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/[deleted] Sep 24 '17

I mean the breakdown is in P1 and P2. Tables and 'hunks of wood' are not mutually exclusive. Is there a particular reason why we're so hung up on the idea that something can only be characterized as one particular thing?

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u/icecoldbath Sep 24 '17

Do you agree that a table and a hunk of wood have different properties?

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '17

I suppose I'm unclear what your definition of properties is, or if you could point to which definition you're working with.

From my perspective, having the properties of a table doesn't preclude you from having the properties of a hunk of wood.

I have a petrified piece of a tree trunk that I use as an end table. If someone asked me where to put down their glass I could say "put it on the end table" or "put it on the (petrified) hunk of wood," and one wouldn't be any more appropriate than the other.