Editing Ontology:Q10,000 (section)

=== Alias "multiplicity" ===

[[E:early-existentialism|Existentialist]] philosopher Henri Bergson describes this concept with the term <dfn>[[Term:multiplicity|multiplicity]]</dfn>, but that term extends further than the scope of this entry. The concept of plurality described in this entry is fundamentally connected to the notion of subunits of a greater whole being countable and separable at least at some point in time; particular subunits may take time to emerge out of a {{i|unity}}, but as long as they emerge eventually at some later date they would then be {{i|in plurality}} or in <dfn>separable multiplicity</dfn>. Bergson also extends his term over "qualitative" aspects of a whole which can never be properly separated, in particular the concept of time for any particular person or isolated object passing continuously but [[E:Linear time cannot capture lived experience|not in a way which seems to be properly divisible]].<ref name="m"/> This entry does not include that concept of {{i|inseparable multiplicity}}.

This kind of conflation of separable and inseparable multiplicity can be relatively common across philosophy. Apart from the word {{i|multiplicity}}, you may see it happen with the word {{i|plural}}. The word {{i|pluralism}} is used with the connotation that different groups of people live in harmony specifically because they are multiple yet inseparably glued together, not necessarily taking time to think about the concept of whether populations may be physically separating and recombining on the ground. The word {{i|multiculturalism}} may be used with broader connotations, either talking about inclusion or about populational self-determination; the reference to multiple populations is not baked together with the concept they are always required and assumed to function like a single homogeneous population. The use of terms that do not distinguish between separable and inseparable multiplicity is not necessarily a bad thing, but these terms are not synonymous with this entry. This entry refers to the descriptive state of two population objects such as countries, religions, beehives, or flocks of birds currently existing as countably separate objects which have not neatly merged to become inseparable. <!-- britannica -->