Update 1.07 — the “possibility” as opposition to “morality”

This update applies to a set of words on the left side of the Mandala of Characters. This is the following set:

FIRE
logic, THINKING   
fear, summer

In the previous update 1.06, I added the word “morality” to the Mandala. I think that it would be good to add the word which will be opposite to “morality”. I would like to do it on a similar way as in the case of pair of opposites: “ethics—logic”, or “FEELING—THINKING”.

So, it turns out that the words “FEELING” and “logic” they have their opposites. It means, “FEELING” is opposite to “THINKING”, and “ethics” is opposite to “logic”. Then, for “morality” there is not any opposition. It gives the impression for me that something in the Mandala is missing.

Let’s find the opposition to the word “morality”.

Morality, as I said in the previous chapter, is among other things a set of moral principles that we feel that we must follow. Morality, therefore, is a set of orders that we have to do. And these orders we have to fulfill even when there is no punishment for this, and there are no unpleasant consequences. Then, the moral order is something that does not give us any choice. The moral order must be followed without exception. There are no: options, alternatives, and options that you could choose instead. We cannot change the moral order, imperative or obligation to something else.

If there are no options, alternatives, and possibilities, then, I think, that these words we can treat as the opposition to the word “morality”.

So, we have three words to choose from to put on the Mandala of Characters. I think the best is to pick just one word which will represent what we need to express in this place.

From the words “option”, “alternative” and “possibility”, I think, the most suitable here will the word “possibility”. The word “possibility” is among these three most ambiguous. Thus, the word “possibility” can lead us to various association and comparisons. In that case, figuratively speaking, it looks like that “possibility” gives the most possibilities.

So, let’s add the word “possibility” to the set of words on the left side of the Mandala of Characters. And from now this set look like this:

FIRE
   logic, THINKING, possibility
fear, summer

Please look at the diagram below on which I made above changes.

In the above diagram, the word “possibility” is close to the type—Fire, from the side of type—Hot Fire. So, the word “possibility” has the biggest influence on Fire and the next Hot Fire.

Influence “possibility” on Hot Fire can be manifested by this, that this type likes when he has various possibilities on life. Hot Fire likes looking for the possibilities to find some opportunities. He constantly explores his surroundings to discover new possibilities. The word “opportunity” also matches to the words “attention” and “attitude”. “Attention” and “attitude” are in the top left corner of Mandala of Characters, and they are close to Hot Fire. So, they mostly apply to this type. The combination of words “possibility, attitude and attention” can briefly tell us that this type is a big explorer of possibilities. His attitude and attention among others are focused on possibilities.

The word “logic” in turn is located close to the Fire type, from the side of type—Dry Fire. So, type Dry Fire uses logic to a large extent.

Both “logic” and “possibilities” relate to the type—Fire.

In the case when in the behavior of a people from the type Fire will prevail logic, then we can locate them on the Mandala close to the type place where is the point—Fire, from the side of type Dry Fire.

If in the behavior of a people from the type Fire prevails considering one or many “possibilities”, then on the Mandala we can locate them close to the point indicating type—Fire, from the side of type Hot Fire.

In sum, the type of character Fire can be divided into three categories:

• The “logic” and “possibility” are used equally or almost equally. That is, mainly is used “THINKING”, which is located between “logic” and “possibility”.
• The “logic” is used to a greater extent than “possibility”.
• The “possibility” is used to a greater extent than “logic”.

When it comes to the word “possibility”, I think, we can say that it is widely known. It means, it is known that it says something is or will be possible. Also, it says about chances, perspectives, views, etc. The word “possibility” we can also associate with words such as alternative, option, choice, eventuality, potential, opportunity, probability; etc. So, the word “possibility” can relate to a lot of factors. However, besides that, we can yet associate the “possibility” with philosophy. And I will tell you about it in a moment.

On the Mandala of Characters, next to the word “possibility” are the words “THINKING” and “logic”.

“THINKING” I took from the Jung’s typology that he described in his book—“Psychological Types”.

The word “logic” has a very long tradition.

“Logic” was already used in the times of ancient Greece, and it is widely used until now. For example, in philosophy, literature, mathematics, etc. Since the “logic” has such long tradition, how it is in the case of “possibility”, which is close to “logic”? Can we associate the “possibility” to any philosophy in a similar way as “logic”?

One clue we can find in the Enneagram. It means the type Hot Fire is similar to Type 7 in the Enneagram. Type 7 is often called “The Epicure”. This name we can find in Helen Palmer book “The Enneagram”. “The Epicure” name of Type 7 in the Enneagram is associated with the ancient philosopher Epicurus.

So, we have the first philosophy which we can refer to the word “possibility”. And it is the Epicurean philosophy, which we can place in the area where is type Hot Fire.

However, if we move from point Hot Fire towards point Fire, next what we will meet it will be the word “possibility”. So, we can think, what philosophy we can assign here?

I think that with the word “possibility” we can associate an existential philosophy, or in short, existentialism. This philosophy says, among other things, that man is free during his existence. But it is connected with the fact, that he is fully responsible for his actions. And he has to face the necessity of making endless choices from many possibilities that life brings.

Thus, existential philosophy seems to be a good representative of this, what can be hidden behind the word “possibility”. This philosophy is very developed. It has many varieties, branches, and connections with other philosophies. Also, existentialism has many representatives in literature, such as Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others.

At this point, I think, it is also worth to mention one of the existentialists, that is, Italian philosopher—Nicola Abbagnano. This philosopher is the creator of the “philosophy of possibility”. One of the articles translated into Polish, entitled “Existentialism as a philosophy of possibility”, we can find here:
http://www.nowakrytyka.pl/pl/artykuly/Nk_on-line/?id=621

Sorry, but I don’t know any works of Nicola Abbagnano that we can read in English.

So, unfortunately, Nicola Abbagnano is widely known only mainly in Italy. However, I think, we can rely on his knowledge. And we can assume that existentialism is a philosophy of possibility. Besides, existentialism deals, among others, with existence, possibilities, and responsibility for chosen choices or taken action.

So, behind the word, “possibility” is standing such a great philosophy like existentialism. Then, it looks like that “possibility” is a good choice for representing this part of the Mandala of Characters.

References: