Article: On the Nature of Four: Jung’s Quarternity, Mandalas, the Stone and the Self

[silke]

You can view the page at http://www.the16types.info/vbulletin...e-and-the-Self

[mu4]

In my study of binary(2-based) and trinary(3-based) systems, it's seems to be that binary systems lack synthesis, and trinary lacks the a symbol/representation of the unknown or the symbol/representation of null.

Adding a fourth to an already established thee has a transformational effect. In geometry, a fourth point transforms the two-dimensional triad or triangle into a figure with depth, the cube and the tetrahedron (a form lapis). As the mathematician Michael Schneider observes, “There are always four ways (another quaternity) to look at any three-dimensional structure: as points, lines, areas, and volumes, or as corners, edges, faces, and from the center outward (63). Ellenberger notes that “The quaternity can appear as a geometric figure of square or sometimes rectangular shape, or it will have some relation wit the number four: four persons, four trees, and so on. Often it is a matter of completing a triadic figure with a fourth term, thus making it into a quaternity” (712). Jung searches for the quaternity when a trinity is encountered, “Jung over and over again in his writings returns to the alchemical question: “Three are here but where is the fourth?” (Edinger 189). The completion of the quaternity is seen frequently in alchemical works, even whimsically, “All things do live in the three/ But in the four they merry be” (quoted in CW 12 125).

This is a very important passage as the 4th component of turning a trinary system into a quaternity is generally the discovery of the unknown.

Generally the structure of a trinary system will be Yes, No, Null(unmeasured, unobserved) or 1, 0, Null. The 4th component that is sometimes added is N/A/Unknown. I think this is the basic structure of the functions as well.

1=Feeling Measurement of Yes (Passion, motivation, feelings, subjectively these exist in a definite fashion)
0=Thinking Measurement of No (Doubt, logic, verification, validation)
Null=Sensing indication of non-observed, if observed and can be measured than see above
Unknown=Intuition Knowledge that information exists but is unknown, observed implicitly but unmeasured

Note this might only apply to static functions, in this fashion and dynamic functions might not be the same.

I think this matches up with Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis as well.
Thesis=Yes
Antithesis=No
Synthesis=Unknown
Anti-synthesis=Null

However by adding nullification or falsification to the equation as a possibility, I'll call it antisynthesis, the thesis and antithesis rather than being reconciled are merely rendered as a meaning question. You can do this by viewing the problem of thesis and antithesis as a language game problem ala Wittgenstein or likely thru other means.

Thanks for adding this, it's very interesting.