> On 21 Jan 2015, at 4:56 am, John Clark <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 4:20 AM, Kim Jones <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > stop using that ridiculous and meaningless art term "abstract". [...]
>> > Nothing is "abstract".
>
> So you're saying that the word "abstract" should be removed from the English
> language because it will never be needed?!
>
> John K Clark
It's not a word that should be used, no. It implies that something is taking a
quick holiday in the Platonic realm, merely for the benefit of the researcher
who will fairly soon remove those parentheses and pluck said object "out of"
abstraction land and back into "the real world". It's another example of how
embedded in our culture is the idea that the non-physical exists, yet this word
seems to sanctify such an anomaly for a physicalist, momentarily allowing him
to use it with impunity. Platonists have no need for such a term because
everything is abstract already. The problem of needing such a word to make it
possible for a physicalist to talk about the immaterial without being
kneecapped by other physicalists occurs only in a "material universe."
I believe there exist words that are dangerously misleading and this is one of
them. I equally believe there are great many more words which should exist but
which don't, except as a "need".
There are only needs. Needs are proof of the existence of persons. These needs
get expressed as beliefs which are frozen as words. Needs, however, evolve
along with the environment they relate to and some needs can even or should
even evaporate as our knowledge increases. Language continually lugs around
ancient needs frozen solid. This is a very great problem in communication.
K
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