PPP, Part 6, On Noumena

Greetings, Friendlies!

A swerve into classical philosophy. :)

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) initially proposed the concept of “noumena”, contrasted with “phenomena”.

Phenomena are what make up human experience. What we call objects and experiences, phenomena originate from our sensory perceptions (aka Saḷāyatana, sense doors, sight, sound, taste, etc), these perceptions are then formed into phenomena, ie, given meaning, via our cognitive faculties. Thus is the entire world of human experience formed. Sense perceptions, cognitive faculties.

Noumena, on the other hand, are things in and of themselves. We do not know noumena. We only know what can be perceived through our senses and this knowing is coloured by our cognitive faculties.

The point of all this, IMO, is not to get wrapped around the axle about what noumena may actually be. The point is epistemological, helping us to recognize/remember that the entire world of our experience is filtered through our sense perception and our cognitive faculty. My experience/understanding of the world is limited two-fold. First it is limited in that I can only receive what is perceptible to my sense faculties. Second it is limited in being shaped, formed, coloured by my cognitive faculties. Some of these cognitive faculties I share with other beings, having arisen from evolutionary pressures over 3.5 billion(ish) years. Some of these cognitive faculties are individual, having come into being over the past four decades of navigating the environment and the social pressures of my species.

All experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind,
Made by mind.

Dhammapada, Translated by Gil Fronsdal.