Philosophy as higher enlightenment

the long version

This work is a study in integrative thinking: it contributes some paradigms toward a new worldview from the perspective of dialectical realism. Its central idea is that philosophical thinking leads to a "higher enlightenment": illuminating the foundations of our beliefs as well as the horizon of our praxis. Hence the disparate interests of philosophical inquiry - its theoretical interest and its existential interest - find a dialectical integration here. The role of philosophy as a cultural healer is then articulated as a consequence.