R1

conceptual inquiry regarding meaning » value » character / valued by me / my 'is'

The last three nodes of the A-phase—the R, X, and V-nodes—are all associated with the past, what has been, particularly what has been valued, and how one is who one is based on what has been. The first—the R-node—concerns one's own habits and how these habits have shaped who one is. Consider Will Durant's paraphrase of Aristotle: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." (Of course, this works regarding viciousness, too.) The R-node involves who we currently are given what we've repeatedly done. We needn't continue to be that. We can change the nature of our character ever so slowly by cultivating new habits. But the R-node represents our set of character traits that we've conditioned through habitual actions. Of course we must recognize that many if not most of those habits will be socially conditioned insofar as we tend to do the same kinds of things that those around us are doing.

These character traits coincide with a set of dispositions, which in turn translates into a set of tendencies when we're placed in situations. So, given the nature of our character, we'll find ourselves oriented toward a particular situation in a particular way, and we'll tend to respond to that situation accordingly. The character part involves a degree of skill when it comes to being aware of relevant features of a given situation. When we have the skill to notice the most relevant features of a situation, given what we're doing, we will be affected by that situation in a particular way. This affect goes hand in hand with implicit judgments we're making about the situation. So, sometimes when we're feeling sad, e.g., we're making the implicit judgment that we've lost something dear to us, such that, were this once thought lost treasure to be immediately presented, the sadness would disappear. Moreover, these implicit judgments lead to other judgments according to our past patterns of associating judgments. So, if I'm sad in a situation, and my judgment is that I've lost some treasure, I may have the habit of making the further judgment that I lost it because I didn't deserve it, because I'm a terrible person, and so on. Or, if when in the past I have had the habit of following up the judgment of loss with the judgment of gratitude for the time I had with the treasure—a fond memory of which I will carry forward as I embark on seeking new treasures—I would be affected by the situation differently. I feel differently about it. So, these feelings of being affected by the situation and implicit judgments are conditioned by my character, which again, is as a set of skills I have for noticing certain features of a situation and not others. And these feelings and judgments, as determined by one's disposition toward the situation, motivate us to respond to the situation in a given way.

All of this is related to how Aristotle speaks of virtue as a mean between extremes. Depending upon what we bring to the situation (our character), we will be affected by that situation in some way (our passions), which will in turn motivate us to respond to the situation in a certain way (our actions). And if we possess excellence of character, we'll be appropriately affected by a situation, which will motivate us to respond appropriately. And we cultivate excellence of character by a "trained faculty of choice." If our elders have brought us up well, they've given us good training already, and we'll have an easier time continuing that training, thereby further cultivating our character for ourselves.

So, the R-node question asks, not what we think we value or want to value, but what we actually have valued, and this is indicated by what we have done. There are no ideal values going on here. Who we are as regards our character is a function of who we have been, which itself is simply a function of what we have been feeling and doing habitually.

With respect to the I and O-phases, R of K = experienced as self and R of M = qualia, what-it's-like to be a contextualized individual. In each case, how we're affected by our experiences is in part determined by the quality of our character.

		O
		M	N	P
I	J	T	S	Y	-	A
	W	Z	U	Q	-
	K	R	X	V	-
		E	F	G
		D	C	B
		L

blue	self/part; psychological
green	dynamic/reciprocity; sociological
red	world/whole; physiological

R (qualia) of M (subjectivity) in O (intelligibility)

what-it's-like to be a particular, contextualized individual
what-it's-like to undergo an experience

R (character) of 'valued' in A (value)

The quality of one's character shows itself in the way one is affected by and responds to situations. Since passions motivate actions, how we tend to respond to situations is in large part determined by how we tend to be affected by them. To the degree that we willfully change how we're naturally inclined to respond to situations, that willful activity isn't part of our character unless it's a habit. When it's not a habit, it's an attempt to change our character. When it is a habit—that is, when we consistently consider how to respond to situations before responding—that's just one way situations affect us and so is part of our character. In any case, it's the way situations affect us that reveal our character.
One's character is a function of what one has consistently, habitually valued.

R (self) of K (experienced) in I (reality)

experienced as self
that which is uniquely experienced by a particular experiencer

R (pychological) of E (recognition) in L (conditions)

the unique character of an individual that's recognized
This node goes together with T of E. Recognition occurs between people sharing uniquenesses. T is the (sociological) sharing and R is the (psychological) uniqueness. This most thoroughly occurs through empathy, where one identifies with another—when one understands what-it's-like to be the other.

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