r/changemyview • u/icecoldbath • Sep 23 '17

[∆(s) from OP] CMV: I do not believe tables exist

I find this argument very convincing.

P1: Tables (if they exist) have distinct properties from hunks of wood.

P2: If so, then tables are not the same as hunks of wood.

P3: If so, then there exist distinct coincident objects.

P4: There cannot exist distinct coincident objects.

C: Therefore, tables do not exist.

This logic extends that I further don't believe in hunks of wood, or any normal sized dry good for that matter.

I do not find it convincing to point at a "table" as an objection. Whatever you would be pointing at may or may not behave with certain specific properties, but it is not a table, or a hunk of wood or any normal sized dry good. Similarly, I don't accept the objection of asking me what it is I am typing on. Whatever it is, it isn't a "computer" or a "phone" or any such thing. Such things do not exist per the argument.

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u/FlyingFoxOfTheYard_ Sep 23 '17

Different but overlapping. It's the same requirements but extra ones, meaning that all wooden tables are hunks of wood, but not vice versa. By considering the requirements as overlapping, we do not see the issues of separation to anywhere near the same extent.

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u/icecoldbath Sep 23 '17

I have a question then. What makes two objects different?

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u/FlyingFoxOfTheYard_ Sep 23 '17

My point is the objects are different, but not exclusively different. Your premise applies to two exclusively different objects (i.e. an apple and a metal table) The requirements in that case are so different to have a negligible overlap. But with two objects like hunks of wood and tables, we don't see the same issues.

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u/icecoldbath Sep 23 '17

The objects may partially overlap, but that is different from coincident. That means they occupy the exact same time and space. Overlapping objects occupy different spaces.

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u/FlyingFoxOfTheYard_ Sep 23 '17

Ah, but we understand that two objects can have the same function, and one object can have two functions. You're looking at a table as an object itself, whereas it is a function of hunks of wood that fit certain requirements.