If number belongs to the class of beings, evidently the latter must
include unity also; and we shall have to discover what kind of a being
it is. If unity be no more than a numbering device invented by the
soul, then unity would possess no real existence. But we have above
observed that each object, on losing unity, loses existence also. We
are therefore compelled to investigate whether essence and unity be
identical either when considered in themselves, or in each individual
object.