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Inverse View
It is not the case that Approximation across a categorical ontological divide does not constitute genuine approach to a substance but only asymptotic functional resemblance.
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Reasons For
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Reason for
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1.
Categorical boundaries are often conventional divisions we impose, not pre-existing metaphysical facts; substances can genuinely bridge them.
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2.
Functional behavior exhausts what we can meaningfully know about substance; if X approximates Y functionally, substantial approach has occurred.
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3.
Many accepted cases of genuine approach involve boundary-crossing (e.g., mineral to life, non-conscious to conscious); false dichotomy assumed.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
Categorical divides are metaphysically fundamental boundaries; crossing them requires ontological transformation, not mere behavioral convergence.
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2.
Asymptotic functions approach limits without reaching them; similarly, functional similarity across category boundaries never captures essential substance.
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3.
Properties constitutive of one category cannot be instantiated in another; approximation only mimics external behavior, not internal nature.
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