he problem is that the argument consults usage to arrive at a definition, then uses the definition to arrive at a conclusion contrary to usage. This cannot be legitimately done, because usage is the only source which informs you what a sandwich is. There is no trans-linguistic reality, no platonic essence of sandwiches which you can consult. Definitions can only describe, not prescribe, and you can't get more out of them than the usage they arise from. If your definition of sandwich is contrary to usage, then it is, by definition, wrong. — hypericin
Whenever a "what is" question is asked, I am always worried by the thought "Is this a hotdog question?". — hypericin
They're not sandwiches. In fact, a hotdog inside a bun is similar to falafel inside a pita bread. They're called by their names in isolation of the bread that accompanies them. So, if you order two hotdogs, you're gonna get two buns with a hotdog inside each. The same with falafel.With this definition in hand, you can soundly conclude that hotdogs, contrary to popular opinion, are in fact sandwiches. — hypericin
Buns aren't used for sandwiches (no one is going to arrest you for calling it a sandwich), but for holding the thing which you ordered. — L'éléphant
In any case, philosophers do make definitions when they offer persuasive definitions that deviate from actual use in order to clarify or delineate an idea. This is usually the whole point of the question "what is...?" — Benkei
usage is the only source which informs you what a sandwich is. There is no trans-linguistic reality — hypericin
There is no trans-linguistic reality, no platonic essence of sandwiches which you can consult. — hypericin
Words are organic things, and have fuzzy boundaries, and our minds are well constituted to deal with them as such. We happily use the word sandwich, — hypericin
never mistakenly using the word with hotdogs. — hypericin
Usage is something, but not everything. — Cuthbert
"It's called a sandwich but it does not deserve the name." As if the so-called sandwich is descriptively or even morally defective. — Cuthbert
But neither is there any historical certainty about past usage, or even about uses of a word on particular occasions. — bongo fury
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montagu,_4th_Earl_of_Sandwich... he would ask his servants to bring him slices of meat between two slices of bread, a habit well known among his gambling friends. Other people, according to this account, began to order "the same as Sandwich!", and thus the "sandwich" was born.
chip butties — unenlightened
Half a bun is not a slice of bread — unenlightened
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