Hi Ray. I have some explanations that may help...may be not...

>I think I follow you about "intrinsicality is identical ... to essences" -
>until the last phrase:
>
>"and Aristotle is talking about (objectively) *intrinsic value/quality*
>which is the split
>word (sweet cautery)."

I think the term instrinsic is related somehow to what is the essence of the
item we are talking about in many ways. The term 'instrumental' relates to
quality and can coincide with the essence of the thing being defined or it
may not by convention, from time to time. Aristotle uses quality as a
category to denote something in a thing which changes in a certain expected
way. Extrinsic are therefore qualities perhaps of the thing only in relation
to another thing. The use of the terms of relation (intrinsic for instance)
may vary depending on the context. If we are to analyze the quality
regarding a tree we would need to know something about the wood if we were
to speak about the 'instrumental' or 'extrinsic' qualities of the wood.
There is a science of wood...I took a course in it and we studied properties
associated with wood from various tree species. We were  able to tell which
species the wood came from and we were required to know what rays, tyloses,
etc. were (their function and form down to seperate species). For instance
we were able to tell what species of maple each block of wood came from
based on the qualities of the wood. 

Nothing of what I have said relates to 'values' as such in an 'extrinsic'
way directly. Wood has several phenomenal qualities, which may or may not be
'instrumental' for violin and furniture making. Birds' eye maple is an
uncommon quality which is graded out of stocks of lumber for furniture making. 

The term 'intrinsic' therefore relates objectively to an 'inhering' or
essential quality in the wood but it is a value only when specified. To say
that the tree has 'intrinsic' value is also to say that the tree has value
apart from any 'extrinsic' value. The term intrinsic means 'unspecified'
value when assessed solely in relation to only the tree. Thus it is a
unilateral value. It is for science an essential definition of the tree,
much like the taxonomy of the tree species, or its' 'autoecology' may be
part of the tree's essential definition, not just any property regarding a
quality. Any organism that I can think of has 'intrinsic value' such that
these values are not replaceable by any others. I may think that an organism
does not have any 'intrinsic' value but that 'disvalue' is only my
perception. The tree before modern civilization, and without human
valuation, had some 'functional value' for other life forms that are
entirely ecological. It also had 'self-value' as an organism, that is it had
activity with purpose. 

The 'split word' was from Certeau, a french philosopher who studied
mysticism. The idea was to express some reality about a mystic form of
comprehension of human reality. The term 'sweet cautery' is from St. John de
la Cruz who wrote a mystical writing whilst in prison. It represents the
ascent of the soul, into a mystical union with Christ. The author imagines
himself suffering the stigmata mystica, the wounds of the flesh, for the
love of God only. He dissociates from the pain of the wounds, the cautery,
and imagines how sweet this wound is after he heals. The painful
mortification of the flesh, the love of sensuous pleasures of this earth are
said to be 'nothing' compared to the joys and bliss of eternal life in
heaven. The image of this 'marriage of the soul' (the bride) with the Christ
(bride groom) is the final goal, that is to have no individual will but the
will of God. In fact the joys of this earth are simply a stumbling block to
the rapture of God's Love. I would use the term 'logical intuition' but the
term is not correct in this case since their is no volition required to make
the ascent, but only prayer (contemplation and concentration on the image of
salvation) and charity. 

One needs to remember that the value in this exercise of letting go the
desire for worldly pleasures is like being in a 'boundary situation' where
there is no exit or freedom possible. It is like a psychic death.  In fact
St. John de la Cruz was being held in a prison because of the Inquisition,
and his writings were subject to censorship, seizure, and scrutinized
thoroughly by clergy due to suspected heresy. So he was fortunately
determined to not be found quilty of heresy and he was eventually let free,
but his writings were heavily edited and re-written to remove any suspicion
or doubt about the meanings which may have challenged clerical authories. 

I should be more clear on what I meant by this since it is kind of
irreligious for me to use the term this way except to make the point
regarding 'mortification of the flesh' as a deliberate exercise to purify
the soul before the marriage (symbolic of the rapture from having no self
will but Gods will acting solely). 

I was studying mysticism for many years when I read this writing. 

Now I study exoterism of a more soteric tradition: iconoclastic thinking,
barbarisms, and ecology.

john





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