Here is an interesting quote on the function of classification and it’s place with knowledge, as written by Horkheimer and Adorno in their book Dialectic of Enlightenment.
Classification is a condition of knowledge, not knowledge itself, and knowledge in turn disolves classification.
I will now relate this quote to the buddhist samsaric concept of samsaric existence.
There are 3 realms of samsaric existence(from The Lotus Sutra).
3 realms of samsaric existence
*The realm of desire(kamadhatu), the ordinary world, subject to desire, greed and anger
*The realm of form(rupadhatu), a higher real, where some attachments have been severed
*The realm of formlessness(arupadhatu), the highest realm, where beings are free from attachment to form
Relation between initial quote and buddhist concept
*Desire relates to the need to classify everything, which is a function of knowledge.
*Form relates to see the breakdown of things. Seeing that classification is a category, part of knowledge.
*Formlessness relates to the acceptance that classification is part of knowledge.
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