Speculative Whole Revised

Abstract

How to think of the Whole? Our theoretical findings on that matter emanate from the critical response to D. F. Verene’s account of the idea of the Whole, which is speculative and necessary for true philosophy. As this study shows, the idea in its essence depends upon two main criteria, ontological and epistemological. Both criteria perfectly demonstrate the logic of supplementation, which undermines the original conception. We argue that the speculative Whole has to be revisited. First, the only possibility to provide the connection between the idea of the Whole and self-knowledge in a consistent way could be given through the idea of holistic living. Secondly, the Whole must be thought virtual: that allows the Whole to exist in a variety of drafts, exclusive of the one true. Both our theoretical gestures result in a significant convergence of the concepts of the Whole and Becoming.