The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be on Sun 2nd August at 7pm UK time on Zoom. This is the second of the series looking successively at five principles of the Middle Way (scepticism, provisionality, incrementality, agnosticism and integration), followed by three levels of practice (desire, meaning and belief).

There’ll be a short talk on the provisionality, followed by questions and discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on scepticism, please see this post.

There is already a short introductory video (8 minutes) on provisionality as part of Middle Way Philosophy, which is embedded below. You might like to watch this for an initial orientation before the session.

Here is the video of the talk and Q&A at the actual meeting:

Provisionality

Provisionality is the quality of being provisional in our judgements – that is, of being capable of changing them in the light of new experience. It may seem an obvious concept, particularly for those in the sciences, but in fact the word is rarely used, and the quality is often taken for granted rather than explicitly cultivated. As the video explains, provisionality involves both having a critical awareness of the limitations of the justification of your beliefs (through scepticism), and also having awareness of alternatives (through optionality). Optionality can be cultivated through the arts, or through any other activity that broadens our experience and available meaning.

Science relies on a quality of provisionality in those who practise it to make good its claims of being open to revision, but it tends to rely on socially organised checking mechanisms rather than explicitly cultivating that quality in individuals. Individuals also depend on provisionality to be able to make appropriate judgements in a variety of circumstances, to adapt and to meet their needs at a variety of levels (see the video on adapting to conditions for more on this). It may also seem to be a crucial quality in religious practice, but has rarely been explicitly identified or supported in religious contexts, even when sceptical arguments have been used (as they have in Buddhism). The Buddha’s parable of the raft is one potential exception. It is time that provisionality was explicitly identified and cultivated as a vital quality in all traditions.

Some suggested reflection questions:

1. Do you often have chance to pause for reflection, so as to be more critically aware of your assumptions? When does this happen, or when could you make it happen?
2. Think of examples of belief that you take for granted in everyday life. Are you aware of possible criticisms of those beliefs?
3. If you live a very social life, do you take opportunities for solitude so as to gain perspective on what groups expect from you?
4. Do you have any ways of cultivating weak links, through the arts, or other ways of stimulating the imagination or broadening experience? If not, how could you develop these?

Suggested further reading:

Middle Way Philosophy I: 1c Provisionality

The Buddha’s Middle Way 3.c: Provisionality: The raft and lute strings

Middle Way Philosophy IV, section 2 gives a fuller account of optionality, adaptiveness, and a range of other features of provisionality: See pdf of the Omnibus Edition on Researchgate.