You’re seeking the word “label,” not “thing.” At what point does it stop being a table, for example? When you take away 1 leg? 2, 3, all 4 (or more if it’s a weird kind of table)? What if the removed legs are right next to it? What if the legs are on the other side of the world and new observers of the former table are unaware of this fact? Will they still call it a table or will the legs’ absence alter their perception of the label? What if the legs are simply destroyed? What if an object was not originally built to be a table but someone said, “Hey, that’s a table,” and others around agree with them? Unga-bunga: the invention of language, the messy art of labeling. There is no real, objective table, just as there is no corner; we merely label it as such. Even for a long time I myself confused desks and tables until I realized that desks are basically tables meant to only be used from one side. They’re all just made-up labels, every single noun out there.
And even with corners, at what point does it become no longer a corner? When 1cm is shaved off to round it? 2, 3? It therefore actually has substance because you can round it out, but all of these are ultimately labels/descriptors just driven by group consensus to make sense of the world.
The Greek Ship of Theseus comes to mind (fully renovate a dilapidated ship, piece by piece; in the end, is it still the same ship?). These are all human labels based on feelings. Nothing exists independently apart from conscious, sentient minds that apply, and remove, such labels.
You’re seeking the word “label,” not “thing.” At what point does it stop being a table, for example? When you take away 1 leg? 2, 3, all 4 (or more if it’s a weird kind of table)? What if the removed legs are right next to it? What if the legs are on the other side of the world and new observers of the former table are unaware of this fact? Will they still call it a table or will the legs’ absence alter their perception of the label? What if the legs are simply destroyed? What if an object was not originally built to be a table but someone said, “Hey, that’s a table,” and others around agree with them? Unga-bunga: the invention of language, the messy art of labeling. There is no real, objective table, just as there is no corner; we merely label it as such. Even for a long time I myself confused desks and tables until I realized that desks are basically tables meant to only be used from one side. They’re all just made-up labels, every single noun out there.
And even with corners, at what point does it become no longer a corner? When 1cm is shaved off to round it? 2, 3? It therefore actually has substance because you can round it out, but all of these are ultimately labels/descriptors just driven by group consensus to make sense of the world.
The Greek Ship of Theseus comes to mind (fully renovate a dilapidated ship, piece by piece; in the end, is it still the same ship?). These are all human labels based on feelings. Nothing exists independently apart from conscious, sentient minds that apply, and remove, such labels.