This word frightens rationalists, for they have mechanized it, while they have idealized wisdom. But what is reduction, even from a rational standpoint? Even basic engineering rationality will suggest that reduction is not simplification (degradation), as many superficially assume, but optimization.
For instance, there is an engineering component called a “reducer.” It does not steal the engine’s torque, as degradation would (a linear decline of quantity and quality), but transforms torque into power (optimizing the number of revolutions, translating them into a different quality of power). That is what philosophical reduction is—the ability to see the essence beyond the noise, to contemplate the source beyond superficial phenomena. And once you contemplate the essence, you automatically begin to dwell within it (optimization of rational fuss into a state of stillness). That is precisely the state of wisdom.
👨🏫 Sudesh Kumar
🎯 Philosophy Circle
👁️🗨️ philosophy.sudesh.org
