„Je pense, donc je bifurque. Déjà gaucher, j’ai risqué l’hémiplégie: je claudique doucement. L’instabilité précède l’existence. Ce mot même désigne écart à l’équilibre, cela, précisément, qui produit du mouvement.“ (p. 77) #Serres #instabilité #existence #équilibre #mouvement
„The essence of man does not involve necessary existence; that is to say, the existence as well as the non-existence of this or that man may or may not follow from the order of Nature.“ (Second Part, Chap. IX, Axioms I) #Spinoza #existence
„It is very obvious, upon the least inquiry into our thoughts, to know whether it is possible for us to understand what is meant by the ABSOLUTE EXISTENCE OF SENSIBLE OBJECTS IN THEMSELVES, OR WITHOUT THE MIND. To me it is evident those words mark out either a direct contradiction, or else nothing at all. And to convince others of this, I know no readier or fairer way than to entreat they would calmly attend to their own thoughts; and if by this attention the emptiness or repugnancy of those expressions does appear, surely nothing more is requisite for the conviction. It is on this therefore that I insist, to wit, that the ABSOLUTE existence of unthinking things are words without a meaning, or which include a contradiction. This is what I repeat and inculcate, and earnestly recommend to the attentive thoughts of the reader.“ (Of the Principles of Human Knowledge, §24) #Berkeley #existence #objects #mind
„Duration is the indefinite continuation of existence.“ (Second Part, Chap. IX, V) #Spinoza #duration #existence