Re: Reification

Dewey Dykstra, Jr. (dykstrad who-is-at varney.idbsu.edu)
Mon, 16 Sep 1996 10:33:30 -0700

>Unless I'm real wrong about this, reification doesn't mean actually
>_making_ the abstraction concrete (an impossibility) but forgetting
>that it _is_ an abstraction, and then going on as though it _were_ a
>concrete object.
>
>For example, if I reify "freedom" or "understanding" I might start
>talking as though, and thus thinking that, it's an object I could give
>you . . .
>
> -- Russ

I always thought of 'to reify' as 'to generate or make an example of.' A
reification would be an example which fit or is consistent with the
abstraction.

Dewey

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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr. Phone: (208)385-3105
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