Q&A: Mysticism
Mysticism
Question
Hello Michi, in lecture number 4 about mysticism, you say that the world of ideas is mysticism because it claims something about the world, but it’s not something that can be tested. But God also can’t be tested, and that too is a claim about the world. Still, you can arrive at God through intuition and then a logical inference, like the cosmological argument. But the world of ideas also comes from a question, an aspiration, or from asking where or from when the Pythagorean triangle is true, so it isn’t something mystical because it’s accessible to everyone. I’d be happy if you could explain. Thank you very much.
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. I don’t have time for riddle-like writing. Please formulate it again briefly and clearly.
Discussion on Answer
God too is mysticism in a certain sense. But regarding the ideas, there isn’t even an argument for their existence, aside from the fact that someone feels that way (the question about the Pythagorean theorem is not a difficulty but just a question, if that). Therefore this is mysticism.
You say that the world of ideas is mysticism because it’s something not open to everyone, but it is open to everyone. It didn’t come to Plato through revelation in a dream, but from the question of where or from when the Pythagorean triangle is true. So why is the idea of the world of ideas mysticism? I hope I’ve explained the question better now.