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    Predicating 'dead' of a corpse commits a category error: ... — Carmelics
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    Supports→The problem of what is in the state of being dead cannot be solved by saying that upon dying an organism leaves a corpse and it is the corpse that is in the state of being dead.

    Predicating 'dead' of a corpse commits a category error: corpses are not the kind of thing that can be alive or dead.

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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Category errors occur when properties are predicated of things lacking the necessary ontological type to possess them.
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    • 2.Life and death are properties applicable only to organisms with metabolic processes; corpses lack such processes by definition.
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    • 3.Calling a corpse 'dead' commits a logical error similar to calling a number 'loud' — applying predicates outside the proper domain.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.A corpse is the dead body of something that was alive; 'dead' describes a relational property (loss of vital functions), not an intrinsic feature.
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    • 2.If category errors render statements nonsensical, 'the corpse is dead' would be meaningless; yet it clearly conveys intelligible information.
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    • 3.'Dead' can apply to anything that transitions from functioning to non-functioning (engines, batteries, organisms), making it a valid cross-category predicate.
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    Afterlife & Death1 linked

    Related

    'Dead' can apply to anything that transitions from functioning to non-functionin...A corpse is the dead body of something that was alive; 'dead' describes a relati...Calling a corpse 'dead' commits a logical error similar to calling a number 'lou...Category errors occur when properties are predicated of things lacking the neces...
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    If category errors render statements nonsensical, 'the corpse is dead' would be ...Life and death are properties applicable only to organisms with metabolic proces...The problem of what is in the state of being dead cannot be solved by saying tha...

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