Tertium Organum

Rating:
Summary: Organum vs. Tertium Organum
Review: "Tertium Organum", by P.D. Ouspensky (Uspenskii), a Russian mathematician-turned-mystic who studied under another Russian mystic, G.I. Gurdjieff, is characterized by its regression into Platonism with an Eastern philosophy/psychology undertone. His conception of consciousness, "cosmic consciousness", as well as his interpretation of Einstein's Theory of Relativity and fourth dimension, is highly mystical and thus has little to do with reality qua reality. The following is a comparison chart that demonstrates the difference between Aristotle's Organum and Ouspensky's Tertium Organum:

Organum: A is A.
A is not not-A.
Each existent is either A or not-A.

Tertium Organum: A is both A and not-A.
or
All is A and A is all.

If A is both A and not-A, how can one identify A in the first place? If Tertium Organum is true, then everything loses its identity and nothing can be known -- even Tertium Organum itself cannot be known. Ouspensky recognizes that his logic is absurd and attempts to exculpate himself from this apparent contradiction by saying, "We must be prepared for the fact that it is impossible to express superlogical relations ("higher logic") in our language." Ouspensky's philosophy is based upon a profound mistrust and contempt for man's "ordinary" cognitive process and the power of reason. His philosophy leads to a complete denial of conceptual knowledge and his "higher logic" is a total negation of reality in the name of a "higher reality". Only those individuals profoundly dissatisfied and unhappy with reality could aspire to such a philosophy. Although, P.D. Ouspensky was one of the most brilliant Platonists in history, integrating Eastern mysticism into Platonism with remarkable intellectual sophistication, this brand of mysticism like any other is a symtom of man's default in epistemological integrity and the cause of all human suffering.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding oneself, time and space
Review: I cannot say it better than the American Prophet "Edgar Cayce", therefore I will Quote Mr. Cayce's Source from another wonderful book "The Edgar Cayce Companion" from the A.R.E. Press.

Q.- How may I better understand myself, time and space?

A.- The "application" brings consciousness to the individual and it must be of an "individual" application for an entity to "gain" the consciousness. Such lessons may be gained from reading "Tertium Organum".

Seek, and ye shall find.....

Rating:
Summary: Understanding oneself, time and space
Review: I cannot say it better than the American Prophet "Edgar Cayce", therefore I will Quote Mr. Cayce's Source from another wonderful book "The Edgar Cayce Companion" from the A.R.E. Press.

Q.- How may I better understand myself, time and space?

A.- The "application" brings consciousness to the individual and it must be of an "individual" application for an entity to "gain" the consciousness. Such lessons may be gained from reading "Tertium Organum".

Seek, and ye shall find.....

Rating:
Summary: Pseudoscience. Beware!
Review: I wrote a longer review, but it got deleted. So I'm writing a short one and hope to post a longer one later. I believe Ouspensky should not be taken seriously, because there are parts in this book where he treats objective subjects like mathematics and makes grave errors in reasoning to support his ideas. This is more disturbing in light of the fact he is called a mathematician. He mentions Aristotle, Bacon, and Einstein, but this does not mean his thought is on par with theirs. The fallacies in his logic cannot be excused by saying that people in his time were naive. After all, Einstein must have understood his own theory of relativity. Ouspensky even makes a mistake to the effect of, "If a square has length x, then it has area x to the xth power." (It should be x squared.) If his mathematics cannot be taken seriously, why should his philosophy?

Rating:
Summary: A Sublime Tour-de-force
Review: Ouspensky brings together many of the most extraordinary facets of Relativity Theory, Kantian philosophy, Eastern mysticism, Western spiritual traditions, ways of looking at the symbolism of art and ordinary life, and powerful revelations from mathematics. In this book, he is a master of using images, metaphors, and analogies to help free the mind, opening the intuition to amazing areas of wonder. The suggestive power of many of the ideas in Tertium Organum are at a breath-taking level. I especially recommend this book to anyone who has an abiding love of Philosophy, Religion, Science, and Art.

Rating:
Summary: The higher dimensions and human consciousness.
Review: Ouspensky was never completely satisfied with the translation of his work by Bessaraboff and Bragdon. Indeed, they translated it without his knowlege or advice. This translation is the one that he and his secretary worked on together in his final years. It definately clears up many rough spots and misinterpretations.

If you are unfamiliar with the _Tertium Organum_, it deals with higher dimensional reality (above four dimensions) and how this ties in with the limitations of human conciousness. It is one of the most mind-expanding books ever published.

If you can read this book and understand it, then you have come a long, long way in your personal reeducation....

Rating:
Summary: Arguable philosophy, but interesting historically
Review: Ouspensky's philosophy may seem dated to some, but is interesting within its historical context. At the early part of the century, physics, psychology, technologies and arts such as cinema, etc. were coming into the public consciousness. Through the mediums of the phonograph, the photograph, and the film, time and space were fractured - one didn't need to be somewhere to experience something. Our understanding of the nature of the universe had been undermined by physicists and mathematicians such as Planck and Einstein. Moreover, theosophy had a large audience (a result of these factors, to an extent). Within this mileau Ouspensky penned his work describing, to a large degree, how our perception played into things. There is a fantastic section in the book where he describes (a very film-reel-like) rotating circle and how it would be perceived by someone in a one-, two-, three-, and four-dimensional world. Then he explains that these perceptions could exist side-by-side, that it isn't the physical world that changed, but merely the perception. Given how the world seemed to be changing radically due to an increasing understanding of it (or at least our models of it), such a conclusion, while elegant and genius in its own right, seems plausible.

Ouspensky's interesting background helps explain his insight - he is an early "out-of-the-box" thinker. He was a mathematician (logic, models, etc.) who was influenced by/a follower of Gurdjieff the mystic (a bit of the opposite of math, I'm afraid). Moreover, Gurdjieff, or at least interest in him and his teachings, have a lot to do with Ouspensky sticking around to the extent he has. People have explored him via their interest in Gurdjieff or later followers. That is a shame, because I think that Ouspensky's ideas are worth consideration on their own. If some seem dated, ridiculous, or quaint, look at the work of some of his contemporaries that are held in high regard (Freud comes to mind here).

Another reason to consider this book, however, is its influence on a small number of influential people. For example, the American poet Hart Crane was influenced by Ouspensky's Tertium Organum, and some references can be seen in his epic poem "The Bridge" (though they may be confused with some of the Blake references/influences).

Overall, I recommend the book. I found it challenging at times, but worthwhile reading. I especially think that scholars of Modernism and/or Gurdjieff will find interesting material in it. At the very least, it may change your perception of what people were thinking and discussing in the early 20th century.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading for higher dimensional truths
Review: P.D. Ouspensky lucidly and along definite philosophical reasonings guides the reader from our 3-dimensional world to higher dimensional realities. As humans we perceive the "World" not as it is, but rather as our perceptive faculties communicate it to us. Therein lies the difficulty of comprehending higher orders (our own hard wiring). Ouspensky's greatness is his ability to elucidate higher truths by straightforward analogy and reasoning. The author marries the ideas and teachings of many great thinkers into one multifaceted format. Mystical teachings are explained from a scientific slant and revolutionary scientific Ideas lead to a mystical end. The ultimate aim is to lead the reader to the ultimate truth of "THOU ART THAT" or "I AM".

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fantastic Brain Software
Review: This book is amazing. It will help you see everything in the fourth dimension. The text might seem a little thick at first, but it soon becomes pleasantly hypnotic, and all of the sudden the program is run and there you stand in a fourth-dimensional world. You won't be able to put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Our time is really motion through extradimensional space
Review: This is one of those great Books that has suffered because of a lack of readership capable of comprehending it. If one has the left brain traits necessary to grasp the transfinite logic and mathematics, then the mystical implications are ungraspable. And if you have the right brain intuition to understand the mystical implications, then you often struggle with the logic and mathematics. This book requires a reader with not only a first rate mind, but also a balanced one.

To briefly abstract the primary thesis: time is really motion in extra dimensional space. This is profound, for Ouspensky was the first to actually point towards where an actual, physical fourth dimension can be found. Our brains confuse this dimension with time. It can be split off from time with an adjustment, or evolution, of consciousness. You see, this represents the next huge leap in understanding the nature of the universe and reality. Just as Newton's undefined quantity of "gravity" was shown to actually be curved space, so does Ouspensky show Einstein's undefined quantity of "time" to be motion through higher physical dimensions.

If you want a book that will challenge you, this is it. One day these ideas are going to shake the very foundations of mainstream science, of mankind's collective view of "reality"....