Something Beyond

Photo by Green Planet on Unsplash

There is something beyond the senses which accounts for their experiences. This is acknowledged by both science and common sense.

The question is: what is the nature of that other thing?

Whatever that thing is, it both stands before the senses, causing experience, and also underlies the senses themselves. The senses must be made of that thing, as well. Both the objects of sensation and the senses and sensation are made of the same underlying thing.

What we call it, be it matter, or field, or energy or even consciousness, doesn’t really make a difference. The question that counts is: can the thing beyond and behind the senses be like the things the senses experience?

This is a worthy question to dwell on.

Let’s consider a rock. You touch it, it has certain tactile properties like hardness and roughness and coolness. You lift it and it has a heft, a weight. You wrap your fingers around it, it has a solidity or “extension” in space. It has a color and shape to the eyes and even a taste to the tongue if you are feeling adventurous.

All these are the properties of the stone. They are what alert the senses to its existence and give it content to them.

But of course we don’t believe that these qualities are existent when the senses are not in contact with the rock…