Here is a mildly interesting thing I just noticed: given dualism, we cannot
say that we are a part of the Milky Way galaxy. For galaxies, if they
exist at all, are material objects that do not have souls as parts.
Would this also apply to any other ordinary case of a supposed composite being 'made up' of people? If humans aren't a part of the Milky Way galaxy, does that mean that an American citizen is not actually a part of the United States? Or that somebody isn't really a part of a crowd? Or that John Lennon wasn't actually a part of the Beatles? Would this compel us to conceive of these groups in a reductionistic way, as simply a grouping of material bodies in a specific place and at a specific time?
This argument doesn[t apply to social entities. The Milky Way is, conceptually, a physical thing. If dualism is true, a crowd is not a physical thing--it has a spiritual component.
We are not part of the Milky Way, our Earth is part of the Milky Way, which is part of Creation, of which we too are part. Question, is the Earth the center of the universe?
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Would this also apply to any other ordinary case of a supposed composite being 'made up' of people? If humans aren't a part of the Milky Way galaxy, does that mean that an American citizen is not actually a part of the United States? Or that somebody isn't really a part of a crowd? Or that John Lennon wasn't actually a part of the Beatles? Would this compel us to conceive of these groups in a reductionistic way, as simply a grouping of material bodies in a specific place and at a specific time?
This argument doesn[t apply to social entities. The Milky Way is, conceptually, a physical thing. If dualism is true, a crowd is not a physical thing--it has a spiritual component.
Does that mean that crowds of people aren't a part of the Milky Way either?
We are not part of the Milky Way, our Earth is part of the Milky Way, which is part of Creation, of which we too are part. Question, is the Earth the center of the universe?
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