Plotinus and the Neoplatonic tradition argue that the One transcends the one/many distinction rather than falling under it, making 'cannot be one' trivially true but philosophically misleading.
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Goes beyond or surpasses the limits of something—in this case, meaning the divine reality exists beyond the reach of human thoughts and mental states.
philosophically misleading(describing the danger of applying normal logic to the One)
A statement that seems logical on the surface but can confuse us about what's actually true or important in reality.
the one/many distinction(as the logical framework that Neoplatonists argue the One surpasses)
A fundamental philosophical puzzle about whether reality is ultimately one unified thing or many separate things.
trivially true(Elster's characterization of methodological individualism; the author notes the ambiguity matters because Elster derives substantive doctrines from the commitment)
Used by Elster in the vernacular sense of 'platitudinous' rather than the philosophical sense of 'tautologous'