Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Transcendental Purpose: Reality or Illusion?

Transcendental Purpose: Reality or Illusion?

Nahum, Gerard G.

Hardcover

Science Fiction

ISBN10: 1463010710
ISBN13: 9781463010713
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Published: Sep 17 2026
Pages: 226
Weight: 1.01
Height: 0.63 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The forensic mystery begins with a bizarre death, but it quickly evolves into a philosophical and scientific investigation of causality, explanation, and the limits of human understanding. Justin Brinker, a former insurance executive turned private investigator, is hired to examine the demise of Arnold Charter, a respected engineer who was found almost entirely incinerated inside his locked home. Authorities discover that a small, intensely localized fire occurred, but even after a full investigation, they are at a loss to explain what happened. The coroner ultimately lists his cause of death as Spontaneous Human Combustion, a term unfamiliar to the insurance company and unacceptable as an explanation. Justin's professional life is built around predictability, mechanisms, and quantifiable risk. During a detailed investigation, he finds the circumstances surrounding Arnold's death do not conform to normal expectations. Nonetheless, they are far from unique: hundreds of similar cases share a striking resemblance across the centuries-the victims are alone, the fires are localized, they reach scorching temperatures, and there is no evidence of any flammable material. The coroner deepens the mystery by explaining that causes of death always involve two different questions: how and why. The how of what occurred is often straightforward-a heart attack, trauma, major organ system failure, etc. But the question of why always devolves into an infinite regress of questions pointing to a web of antecedents rather than a straight line. What follows is an interrogation of the foundations of explanation itself. The story proceeds through investigations in philosophy, physics, thermodynamics, mathematics, quantum theory, relativity, cosmology, information science, and theology-each discipline offering a partial lens on causation, the illusion of continuity, and the overarching imperative of purpose. Justin discovers that the world does not operate according to the smooth, mechanistic causal chains that most people imagine exist. Instead, reality is permeated by discontinuities, hidden antecedents, and informational architectures that challenge conventional notions of reality and existence-all supporting the notion of a transcendental purpose residing in a higher-dimensional realm.

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