Earlier logies (like anthropology, theology and etymology) and sophies (like anthroposophy, theosophy and etymosophy) were contemplated as each other contrasting academic and contemplative sciences.1 Logies were found to be materialistic, academic, empiricistic, logical, rational and concrete minded and sophies spiritualistic, contemplative, revelationistic, wise, intuitive and abstract minded.
Now it is so that the academic sciences are mostly sciences of the past and the contemplative sciences mostly that of the future. In the crossing of the old era to the new era in which we are now placed2 among very many other things also science will know a shift.3, 4, 5
Now that the academic sciences are mostly the sciences of the past and the contemplative mostly that of the future is remarkably reflected in their directedness's. For the old academic sciences mainly busy themselves with causes of phenomena where the new contemplative sciences shall rather busy themselves with their results.6 Said differently do academic sciences busy themselves with where something comes from while the contemplative sciences busy themselves with where something can go.
This thought connects to the themes of thrownness and design in the thought of the philosopher Martin Heidegger. For there it is sketched that man when he is unauthentic is thrown from the historical and general 'they', and with that is lost, in the meaningful beings or things of the world. He however becomes authentic when those meanings of the things of the world fall away, because of which he finds the (and his own) 'being' and designs the things in a new manner.7 For instance in the unauthenticity of the general 'they' are pan lids known as things to cover pans. However a child, which still looks into the world in a very authentic way, may design those pan lids as musical instruments, as things that have a connection of meaning with making music.
When we translate the above thus to the so called unauthentic academic sciences and the so called authentic contemplative sciences we see that the first in their search for causes rather seek meanings that are thrown into phenomena while the latter in their search for results rather seek the self-designing of meanings in those phenomena. Etymology for instance seeks the causes of meanings that once were thrown in words while etymosophy rather seeks to design meanings in words.
We thus come to an overview as below.
| (Etymo)logy | (Etymo)sophy |
| Past | Future |
| Unauthentic | Authentic |
| Thrown | Designing |
Figure 1.
Of course it is so that in this transition period of the old to the new era one is mixed with the other. The etymosophies in the Contemplations series are for instance usually compositions of etymology and etymosophy where thown is designed. The goal here was however to somewhat elucidate the principal differences between (etymo)logy and (etymo)sophy with regards to past and future.