Traits and/or states

[Kirk Fitzhugh]

At 01:28 PM 10/30/03 -0600, you wrote:
>And so a flower is not a flower but a grammatical construct?

Assuming you are a realist, a flower does exist as an observer-independent
object. But the statement, "I see a flower with red petals," is a
theory-laden construct intended to convert one's sense perceptions into a
familiar conceptual framework about what exists around us.

Kirk

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We see only what we know.  -- Goethe

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J. Kirk Fitzhugh, Ph.D.
Associate Curator of Polychaetes
Invertebrate Zoology Section
Research & Collections Branch
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History
900 Exposition Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90007

Phone:   213-763-3233
FAX:     213-746-2999
e-mail:  kfitzhug at nhm.org
http://www.nhm.org/research/annelida/index.html
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