Summary |
Supposing that holes, reflections, shadows, absences and omissions (minor entities) exist, what is their nature? Are they concrete? If so, are they material or immaterial. Take holes. If they exist, they exist in space and time. After all, the hole in my doughnut persists and is certainly located. But it does not appear to be concrete since it is, it would seem, merely the absence of the doughnut material surrounding it. But do holes, reflections, shadows, etc. even exist? Everyday speak would seem to have it so. After all, we say things like 'There is a hole in my shirt' and 'in a fit of rage, so-and-so punched a hole in the wall'. We also attribute to things like wholes, shadows and reflection causal powers: my shirt is unwearable because it has too many holes; my shadow startled me in the middle of the night; my reflection in a funny mirror made me laugh. Should we take such talk literally? |