Ontology Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Abstract and concrete === {{main|Abstract and concrete}} Many philosophers agree that there is an exclusive and exhaustive distinction between ''concrete objects'' and ''abstract objects''.<ref name="Sandkühler2"/> Some philosophers consider this to be the most general division of being.<ref name="Honderich">{{cite book |last=Honderich |first=Ted |title=The Oxford Companion to Philosophy |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/HONTOC-2 |chapter=Ontology}}</ref> Examples of concrete objects include plants, human beings, and planets while things like numbers, sets, and propositions are abstract objects.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosen |first=Gideon |title=Abstract Objects |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abstract-objects/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=4 January 2021 |date=2020}}</ref> But despite the general agreement concerning the paradigm cases, there is less consensus as to what the characteristic marks of concreteness and abstractness are. Popular suggestions include defining the distinction in terms of the difference between (1) existence inside or outside [[spacetime]], (2) having causes and effects or not, and (3) having contingent or necessary existence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Honderich |first=Ted |title=The Oxford Companion to Philosophy |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/HONTOC-2 |chapter=abstract entities}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Craig |first=Edward |title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=1996 |publisher=Routledge |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/BEAREO |chapter=Abstract objects}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page