Adapted for the Internet from:

Why God Doesn't Exist

    In order to determine objectively and unambiguously whether a word represents an object, we will use a
    single criterion: shape. If we can point to and name an image, it is by definition an object. Otherwise, it is
    either a concept or space.

    Plato argues that a shadow is an object and, in principle, he appears to be right.  The word shadow meets
    two requirements: shape and single-word. For example, an extraterrestrial (ET) may not be able to
    distinguish between a true object and a shadow by simply looking at a 2-D image – we can just as well call
    'it' X. However, a shadow also fulfills the criteria of a concept. The prosecutor must allude to a second
    object to explain the word shadow. The tiebreaker is that a shadow does not have a shape of its own. A
    shadow is not a standalone object. Without the tree, we have no shadow. This becomes obvious when we
    take the object into deep space. The object has shape. The shadow doesn't (Fig. 1).
Is a shadow an
object or a
concept?

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    Last modified 01/22/08


        Copyright © by Nila Gaede 2008

        Fig. 1   Me and my shadow
A shadow is not a stand-alone
object. This is easily demonstrated.
Here on Earth, a cube has shape and
casts a shadow. If we take the cube
to outer space, the cube continues to
have shape. It's shadow doesn't.
Without a physical object, there is no
such thing as a shadow.
Of course I'm not a
physical object! Can't
you see that I don't
cast a shadow?