[Buddha-l] Loving your object of study

[Richard Hayes]

On Wed, 2007-11-21 at 09:01 -0500, Jackhat1 at aol.com wrote:

> I'm not into quibbling but do want to learn. Can you please say more about  
> category mistakes? Pretty please. I don't have a position that I have to  
> defend.

Making a category mistake involves assigning a predicate to a subject of
a type that the subject cannot possibly have. So, for example, if I were
to ask how much the number thirteen weighs, you might reply "Numbers are
not the sort of things that have weight. I'm afraid, dear sir, that you
have made a category mistake in asking that question." 

Notice that a category mistake is not the same thing as assigning a
predicate to a subject that the subject cannot possibly have. For
example, the term "compassionate Republican" is simply a contradiction
in terms, not a category mistake. Republicans are, after all, human
beings, and human beings can be compassionate---just not while being
Republicans. 

I have not detected any category mistakes in anything you have written
so far. I haven't even detected anything with which I disagree very
much. Perhaps Joanna has a keener sense of categoricity than I. 


-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico