Full Idea
In a contest of sheer systematic utility to science, the notion of physical object still leads the field.
Gist of Idea
The notion of a physical object is by far the most useful one for science
Source
Willard Quine (Word and Object [1960], §48)
Book Reference
Quine,Willard: 'Word and Object' [MIT 1969], p.238
A Reaction
A delightful circumlocution from someone who seems terrified to assert that there just are objects. Not that I object to Quine's caution. It would be disturbing if his researches had revealed that we could manage without objects. But compare Idea 6124.
Related Idea
Idea 6124 I say that most of the objects of folk ontology do not exist [Merricks]