEN 232 Bibliography Index 249 253 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The publication of the Bohm-Biederman correspondence has been a large project involving the generous help of many people We are, of course, extremely lucky that these letters have been preserved This is thanks to Charles Biederman, who preserved copies of the correspondence A very important role has also been played by David Bohm’s wife Sarah, who has been energetic in her endeavour to further Bohm’s work in many areas She initiated this project by contacting Biederman and has been responsible for many of the various arrangements required to manage the vast project, which the publication of a 4,000-page correspondence inevitably is It has been a great joy to work with Sarah Very special thanks also go to the English artist Anthony Hill, who not only provided me with a lot of material on and by Biederman, but also shared his fascinating views on Biederman’s approach and its relation to Bohm’s thinking Arleta Griffor has done an invaluable job in organizing the material and in keying Bohm’s hand-written letters onto diskette Her deep and extensive knowledge of Bohm’s philosophy has been very helpful throughout the project Thanks are also due to Sampo Karjalainen, who scanned Biederman’s typed letters Professor Basil Hiley, Lee Nichol and David Peat have contributed to the project in various ways, not least by discussing many of the ideas This project has been supported financially by the Academy of Finland, the University of Skövde, Sweden, and by the Swedish Herbal Institute Ltd, Gothenburg, Sweden I am especially grateful to the head of the Department of Humanities at Skövde, Seppo Luoma-Keturi, as viii Acknowledgements well as to the Director of the Swedish Herbal Institute, Georg Wikman, for their patronage I should finally warmly thank Adrian Driscoll and the editorial staff at Routledge who have recognized the special value of this project and helped us in many ways Paavo Pylkkänen FOREWORD I met David Bohm in 1943 when I began, with other physicists, to work on the horrendous atom bomb Manhattan Project at Berkeley California Bohm was very highly regarded as a physicist, but what specially interested me was his exceptional breadth of interests which ranged over the whole of human culture This unusual breadth linked with the fact that Quantum Theory, which was his special area of research, involved revolutionary breadth of thinking Bohm was specially interested in the philosophical challenge of the new Theory (which Einstein had failed to deal with) As an experimental physicist, such philosophical problems did not concern me directly On the other hand, the post-war role of the Atom Bomb much worried me and it was Bohm’s ideas about this problem which brought me and him together Some physicists on the Project were narrowly fascinated by the idea of, after the war, constructing new nuclear bombs of much greater power Bohm’s imaginative concern enabled him to see the dangers of such developments Like the great Quantum pioneer Niels Bohr, Bohm saw the need for holistic approaches with open dialogue between those with differing views He saw that political analysis could not be avoided However, after the war McCarthyist extremism grew and Bohm’s recognition of the political aspects of nuclear policy led to his professional future in the United States being threatened Bohm moved to Princeton where Einstein welcomed him But Bohm was advised to leave the US because his passport might be taken away He decided to leave the country 248 Bohm–Biederman Correspondence April 24, 1962 The letter begins by addressing Biederman’s question about the necessity of having “a spectrum of descriptions of experience”, e.g “thinkingfeeling and feeling-thinking” Bohm develops this into what he calls “thought-feeling-action” and emphasizes that action is the most fundamental, including the act of understanding The letter ends by underlining a point which has by now become a key one in the correspondence: “In this point of view, the separation of ‘subject’ and ‘object’ is dropped What is fundamental is the act or process itself.” BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS BY DAVID BOHM The Quantum Theory, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey (1951) Causality and Chance in Modern Physics, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London ([1957] 1984) The Special Theory of Relativity, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., Advanced Book Program, Reading, Massachusetts (1966) Fragmentation and Wholeness, The van Leer Jerusalem Foundation, Jerusalem (1976) Wholeness and the Implicate Order, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London (1980) Unfolding Meaning: A Weekend of Dialogue with David Bohm, ed Donald Factor, Foundation House Publications, Mickleton (1985) Co-authored with J.Krishnamurti, The Ending of Time, Harper & Row, San Francisco (1985) Co-authored with J.Krishnamurti, The Future of Humanity, Mirananda, The Hague (1986) Co-authored with D.F.Peat, Science, Order and Creativity, Bantam, New York (1987) Co-authored with Mark Edwards, Changing Consciousness: Exploring the Hidden Source of the Social, Political and Environmental Crises Facing Our World, Harper, San Francisco (1991) Co-authored with B.J.Hiley, The Undivided Universe: An Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Routledge, London (1993) Thought as a System, Routledge, London (1994) On Dialogue, Routledge, London (1996) On Creativity, Routledge, London (1998) 250 Bibliography SELECTED ARTICLES BY DAVID BOHM “A Suggested Interpretation of the Quantum Theory in Terms of Hidden Variables I & II”, Phys Rev vol., 85, no 2, pp 166–193 (1952) Republished in J.A.Wheeler and W.H.Zurek (eds) Quantum Theory and Measurement, 369– 96, Princeton University Press, Princeton (1983), pp 369–96 “On the Relationship between Methodology in Scientific Research and the Content of Scientific Knowledge”, The British Journal far the Philosophy of Science, vol XII (1961), pp 103–16 “Classical and Non-Classical Concepts in the Quantum Theory”, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, vol XII, no 48 (1962), pp 265–80 “Problems in the Basic Concepts of Physics” (an inaugural lecture delivered at Birkbeck College, February 1963) In Satyendranath Base 70th Birthday Commemoration Volume, Part II, Calcutta (1965), pp 279–318 “On the Problem of Truth and Understanding in Science”, in M.Bunge (ed.) The Critical Approach to Science and Philosophy, in Honor of Karl R.Popper, Collier Macmillan, London (1964), pp 212–23 “A Proposed Topological Formulation of the Quantum Theory”, in I.J.Good (ed.) The Scientist Speculates, Putnam, New York (1965), pp 302–14 “Space, Time and the Quantum Theory Understood in Terms of Discrete Process”, Proceedings of the International Conference on Elementary Particles, Kyoto (1965), pp 252–86 “On Creativity”, Leonardo, vol (1968), pp 137–49 “On the Relationship of Science and Art”, in A.Hill (ed.) Data: Directions in Art, Faber & Faber, London (1968) “Some Remarks on the Notion of Order and Further Remarks on Order”, in C.H.Waddington (ed.) Towards a Theoretical Biology, vol 2, Aldine Press, Chicago (1970), pp 18–40 “On Bohr’s Views Concerning Quantum Theory”, in T.Bastin (ed.) Quantum Theory and Beyond, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1971), pp 33– 40 “Science as Perception-Communication”, in F.Suppe (ed.) The Structure of Scientific Theories, University of Illinois Press, Illinois (1977), pp 374–423 “Time, the Implicate Order and Pre-Space”, in D.R.Griffin (ed.) Physics and the Ultimate Significance of Time, State University of New York Press, New York (1986), pp 172–208 “Meaning and Information”, in P.Pylkkänen (ed.) The Search for Meaning, The New Spirit in Science and Philosophy, Thorsons Publishing Group, Wellingborough (1989), pp 43–62 “A New Theory of the Relationship of Mind and Matter”, Philosophical Psychology, no (1990), pp 271–86 251 Bibliography SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES ON DAVID BOHM Cushing, J.T., Fine, A and Goldstein, S (eds), Bohemian Mechanics and Quantum Theory, Kluwer, Dordrecht (1996) Griffin, D (ed.), Physics and the Ultimate Significance of Time: Bohm, Prigogine and Process Philosophy, State University of New York Press, New York (1986) Hiley, B.J and Peat, F.D (eds), Quantum Implications: Essays in Honour of David Bohm, Routledge, London (1987) Peat, F.D., Infinite Potential: The Life and Times of David Bohm, Addison Wesley Publishing Company Inc., Reading, Mass, and Harlow, England (1996) Pylkkänen, P (ed.), The Search for Meaning, Thorsons, Wellingborough (1989) Schindler, D.L (ed.), Beyond Mechanism, University Press of America, Lanham (1986) BOOKS BY CHARLES BIEDERMAN Art as the Evolution of Visual Knowledge, Red Wing, Minnesota (1948) Letters on the New Art, Red Wing, Minnesota (1951) The New Cézanne: from Monet to Mondrian, Red Wing, Minnesota (1958) Search for New Art, Red Wing, Minnesota (1979) Art, Science, Reality, Red Wing, Minnesota (1988) The Dehumanization and Denaturalization of Modern Art, Red Wing, Minnesota (1992) Nature and Art Anew, Red Wing, Minnesota (1993) The End of Modernism: Figurative or Abstract, Red Wing, Minnesota (1994) SELECTED ARTICLES BY CHARLES BIEDERMAN “Art and Science as Creation”, Structure, vol I, no 1, Amsterdam (1958), pp 2–18 “Instinct-Intuition and Emotion-Intellect in Art”, The Structurist, no 1, Saskatoon (1960–1), pp 42–51 “A Non-Aristotelian Creative Reality”, Structure, vol IV, no 2, Amsterdam (1962), pp 38–43 “Art in Crisis”, Studies in the Twentieth Century, no 1, Troy, NY (1968), pp 39– 59 “Dialogue II: Creative or Conditioned Vision”, Data: Directions in Art, Theory and Aesthetics, London (1968), pp 76–94 252 Bibliography SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ARTICLES ON CHARLES BIEDERMAN Craven, D., “The Art of Charles Biederman”, unpublished PhD thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1980a) Craven, D., “Charles Biederman’s Art of Complicity”, Arts Magazine, March (1980b), pp 130–5 Denny, Robyn, “Introduction”, in Charles Biederman: A Retrospective Exhibition with Especial Emphasis on the Structurist Works of 1936–69 (exhibition catalogue for the Hayward Gallery, London, and the Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester), Arts Council of Great Britain, London (1969) Hill, A., “The Climate of Biederman”, Studio International, vol 178, no 914, London (1969), pp 69–70 Kuspit, D.B., “Charles Biederman’s Abstract Analogues for Nature”, Art in America, May/June (1977), pp 80–3 Van der Marck, J., “Biederman and the Structurist Direction in Art”, in Charles Biederman: A Retrospective Exhibition with Especial Emphasis on the Structurist Works of 1936–69 (exhibition catalogue for the Hayward Gallery, London, and the Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester), Arts Council of Great Britain, London (1969) INDEX abstractability: of nature 160, 164 abstraction 16, 37, 40, 132, 160, 227; as ability 98; compared to mirroring 130; as concrete 161, 174, 214; as correct reflection 136; as creative 56, 66, 139; inadequate 131; as intelligent 208; as natural 141, 155, 160, 166; natural fields of 166; need to go beyond 151, 168; as partial 58; and perception of totality 128; preverbal 116, 168, 207; as source of scientific data 184; visual 119 action: and feeling 129, 162, 229; inner 91; and thought 129, 162, 229 action painting 5, 7, 17, 80, 96, 133, 141 actuality 52–3, 59, 69; and actualization 60, 75–6; as limit of series of possibilities 53; reality as 91; see also possibility aesthetics 74 AK see Korzybski, A amalgamation: of self with totality 175, 191 ambiguity 8–9, 11, 20, 31, 34, 39, 49, 234; in all divisions 15; of events and things 29; of every description of anything 29–30; of future 15; leaving room for freedom 15, 29; of mode of being of parts 8–9, 15, 31–2; of “now” 15; of past xx, 15, 29, 126; of quantum phenomena xiv, xx, 8, 29–30 animals: and human character 186; different potentialities of 187, 199 antirealism: about atoms 38; about finite things 12, 22, 28 appearance 91, 172 applied arts 157 architecture 157 Aristotelianism 117 Arp, H 158 art: evolution of 27, 35, 80; and freedom 77; and future 21; history of 60, 75; indeterministic and molecular 21, 78, 80, 103, 158; living quality in 35–6; and mathematics 80, 149, 154–5, 158, 168; and nature 24, 59; nature of 13, 15, 71, 82; role of story in 157; and science 4, 38, 46, 55, 73, 78, 88, 155, 184, 197; as totality relation with nature 21; see also realism in art; structurist art; work of art aspects: of totality 11, 127 association: of ideas 107–9 associative thinking 179; as fragmentary and self-contradictory 180, 191 254 assumptions: silent 170 asymmetry 147, 150; as basic category for space and time 189 attention: as reflection 108 Bach, J.S 156 Baljeu, J 61 beauty: in science and mathematics 183, 196; of truth 183 Beethoven, L 80, 152, 156, 173, 207 being: as ambiguous 15; not exhausted by causal relation in time 16; see also cosmos, reality, totality, universe Berger, J 47, 55, 83 Bethe, H 214 Biederman, C.: brief introduction of his work xv-xvii; his analysis of Monet and Mondrian 76–7; impact of his work 156; see also structurist art “big bang” 60, 156 blindness: and new kinds of sensitivity 207, 213 Bohm, D.: brief introduction of his work xiii-xv; his essay on “Truth and Understanding” 198, 201, 203; his experience of Rouault’s The Old Clown 18, 26, 205–6, 213; his experience of unity 205–6, 210, 213; his view of modern art 17 Bohm, S 34, 41, 53–4, 150; description of her art 54 Bohr, N xiii-xiv, 7–9, 11, 15, 21, 78; discouraging new categories 15–16; see also quantum theory Bornstein, E 26, 34, 96, 103 brain 98; and memory 92 camera art: as evolving mimeticism 173 categories: need for their universality 189; opposition of 34, 53, 62; as universal 34 causality 14, 16, 23, 144; as creative 77; see also determinism, necessity causation: as an active process 65 cave painting 77, 195 Index Cézanne, P xvi, 25, 27, 32, 76, 80, 94, 155–6, 175, 224–5 chance 77–8, 125, 157, 162; subjectivity of xv chaos 29, 144 choice: of contexts as artificial 51; as creative 48, 56 colour: in art and science 155 communication 62, 78, 129; limits of the current notion of 46, 55 communism 102, 185, 188; and anticommunism 143–4, 156; and contradiction 186–7, 199 comparison 121; cannot detect creativity 139 complementarity 20–1, 40–1, 117; of actuality and possibility 53; of determinism and indeterminism 16; of finite and infinite 29; of law and lawlessness 34; of regularity and irregularity 34 computers: memory in 92 concepts: generality of 114; as reflections 135; as traces 135 concreteness 131, 150–1, 208; as ground of abstractions 161, 174, 214 conditioning, psychological 93–5, 205, 230 confusion 216; and ego 217, 230–1 consciousness xxi, 68, 70, 92, 98; stream of 108; and unconscious 151 Constable, J 224 Constructionism xv; see also Structurist art Constructivism 154; Russian 156; British 103, 156 contexts: as real 51–2 contingency 31–4, 40–1, 47, 49, 50–1, 58, 66, 69–71, 77, 160, 162, 227; as context-relative 31; and contingentation 64, 70–1, 91, 125, 147–8; definition of 31; disappearance of 31; as essential 50; and evolution 98; as genuine 51, 163; in nature 146; as necessary 49–50; relativity of 162; and unrelated orders 144, 146, 222; see also necessity Index contradiction 104–5, 186; as arising from well-defined use of terms 169; inevitability of 111; in the mind 138; possibility of avoiding 127, 134; as property of each partial field 164; in thinking 217–18, 224 conversation 129, 151 correspondence: between words and world 164, 171 cosmos 49–50, 57, 60, 74; asserting truth about 50; forming itself 45; identity of its being and necessity 31, 49, 52; inclusive of every law 31; undergoing growth 57; see also totality counter-diction 112–15, 118 Courbet, G xvi, 36, 41, 75, 195 creative act 39–40, 48, 56, 67, 94, 101, 120, 151; Biederman’s description of 168; contributing to its own reasons for being what it is 30, 39– 40; and lack of “I” 130, 151; and mathematics 149, 168; as not determined fully by anything else 30; opening up new possibilities 49; as self-limiting 14; terminating possibilities 49; and unity of inner and outer 173 creative determination xix-xx, 38–40, 45–6, 48, 54, 77, 125; in human relations 46, 54 creative process: as infinite 57 creativity xx, 30, 38–9, 46–7, 54–5, 57, 60, 69, 93–5, 184, 215; as better than freedom 40; confusion about 215; and counter-diction 112; denied 57; as growth 156; as instantaneous thought-feelingaction 130, 151; in mathematics 159, 215, 223; as mutual 47; and past 127; and science 155; as understanding of totality 184 crystallography: and art 173 cubism 77, 182; and quantum discreteness 141 da Vinci, L 20, 88, 173, 207 255 dadaism 25 death 13 Delacroix, E 36 democracy: as an example of fundamental term 181, 185–7, 198, 200; as implicit totality 187 Denny, R xv-xvii desire 138, 229 de Stilj 6, 155 determination 29, 38, 45, 49, 56, 66, 75; as consequences of limitation 28, 38; as relative 28–9 determinism xx, 13, 16–17, 24; as creative 23, 38–40, 45; implying indeterminism 16; impossibility of 15; limits of 16; mechanistic 40, 48, 78, 125; as non-absolute 16; teleological 48, 57; as trivial 164; as wrong conclusion 29 dialogue: Bohm’s later idea anticipated 46, 236 difference 112, 114–15, 118, 173, 209; as hidden 188; as most basic category 189; as prior to similarity 189; its recognition 109; sensitivity to 150 differentiation 117 disorder 16, 24, 25, 125, 144–5, 157 diversity: and diversification 70 duality 40, 57–8, 60–1, 65–6; importance of asserting 50 Eddington, A 22 ego 216–17 Einstein, A xiv, 25, 40, 61, 72, 82, 153, 157 electron 41; ambiguity of 29–30, 32; Bohm’s 1952 model of xiv; Bohm’s pulsating model of 32–3, 40– 1; its non-existence at a fixed moment 33, 41; its wave-particle nature xiii, 32 emotions: anger 138, 181–2, 186, 202, 216, 224; and physical health 138, 216; the role of mental images in 138; and seeing truth 152 enfoldment 67–9, 76, 79 256 Engels, F 13 eternity 15, 48, 50 events: as ambiguous 29; mental 90; as part of a causal chain 16; as unique 16 evolution 21, 23, 37, 88, 101; beyond abstractions 128, 131; directed consciously 21, 37; of humanity 21, 131, 150; of mental processes 92; unconscious and conscious 102 existence 10; as action 91; of past 76; in time and space 13; wholeness of 13 existentialism 5, 8, 20, 234; and ambiguity 8–9; and quantum physics explanation 169 expressionism 5, 7, 17, 141, 188, 213 experience: of art 82; and contradiction 137; and experiencing 228; importance of understanding 184; of nature 150, 192, 225; pre-verbal 120, 168–9, 207, 214; of qualities 111; role of “nothing” in 110; role of past 93, 100; of truth 169; of understanding 169 falsification 191–4 falsity 131 fascism 186, 188 feelings 11, 78; and action 129, 162; and contradiction 138; and passion 149; and thought 129, 162; and totality 149; of truth 129, 149; of understanding 129, 149 feeling-thinking 151, 162, 228, 231 fields: of abstraction 162–8, 166–7; as closed 134; of contradiction 113; defining identity with 160; in mathematics 110; of thought and experience 110, 133; of time 113 finite: as incomplete and transient 12, 28, 38–9; as limit in the infinite 10, 28 fragmentation: and creativity 175; as result of arbitrary projection 160; Index as result of mental contradiction 138 free will xx freedom 12–14, 23–4, 31, 40; in art 95; and creative determinism 39; Engels’ notion of 13; as indetermination by past 14; as infinite 12; limited by past 13–14; and limits of necessity 13; merging with necessity 31; and necessity 163; positive content of 13; as selflimitation 14 functions: mental 107–8; second order 108 future 11; ambiguity of 15; implying newness to past 24, 27, 29, 37; implying past 11; as incomplete 57; not fully determined by past 30; novelty of 13; removing ambiguity of past 29 Gabo, N 56 generality 107; see also universality generation: of aspects of process 169; of elements of world 161 generative order: Bohm’s later notion anticipated 45–6 geometry 27; and human image 173; non-Euclidian 72; and understanding 128, 148, 180 George, W.H 158 Giotto 75 hate 132, 198 Hegel, G 191 Heisenberg, W 21 Hiley, B xiv Hill, A xiii, xv, 87, 140, 154 human beings: in charge of their evolution 21, 37; as potentially infinite 12, 23, 38 human life: distinguishing features of 98; as inexhaustible 23, 148; its freedom requiring wholeness 14 human relations 5, 46, 54–5; creative determinism in 46; and creativity 132 Index humanity: survival of 100–2, 201; unlimited aspects of 115 Ibsen, H 67, 77 identity 74, 109, 111–12, 114, 118, 133, 160, 165, 167; and attitude of non-identity 56; destructiveness of 116–17; falsity of idea of 181; necessity of understanding meaning of 164–5; non-existence of 127, 164; and nullity of a field 134, 166; rejection of 171, 199; and self 187, 199 illusions 38 implicate order xiv; Bohm’s notion anticipated 10, 67–9, 76, 79 impressionism 17; saving the notion of 134; and scientific view of colour 155 incompleteness: of future 57; of past 57; of totality 57 independence: of orders 145 indeterminism 3, 16, 20, 24; appeal of 79, 157; as non-absolute 16; subjectivity of xviii; as surreal 158 infinity 9–10, 22–3, 38, 48, 50, 57; infinite 29; as “nothingness” 12; of possibilities 126; as questioning the mechanistic view 10; as self-limiting 9; of time 10 irrationality 39, 78 irregularity 33, 41, 144–5; see also regularity irreversibility 74, 76 inner show 202 intelligence 169; as assigner of values 208 Keyser, C 21 Kierkegaard, S knowledge 3, 11, 39, 48–9, 52, 218; and art 21; coarseness of 150; limits of 39, 75; as necessarily incomplete 47–9; and “notknowing” in art 25; of objective existence of contingency 175; possibility of 114; as precondition 257 of being 191; as projection towards future 11; as selection out of infinite totality 11; of totality 10– 11; see also reflection Korzybski, A 19, 127, 150, 164, 224; his notion of time-binding 150; his view of knowledge 150 Kuspit, D xii language 127; and general usage 171; as having a narrowing effect 173; and identity 127, 160, 167; and nature 150, 171; see also identity, meaning, terms laws 11, 28, 31, 33–4, 41, 47–51, 144; of chance 21; as following from unity of totality 16; included in cosmos 31; as limiting case 34–5; limits of any particular law 16; as merely contributions 33; nondeducibility of 28; of perspective 173; of a picture 71; their lack of absolute necessity 34; of totality 180; of unity 16; and universal truth 88 lawlessness 33, 41; as feature of limited context 33; inevitability of 34; see also laws learning 92–3; to create 156 levels of reality: relatively autonomous existence of 27–8, 38 limitation 10, 13–14, 28–9, 57; limits of 12 logic 217, 224 Londsdale, K 158 love: as essence of humanity 186–7; and hate 205; and objectivity 153; and perception of totality 139; and understanding 132–3, 152–3, 205; and vulnerability 205–6, 212 macroscopic level: not fully deducible from atoms 30; not reducible to atoms 27–8; relation to microscopic 192, 221–2, 226–7 mathematics: as crutch in art 154, 159, 168, 172, 223; as crutch in music 258 168, 172; foundations of 168; and group theory 135, 137, 149; of the infinite 10; and limits of calculation 149; and music 148–9, 168; see also geometry, music, nullity Martin, M 148 Marx, K 191 Marxism 93–6, 102 meaning: of abstractions 185; and contradiction 169–70; as explicit 167, 171; as function 164; and general usage 171; as implicit 166– 7, 170–1, 185; of words 111, 114, 119, 164; as multi-ordinal 127; of musical composition 129, 164; of totality of reality 164; its understanding as whole 166 mechanistic world-picture 3–4; denial of memory 67–8, 92, 98–9, 109, 111; as action 229; and identity 134; see also trace mental: events 90; objects 109 meta-mathematics 168 mimetic art 25, 35, 59–60, 71, 79; and anti-mimeticism 143–4, 157; content vs process in 174; liberation from 157; new possibilities in 206; postCourbetian 195–6; transitionfrom 76, 82, 155; as unique visual experience 173; weakness of 161 mind: as clouded 203; its two ways of functioning 179 mirrors: need for self-reflective 162, 175 modern art: confusion in 195; and fragmentation 137; and quantum physics xvii; see also art, Structurist art moments 50, 67–8, 70, 75, 91; of creativity 148 Monet, C xvi, 25, 60, 76, 155, 183 Mondrian, P xvi, 24, 60, 76, 79, 94, 182–3; his neoplastic theory of art 74, 103, 154 Mozart, W.A 80 multiordinality 171, 209–10 Index music: and mathematics 103, 113, 121, 148–9; and meaning 129; and mimesis 88; role of story in 157 naming 107: of objects 107–8 nature 11–12, 22; abstractibility of 146; as art 23; and artist 159; Biederman’s experience of 121; contingentizability of 146; as creation 41; as creative process xviii, 77; diversity in 152; fragmentizing of 211; its relation to human beings xviii; as noncontradictory 120; as opening freedom to artist 23; renewal of 78; seen differently by physics and art xviii, 22–3, 153; split between humans and 211 nazism 26, 186, 188, 199 necessity 13, 23, 30–2, 40, 47–51, 58, 90; arising from the singular 50; as context-relative 31; and contingency apply to everything 31; of cosmos 31; definition of 30; as fundamental to experience of structure 40; limits of 13, 47; merging with freedom 31; and necessitation 64–6, 70–1, 75–6, 91, 125, 147–8, 159; relativity of 163; of structurism 142; without contingency as trivial 50–1; see also contingency negation 230 Newton, I 25, 174, 207 nothing: as relative 110 nothingness 12 nullity: of a field 134–7, 160, 168; in mathematics 110; in physics 110 objectivity 36; of contingency xix, 49, 51, 69–70, 77, 87, 90, 125, 144, 163; of creative process 49; of existence of parts 49; and feelings 78; of fields of abstraction 167; of incompleteness of past 48; of necessity 48, 51, 58, 70, 75; as love 153; of particularization 70; of Index possibility 52–3, 59; of randomness 144; of space-time 92 objects 107–8; mental 109 observation 9, 126; and unity of observer and observed 138 opposites 74, 126; limits of thinking in terms of 143–4, 156; as special case 189; unity and diversity of 70 order 16, 25, 125, 144–5; as asymmetrical 147; compatibility of orders 146; of crystal 146–7; difficulty of distinguishing from disorder 6; independence of orders 145, 157, 222; related orders 146; as serial 127; tension between orders 147; as transitive 127; unrelated orders 146 particularity 14, 50, 62–3, 74–5; and particularization 63–5 parts 64; ambiguity of 31–2; contingency of 31, 49, 126, 237; existence of 126; whole in 10 past 11; as constantly changing 24; as implying future 11; incompleteness of 47–8, 57; as limiting future 13; as terminated 48 Pasmore, V 54, 61 Peat, F.D xv Penrose, R 242 perception 22, 37, 59, 75; and abstraction 130; as action 229; in art and science 197; coarseness of 150; of concreteness 131: and instruments 20; limited by concepts 131; similarity of inner and outer 201; as thought-feeling 132; thresholds of 167; of totality 130, 139 perfection: as too ideal 212 perspective 173 photography 35, 82, 157; as future of mimetic art 182, 194 physics: and art 26; deterioration of ideas in 143; its sensory dilemma 152; molecular theory of gases 146–7, 158, 192; order of crystals 259 146–7; see also quantum theory, relativity theory Picasso, P 26, 77, 101, 103, 133, 137, 141, 153, 182 Pissarro, C 155 Planck, M 153 Plato 191 Poincar, H 152 Popper, K 191 positivism possibility 31, 37–9, 48–9, 52–3, 59– 60, 69–71, 126; as applying only to partial moments 52; as meaningless in totality 52; as real 52; as relationship in cosmic process 52– 3; as structural 155; as universal category 67 potentiality 88, 155, 185; and truth 208 Poussin, N 80 present moment: as ambiguous 15; made up of past and future 11; possibilities in 52–3; as reflection of past and future 11, 15; see also future, moments, past, time process 10, 19, 22, 53, 60, 62, 65, 74, 89; as creative 49, 57, 69; experience of 81; as generative 169; as implicit 171; inward character of 91; as no “thing” 22; as primary 230; and projectability 135; reflection of 105; of reflection 161; and static objects 88; and totality 126–7; and traces 135; underlying structure 150; verbal and nonverbal 135 projectability: of nature 135, 161 projection 135; as arbitrary 160 Pryce, M 116, 120 qualitativeness 150; and identity 136 qualities: self-identity of 115, 134; change of 128 quantitativeness 150; as abstraction from qualitative 136; and identity 136 260 quantum theory: acceptance of 36; and ambiguity 15, 29, 32; andambiguity of “now” 15; Bohr’s interpretation of xiii, xvii, 5, 7; indeterminism in 29–30, 157; and measurement 8, 19–20, 29, 33, 41, 206; and participation 3, 41, 126, 206; unity of observer and observed in 206, 234; and waveparticle character of matter xiii, 32, 40–1; see also Bohr, N., electron quantum discreteness: similarity to Impressionism and Cubism 141, 155 racism 186, 188 randomness 16, 144–5, 219–22; Biederman’s unwillingness to accept 158, 175, 226; and essentialb urnrelatedness 221, 227; as independence of two orders 145; as relative 145, 147; subjectivity of xviii realism 238; and antirealism 238 realism in art 75; romantic 36; socialist 18 reality 11, 22; implicit character of 106, 135; as infinite 9; as indivisible 206; of non-actualized possibilities 52; see also totality reasoning: logical 217 reduction: limits of 27, 37 reflection 11, 15, 51, 57, 65, 108; and concreteness 131; content vs process of 161; as false 170; habits of 175; and memory 92–3; of past and future in present 15; of selfreflectivity 161–2, 174; of totality 161; as true 170 regularity 33–4, 41, 47; implying its limits 34 relativity theory: time in 89 Rembrandt 79, 81, 152, 197; his selfportraits 213 repetition 127 representation: of objects 108; see also reflection Index representational art 17, 25 Renault, G.: Bohm’s experience of his art 18, 26, 205–6, 213 Russell, B 61, 153 Sartre, J.-P 20 Schrodinger, E 39 science 78; and art 184; and music 184; and nature as creation 82; as process 116; role of motivation in 203; self-deception in 203 scientific experiments: artificiality of 157 scientific instruments 19–20; their subjective influence 41 seeing as understanding 127 selection: of aspects of reality 11 self 200, 209 self-deception 138, 215; in science 203 semantics 127, 133 separation: of artist and art 159; between people 55; between humans and nature 55; of “I” and “non-I” 202, 216 sex 138 similarity 118; difficulties of denning 127, 135; essential vs trivial 166, 181, 200, 209; inadequacy of the notion of 166; necessity of the term 171; for self 200, 209; as special kind of difference 189, 199 society: as uncreative 46, 55 space 67; mathematical space and art 184 space-time: privacy of 92 structural view of nature 36 structure 40; in description of process 127; as the trace of process 88; as process 150; as relationship in process 127 Structurism xv; see also Structurist art Structurist art xv, 35, 54, 61, 70–1, 76, 94; Biederman’s approval of Bohm’s definition of 196; Bohm’s definition of 183; Bohm’s reactions to 140–8, 161, 163, 182; colour in 182; and cubism 154; and curves 140, 154; and freedom 163; and Index evolution of language 120, 137; as evolutionary direction 154; inconsistent elements in 94–7, 101– 3; and integration with surroundings 140, 206; as introducing a new field of concreteness 175; its demand for new mathematics 197; its demand for new visual abstraction 36–7; living quality in 159; and Marxism 93–6, 102; materials used in 154; as “new art” 37, 154; as part of reality 72, 161; as pure creation 80, 82, 157; rejection of 36–7; and special role of human beings xviii; and structure of reality 71–2, 82; as too mathematical 140, 154, 197 subject: and object 8–9, 126, 132 subjectivism 193 subjectivity 36, 41, 92, 195; of contingency xviii, 40, 58, 98–9; of dualism 58; of irregularity 47; of lawlessness 47; see also objectivity surrealism 4–5, 17, 26, 133, 188 symmetry 41, 74, 127, 147, 149–50, 158; as special case of asymmetry 189 sympathy 228 Tachism painting 80, 96–7 tension: between necessity and contingency 159; creative 147–8; inner 158 terms 104–5, 115, 165; definition of 166; essential meaning of 165; implicit meaning of fundamental terms 167, 171; as indefinite 116, 165, 169–70; as multi-ordinal 119, 160; and process of terming 106 theories, scientific 88; falsification of 191–4; importance of contingency for 50–1; inevitability of lawlessness in 34 things 12, 28; as ambiguous 29; as arbitrary 12; as basically infinite 10; as contingent 12; as finite in only 261 crude sense 12, 38–9; limited by past 13; as non-existent 12, 22, 28 thinking: associative 179; and logical argumentation 179; as unconscious 179 thinking-feeling 129, 151, 228, 231 thought 11, 65, 127; and action 129; and feeling 129, 139; as logical 114; as process 105–7; as response of memory 109; and world 117 time: xix, 10–11, 16, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31, 37, 39, 47–8, 52, 56, 60, 67–9, 75, 126; its reality denied 48, 51, 56–7; measurement of 67; as most fundamental division 15; as movement from moment to moment 169; order of 146; as order in process 10; split into past and future 11; see also future, past, process Tintoretto 213 Titian 213 topology 149 totalitarianism 78, 116, 185 totality: as closed system 57–8; as deep and fundamental 129; difficulty of denning 127; and feeling 149; as incomplete 57; as infinite and eternal 10–11, 16, 21, 40, 48–9, 51– 2, 57, 60, 64–5, 67–8, 70, 79; and natural abstraction 160; as limit of process 70; and perception 131; as self-limiting 57; as starting point of inquiry 16; and understanding 132; uniqueness of its understanding 169 trace 67–9, 76, 79, 88–93, 99, 111, 132; concepts as 135; and tracing 135 truth 67, 203–4; in art 183; basic principle of 204, 210; Biederman’s reaction to Bohm’s essay on 190–3; Biederman’s vision of 142; as concrete 131, 162, 208; as developing 162; difficulties of defining 127; difficulty of understanding 204; and ego 204; experience of as fundamental 169; and feeling 149, 191; as non- 262 contradiction 162; operation of 204; as our relation to totality 162; as perception 132; plurality of 152; as process 131; theories of 191; and totality 131; and understanding 129, 131 unconscious: self-deception as 204 understanding: as act 201, 210, 218, 226, 231; basic concepts as totalities 181; and contradiction 138; as creative 132; difficulties of defining 127–8; as essence of humanity 186–7; experience of as fundamental 169; as feeling 149, 151; flashes of 128; in geometry 128, 148; levels of 148; and love 132–3, 137, 205; as mode of functioning of mind 180; of past 93; as perception of totality 132, 162, 201; as process 132; as seeing 127–9; and senses 152, 207; undefinability of 180; and values 208 uniqueness 16; of abstractions 142; of creative acts 139; of events 100, 117; of human beings 99; as nonreflection of past 16; of structurist art 174 unity 66: of atomic elements 8–9, 201– 2, 206, 234; of body and environment 202; of humans and nature 211; of each thing with cosmos 32; of “I” and “non-I” 130, 132, 138–9, 202–3, 206; of inner and outer 169, 173, 201–6, 210, Index 213, 218; of observer and observed 8–9, 138, 234; of past and future 16; of subject and object 130, 138, 206, 231; of understander and understood 149; and unification 70 universality 14, 62–3, 74–5; and universalization 63–4, 68; see also particular universe: as ambiguous without us 11 unlimited 29 urbanization 78 value 207; eternal values as alterable 12; truth as 207 Van der Marck, J xv-xx verbalization: tragedy of 214 verbs: as basic form of language 231 verification: limits of 191 vision: and comprehension 119; of totality Visser, C 54, 61, 83, 87, 140; Bohm’s experience with his art 143–4 vulnerability 203, 205–6, 212, 224 Whitehead, A.N 73, 82, 191, 195 whole: as containing full reasons for parts 30 wholeness 14, 30 work of art: as always changing 210; Biederman’s experience of 119; contingency and necessity in 51, 59, 71, 79–81, 87, 91, 142–3, 158; function of 47; inexhaustibility of 148; reflection in 10; as static 81; unanalyzability of 13; unity in 13; universal significance of 14, 21 ... January 18 , 19 62 December 29, 19 61 December 30, 19 61 February 24, 19 62 12 5 14 0 14 9 16 0 16 5 17 0 Beyond the Subject-Object Distinction February 2, 19 62 February 9, 19 62 March 17 , 19 62 March 18 , 19 62 April... March 17 , 19 62 March 18 , 19 62 April 14 , 19 62 April 23, 19 62 March 23, 19 62 April 27, 19 62 April 15 , 19 62 May 7, 19 62 April 24, 19 62 17 9 18 1 18 2 19 0 19 1 19 4 200 209 215 222 228 Chapter Summaries PAAVO... 61 73 vi III IV V Contents Thought and Reality February 2, 19 61 March 2, 19 61 February 24, 19 61 May 29, 19 61 87 98 10 3 11 5 Truth and Understanding December 22, 19 61 December 26, 19 61 January 18 ,