Aesthetics, Mind, and Nature: A Communication Approach to the Unity of Matter and Consciousness

Minai Develops The Idea That An Aesthetic Value Is Not Necessarily An Objective Value Reasoned By Rationality. Beauty Is A Matter Of Chance And Necessity In The Nature Of Things, A Matter Of The Order Of Things And The Circumstances Of Their Interconnections, Or Predictable And Unpredictable Forces. To Know Such A Complex System We Need To Establish A View Of Phenomenology And Hermeneutics, A World View Where Bad And Good And Ugly And Beautiful Are Part Of A Continuum Of Changes And Differences. In That World View, It Is Essential To Have An Understanding Of Mind, Nature, And The Epistemology Of Knowing. 1. Introduction -- The Concept -- The Themes -- The Axioms -- The Orientation And The Approach -- What Do We Hope For In This Book? -- 2. Nature -- Inorganic Matter -- Organic Matter -- Symmetry And Asymmetry Of Living Forms -- Paradigms And Contradictions Between Living And Nonliving Matter -- Order, Disorder, And Entropy -- Information Process Communication -- A Unified Model -- 3. Mind -- Origin Of Consciousness -- Mind And Brain, Or Philosophical Reference -- Mind As A Communication System -- Self-production As Origin Of Life And Consciousness -- Brain-mind Or Mind-brain -- Brain-mind Relationship (schools Of Thought) -- Memory -- Rationalism And Intuition -- Perception And Cognition -- Artificial Intelligence -- 4. Philosophy -- Eastern Versus Western Wisdom -- Christianity And Western Philosophy -- Eastern Philosophies -- A Binary System Representing The Principle Of The Opposites -- Chaos -- The Theory Of The Opposites -- Eastern And Western Philosophies -- A Comparison --^ Parallels Between Quantum Physics And Mysticism -- 5. Epistemology -- Cosmic Order -- The Basis For Knowledge -- Knowledge -- Interconnection, Rooted In Human Mentality -- Objectivity And Subjectivity -- Complementary Ways Of Knowing -- Romanticism And Realism -- Mental Abstractions Of Cosmic Order -- Epistemology Of Knowledge -- A Proposed Epistemological System -- Arts And Sciences -- Complementary Ways Of Interpretation -- Knowledge -- A Product Of Direct Experience -- Knowledge Through A Unified View Of Matter And Psyche -- Communication -- 6. Communication Arts -- Definitions Of Communication Art Forms -- Constituent Components Of A Human Communication -- Spacial Forms Of Human Communication -- Temporal Forms Of Aesthetic Communication -- Spaciotemporal Forms Of Human Communication -- 7. Aesthetic Communication -- Assumptions -- Identity And Difference As Sources Of Information -- Text -- Context And Information -- Communication Encompassing Matter And Psyche --^ Eastern And Western Philosophy -- Communication -- Linking All Forms Of Matter -- Creativity -- A Potentiality Of Nature, Not Ego -- Aesthetics -- A Value Attached Communication System -- Arts As Manifestation Of Symbolic Information And Communication -- Aesthetic Communication. Asghar Talaye Minai. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [299]-309) And Index.