The principle of sufficient reason

[Psyduck]

The principle of sufficient reason states that nothing is without a ground or reason why it is. The principle is usually attributed to Leibniz. The principle has a variety of expressions, all of which are perhaps best summarized by the following (wikipedia).

- For every entity x, if x exists, then there is a sufficient explanation for why x exists.
- For every event e, if e occurs, then there is a sufficient explanation for why e occurs.
- For every proposition p, if p is true, then there is a sufficient explanation for why p is true.

>> What are you views on the PSR? Do you think its an inherent tendency of the human spirit to look for grounds and causes. This general kind of comportment towards beings, which the human spirit in a variety of forms always seems to posses, Heidegger dubbed as "metaphysics." Whether you are speaking of theological causes, transcendent causes, scientific grounds, rational explanations of the universe, ethical foundations, axiomatizing or founding mathematics, the meaning of our existence, etc. In all these different areas (theology, science, ethics, existentialism,...) a similar human comportment is taken: we look for grounds, reasons, explanations, etc. But what makes this presupposition in the first place legitimate. We cannot ground the PSR again in something else, because then we presuppose what we are asking after.

Do you think that the human being can step out of his normal consciousness (i.e. "desire for knowledge") and attain "freedom" when he no longer looks for reasons/causes. For example, the following passage, written by the mystic poet Angelus Silesius, seems to touch upon such an experience.

The Rose is without why
She blooms because she blooms
she does not care for herself
Asks not if she is seen

 

[P A]

comportment

In case anyone is wondering: According to Dictionary.com, the word comportment means "personal bearing or conduct."

 

[Foreigner]

Knowing, or at least thinking you know, is mind, and more specifically intellectual mind. There are other ways of knowing which are non-verbal and self-explanatory yet can often not be explained, such as intuition.

It's socially flawed to not accept someone's experience as potentially valid or genuine just because they can't appease your intellectual ego with an explanation that satisfies you.

 

[Psyduck]

In case anyone is wondering: According to Dictionary.com, the word comportment means "personal bearing or conduct."

The German word is "Verhält." I didn't know it was a technical term. Another term might me "relating," but this might have the connotation of a subjective decision. In Heideggers technical use, it means: a certain openness to the world, an always already being in a relation to beings in such and such way,... it suggests that it's not something the human subject can initiate himself. Human beings always already find themselves in the midst of other beings. They are "always already" relating and interacting with a variety of beings/entities (chairs, tables, people, stars, concepts, emotions,...) in a certain fashion. A stone doesn't "comport towards" other beings, only a human being does. Essential to human comportment is that there is a certain kind of intelligibility relationship such that other beings appear with meaning or sense.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Interesting that Leibniz would posit such a rational theory because he was The Christian Optimist, religion being the ultimate irrationality, or so it would seem on the surface.

If backed into a corner, there would always be god for Leibniz to fall back upon.

Yes I think humans inherently search for causes. They want to feel secure. Part of that is in finding out why or how. Its a way to understand, to know that there is a control or way by which things work and that life isn't simply a free-for-all where physical and mental safety is merely an illusion. Closure.

What OP is asking about is "simply" the state of samadhi.

 

[YellowPolkaDotHalo]

Religion I think is rational ..faith not so ( its a different thing ).. In Eden there were no whys or hows just 'it is'.. 'This is'. a state of eternity separated from cause and effect.
You mentioned this state as being like samadhi but also Buddhas description here of Nirvana addresses what we are talking about here.

Once a man demanded that the Buddha tell him how the universe began. The Buddha said to him "You are like a man who has been shot with a poison arrow and who, when the doctor comes to remove it, says 'Wait! Before the arrow is removed I want to know the name of the man who shot it, what clan he comes from, which village he was born in. I want to know what type of wood his bow is made from, what feathers are on the end of the arrow, how long the arrows are, etc etc etc.' That man would die before all these questions could be answered. My job is to help you to remove the arrow of suffering from yourself" (Majjhima Nikaya Sutta No. 63).