Philosophy 203a: The Logic of Quantities, or Nine Senses of the Word 'Thing'

Contents

Introduction
Nine senses of the word 'thing'
Appendix: The Three Groups in this article

Introduction

In the account of the real given in Philosophy 203, there are three main quantitative concepts: individuality, grouped plurality and totality. As you will see, we all use these concepts, and, further, we use them in several different ways. In all there are nine such ways of using these three concepts, and thus there are nine senses (at least) of the word 'thing'.

Six of these senses of 'thing' are quite common and will be familiar to all readers. The other three, however, are senses that will probably be unfamiliar to readers new to philosophy.

My use of G1, G2 and G3 refers to my thesis that most philosophical concepts fall naturally into three groups.

Nine senses of the word 'thing'

Sense 1. (G1) The individual counted as one thing.

Consider, for example, an individual person. We think of him or her as one thing, one human being. That's one sense of 'thing'.

Sense 2. (G1) The individual counted as a thing of parts.

Now reconsider an individual person, or whatever, as a thing made up of parts. The parts might be body-parts or cells or molecules or atoms, etc. That's a second sense of 'thing'.

(A note about the concept of singularity. We usually think of individuals as if they were singular, as if they each had just one part. But is there anything that, strictly speaking, has only one part? According to science there is. The entity beneath the surface of a 'black hole' is known as a 'singularity'. This is because gravity is so strong there that it has merged all of the matter there into literally one thing, with no possibility of parts.

In philosophy, the only things that might be said to have no parts are simple concepts - concepts that cannot be broken down by analysis.

Sense 3. (G1) The individual counted as the thing that is all things.

In philosophy there is a position known as Solipsism . If I were a solipsist it would be my belief that I am all things; that what might appear other than me is really an aspect of me. This is a third sense of 'thing'.

Sense 4. (G2) The group counted as one thing.

Consider a family or a club or a nation or a species, etc. Each of these is a group of individuals being counted as one thing. This is a fourth sense of 'thing'.

Sense 5. (G2) The group counted as several things

Consider, say The United States of America being thought of or spoken of or written of as 'The People'. This is one thing, a group, being counted as several things. And this is a fifth sense of 'thing'.

Sense 6. (G2) The group being counted as the thing that is all things.

In philosophy there is a position called Holism . Holism about X is the position that everything within X is related to and affected by every other thing in X. It is usually added that X as a whole has properties that no part or member of X has. Thus X is said to be 'more than the sum of its parts'. This 'more' is a sixth sense of 'thing'.

Sense 7. (G3) The Totality counted as one thing

The Totality is that which is all things. It contains all groups and all individuals and all parts of individuals (and all singularities). Thought of simply as 'the totality' it is being thought of as one thing. This is a seventh sense of 'thing'.

Sense 8. (G3) The Totality counted as several things

When The Totality is thought of as containing other things, whether they be groups or individuals or parts or singularities, it is being counted as several things. This is an eighth sense of 'thing'.

Sense 9. (G3) The Totality counted as the thing that is all things.

This a ninth sense of 'thing'.

This sense is elaborated in the philosophical concept of The Absolute . This is like a God you are having when you are not having a God.

Appendix: The Three Groups in this topic

The nine senses of 'thing':

G1.1 One counted as one
G1.2 One counted as several
G1.3 One counted as all (Solipsism)

G2.1 Several counted as one
G2.2 Several counted as several
G2.3 Several counted as all (Holism)

G3.1 The totality counted as one
G3.2 The totality counted as several
G3.3 The totality counted as all (The Absolute)