0008 A Course on How To Define The Word “Religion” may be found at smashwords and other e-book vendors.  Use the search terms: Razie Mah, series, course, how to define the word “religion”.

The course consists of ten primers, followed by the masterwork, How To Define The Word “Religion”.

The primers and the masterwork are punctuated, not by page numbers, but by points.  A one-hour class may cover around forty points.  That is a little slower than one per minute.  If you conduct a class, record the number of points covered per session and report to raziemah@reagan.com.

0009 The first five primers are listed below.

0010 These five primers introduce the category-based nested form, the two-level and three-level interscope, and topics covered by psychology and economics.

0011 The second five primers are listed below.

0012 These five primers introduce tiers, institutions, politics and religion.

The range of applications for the category-based nested form is remarkable.

0013 These ten primers open the door to the masterwork, How To Define The Word “Religion”.

This masterwork is one of three, covering the entire human evolutionary record.

0014 The method of instruction is to read and discuss.  Some points will pass rapidly.  Other points will evoke discussion.  Don’t worry about timelines.  The love of wisdom walks at her own tempo.

0015 The following blogs dwell on each of the ten primers.

0015 The category-based nested form comes first.

Some educators say that evolution should be a key concept in teaching sociology, psychology, and other social sciences.

Yet, the modern social sciences simply take the biological sciences for granted, then mimic the empirio-schematics of the natural sciences.  Disciplinary languages bring mathematical and mechanical models into relation with observations and measurements of phenomena.

The modern social sciences ignore human evolution and the mysterious character of the biological sciences.

The modern social sciences embrace empirio-schematics.

0016 Razie Mah proposes that human evolution has three aspects.  He writes three masterworks, one for each aspect, as depicted in the following figure.

0017 The third work, How To Define the Word “Religion” covers the character of our current Lebenswelt.   Speech-alone talk is one of the defining features of our current Lebenswelt.  The spoken word may be pictured as a category-based nested form.

Here is a diagram.

0018 How To Define the Word “Religion” relies on the truly postmodern philosophy of Charles S. Peirce.  The word, “postmodern”, is a site of contention, because many modern intellectuals label themselves with the term. What a fashionable attribute.  No one wants to be called, “modern”.  “Postmodern” is in vogue.

Yet, these self-identified “postmoderns” cannot identify Peirce’s three categories, nor how they fit together.  The category of firstness is the realm of possibility.  The category of secondness is the realm of actuality.  The category of thirdness is the realm of signs, mediations, judgments and normal contexts.

Instead, postmodern academics propose only two categories: their good and political fellow travelers and their evil and despised detractors.

Just kidding.

0019 Peirce’s categories permit the construction of the category-based nested form.

Here is a picture.

0020 Ten primers prepare the student for How To Define the Word “Religion”.  

The first is A Primer on the Category-Based Nested Form.

0021 The student?

This course is suitable for freshmen of all stripes, whether in middle school, high school or college.

0022 How so?

Freshmen enter introductory courses.

Freshmen need intellectual tools.

The intellectual tools introduced in these primers are relevant to understanding all three aspects of human evolution: the Lebenswelt that we evolved in, the first singularity and our current Lebenswelt.

0045 This primer comes third.

A nested form is composed a three elements.  The subscripts for each element are 1, 2 and 3.

An interscope is composed of three nested forms.  The subscripts for each level are a, b and c.

A three-tiered relational structure is composed of three interscopes.  The subscripts for each tier are A, B and C.

0046 In some specialized social circles, a three-tiered relational structure is called a “cake”.

Unfortunately, the term, “cake”, applied to the three-tiered relational structure, sounds half-baked.

0047 The individual in community_A is the first tier of this grand relational structure.

The discussion starts with a nested form, as depicted below.

0048 This nested form comes from theology.

A theological question gets raised, “What happens when a person dies?”

A theological answer is provided.

0049 Then, a three-level interscope for the individual in community is constructed by expanding each element of the “partially differentiated” nested form into a “fully differentiated” interscope.

Here is a comparison of the elements of the less differentiated nested form and the virtual nested form in the realm of normal context for the more differentiated interscope.

0050 The normal contexts are key psychological questions.

0051 Here is a picture of the resulting interscope.

0052 The three levels are content_a, situation_b and perspective_c.

These three levels constitute a nested form.  Perspective_c brings situation_b into relation with content_a.

A virtual nested form runs down each column, as noted in the prior blog, with the virtual nested form in the realm of normal context₃.

0053 There are nine elements.  An archetype highlights some elements and shadows others.  Jungian psychology explores archetypes.

0054 Finally, there is a powerful connection to one of the upper tiers.

Consider the element in the upper right corner of the above figure.

The perspective-level potential_1c is “rightfulness_1cA“.

Rightfulness_1cA connects to righteousness_1aC, a potential on the content-level_a of the upper tier_C.

0055 Here is a picture.

Sociology connects to psychology.

0056 The fourth primer introduces the organization tier.

The organization_B tier occupies the slot for actuality in a primal nested form.

The individual in community_A tier occupies the slot for possibility.

An unnamed upper_C tier labels the slot for normal context.

0057 Why is the upper_C tier not named?

Of course, the third_C tier has a label.

But, as soon as a label occupies the slot for normal context, the actuality of the organization_B tier gets turned.  The current term is “spin”.  For example, corporate media “spins” the “narrative”, into which organization_B-tier actualities appear to fit.

The issue of “spin” presents a great challenge for the disciplines of economics and sociology, which aim to scientifically study the phenomena of organizations.  Academics are tempted to judge the organization_B tier, as if the thing itself_B could be ethically evaluated.

0058 Take a look at the nested form for the organization_B tier.

Assessment_3B brings transactions_2B into relation with the potential of ‘people working together’_1B.

What do these words mean?

Every term tells a story.

Consequently, each element in the partially differentiated relational structure expands into a nested form, resulting in a three-level interscope.

Organization_B is not differentiated.

The nested form of assessment_3B, exchange_2B and ‘working together’_1B is partially differentiated.

The interscope with the levels of assessment_cB, exchange_bB and ‘working together’_aB is fully differentiated.

0058 How can an inquirer appreciate the three-levels of the organization_B tier?

Three metaphors encourage an intuitive grasp of these levels.  The family, the team and the tribe are social structures that belong to the Lebenswelt that we evolved in.  We innately anticipate these three social circles.

0059 But, there is a problem.

Our current Lebenswelt is not the same as the Lebenswelt that we evolved in.

In the Lebenswelt that we evolved in, all social circles work in harmony.  Intimates (5), family (5), teams (15), band (50), community (150), mega-band (500) and tribe (1500) co-evolve with humans.  Indeed, society, organization and individual in community are not differentiated.  Culture and nature co-evolve. So, our innate appreciation of the organization_B tier assists inquiry only so much.

0060 The inquirer must also find examples of the organization_B tier in our current Lebenswelt.

In the fourth primer I consider two historical examples and one pair of historical traumas.

Here is a list.

0061 The fifth primer further develops the organization_B tier.

Each of the three levels of the organization_B tier may further differentiate into interscopes.

In particular, the content level starts as a nested form.

0061 Then, this nested form expands into an interscope.

0062 Metaphors include the biological organism and the nuclear family.

Examples include the manor in medieval feudal society and the local bakery.