Some people thought that matter was composed of atoms existing independently of, although interacting with, each other and that consciousness was composed of independent souls, each interacting with a material body. Thus, material objects, including organisms, are transient, composite and interdependent whereas each atom and soul is permanent, simple and independent. Even on this hypothesis, I would argue that, if all that existed was a single soul, then that soul's consciousness would be merely potential because it would have no objects to be conscious of. Further, an unconscious immaterial entity with no external relationships would be a nonentity.
However, consciousness arises from and returns to matter, "dust"; subatomic particles arise from and return to energy. Thus, we are forms of a single being, not independent beings. The properties of every object and organism, including self-conscious organisms, depend on their relationships to everything else. An element that is fluid on Earth is solid on an outer planet. Each of us results from a particular course of history and did not preexist history.
