RE: Thomism: Then & Now
November 5, 2021 at 11:59 am
(This post was last modified: November 5, 2021 at 12:12 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
You've hit the nail on the head. If mereologial nihilism is true,....then wouldn't that also mean that mereologically nihilist statemens are not objects with proper parts?
I can't remember who said it, I'm sure it's medeival "The world comes to me all at once and as one thing, not split up into discrete parts". That's actually a pretty good summary of the position of mereological nihilism from an evidentiary standpoint...but...in exploring this relationship, doesn't mereological nihilism also posit things which are directly analagous to if not interchangeable with the contentions it directly opposes? That there are no such things as x..except these things x which demonstrate my point - in effect.
I feel like there's a koan for this..... Is there a rational, cognizable, actual difference between me and my flock of cold adapted chickens? "My Farm" being the alleged object, are "myself" and "cold adapted chickens" discrete and proper parts of it? Where do I end and they begin? If I or anyone else can answer that question, mereological nihilism is false on it's own merits. Objects do have proper parts, even if proper parts( and objects too) can be meaningfully entangled.
I'm not the threads mn guy, mind you, and you should definitely seek more opinions than just mine and wikis..lol, I'm sure you already know that, it's for the gallery. Personally, I think mereological nihilism arose as a consequence of people not understanding what a bunch of the proper parts of "My Farm"..for example, were, and being blindsided by the additional actors. We idn;t know we had microscopic partners, for example. We didn't understand the relationship between the emerald ash borer and forced raspberry production. Once we realized that stuff, lines that seemed clearer beforehand became fuzzy afterwards. Which is to say that mn is describing something true about reality, but isn't true as a theory of all those things in reality. The lines may be further out than we realized, but there are still lines.
I can't remember who said it, I'm sure it's medeival "The world comes to me all at once and as one thing, not split up into discrete parts". That's actually a pretty good summary of the position of mereological nihilism from an evidentiary standpoint...but...in exploring this relationship, doesn't mereological nihilism also posit things which are directly analagous to if not interchangeable with the contentions it directly opposes? That there are no such things as x..except these things x which demonstrate my point - in effect.
I feel like there's a koan for this..... Is there a rational, cognizable, actual difference between me and my flock of cold adapted chickens? "My Farm" being the alleged object, are "myself" and "cold adapted chickens" discrete and proper parts of it? Where do I end and they begin? If I or anyone else can answer that question, mereological nihilism is false on it's own merits. Objects do have proper parts, even if proper parts( and objects too) can be meaningfully entangled.
I'm not the threads mn guy, mind you, and you should definitely seek more opinions than just mine and wikis..lol, I'm sure you already know that, it's for the gallery. Personally, I think mereological nihilism arose as a consequence of people not understanding what a bunch of the proper parts of "My Farm"..for example, were, and being blindsided by the additional actors. We idn;t know we had microscopic partners, for example. We didn't understand the relationship between the emerald ash borer and forced raspberry production. Once we realized that stuff, lines that seemed clearer beforehand became fuzzy afterwards. Which is to say that mn is describing something true about reality, but isn't true as a theory of all those things in reality. The lines may be further out than we realized, but there are still lines.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
