Only God could have placed the concept of unity within us.

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Parent debateThis argument is used in the debate Does God exist?.
Keywords: God, Unity[ edit ].

SummarySummary

The sensation of inner unity is foundational; it organizes our universe, but cannot be the result of any experience or reasoning. I perceive myself as One. Where does this immediate knowledge of being one come from?

QuotationsQuotes

“I have within me a clear idea of a perfect unity, which is far superior to that which I can find in my soul: [my soul] often finds itself as if divided between two opinions, two inclinations, two contrary habits. Doesn't this division that I find within myself mark some multiplicity, or composition of parts? Moreover, the soul has a successive composition of thoughts, one of which is very different from the other. I conceive of a unity infinitely more one [...]: I conceive of a being who never changes thought, who always thinks all things at once, and in whom no composition can be found [...]. This idea, always present within me, is the perfect model on which I seek everywhere some imperfect copy of unity. I therefore know God with such clarity that it is by knowing him that I seek in all creatures, and in myself, some work and some likeness of his unity.”

Fénelon, Treatise on the existence of God, p.63-64, Éditions Universitaires, Grenoble, 1990.

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