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Single Idea 21821

[filed under theme 7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / f. Primary being ]

Full Idea

The Platonic Parmenides is more exact [than Parmenides himself]; the distinction is made between the Primal One, a strictly pure Unity, and a secondary One which is a One-Many, and a third which is a One-and-Many.

Gist of Idea

Plato's Parmenides has a three-part theory, of Primal One, a One-Many, and a One-and-Many

Source

report of Plato (Parmenides [c.364 BCE]) by Plotinus - The Enneads 5.1.08

Book Ref

Plotinus: 'The Enneads', ed/tr. Mackenna,Stephen [Penguin 1991], p.357


A Reaction

Plotinus approves of this three-part theory. Parmenides has the problem that the highest Being contains no movement. By placing the One outside Being you can give it powers which an existent thing cannot have. Cf the concept of God.


The 15 ideas with the same theme [concept of a mode of being prior to all others]:

Parmenides at least saw Being as the same as Nous, and separate from the sensed realm [Parmenides, by Plotinus]
Anaxagoras's concept of supreme Mind has a simple First and a multiple One [Anaxagoras, by Plotinus]
Plato's Parmenides has a three-part theory, of Primal One, a One-Many, and a One-and-Many [Plato, by Plotinus]
Being depends on the Good, which is not itself being, but superior to being [Plato]
Primary being must be more than mere indeterminate ultimate subject of predication [Politis on Aristotle]
The three main candidates for primary being are particular, universal and essence; essence is the answer [Aristotle, by Politis]
Primary being is either universals, or the basis of predication, or essence [Aristotle, by Politis]
Non-primary beings lack essence, or only have a derived essence [Aristotle, by Politis]
Primary being is both the essence, and the subject of predication [Aristotle, by Politis]
Primary being ('proté ousia') exists in virtue of itself, not in relation to other things [Aristotle, by Politis]
Being is the product of pure intellect [Plotinus]
The One does not exist, but is the source of all existence [Plotinus]
The One is a principle which transcends Being [Plotinus]
Being is basic to thought, and all other concepts are additions to being [Aquinas]
Being posits essence, and my essence is my being [Feuerbach]