“What is Numenon?” you may ask. Why isn’t it spelled noumenon, the way the great philosopher Immanuel Kant intended when he wrote The Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysic? Noumenon is a concept from philosophy meaning the thing-in-itself, inferred reality beyond the sensory world (phenomenon) to which we are limited. Who dares to use such an important word as a book title, when the book isn’t even about philosophy?
I do. Sandy Nathan. And it is about philosophy. It’s about the quest for meaning and essence inherent in human existence. It’s wrapped up in corporate and Native American trappings is to make it palatable to people who wouldn’t read philosophy if their lives depended on it. This book is an exercise in philosophy.
And I have an almost-major in philosophy from the prestigious Santa Clara University for credentials. I love philosophy. Studying philosophy saved my life.
When my father was killed by a drunk driver when I was eighteen, philosophy got me through. At that time, SCU required everyone to minor in philosophy––which I think is sensible and getting more so every day. I kept on taking philosophy courses after getting my minor, because I NEEDED IT. I ended up two courses shy of a major. I would have taken those two courses, but my advisor, Dr. Mario Belotti, said, “Who will ever see it? It won’t show up on your diploma.” Economics already filled the spot where it said “major.” I didn’t bother.
Who would guess that a mere forty years later, I’d be writing novels about philosophical subjects? No one. But that’s how life is.
Stepping Off the Edge, my first book, another philosophy blockbuster.
You asked about why it was spelled numenon. I didn’t change the name from Noumenon to Numenon lightly. (Or Nuomenon––check out Nuomenon.com, too.) It was because many other Noumenons existed and I didn’t want to get sued. Also, the domain name was taken, taken, taken. So many noumenons––there’s a rock album called Noumenon, a DJ, half a dozen corporations. Does this mean we’re all philosophers?
Well, yes. We are. Most of us don’t take it seriously until it’s too late. (“I knew I should have been a rock star instead of an accountant . . . ” “I should have made up with Uncle Henry. He stole my putter forty years ago . . .” Gasp, sputter. The end. Too late.) That’s how we tend to do it.
Not while I’m around, kiddies. Now’s the time to do the job! I’ve realized how old I am. Gasp, sputter. Not yet!
Communion by Lily Nathan. Let’s get real, folks. Now’s the only time to do it.
Why did I name my book Numenon, however spelled? Truth is, I really wanted dasein, Heidegger’s pure being. Pure being beyond the mind’s comprehension, beyond everything! Can you see the explosive cover for that book! WOWSIE!
Unfortunately, dasein is taken. Dasein Corp. is all over. Dasein Design, on and on. The corporate world has overtaken the philosophical world, in name at least.
DASEIN!I spent an un-fun day searching the Net for good corporate names early in the third or fourth rewrite of Numenon. I searched the Greek Pantheon, the Roman deities, Hindu, Vedantic, some Chinese gods, and sprites and others from world religious traditions. All taken. Also most philosophic concepts.
Taken! Taken! Mostly by software manufacturers. Since when did Shiva become a proprietary name? Millions of people worship Shiva all over the globe. What do they do when they’re praying, chant, “Om Namah (Proprietary Corporate Name)”?
So, dasein was taken. But I got lucky with nuomenon. It was available! I grabbed it as fast as I could log into my favorite purveyor of URLs. Grabbed it with joy.
Only later, as I tried to read parts of the book to my writing group did I realize that nuomeon was much harder to pronounce than I remembered when I was studying philosophy. Really hard: Nuu-o-me-non. A tongue twister. Something was wrong.
A little sloothing and I discovered that I had misspelled it on my initial search. Okay, the best of us make mistakes. When I finally looked up the correct spelling, I realized, “Oops.” I Googled noumenon and found the multitude of legal entities already claiming to be the noumenon.
How can a philosophical term be made into a proprietary name? “It can’t,” said my lawyer. “Use it.”
“Watch out you don’t get one of those corporate guys mad at you,” said my other lawyer.
I spelled it Numenon. Cowardice is prudent, if not a virtue. Plus, the domain name was available.
Now that we have discussed noumenon, nuomenon, numenon more than you’d ever want to unless you were a philosophy major, let’s talk about something else. My new book:
The world of Numenon is on the way. It’s book one of the Bloodsong Series––this is just the beginning. I’ve got eight books FINISHED in draft form. (Meaning: They won’t be too hard to rewrite.) We’ve got the Advance Reading Copies and are gearing up to send them out for reviews and testimonials. We’ll have some Pre-release Copies soon, available only through the sandynathan.com site. Check one of the multitudes of links above for more information and what readers are saying about Numenon.
I’m going to go chant my mantra now, “Om Namah (Proprietary Corporate Name).”
Sandy
Sandy. Do you like the color or black and white photo?
Should I add dogs?
