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Single Idea 15855
[filed under theme 9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 6. Nihilism about Objects
]
Full Idea
To dissociate each thing from everything else is to destroy totally everything there is to say. The weaving together of forms is what makes speech [logos] possible for us.
Clarification
'Logos' might translate as an account, or as understanding
Gist of Idea
If we see everything as separate, we can then give no account of it
Source
Plato (The Sophist [c.359 BCE], 259e)
Book Ref
Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.283
A Reaction
This I take to be the lynchpin of metaphysics. We are forced to see the world in a way which enables us to give some sort of account of it. Our metaphysics is 'inference to the best logos'.
The
16 ideas
from 'The Sophist'
1636
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Wickedness is an illness of the soul
[Plato]
|
1637
|
A soul without understanding is ugly
[Plato]
|
1638
|
Didactic education is hard work and achieves little
[Plato]
|
20478
|
In discussion a person's opinions are shown to be in conflict, leading to calm self-criticism
[Plato]
|
11278
|
What does 'that which is not' refer to?
[Plato]
|
1641
|
Some alarming thinkers think that only things which you can touch exist
[Plato]
|
7022
|
To be is to have a capacity, to act on other things, or to receive actions
[Plato]
|
1642
|
We must fight fiercely for knowledge, understanding and intelligence
[Plato]
|
1643
|
If statements about non-existence are logically puzzling, so are statements about existence
[Plato]
|
287
|
Good analysis involves dividing things into appropriate forms without confusion
[Plato]
|
16122
|
Good thinkers spot forms spread through things, or included within some larger form
[Plato]
|
1644
|
Dialectic should only be taught to those who already philosophise well
[Plato]
|
10422
|
The not-beautiful is part of the beautiful, though opposed to it, and is just as real
[Plato]
|
15855
|
If we see everything as separate, we can then give no account of it
[Plato]
|
1645
|
The desire to split everything into its parts is unpleasant and unphilosophical
[Plato]
|
10784
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Whenever there's speech it has to be about something
[Plato]
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