The subject of the article is distance, and applications of its analysis, namely: distancial and proximal phenomena and research. The research method is exemplification, explanation of phenomena through characteristic examples, here – distances. Distance has different meanings: distance, detachment, distinction, retreat, distance, alienation, etc., having different natures: physical, figurative, religious, logical, etc. However, if understanding comes late, through distance, then what is the use of it? Depending on the understanding of the infinite, there are two types of distance: 1) a distance leading to an unattainable perfection, an ideal, here infinity turns into emptiness; 2) a distancethat includes the finite and emptiness as ideal moments of movement. The distance is determined through a series of successive approximations, or «near» and «far». In other words, the definition of distance coincides with the definition of truth. For example, K. Levi-Strauss showed that the savage thought as well as modern man, progress occurred not in thinking, but in living conditions. Here people of distant epochs come closer together, through finding a distance between them – this is indicated by the principle of the constancy of distance. An example of a distal study is the definition of the «power distance index», the proximity or remoteness of power from the people. The distances between the past, present and future have ideological significance. Research on this issue notes the reduction of the present time through growth, pressure and acceleration of innovation, alienation from the past and present. A. Einstein, denied the phenomenon of irreversibility, and believed that the division of time into the past, present and future is an illusion. The greatest distance between near and far is created by religion. The article proposes a new trichotomy of truth./false/faith, where faith is the sphere of meaning. Faith forms a distance that transcends human experience – transcendence. Distance and understanding should have a measure – the distance should not be too close or too far, and also go (slip away) into the empty otherworldliness of infinity. Distance correlates with the path, if the path is a necessary condition for existence and understanding, then distance should be a sufficient reason for the path (both understanding and existence). The concept of distance can be attributed to the «dimensional categories» of the synthetic paradigm (the expression of D. V. Pivovarov).
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Jan 1, 2024
Rebecca F Baggaley + 5
Open Access
