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The problem of individuality and its implications for modern idealism

It is characteristic of Idealism to the study the nature of individuality by an examination of knowledge and value. The basic principle of individuality is revealed in the structure of experience. The organisation of the contents of human experience - theoretical and practical - can only be understood in terms of value. Value is the main clue to understand the nature of Individuality. Even the apparent evil in life can be understood in terms of value. The essence of the concept of teleology consists in the presence of value in the result and not in the full anticipation of the end. In the light of this analysis it is possible to understand the lower types of Individuality in terms of the higher. Human personality is distinguished from the lower types of individuality by the presence of selfconsciousness. The development of the 'me' is largely a result of social, intercourse, and the unification of the constituent `selves' in the 'me' posits the operation of the Ideal Norm. The trans-subjective reality of the storm is also responsible for the objective significance of human values. The finite individual has a relative independence of his own. But the development of human personality is throughout conditioned by the sharing in the social and the divine life. The religious consciousness reveals the spiritual unity of all the finite individuals in an Infinite and supra-personal Life. From the finite point of view the world of manifestation on is characterised by its differentiation into a multiplicity of relatively independent and mutually distinct finite individuals. But it seems impossible to carry this multiplicity into the Eternal manifest which is the ground of Manifestation.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:492691
Date January 1933
CreatorsDeshmukh, C.
PublisherUniversity College London (University of London)
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1349802/

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