the One and the many
E528449
The One and the many is a fundamental metaphysical problem in ancient Greek philosophy concerning how a single underlying reality can give rise to the multiplicity of things in the world.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| the One and the many canonical | 1 |
| unity of being | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T5512419 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: the One and the many Context triple: [Parmenides (dialogue), centralTheme, the One and the many]
-
A.
the One
The One is a central metaphysical principle in Neoplatonic philosophy, conceived as the ultimate, ineffable source of all reality beyond being and thought.
-
B.
The Unity of the Universe
The Unity of the Universe is a cosmology book by physicist Dennis Sciama that presents a coherent, unified account of the structure and evolution of the universe.
-
C.
the Over-Soul
The Over-Soul is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s transcendentalist concept of a universal, divine spiritual presence that unites all individual souls.
-
D.
The One free of all need
The One free of all need is a divine attribute in Islam signifying God’s absolute self-sufficiency and complete independence from all creation.
-
E.
Duality
Duality is a 1998 collaborative album by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke that blends ethereal vocals with atmospheric, world-influenced soundscapes.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: the One and the many Target entity description: The One and the many is a fundamental metaphysical problem in ancient Greek philosophy concerning how a single underlying reality can give rise to the multiplicity of things in the world.
-
A.
the One
The One is a central metaphysical principle in Neoplatonic philosophy, conceived as the ultimate, ineffable source of all reality beyond being and thought.
-
B.
The Unity of the Universe
The Unity of the Universe is a cosmology book by physicist Dennis Sciama that presents a coherent, unified account of the structure and evolution of the universe.
-
C.
the Over-Soul
The Over-Soul is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s transcendentalist concept of a universal, divine spiritual presence that unites all individual souls.
-
D.
The One free of all need
The One free of all need is a divine attribute in Islam signifying God’s absolute self-sufficiency and complete independence from all creation.
-
E.
Duality
Duality is a 1998 collaborative album by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke that blends ethereal vocals with atmospheric, world-influenced soundscapes.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (44)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
metaphysical problem
ⓘ
philosophical problem ⓘ topic in ancient Greek philosophy ⓘ |
| concerns |
nature of ultimate reality
ⓘ
problem of change and permanence ⓘ problem of how the one gives rise to the many ⓘ relationship between underlying reality and multiplicity of things ⓘ relationship between unity and plurality ⓘ |
| hasAspect |
problem of explaining change
ⓘ
problem of explaining individuation ⓘ problem of explaining stability ⓘ |
| hasDomain |
metaphysics
ⓘ
ontology ⓘ |
| hasPhilosophicalStatus |
classic problem of Greek ontology
ⓘ
foundational problem in Western metaphysics ⓘ |
| influences |
early modern metaphysics
ⓘ
later metaphysical debates ⓘ medieval philosophy ⓘ |
| involves |
question of how diversity emerges from unity
ⓘ
question of whether reality is fundamentally one or many ⓘ |
| isAddressedBy |
Aristotelian theory of substance
ⓘ
Eleatic monism ⓘ
linked to:
Eleatic school
Heraclitean flux doctrine ⓘ Platonic theory of Forms ⓘ |
| isAKeyThemeIn |
Aristotelian Metaphysics
ⓘ
linked to:
Metaphysics by Aristotle
Platonic dialogues ⓘ
linked to:
Dialogues of Plato
Presocratic cosmology ⓘ |
| isCentralTo |
Presocratic philosophy
ⓘ
ancient Greek metaphysics ⓘ |
| isDiscussedBy |
Anaxagoras
ⓘ
Anaximander ⓘ Anaximenes ⓘ
linked to:
Anaximenes of Miletus
Aristotle ⓘ Empedocles ⓘ Heraclitus ⓘ Parmenides ⓘ Plato ⓘ |
| isFormulatedAs | how a single underlying reality can give rise to multiplicity of things ⓘ |
| isRelatedTo |
appearance and reality
ⓘ
identity and difference ⓘ monism ⓘ pluralism ⓘ problem of universals ⓘ |
| originatedIn | ancient Greek philosophy ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: the One and the many Description of subject: The One and the many is a fundamental metaphysical problem in ancient Greek philosophy concerning how a single underlying reality can give rise to the multiplicity of things in the world.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
Plato's dialogue "Parmenides"
linked to: the One and the many