The half eaten banana question:
#1
Posted 23 September 2004 - 08:24 PM
Suppose I give you a banana. Would you agree that I have just handed you a banana? I will assume you will. (Please don't debate this. That's not the point.)
Now suppose you ask for banana, and I take a bite out of it, (I have peeled it first of course. unsure.gif ) and hand it to you. Have I just handed you a banana, or a half eaten banana?
Please, I beg of you, don't do anything to get off topic. I only want a debate between the two poll choices. And first, I want to hear your opinions before I step into shark-filled waters. There is clearly blood in the water at this point, and I like my feet a lot.
#2
Posted 23 September 2004 - 08:42 PM
I would think of it as a regular banana. I mean, you can take the part you bit off of. Then, bam, you got yourself a banana. Sure, some is missing, but a banana is a banana (man it felt strange typing that ).
#3
Posted 23 September 2004 - 08:42 PM
#4
Posted 23 September 2004 - 08:57 PM
This gets a little bit off topic, but I think the overall idea you'll soon see will be useful. Imagine if you will, two pieces of rope. One is smaller, and another is larger. Another piece of rope then inches its way into the screen, which is larger than the larger piece of rope. Then another one comes along, slightly larger than the previously largest one. Is the bigger piece of rope still bigger? No, but it once was.
You can define terms using such an example. Remember that something doesn't necessarily have to have the same title just because it's either changed or remained the same. It must be analyzed next to its surroundings and circumstances. Hell, even its circumstances can be fooled if you phrase your argument well enough. I personally hate that about arguments, but what can you do?
#5
Posted 23 September 2004 - 09:37 PM
#6
Posted 23 September 2004 - 09:59 PM
You're agonizing over whether a banana is a banana? This is just a question of the abuse of the universally known fact that human language is imperfect at best.
I'll be perfectly frank. Here's what your post looks like to me. You just started classes in college. You're probably taking an entry-level philosophy class. You probably just studied a bit on Aristotle, hence the A is A and Noncontradiction stuff in your last thread. And you just feel the burning desire to share it because to you it seems like a revolutionary new concept that no one else ever thinks of.
Not saying that this is necessarily why, but it is how it appears from my vantage point. I really do worry sometimes that you try too often to come across as intellectual. Something about the forced nature of your topics.
So, the long version of the short answer: there is an objective truth as to the essence of the banana, which covers all forms of existence of that banana, from conceptualized to half-eaten. The truth of its reality doesn't change. When the term "banana" applies to both the unpeeled and the half-eaten forms of the object, we admit that it is caused by our limited and subjective understanding of the object and our inability to express complete objective truth once it has been processed by our minds.
Edit: Oh yes, and I null voted because both options are true. They are not mutually exclusive, if one is working on a particular understanding of the situation.
#7
Posted 23 September 2004 - 11:30 PM
#8
Posted 23 September 2004 - 11:33 PM
It still is one, bitten or not.
#9
Posted 24 September 2004 - 12:07 AM
#10
Posted 24 September 2004 - 12:42 AM
#11
Posted 24 September 2004 - 12:46 AM
Actually Hero Link, if it was half a banana, it would be ban, not banana.
You know, I must on crack. That was lame.
#12
Posted 24 September 2004 - 12:53 AM
#13
Posted 24 September 2004 - 01:03 AM
#14
Posted 24 September 2004 - 01:11 AM
#15
Posted 24 September 2004 - 01:30 AM
And anyway, come on, are you saying Josh is gross or something?
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