Thank you. Deeply understanding that the self is just as much an abstraction as a car feels important indeed.
From the perspective of what is meant by “there is no self”, would I be right to say the self “exists” just like any complicated abstraction such as a car, a state, or a landscape; no more and no less?
To continue with your metaphor, not all abstractions are created equal. There are good abstractions, like “car” which make your life better, because it simplifies the world well without much loss of important data. There are also bad abstractions like trauma, which make your life worse. To continue with your metaphor, “there is no self” is to say that the self is a bad abstraction that causes harm by modeling the world badly.
Thank you. Deeply understanding that the self is just as much an abstraction as a car feels important indeed.
From the perspective of what is meant by “there is no self”, would I be right to say the self “exists” just like any complicated abstraction such as a car, a state, or a landscape; no more and no less?
Yup.
To continue with your metaphor, not all abstractions are created equal. There are good abstractions, like “car” which make your life better, because it simplifies the world well without much loss of important data. There are also bad abstractions like trauma, which make your life worse. To continue with your metaphor, “there is no self” is to say that the self is a bad abstraction that causes harm by modeling the world badly.