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Work #620 · Mid

The Souls of Black Folk

W.E.B. Du Bois
1903 · English
Sociological-philosophical essays · African American social thought

Du Bois's 1903 foundational text — double consciousness, the veil, the Talented Tenth

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Souls of Black Folk (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Souls of Black Folk

The historical time of post-Reconstruction Black America.

Space

The Souls of Black Folk

The veiled Black-white American space.

Matter

The Souls of Black Folk

The embodied African-American person.

Observer

The Souls of Black Folk

Central — the double-conscious Black American self.

Energy

The Souls of Black Folk

Energies of double-consciousness and racial uplift.

Information

The Souls of Black Folk

Foundational African-American 14-essay framework.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Souls of Black Folk

Souls of Black Folk foundational for all subsequent African-American intellectual tradition.