I have found many papers about “carving reality at its joints” but all of them discussed carving reality into kinds, supposed to cluster things, themselves always considered as already given. Though I tried, I did not find papers about carving reality into things (individuals, particulars, entities ...). Are there any references on this topic? Is it even correct in the first place to think of a thing as carving reality into “that thing” and “everything else”?
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Sounds like questions in metaphysics, with a tinge of the problem of universals?– FrankJan 15 at 20:34
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@Frank Yes for metaphysics (I added the tag) but my question is not so much related to the problem of the universals, which is more about kinds. My question is more related to the "problem of the many", though it is not restricted to "physical" things.– GeorgesJan 16 at 17:38
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Philosophical Paper by David Lewis would have a lot of modern metaphysics. The first text, about the metaphysics of holes in cheese, is quite funny.– FrankJan 17 at 1:15
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"think of a thing" is subtly different from the said thing in itself, then it certainly makes sense to carve reality into “that thing” and “everything else” insofar as in thinking...– Double KnotJan 18 at 5:15
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@DoubleKnot It is not that obvious to me that it makes sense to carve reality into, for instance, “that cloud” and “everything else”, even insofar as in thinking. My second question is more about whether it is correct or not to assume that “that cloud in itself” actually carves reality into “itself” and “everything else”.– GeorgesJan 19 at 13:33
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