At 03:40 PM 1/28/99 -0700, Frederick Mann wrote:
>OK, Ian. My paraphrasing: You see a difference between
>"constellation" and "galaxy" in that the former is
>a collective entity defined by an arbitrarily selected
>number of stars you regard as ordered when viewed
>from a particular angle or point of view.
>
>To someone who has seen pictures or images of a
>galaxy, a galaxy would be seen as a galaxy, no matter
>from what angle or viewpoint the galaxy is seen
>(except perhaps when the viewer is somewhere within
>that galaxy). Could we describe a galaxy as an
>"objective collective entity?"
IAN: Yes.
>Does your notion of a "constellation-type collective
>entity" imply that if anyone were to define a number
>of arbitrarily selected units and regarded them as
>somehow ordered, then this definition, arbitrary
>selection, and idea of order would bring about the
>existence of a collective entity?
IAN: If the ordered points exist only as ideas, then they are the idea of a collective entity.