Timeline for answer to What makes something a tool? by Ted Wrigley
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| yesterday | comment | added | Ted Wrigley | @R.M.: if you want to go a step deeper, every tool is a mental construct, not a physical object. For example, we have the mental concept of 'cutting' as an effect, and we create mental concepts of 'objects that cut': knives, swords, or any sharp-edge thing. We then either find or create a material object that fits the bill. The object-concept is what's consistently reusable, and we often prefer that material objects mirror that reusability. In your PD's case, the object-concept being used is 'disguise' (using appearance as a tool), an the hat is an ad hoc implement that serve in that tool. | |
| yesterday | comment | added | Ted Wrigley | @R.M.: Again the distinction we have to look at is the 'found object' (one-off use) aspect. A proper tool (at least in colloquial usage) is a reusable item fabricated to repeatedly perform a consistent effect on demand. Things we use once for a purpose and discard should probably be called 'implements'. i.e., we might say that if we need to drive a nail a nearby rock will do as an implement, but a hammer is better as a tool. I mean, I wouldn't mind calling them ad hoc tools (as opposed to proper tools) if that makes you happier, but the point pertains… | |
| yesterday | comment | added | R.M. | If a private investigator buys the hat to sneak into a Michael Jackson lookalike contest, is that a tool? A crowbar bought to break into the theater definitely would be. Is it a social rather than physical purpose that's a distinction, or is it something else? | |
| 2 days ago | vote | accept | Maxime Jaccon | ||
| 2 days ago | history | answered | Ted Wrigley | CC BY-SA 4.0 |