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Single Idea 21308
[filed under theme 16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 4. Denial of the Self
]
Full Idea
Every idea is derived from preceding impressions; and we have no impression of self or substance, as something simple and individual. We have, therefore, no idea of them in that sense.
Gist of Idea
We have no impression of the self, and we therefore have no idea of it
Source
David Hume (Treatise of Human Nature, + Appendix [1740], Appendix)
Book Ref
Hume,David: 'A Treatise of Human Nature', ed/tr. Selby-Bigge/Nidditch [OUP 1978], p.633
A Reaction
This spells out with beautiful simplicity how his empiricist assumptions lead him to this sceptical view. No logical positivist could reject this thought. Personally I favour empiricism with added inference to the best explanation.
The
24 ideas
with the same theme
[denial that there is any such thing as a 'Self']:
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5517
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Individuals don't exist, but are conventional names for sets of elements
[Buddha]
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7277
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The perfect man has no self
[Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
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7286
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To see with true clarity, your self must be irrelevant
[Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
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7906
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When the Buddha reached the highest level of insight, he could detect no self in the world
[Ashvaghosha]
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21294
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A continuous lifelong self must be justified by a single sustained impression, which we don't have
[Hume]
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21295
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When I introspect I can only observe my perceptions, and never a self which has them
[Hume]
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21298
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We pretend our perceptions are continuous, and imagine a self to fill the gaps
[Hume]
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21304
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Identity in the mind is a fiction, like that fiction that plants and animals stay the same
[Hume]
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21308
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We have no impression of the self, and we therefore have no idea of it
[Hume]
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21310
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Does an oyster with one perception have a self? Would lots of perceptions change that?
[Hume]
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4175
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It is as perverse to resent our individuality being replaced by others, as to resent the body renewing itself
[Schopenhauer]
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24099
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We contain many minds, which fight for the 'I' of the mind
[Nietzsche]
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7148
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The 'I' is a conceptual synthesis, not the governor of our being
[Nietzsche]
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7138
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The 'I' is a fiction used to make the world of becoming 'knowable'
[Nietzsche]
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4527
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Perhaps we are not single subjects, but a multiplicity of 'cells', interacting to create thought
[Nietzsche]
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6475
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In perception, the self is just a logical fiction demanded by grammar
[Russell]
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20114
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Everyone is other, and no one is himself
[Heidegger]
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23498
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The modern idea of the subjective soul is composite, and impossible
[Wittgenstein]
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7115
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Maybe it is the act of reflection that brings 'me' into existence
[Sartre]
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7121
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The Ego only appears to reflection, so it is cut off from the World
[Sartre]
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7370
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The brain is controlled by shifting coalitions, guided by good purposeful habits
[Dennett]
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7655
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The work done by the 'homunculus in the theatre' must be spread amongst non-conscious agencies
[Dennett]
|
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5518
|
It doesn't matter whether I exist with half my components replaced (any more than an audio system)
[Parfit]
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5349
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For Buddhists a fixed self is a morally dangerous illusion
[Flanagan]
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