Tricky grammatical thing

themoabird

themoabird

I thought maybe a grammar whiz on here would be able to help with this (though possibly there is no correct answer).

I'm doing some academic writing, and I keep coming across a particular problem to do with plurals. Here's an example:

"the issue of what it means for us to be conscious subjects aware of our own existence."

Okay, it doesn't matter too much what that means! The problem is with the word 'existence'. In a way, it should be plural (we each have an existence). But I don't want it to be plural because I'm only saying here that each one of us is aware of our own particular existence (not everybody else's).

Is it okay to leave it as singular, and assume that people will parse it correctly when they read it? I could rewrite the whole sentence, but this kind of thing keeps cropping up (because I'm frequently talking about characteristics that we all share, but which have significance for each one of us individually).

Island Girl

Hi, I think you could get away with the following...

"...the issue of what it means for us to be conscious subjects each aware of our own existence."

neil

With respect, MoaB, I think it's a pretty cumbersome phrase anyway, but you could try the following - getting, Im afraid, even more cumbersome:

"the issue of what it means for us individually to be conscious subjects, each aware of our own existence."

Stan2

Good grief, Neil, that is more cumbersome. I would leave the word existance without the plural in the original sentence. However, could it be written more simply?

Stan2

Ooophs! Should read 'existence'.

neil

I quite agree, Stan. But part of the problem here is that we're not dealing with a sentence: only part of a sentence. I acknowledge though that MoaBird is not asking us to rewrite his sentence but simply to deal with the plural issue. Here's another go:

"the issue of what it means for us to be conscious subjects, each aware of our own individual existence."

Jenny

Imagine what it would sound like in German!

Jenny

And thanks to Babelfish ...

"die Ausgabe von was es bedeutet, damit wir bewu

themoabird

Thanks guys. I'm going for Island Girl's each solution. Though I am attracted to Stan's just leave it as "existence" idea. On balance, though, "each" it is.

Thanks again everybody.

neil

I think you're probably right, MoaBird. But I'd love to know what the whole sentence looks like. And what kind of a book does it appear in?

themoabird

Hi Neil

The whole sentence is:

"Mead’s approach, rooted in a behaviourism that eschews the introspective sphere, puts beyond reach the issue of what it means for us to be conscious subjects each aware of our own conscious existence."

It's part of a book that is called "Identity Crisis", which will be out next year. It's aimed at a fairly highbrow audience, though it will end up in most bookshops. Not W. H. Smiths, though! :)

neil

Quote: (Moabird)

"Mead’s approach, rooted in a behaviourism that eschews the introspective sphere, puts beyond reach the issue of what it means for us to be conscious subjects each aware of our own conscious existence."

I see!!!

Thanks anyway, MoaB. I imagine we're talking Margaret Mead here.

themoabird

Noooo. Not Margaret Mead. I'm not keen on her at all.

This is George Herbert Mead. He was an American social behaviourist/sociologist type (sometimes  - and inaccurately - credited with being the founder of symbolic interactionism, a particular approach to sociological research).

Stan2

Goodness me!

neil

Thanks for clarifying, Moabird. Will look out for your book (not in WH Smiths of course) but no guarantee I'll plough through it. You clearly write for a specialised readership. I hope lots of them buy it. Best of luck.

neil

Thanks for clarifying, Moabird. Will look out for your book (not in WH Smiths of course) but no guarantee I'll plough through it. You clearly write for a specialised readership. I hope lots of them buy it. Best of luck.

themoabird

"You clearly write for a specialised readership."

Well, this book is at least. Though perhaps not hugely specialised - the book is an attack on multiculturalism, basically (from a left/liberal perspective). So it's at least on a hot topic. It's just that my approach is less journalistic than most stuff in this area.

Island Girl

I'm glad you only gave us a small part of the sentence TMB - I don't mind admitting the rest of it went straight over my head! (And just when I was starting to feel a bit intelligent, too. Oh well, ce sera, sera.) Cheers.

Helena

The sentence was fine as it was.
Having a social sciences degree George Mead is bread-and-butter to me. LOL.

Bill

surely you cannot say 'existences'. There can only be one. Your existence, his existence, and their's.
... the FACT of our existence or that something exists. It is a single fact.