Nagasena (Buddhist philosophy): a chariot isn't constituted by just any single part (e.g., wheel, axle), nor the pile of parts, nor the assembly. "Chariot" is a conventional label applied by an observer. This is the idea of anatta (no-self): the self is equally a convenient label, not a thing with inherent existence (e.g., the myth of a soul). Thus, if selfhood is observer-dependent, then who you are is constituted by how you're perceived.
In that case, it inverts Descartes philosophy: instead of self-certainty grounding existence (I think therefore I am), others' cognition of you grounds your existence. Leading to author Mayuzuki’s quote: “He thinks therefore I am” (Kowloon Generic Romance, vol. 7, ch. 59).
Consider this. Nagasena asks: Is the chariot real if no single part is the chariot? The manga literalizes this: Reiko is an exact copy of a dead woman, living someone else's life, with no memories of any existence before Kowloon. She is assembled from parts of another person. So is she a chariot (a real person), or just the parts of one?
Kudou is the one who built the generic Kowloon: the city only contains things he knows about. He literally willed the world Reiko exists in into being (“he thinks”), so Reiko's existence is not just perceived by Kudou (the observer), but it is constituted by him (“therefore I am”). She does not merely become herself through his gaze, without it, she would not exist at all.
Thus, Reiko has no self to speak of except the one designated by another.
Nagasena (Buddhist philosophy): a chariot isn't constituted by just any single part (e.g., wheel, axle), nor the pile of parts, nor the assembly. "Chariot" is a conventional label applied by an observer. This is the idea of anatta (no-self): the self is equally a convenient label, not a thing with inherent existence (e.g., the myth of a soul). Thus, if selfhood is observer-dependent, then who you are is constituted by how you're perceived.
In that case, it inverts Descartes philosophy: instead of self-certainty grounding existence (I think therefore I am), others' cognition of you grounds your existence. Leading to author Mayuzuki’s quote: “He thinks therefore I am” (Kowloon Generic Romance, vol. 7, ch. 59).
Consider this. Nagasena asks: Is the chariot real if no single part is the chariot? The manga literalizes this: Reiko is an exact copy of a dead woman, living someone else's life, with no memories of any existence before Kowloon. She is assembled from parts of another person. So is she a chariot (a real person), or just the parts of one?
Kudou is the one who built the generic Kowloon: the city only contains things he knows about. He literally willed the world Reiko exists in into being (“he thinks”), so Reiko's existence is not just perceived by Kudou (the observer), but it is constituted by him (“therefore I am”). She does not merely become herself through his gaze, without it, she would not exist at all.
Thus, Reiko has no self to speak of except the one designated by another.