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Full Idea
A unit is that according to which each existing thing is said to be one.
Gist of Idea
A unit is that according to which each existing thing is said to be one
Source
Euclid (Elements of Geometry [c.290 BCE], 7 Def 1)
Book Ref
Euclid: 'Euclid's Elements of Geometry (Gk/Eng)', ed/tr. Fitzpatrick,R [Lulu 2007], p.194
A Reaction
See Frege's 'Grundlagen' §29-44 for a sustained critique of this. Frege is good, but there must be something right about the Euclid idea. If I count stone, paper and scissors as three, each must first qualify to be counted as one. Psychology creeps in.
| 7485 | For Pythagoreans 'one' is not a number, but the foundation of numbers [Pythagoras, by Watson] |
| 12074 | The one in number just is the particular [Aristotle] |
| 9894 | A unit is that according to which each existing thing is said to be one [Euclid] |
| 12488 | The idea of 'one' is the simplest, most obvious and most widespread idea [Locke] |
| 8636 | We can say 'a and b are F' if F is 'wise', but not if it is 'one' [Frege] |
| 8654 | One is the Number which belongs to the concept "identical with 0" [Frege] |
| 14421 | Discovering that 1 is a number was difficult [Russell] |