[SEQ RERUN] The Parable of Hemlock
Today’s post, The Parable of Hemlock was originally published on 03 February 2008. A summary (taken from the LW wiki):
Socrates is a human, and humans, by definition, are mortal. So if you defined humans to not be mortal, would Socrates live forever?
Discuss the post here (rather than in the comments to the original post).
This post is part of the Rerunning the Sequences series, where we’ll be going through Eliezer Yudkowsky’s old posts in order so that people who are interested can (re-)read and discuss them. The previous post was The Parable of the Dagger, and you can use the sequence_reruns tag or rss feed to follow the rest of the series.
Sequence reruns are a community-driven effort. You can participate by re-reading the sequence post, discussing it here, posting the next day’s sequence reruns post, or summarizing forthcoming articles on the wiki. Go here for more details, or to have meta discussions about the Rerunning the Sequences series.
This why it is incorrect to say that Pluto “used to be” a planet. According the new definition of planet, Pluto was never a planet. And according the old definition, Pluto still is a planet. Nothing about Pluto changed in 2006.
In a world where “leg” means tail, dogs still have four legs.
You can paint “horse” on a pig, but he won’t win the Kentucky Derby.