Cannot install python dependencies because files already "exist in filesystem"

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Package installation says FILENAME exists in filesystem; “Failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)”

I can't install or update a package because I get (something like) this: error: could not prepare transaction error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files) libname: /insert/file/name/here exists in filesystem Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded. Why is this happening? The package manager, pacman , has detected an unexpected file already exists on disk. By design it will not overwrite files that already exist. This is a design feature, not a flaw - package managers are de…