Is there really space in space?
mando
On Nov 21, 2008, at 11:18 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
In a message dated 11/20/08 8:21:11 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Regarding the body/mind, if the mind is embodied, then what are
the limits
of the body? Skin surface in? Do we include bodily fluids and
wastes as
part
of the body? Do we include speech? Do we include things thrown
from the
body? Where does the body begin and end? These may seem like
ridiculous
questions but if there is a soul that is co-existent with the body
or at one
with
it, then we need to know the extension of the body, or the soul.
(1) Dualists tend to take a position about consciousness that they
are -- or
should be -- a bit uncomfortable with: It exists in time, but has no
extension. I.e. it doesn't exist in "space". This is rather like
the position
of those
who believe in mind-independent "abstractions" like "justice", "evil",
"categories", "qualities", "essences", etc. -- those alleged
entities are also
accepted as having no extension.
(2) You all many times have heard my mantra that all notion is
indeterminate,
indefinite, multiplex, and transitory. Add this: So are all "material"
things. We tend to think that when we "indicate" an object -- like
someone's
body,
or even a rock -- we're citing a stable, discrete, unitary
object, the
contents of which are determinate and distinctly bounded.
Linguistically, we
feel
there is a "correspondence" of some kind between the word/name and
such an
object. William's good questions show that all these assumptions,
though
usually
serviceable, are fundamentally unsound.
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