I don’t quite like the framing “Don’t Exist”. I suspect a lot will depend on the specific context you need to use the term and the point one wants to make. Should I make a blanket statement “Murder Does Not Exists” simply because across cultures and national laws there is not 100% agreement on what defines a killing as murder or not murder? What about many of the technical standards that end up producing incompatible implementations that break interoperability? Are there really no standards?
I am probably more sympathetic to the last claim that to the one about murder or treaties.
“[thing that clearly exists] doesn’t exist” is established code for “is not the crisp category you think it is” (e.g. Why Fish Don’t Exist).
Additionally, the definition of murder might vary from place to place, but if there isn’t a crisp definition for a given jurisdiction, we say that place lacks law and order. And since treaties are definitionally between multiple parties, those parties need to share a definition of anything material, in a way they don’t need to share a definition of murder that occurs on their own soil.
I don’t quite like the framing “Don’t Exist”. I suspect a lot will depend on the specific context you need to use the term and the point one wants to make. Should I make a blanket statement “Murder Does Not Exists” simply because across cultures and national laws there is not 100% agreement on what defines a killing as murder or not murder? What about many of the technical standards that end up producing incompatible implementations that break interoperability? Are there really no standards?
I am probably more sympathetic to the last claim that to the one about murder or treaties.
“[thing that clearly exists] doesn’t exist” is established code for “is not the crisp category you think it is” (e.g. Why Fish Don’t Exist).
Additionally, the definition of murder might vary from place to place, but if there isn’t a crisp definition for a given jurisdiction, we say that place lacks law and order. And since treaties are definitionally between multiple parties, those parties need to share a definition of anything material, in a way they don’t need to share a definition of murder that occurs on their own soil.