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Which world?

Exploring how ontologies and cosmologies shape worldviews

David McConville

Aug 28, 2020 • 36 min read

This is an overview of research we conducted to inform the development of the operating philosophy of one of Spherical's early clients. It reviews how ideas about the nature of the world (cosmology) and the nature of being (ontology) play a critical role in shaping worldviews.

Life is interrelation and interdependence through and through, always and from the beginning. Arturo Escobar (2017)

Overview

Worldviews emerge from fundamental beliefs about the nature of reality. These beliefs are often deeply rooted and strongly held, even if they are rarely discussed or acknowledged explicitly. They have a significant impact on decisions about priorities and actions in the world, although the extent of their influence is often unnoticed.

Uncovering and examining these assumptions is usually considered a task for philosophy. In the European tradition, philosophers refer to the study of fundamental beliefs about the history, structure, and meaning of the world as cosmology. Ontology is the closely related study of existence, which includes questions about what exists and how it came to be. These are intimately intertwined concepts, with their associated beliefs mutually constituting each other in fundamental ways.

This section examines some recurring cosmological and ontological premises that have influenced paradigms of thought. The goal is not to provide an exhaustive account of these beliefs across cultures (which would be impossible!), but to offer a brief overview to inform and clarify evolving points of view.

Which world?

Before diving into our worldview, let's define which world we're talking about. At first glance, this might seem intuitively obvious: The world is basically the broad context within which we experience reality and a worldview is the set of beliefs about that perceived reality.

However, it's not so simple. The notion of the world can be defined from many different perspectives - the physical world, the mental world, the spiritual world, etc. It can also be defined through systems of collective experiences and agreements, such as worlds of culture, law, and education. And of course the world (and worlds) is commonly used to refer to Earth, other planets, or the entire universe.

Attempting to unpack what we mean by "world" turns out to be quite a complex undertaking. Much has been written about this conundrum, raising critical questions about the nature of this "world of many worlds" (de la Cadena and Blaser, 2018). What are the relationships between these worlds? How are they entangled? What are our responsibilities to them? Which ones do we prioritize?

To address these questions, we've considered how some of them have been addressed through the lenses of cosmology and ontology. Cosmologies are often presented all-inclusive accounts of the world, whereas ontologies attempt to describe their most basic, constituent features. These are often mutually reinforcing, so we've been identifying various premises and considering how they can inform philosophy and practices.

Cosmology

What is cosmology?

Cosmology (derived from Greek kosmos “order, the world” + -logia “study”) broadly describes attempts to account for the overall structure of the world and humanity's relationship to it, exploring fundamental questions of its nature, origins, and developmental potential.

Though contemporary physical cosmology is closely associated with astronomy and astrophysics, various approaches have emerged from and been enacted with diverse cultural and ecological contexts throughout human history. They are developed and reinforced through scientific, philosophical, and spiritual/religious beliefs and practices, though the boundaries between these distinctions are often ambiguous (Hetherington 1993).

Alfred North Whitehead (1929) describes cosmologies as attempts to "to construct a system of ideas which bring the aesthetic, moral, and religious interests into relation with those concepts of the world which have their origin in natural science." Similarly, Joseph Campbell (1986) contends that a cosmology fulfills psychological and mythical functions through the use of poetry and symbolism.

Why does it matter?

Cosmological beliefs and practices are fundamental to how humans interpret the nature of reality. They shape ever-changing worldviews in subtle and profound ways, influencing everything from personal behaviors to the organization and trajectories of civilizations (Chandler, 2001). They are integral to cultural belief systems, though their influence often goes unnoticed. For this reason, their importance can be overlooked and their consequences underestimated. Acknowledging the origins, foundations, and effects of different cosmologies can help us become aware of their influence, so we can adopt and develop more suitable ones.

Cosmologies of separation

Cosmologies of separation divide the cosmos into dualistic and hierarchical structures (e.g. ideals and forms, physics and metaphysics, humans and nature).

In the West, these divisions are primarily associated with the philosophical inheritance of Plato's theory of forms. Variations on his concept of a division between ideals and forms became the cornerstone of both Western religion and natural philosophy.

Most notably, the philosophical idea that the universe operates in a predictable, clock-like manner was reinforced throughout the European scientific revolution. Phenomena were assumed to be governed by eternal scientific laws, discernible through objective observation, reasoning, and quantification. In turn, these laws could be used to predict and control the behavior of nature. This mechanistic worldview took hold throughout the development of modern science through ongoing tensions between rationalism and empiricism.

This cosmology of separation also reinforced the notion of atomistic individuals, which set the stage for the humanist revolutions of the modern era. These were based in ideals of progress, liberty, and reason associated with the Age of Enlightenment. These ideals were also used to both justify and challenge ongoing Western colonization.

By the 19th century, Darwinian evolution appeared to challenge this anthropocentric cosmology of separation by suggesting humans are one branch on the tree of life. In response, social Darwinists integrated the evolutionary concept of the survival of the fittest, which has been used to justify competition, selfishness, austerity, and social and economic inequities. These views offered “natural” justifications for the emerging extractive, zero-sum global economy that laid the foundations for contemporary neoliberalism. Today, many of the tacit beliefs of objectivist cosmology continue to shape scientific, technological, economic, and socio-political systems (Tresch 2014).

Two premises closely associated with the Western cosmology of separation include:

Dominating: Through concepts like the great chain of being, the premise of domination came to reinforce the idea of a natural order of power relations within European economic and governance systems. This has been used to justify and reinforce concepts and practices of royalty, colonization, racism, patriarchy, ownership, and anthropocentrism (Lovejoy 1936; Asma 1995).
Mechanistic: The metaphor of the clockwork universe arose with the development of mechanical philosophy throughout the European scientific revolution, in which living beings came to be seen as machines reducible to their component parts (Henning and Scarfe 2013).

Cosmologies of relations

Relational cosmologies view all life as interrelated, entangled within co-evolutionary relationships.

Relational cosmologies can be found across many traditions. They view life as an autocatalytic force, transforming entropy into order, self-organizing across scales, and shaping its own evolutionary trajectory through emergent properties and processes. Living systems in particular are autopoietic — self-producing, self-maintaining, and environment-cognizing — and brought forth through nested relations (Gilbert et al 2012). Moreover, new species regularly arise through union with other species, through symbiotic processes that transcend the anthropomorphic projections of competitive versus coöperative relations (Margulis 1998; Margulis and Sagan 1995).

Two premises closely associated with relational cosmologies include:

Organic: The **world can be be understood through the metaphor of a living entity and through the dynamics of living systems.

Co-Evolutionary: The world is composed of complex and intermingled relationships between co-evolving microscopic and macroscopic life which shape and are shaped by their environments (Montgomery and Biklé 2015).

There's much to be said about cosmologies and their consequences, both historically and how they continue to affect the contemporary world, please see recommended readings if you would like to learn more.

What is ontology?

Ontology (derived from Greek ontos “"being" + -logia “study”) is a term coined in the early 17th century to describe the philosophical study of the nature of being and existence. It encompasses attempts to understand fundamental substances and characteristics of the world, asking questions about what is real, what exists, and the nature of relations between being and becoming.

In the context of Western philosophy, ontology details entities and essences that comprise any system of metaphysics, an intricate task, which has profound implications on other areas of philosophy. Examples of ontological questions include:

What can be said to exist?
What is a thing?
Into what categories, if any, can we sort existing things?
What are the meanings of being?
What are the various modes of being of entities?

Isn't ontology used in computer science?

What does it matter?

Ontology examines how beliefs about existence influence how worlds are imagined and enacted.

Ontological beliefs can bring forth radically different ways of living and being. They frame and filter ways of relating to existence, understanding what is possible, and practices that enact worlds. However, these beliefs are often taken for granted and assumed to be synonymous with reality itself. The significance of their influence can remain invisible unless they are consciously acknowledged and examined. For this reason, ontologies have received increased academic attention in recent years in what has been called the ontological turn (Gullion 2018). Particular focus has been given to the role of ontological beliefs in shaping and enacting worlds within diverse cultural contexts (Escobar 2017).

Ontologies shape and are shaped by metaphors, practices, and habits of thought.

As with Cosmological Premises, metaphors and practices play a significant role in shaping ontological beliefs. These beliefs, in turn, shape how we experiences the world and how we habitually conceive of or experiences. Ontologies have metaphorically been described as the “windows through which we see the world,” filtering perceptions of what is real and what is possible (Bollier and Helfrich 2019).

We've identified some key Ontological Premises , which we've also broadly categories into two classes:

Ontologies of separation

Ontologies of separation divide aspects of existence into rigid dualities (e.g. subject and object, mind and body, self and other). One duality is often seen as superior.

Dualistic ontology, also known as Cartesian ontology (Escobar 2017; Wildman 2010), generally describes the currently dominant system of beliefs about the nature of being associated with Western philosophy. This is the position that entities or things are the primary substances of existence. Closely associated with René Descartes' philosophical quest for ontological certainty, this form of ontology remains highly influential within many modern institutions of science, education, and politics.

Ontologies of separation are broadly predicated on the following premises:

Bifurcated: The mind and body are separate, distinct substances (see mind-body dualism).
Reductionist: The material world is atomistic and can be explained via reductionist methodologies.

Ontologies of relations

Relational ontologies posit that relations are the primary stuff of existence — relations between entities are more fundamental than the entities themselves.

Relational ontologies assert that "no entity is self-sufficient, that each thing becomes what it is and sustains itself in its distinctness from others by way of relating to them" (Vetlesen 2020, 59). They are common within non-Western worldviews (see Escobar 2017) and have also emerged within contemporary Western science and philosophy (see relationalism).

The term relation derives from roots meaning connection, correspondence, an act of telling, and restoring (OED 2020). There are countless types of relations, including "emotional, physical, mechanical, technological, cultural, moral, sexual, aesthetic, logical, and imaginary relations, to name a few" (Wildman 2010, 55).

We've broadly identified some general premises of relational ontologies:

Complementary: The mutuality of opposites are embraced, in contrast to the conceptual bifurcation and oppositional divisions associated with dualist ontologies.
Emergent: Properties and behaviors are ontologically irreducible, not exhibited prior to the interactions and relations.
Nested: Being and reality are nested. Relations are situated, nested, and fractal, unique to specific contexts and places. ****
Networked: Phenomena are construed of non-hierarchical assemblages that are diversified and hybridized.
Pluralistic: Diverse ontologies emerge from distinct relational contexts (cultural, ecological, etc).

From separating to relating

The misconception which has haunted philosophical literature throughout the centuries is the notion of 'independent existence.' There is no such mode of existence: every entity is to be understood in terms of the way it is interwoven with the rest of the universe.
- Alfred North Whitehead (1948)

The paradigm of separation has, in many ways, become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The anthropocentric cosmology that humans are separate from — and dominate — the rest of nature has seeded the conditions that have created the proposed epoch of the Anthropocene (Vetlesen 2019). Many of the worlding practices associated with this paradigm have ignored and/or failed to account for the importance of relations between humanity and the rest of the web of life. As a result, the world dominated by extractive economics has become increasingly hostile to diverse cultures and species.

At the same time, the ideas and methodologies that emerged from Western science have had complex and even paradoxical effects on human well-being. Importantly, many of these ideas also affirmed the intimate interconnectedness of the world (and worlds), contributing to the rise of what has been called the relational paradigm (Walsh et al 2020). This approach transcends rigid dualities, viewing entities and phenomena as fundamentally constituted by dynamic relations.

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Which world?

David McConville

Overview

Which world?

Cosmology

What is cosmology?

Why does it matter?

Cosmologies of separation

Cosmologies of relations

Recommended Reading: Cosmology

Timelines

Critical Perspectives

What is ontology?

What does it matter?

Ontologies of separation

Ontologies of relations

From separating to relating

References

Cosmology

Ontology

From Separating to Relating