Single Idea 5045

[catalogued under 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 5. Unity of Mind]

Full Idea

By means of the soul or form, there is a true unity which is called the 'I' in us; a thing which could not occur in artificial machines, nor in the simple mass of matter, however organised it may be.

Gist of Idea

No machine or mere organised matter could have a unified self

Source

Gottfried Leibniz (New System and Explanation of New System [1696], p.120)

Book Reference

Leibniz,Gottfried: 'Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Parkinson,G.H.R. [Dent 1973], p.120


A Reaction

I think the unity of consciousness and the unified Self are different phenomena. A wonderful remark about artificial intelligence for 1696! Note the idea of functionalism contained in 'organised'. Personally I see the brain as a 'mass of matter'.

Related Idea

Idea 1696 Change goes from possession to loss (as in baldness), but not the other way round [Aristotle]