There's such a good discussion going on about what a "thing" is, it made me think of a companion thread:
A friend of mine, a philosophy prof in Philadelphia, did his dissertation (have I got that right?!) on the human concept of "right." (eg, how do we know what is right?) He explained it to me thus: we were having coffee together and he picked up his mug and said, "For example, we call this a coffee mug, or just a mug. We have all agreed to call it this. We wouldn't call it an earwig. But how do we know or understand what is right?" That's as far as I remember the conversation, but I think the gist of his point was, do we have a universal right? on what is it based? how did we determine it? if we don't, how DO we know what is right and what is wrong?
Since that long-ago conversation, I've had the pleasure of proofing some of his papers for him. The world of philosophy is a very deep one, I learned....Holy cow! some of the intricate discussions philosophers get into, with regard to what is ethical and what isn't, etc. I'll post some (the bare bones, that is) if anyone is interested.
Meanwhile: How do we determine what is right?
