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It’s by ‘Straddling’ That YOU ‘Activate’/‘Articulate’/‘Delineate’/‘Develop’/‘Define’ ‘Space’
- Author(s):
- Adrian Kohn (see profile)
- Date:
- 2019
- Subject(s):
- Metaphysics
- Item Type:
- Book chapter
- Tag(s):
- Robert Irwin, untitled (dawn to dusk), Chinati Foundation, Space
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/e013-1r67
- Abstract:
- My dictionary has it that "metaphysics" means abstract theory with no basis in reality. Among several problems with this grossly simplified definition is the word "no," the declaration of utter lack, which itself verges on abstraction when taken seriously and mulled over awhile . . . after all, I’m not sure I can think of anything truly without basis in reality. So then what if we patch up the sentence and instead claim that metaphysics is abstract theory with SOME basis in reality, but only a little bit, just here and there? Although this new statement mightn’t say a whole lot, it does prod us to look again at a few clear-cut distinctions we routinely lean on as we try and suss out things about the world. These include "physical"/"metaphysical," "real"/"abstract," "literal"/"figurative"— the terms overlapping and interchangeable to a degree in all three left-sides and right-sides, respectively—and many more pairings as well. Most of the time, when we want to learn about art and other parts of life, it proves very handy to keep the concepts in each such set separate. We needn’t always do this, however.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Book chapter
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 3 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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