Power

[Catherine Driscoll]

> Is it possible that this discussion/debate has taken the form of:
> 
> A. The ball is on the table.
> 
> B. No, it's round.
> 
> C. No, it's yellow.
> 
> D. No, it's off the floor.
> 
> E. No, it's soft.
> 
> F. No, it's .....
> 
> The word power has a number of radically different senses in different
> "domains," and those senses have no relationship. This discussion tends
> towards a Platonic goal of finding the real essence of every word.

I don't know, I thought something was at stake. It could be whether the ball's 
roundeness or yellowness is what matters right now, but I think it should be 
about how a ball can be used -- which is therefore how it should be understood.

Catherine