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Single Idea 15857

[filed under theme 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 8. Stuff / b. Mixtures ]

Full Idea

Any blend [mixture] which does not have measure or the nature of proportion in any way whatsoever, of necessity destroys both its ingredients and, primarily, itself. It is truly no blend at all, but a kind of unblended disaster.

Gist of Idea

Any mixture which lacks measure and proportion doesn't even count as a mixture at all

Source

Plato (Philebus [c.353 BCE], 64e)

Book Ref

Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.454

A Reaction

Obviously there can be chaotic mixtures, but I guess Plato is picking out mixtures about which we can say something

Related Idea

Idea 15855 If we see everything as separate, we can then give no account of it [Plato]

The 25 ideas from 'Philebus'

371 Reason, memory, truth and wisdom are far better than pleasure, for those who can attain them [Plato]
373 Pleasure is certainly very pleasant, but it doesn't follow that all pleasures are good [Plato]
15845 It seems absurd that seeing a person's limbs, the one is many, and yet the many are one [Plato]
374 If one object is divided into its parts, someone can then say that one are many and many is one [Plato]
4447 If the good is one, is it unchanged when it is in particulars, and is it then separated from itself? [Plato]
15856 A thing can become one or many, depending on how we talk about it [Plato]
376 Would you prefer a life of pleasure without reason, or one of reason without pleasure? [Plato]
377 If you lived a life of maximum pleasure, would you still be lacking anything? [Plato]
378 A life of pure pleasure with no intellect is the life of a jellyfish [Plato]
379 The good must be sufficient and perfect, and neither intellect nor pleasure are that [Plato]
381 We feel pleasure when we approach our natural state of harmony [Plato]
382 It is unlikely that the gods feel either pleasure or pain [Plato]
385 Some of the pleasures and pains we feel are false [Plato]
386 Intense pleasure and pain are not felt in a good body, but in a worthless one [Plato]
387 A small pure pleasure is much finer than a large one contaminated with pain [Plato]
388 Hedonists must say that someone in pain is bad, even if they are virtuous [Plato]
9865 Daily arithmetic counts unequal things, but pure arithmetic equalises them [Plato]
389 How can you be certain about aspects of the world if they aren't constant? [Plato]
9867 It is absurd to define a circle, but not be able to recognise a real one [Plato]
14503 If a mixture does not contain measure and proportion, it is corrupted and destroyed [Plato]
390 If goodness involves moderation and proportion, then it seems to be found in beauty [Plato]
15857 Any mixture which lacks measure and proportion doesn't even count as a mixture at all [Plato]
391 The good involves beauty, proportion and truth [Plato]
392 Neither intellect nor pleasure are the good, because they are not perfect and self-sufficient [Plato]
393 Good first, then beauty, then reason, then knowledge, then pleasure [Plato, by PG]