Perspective…
Philo: Hola, Estudia! Welcome back.
Estudia: Thanks. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again. Especially to see how you want to use the two fundamental axioms of philosophy. What’s next.
Philo: Well, the two we discussed, existence and consciousness, imply a third and final basic axiom.
Estudia: That’s it? Only three axioms? What’s this third one?
Philo: Three is all you need. The third axiom as I said is implicit in the other two because to be (existence) is to be something. If something exists it has some nature, some properties. It possesses some identity that makes it what it is. So we call this fact the “Law of Identity”.
Estudia: How do you say that as an axiom?
Philo: Ayn Rand said, existence is identity. Aristotle said, A is A. Both say that a thing is itself. It has identity which means it is all of its properties, attributes and/or characteristics and nothing more.
Estudia: Okay. Ok, I got it, I think. Existence has identity. You can identify things because they exist, right?
Philo: No, no, not has. Identity is not separable from existence. If you are, then you are something. You can’t separate existence and identity. They imply one another.
Estudia: But why use two concepts to say this then? Couldn’t we just stop with existence and know that things have to be certain things?
Philo: You’re right. Existence and identity name the same fact. If something exists (that is has existence) then something (with identity) exists; and vise versa, if there is something (with identity), then there is (with existence) a something. You can’t break this idea apart. By using these two concepts, existence and identity, we get two perspectives on this idea.
Existence is the primary identification of a thing and distinguishes it from nothing. Existence differentiates something from the absence of something. Everything depends on this. Identity indicates that something is what it is. Thus it differentiates something from other things. This is important and a very crucial step in thinking.
Estudia: Like something is this versus that?
Philo: Exactly. If you grasp any thing, you must recognize, in some form, that there is something that you grasp or are aware of. There is something I am aware of boils down to the three basic axioms, existence (the there is), identity (the something), and consciousness (the I am aware of). These are primary facts of reality.
Estudia: Thanks. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again. Especially to see how you want to use the two fundamental axioms of philosophy. What’s next.
Philo: Well, the two we discussed, existence and consciousness, imply a third and final basic axiom.
Estudia: That’s it? Only three axioms? What’s this third one?
Philo: Three is all you need. The third axiom as I said is implicit in the other two because to be (existence) is to be something. If something exists it has some nature, some properties. It possesses some identity that makes it what it is. So we call this fact the “Law of Identity”.
Estudia: How do you say that as an axiom?
Philo: Ayn Rand said, existence is identity. Aristotle said, A is A. Both say that a thing is itself. It has identity which means it is all of its properties, attributes and/or characteristics and nothing more.
Estudia: Okay. Ok, I got it, I think. Existence has identity. You can identify things because they exist, right?
Philo: No, no, not has. Identity is not separable from existence. If you are, then you are something. You can’t separate existence and identity. They imply one another.
Estudia: But why use two concepts to say this then? Couldn’t we just stop with existence and know that things have to be certain things?
Philo: You’re right. Existence and identity name the same fact. If something exists (that is has existence) then something (with identity) exists; and vise versa, if there is something (with identity), then there is (with existence) a something. You can’t break this idea apart. By using these two concepts, existence and identity, we get two perspectives on this idea.
Existence is the primary identification of a thing and distinguishes it from nothing. Existence differentiates something from the absence of something. Everything depends on this. Identity indicates that something is what it is. Thus it differentiates something from other things. This is important and a very crucial step in thinking.
Estudia: Like something is this versus that?
Philo: Exactly. If you grasp any thing, you must recognize, in some form, that there is something that you grasp or are aware of. There is something I am aware of boils down to the three basic axioms, existence (the there is), identity (the something), and consciousness (the I am aware of). These are primary facts of reality.
posted by Rp | 7:41 AM
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