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Full Idea
The most fundamental criticism of classical mereology is that the theory is not applicable to most of the objects around us, and is accordingly of little use as a formal reconstruction of the concepts of part and whole which we actually employ.
Gist of Idea
Classical mereology doesn't apply well to the objects around us
Source
Peter Simons (Parts [1987], Intro)
Book Ref
Simons,Peter: 'Parts: a Study in Ontology' [OUP 1987], p.1
A Reaction
This sounds splendidly dismissive, but one might compare it with possible worlds semantics for modal logic, which most people take with a pinch of salt as an actual commitment, but find wonderfully clarifying in modal reasoning.