(September 13, 2018 at 8:59 pm)polymath257 Wrote:(September 13, 2018 at 8:09 pm)RoadRunner79 Wrote: You seem to be talking about the nature of language here. If everyone agrees what a tree is, then what is it? It would seem ridiculous to say that trees don’t exist that they are subjective, because we agree to call them trees.
But there is nothing about the real trees that dictate that the English word 'tree' be used for it. There is nothing that dictates the language used.
We can, given language, define generally what it means to be a tree (a wooden plant with certain other characteristics).
And generally, people agree what it means to be a tree.
But what does it mean to be the number 4? NOT, mind you, what does it mean to have 4 apples. But what actually *is* the number 4?
By the way, there are answers to this question. But there are several, mutually exclusive answers.
You seem to be starting to get it, but then are drifting to epistemology. I’m not talking about epistemology. Would you agree that the number 4 is descriptive, and what it describes, is not changed, whether you and I agree or not?
It is said that an argument is what convinces reasonable men and a proof is what it takes to convince even an unreasonable man. - Alexander Vilenkin
If I am shown my error, I will be the first to throw my books into the fire. - Martin Luther
If I am shown my error, I will be the first to throw my books into the fire. - Martin Luther