The Civil War and the One and the Many

The philosophical problem of the one and the many is one that is pervasive throughout western thought. Cornelius Van Til and R.J. Rushdoony have both given us excellent ways of resolving this problem within a Christian world and life view. It is interesting to me how often the problem comes up in history and literature. It is as pervasive a problem in real affairs as it is in philosophy classes. Some of my students have heard me speak of the way it affects the Greco-Persian wars of the fifth century before Christ. Recently I became aware of just how important it is in understanding the war between the states (commonly called the Civil War).
One aspect of the causes of the Civil War was the constitutional issue of secession. Could states, once joined to the Union, separate themselves from the Union? Were the states a national union or were they a diversity of independent states? The One (National Union) and the Many (Independent states). The answer to this question, fought over during the Civil War, has been answered by default. A national union was forged in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Ideas have consequences...