Combining Texts

Ideas for 'Parmenides', 'Essays on Intellectual Powers 6: Judgement' and 'Centring'

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2 ideas

15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 4. Other Minds / a. Other minds
Neglect your self, and feel the consciousness of each other being [Anon (Cent)]
     Full Idea: Feel the consciousness of each person as your own consciousness. So, leaving aside concern for self, become each being.
     From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 83)
     A reaction: Good. The western scepticism about other minds puts up a barrier to this sort of thought. The best of Zen is when it encourages the use of imagination to explore what is real. But imagination struggles to distinguish what is true.
15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 1. Consciousness / a. Consciousness
Consciousness is an indefinable and unique operation [Reid]
     Full Idea: Consciousness is an operation of the understanding of its own kind, and cannot be logically defined.
     From: Thomas Reid (Essays on Intellectual Powers 6: Judgement [1785], 5)
     A reaction: It is interesting that has tried to define consciousness, rather than just assuming it. I note that he calls consciousness an 'operation', rather than an entity. Good.