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Single Idea 6475

[filed under theme 16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 4. Denial of the Self ]

Full Idea

In perception, the idea of the subject appears to be a logical fiction, like mathematical points and instants; it is introduced, not because observation reveals it, but because it is linguistically convenient and apparently demanded by grammar.

Gist of Idea

In perception, the self is just a logical fiction demanded by grammar

Source

Bertrand Russell (The Analysis of Mind [1921], Lec. VIII)

Book Ref

Russell,Bertrand: 'The Analysis of Mind' [Routledge 1995], p.141

A Reaction

In 1912, Russell had felt that both the Cogito, and the experience of meta-thought, had confirmed the existence of a non-permanent ego, but here he offers a Humean rejection. His notion of a 'logical fiction' is behaviouristic. I believe in the Self.

The 24 ideas with the same theme [denial that there is any such thing as a 'Self']:

5517 Individuals don't exist, but are conventional names for sets of elements [Buddha]
7277 The perfect man has no self [Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
7286 To see with true clarity, your self must be irrelevant [Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
7906 When the Buddha reached the highest level of insight, he could detect no self in the world [Ashvaghosha]
21294 A continuous lifelong self must be justified by a single sustained impression, which we don't have [Hume]
21295 When I introspect I can only observe my perceptions, and never a self which has them [Hume]
21298 We pretend our perceptions are continuous, and imagine a self to fill the gaps [Hume]
21304 Identity in the mind is a fiction, like that fiction that plants and animals stay the same [Hume]
21308 We have no impression of the self, and we therefore have no idea of it [Hume]
21310 Does an oyster with one perception have a self? Would lots of perceptions change that? [Hume]
4175 It is as perverse to resent our individuality being replaced by others, as to resent the body renewing itself [Schopenhauer]
24099 We contain many minds, which fight for the 'I' of the mind [Nietzsche]
7148 The 'I' is a conceptual synthesis, not the governor of our being [Nietzsche]
7138 The 'I' is a fiction used to make the world of becoming 'knowable' [Nietzsche]
4527 Perhaps we are not single subjects, but a multiplicity of 'cells', interacting to create thought [Nietzsche]
6475 In perception, the self is just a logical fiction demanded by grammar [Russell]
20114 Everyone is other, and no one is himself [Heidegger]
23498 The modern idea of the subjective soul is composite, and impossible [Wittgenstein]
7115 Maybe it is the act of reflection that brings 'me' into existence [Sartre]
7121 The Ego only appears to reflection, so it is cut off from the World [Sartre]
7370 The brain is controlled by shifting coalitions, guided by good purposeful habits [Dennett]
7655 The work done by the 'homunculus in the theatre' must be spread amongst non-conscious agencies [Dennett]
5518 It doesn't matter whether I exist with half my components replaced (any more than an audio system) [Parfit]
5349 For Buddhists a fixed self is a morally dangerous illusion [Flanagan]