Q: What is a woman?
A: A woman is a category of human being.
Q: What is a category?
A: Excellent question !!! A category is an abstraction (inside human skulls) about the world
Q: Is it good to think of categories as being "real"
A: No, it is not.
Q: Why?
A: Because if you think categories are real, you are liable to vigorously defend yours and attack others while not having any disagreement about things that actually are real.
We all categorize all the time. Think about it. Much of the struggle for us is BECAUSE of HARDENING OF THE CATEGORIES. We are learning now how categorization works. Its very interesting and its not like we thought. The "classical" theory of categories holds that all members of a category hold at least one thing in common. That is the basis of a "classical" category. That is now known to be wrong and SOOO much is based on it. If you are interested, read about Prototype Theory, or George Lakoff's book "Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things".
Also, note that the question "What is a woman?" is about BEING. Being is one of the three ways to know something about something. What is it? What is it made of? How is it configured? How much does it weigh? Etc.
The other two ways are much neglected because our culture is kind of IS (noun) oriented, but for me anyway, they are more important. The three ways are:
Being - What it is
Doing - What it does
Knowing - What it knows
Let's not hold our categories so preciously, or interestedly. Any category is just short-hand for a concept and yes you do have to pause to clarify things around the edges or with people who you don't share much context with because no two people categorize in exactly the same way.
Is she sitting on a "chair".
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