Observations On ‘Self’ & ‘Knowing’

Rudolph Rÿser

doi:10.63428/s752he43

Observations On ‘Self’ & ‘Knowing’

Rudolph C. Rÿser, PhD

Volume 23, Number 2 (2024) 23 (2): 9-19

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.63428/s752he43

Keywords Self knowing, collective consciousness, Cowlitz, simultaneity, cyclicism, Cuarto Spiralism, fatalism, providentialism, progressivism, cultural context, changeability of time, ways of thinking about the future, understanding change, understanding change, connection between lifeforms, natural state of consciousness

Abstract

Originally published in: Rÿser, R. (1997). Observations On ‘Self’ and ‘Knowing’, In H. Wautischer (Ed.), Tribal Epistemologies: Essays in the Philosophy of Anthropology (pp. 17-31), Routledge N.Y.

Drawing from his upbringing on Cowlitz land, Rudolph Rÿser explores in this article the dynamic between individual and collective consciousness that exists across all living beings. He suggests that true knowing arises when the individual comes to understand the collective—and that, at its essence, knowledge is an awareness of the tensions that drive change. Rÿser asserts that the natural state of all beings is immersion in the collective, and that it is only through personal will or external manipulation that one becomes vulnerable and disconnected from this shared sense of existence. Thus, all life forms possess an inherent understanding of collective consciousness, as it is their default condition. To support this, Rÿser examines examples from nature as well as five influential worldviews that various human cultures have used to frame the relationship between time, space, and place: cyclicism, cuarto spiralism, fatalism, providentialism, and progressivism. He argues that, rather than being fundamentally distinct, these perspectives are interwoven attempts at understanding and participating in collective consciousness—differentiated more by cultural context than by core intent. Ultimately, Rÿser frames the purpose of human life as a journey of learning—about ourselves and the world around us—so that we may find our place within the collective consciousness of all living things and the universe’s ever-shifting nature.