Human existence is simultaneously bounded in every direction and in none

Evidence

Life would be completely different if every boundary were definitive, if with advancing life (both in general and in regard to every individual undertaking) the uncertain did not become more certain, the surely believed more problematic. As a result of the inherent flexibility and dislocation of our boundaries, we are able to express our essence with a paradox: we are bounded in every direction, and we are bounded in no direction. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 786

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The paradox formulation — bounded in every direction yet bounded in no direction — is dense enough to sit with; it underlies the essay’s whole account of the flâneur who is hemmed in by the city yet unmoored by detachment from it.
• XREF: connects to: Life is simultaneously boundless continuity and boundary-determined ego — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 811; Life both requires and overflows every determinate form — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 828; Some beings hold an unresolved dual nature that can never become one thing — , A Year of World Stories, 15751 (+4 more)

Related

• Life is simultaneously boundless continuity and boundary-determined ego (similarity 0.90)
• Life both requires and overflows every determinate form (similarity 0.81)
• We exist neither in closed horizons nor within a horizon that is unique; we must reject both the assumption of absolute knowledge and the assumption of objectivity. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Life both requires and overflows every determinate form #expands (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 828
• Life is simultaneously boundless continuity and boundary-determined ego #expands (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 811
• Some beings hold an unresolved dual nature that can never become one thing #expands (0.60) — , A Year of World Stories, 15751