And if you say you HAVE a skeleton... then what, specifically, is it that is doing the having? And don't say "my body," because part of your body IS the skeleton.
2007-02-23 14:39:37 · 15 answers · asked by SoCalAgency 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
P.S. For those of you who say you HAVE a skeleton, are you saying your skeleton is less YOU than whatever it is that you say is doing the having? Is your skeleton less you than, for example, your brain? Could one part of you really be any "less you" than any other? AND... how could any one part of you HAVE another part? "HAVE" defined: 1.to possess; own; hold for use; contain: He has property. The work has an index.
2.to hold, possess, or accept in some relation, as of kindred or relative position: He wanted to marry her, but she wouldn't have him.
3.to get, receive, or take: to have a part in a play; to have news.
4.to experience, undergo, or endure, as joy or pain: Have a good time. He had a heart attack last year.
5.to hold in mind, sight, etc.: to have doubts.
2007-02-23 14:49:48 · update #1
NOTE: Jowpers said: "Your skeleton is certainly less than you are." But this is a misunderstanding of what I asked. I didn't ask if your skeleton is "less than you are" as he stated. I asked if it was "LESS YOU than any other part of you." Big difference.
2007-02-23 21:51:23 · update #2
I have a skeleton. My person, my soul, my spirit, my mind, whatever...some ephemeral conglomeration of thoughts, hopes, dreams, and desires is surrounded by bone, blood, and tissue.
*I* am the one who has the skeleton.
2007-02-23 14:44:57 · answer #1 · answered by Brian L 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is really a philosophical question. If you believe that your physical death is the very end of you, then you might believe that you are a skeleton, or you could believe that you have a skeleton because it is not your body in its entirety. If you believe otherwise, then you might believe that you have a skeleton AND you have a body. Although, "have" is not always used in such a possesive way, as you are stating. If you ARE a body (or a skeleton), is that all you are? I think that you can have a skeleton. You could cut your finger off and keep it in a jar. That is part of your skeleton. You could keep it and have it. But you don't need to go and do that ok? You already have a skeleton.
2007-02-24 01:18:29 · answer #2 · answered by person 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your question is a fallacy. Or rather, the details of your question.
A part is not a whole, so I am not a skeleton. But I AM a body, because my body is a whole entity. So it would technically be my body that has a skeleton. (A skeleton does not equal a body.) Just like a car has tires. Tires are part of the car, but they don't equal a car by themselves. But a car is not a car without tires.
Edit: That is exactly what I am saying. My entire body includes my skeleton, my muscles, my heart, my mind, and my soul (if you believe in that type of thing). My skeleton is less than this. My skeleton is not strictly a possession of my body since it is part of my body. But "have" is the best way to describe it.
Maybe you want a word we don't have in English to describe this idea.
2007-02-23 22:46:29 · answer #3 · answered by retzy 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I AM a skeleton, along with cells and other organic molecules.
That is all that we are. I completely get your point of people claiming ownership of their body when THEY ARE a body. It is very ironic.
For a person to say "I have a body" must mean that they consider mind and body separate. Seeing as how the brain is an organ (and a very complex one) and organs are a part of the body, I would argue that I am a body.
2007-02-23 22:47:17 · answer #4 · answered by Think. 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My body has a skeleton. OK, if that didn't blow your mind, listen up. My school has a cafeteria. My state has a capitol city. My car has an engine. My skeleton is not my entire body, it is a part of my body...but, in English, it's OK to say your body possesses (or "has") something that is also part of it.
2007-02-23 22:48:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
We all have a skeleton because if we all are skeleton the only thing we would have is a skeleton no heart, lungs, etc.
2007-03-02 20:29:18 · answer #6 · answered by runescape sucks 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I HAVE askeleton. Your skeleton is certainly less than you are: it is a part of you and YOU are the whole. Let me put it another way: are you a foot?
2007-02-24 00:45:36 · answer #7 · answered by jowpers 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Part of my body is skeleton.
2007-02-23 22:47:42 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
One has a skeleton. Who I am is independent of my body. So, I have a body also. What is doing the having is me - and I am neither composed of my body or constrained to my body. As Descartes said, "Cogito ergo sum" - "I think, therefore I am"
So, I guess, I - me - my self exists only because I presume to exist. I, who does the having, is a figment of my imagination. Of course, everyone else exists too, and we share this space. But what makes me exist independent of my body is my consciousness - which is, of course, a construct of my mind.
2007-03-01 22:04:52 · answer #9 · answered by billycrypto 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All mammals are vertebrates (have a skeleton) and you answered your own question . . .
part of your body is the skeleton !
Am so totally missing what your real question is . . .
2007-02-23 22:46:10 · answer #10 · answered by kate 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋