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Single Idea 17839

[from 'Metaphysics' by Aristotle, in 9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 1. Unifying an Object / c. Unity as conceptual ]

Full Idea

Other things get to be unities by dint of the fact that the account [logos] of them is single, ...a thought about which is a single thought, ...which is an indivisible thought, ..which is a thought about a formally or numerically indivisible object.

Gist of Idea

Some things are unified by their account, which rests on a unified thought about the thing

Source

Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 1052a28)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Metaphysics', ed/tr. Lawson-Tancred,Hugh [Penguin 1998], p.286


A Reaction

This highlights the distinction between things that seem intrinsically unified, and things on which we bestow unity. But note that towards the end of the quotation Aristotle elides the two together.