The quest for eternity : attempts towards an integrative treatment of moral and metaphysical considerations of existence, ideas and truth

This thesis represents a study into some central aspects of the notion of eternity. It proposes to explore ways in which the notion, rather than being dismissed as merely fictional or abstract, warrants an investigation into how the human being may be able to realize its reality The thesis argues in favour of a constructive cognitive access to the notion of eternity such that it can be seen to have reality through the active unification and perfection of our reason and of our moral being. The basic strategic approach, reflected in the thesis' structure, comprises the discussion of three main ideas or themes fundamental to metaphysics, which are central to the discussed means to render the notion of eternity real: A thesis about the inseparability of theoretical reason and a self-understanding of the human being as a moral being, a re-investigation of the notion of ideas in relation to the substantiality of things and an exploration of ways in which eternity is implied in existence. These three areas and perspectives are investigated independently and contain distinct arguments which are grounded in an attempt to render the concept of the eternality of truth intelligible. At the same time, each of the three thematic areas rests upon a bundle of arguments which can be organized around a systematic core. The thesis of the integrated approach to the theoretical/moral distinction argues (1) that thought forms the ground of the notion of the good and is the source of principles, (2) that thinking and the emotions are inseparable such that the emotions also reflect a person's ethical situation and (3) that there is no non-ethical stance to a philosophical position. The re-evaluation of the notion of ideas comprises (1) a general refutation of materialism and (2) a discussion of the ways in which ideas positively capture and constitute what is real. The third theme explores the relation between some conditions of existence and eternity through (1) a discussion of movement, (2) an analysis of the form of perception and order, (3) an investigation of the idea of the un-self-supporting reality of the world of becoming and ( 4) a speculative approach regarding an intelligence in all things. The thesis seeks to connect the three streams in loose and implicit ways and cautions against a forced philosophical systematization that would only artificially converge them. However, a final chapter provides a more synthetic and synoptic outlook without propounding a simplified or systematically foundational conclusion through an attempt to revisit the notions of Form, Will and Idea.