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Full Idea
We borrowed the concept of unity from our 'ego' concept - our oldest article of faith. If we did not hold ourselves to be unified, we would never have formed the concept 'thing'. Now, somewhat late, we are convinced that the ego does not guarantee unity.
Gist of Idea
We saw unity in things because our ego seemed unified (but now we doubt the ego!)
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (The Will to Power (notebooks) [1888], §635)
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'The Will to Power', ed/tr. Kaufmann,W /Hollingdate,R [Vintage 1968], p.338
A Reaction
Nietzsche tells a similar story about the emergence and subsequent undermining of truth. I am becoming an enthusiast for Nietzsche's account of how our psychology has generated out metaphysics - which doesn't make the metaphysics false.
Related Idea
Idea 20357 Truth was given value by morality, but eventually turned against its own source [Nietzsche]
15856 | A thing can become one or many, depending on how we talk about it [Plato] |
17839 | Some things are unified by their account, which rests on a unified thought about the thing [Aristotle] |
2297 | If I can separate two things in my understanding, then God can separate them in reality [Descartes] |
13160 | To exist and be understood, a multitude must first be reduced to a unity [Leibniz] |
12746 | We find unity in reason, and unity in perception, but these are not true unity [Leibniz] |
12035 | Leibniz bases pure primitive entities on conjunctions of qualitative properties [Leibniz, by Adams,RM] |
20362 | We saw unity in things because our ego seemed unified (but now we doubt the ego!) [Nietzsche] |
14252 | We should understand identity in terms of the propositions it renders true [Fine,K] |
13332 | Hierarchical set membership models objects better than the subset or aggregate relations do [Fine,K] |
14928 | Things are abstractions from structures [Ladyman/Ross] |
14481 | Wherever an object exists, there are intrinsic properties instantiating every modal profile [Thomasson] |