more on this theme     |     more from this thinker

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 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 Whenever there's speech it has to be about something [Plato]