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A brief discussion offline led to an amusing question about Venus de Milo. Does the Work related to Venus de Milo have arms?
I've given the question some thought and I'd like to toss some philosophical ideas to the list.
The Work is a Platonic concept, and as such is perfect in Form. It is the conceptual whole conceived in the mind of its creator. But that means it cannot truly be described or measured by anyone else. This is reflected in the fact that Works have very few attributes. Specifically, Works do not have dimensions, carrier, media, or material. I suggest then that from a philosophical perspective, the Work 'Venus de Milo' cannot truly be said to have arms, or color, or shape, or any material characteristics at all. It is perfect in Form, but indescribable because we cannot perceive it.
This is on one of my cataloging lists, guys. Really. Although it's not actually as heavy as it sounds - in fact, to me, knowing that this is in the context of the Work-Expression-Manifestation-Item terms derived from the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, it sounds rather whimsical (and proably was intended as such as a "Friday casual" post on this particular list). I just... life is weird sometimes, yanno?
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Date: Mar. 3rd, 2017 08:16 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Mar. 3rd, 2017 08:34 pm (UTC)From:And I don't think it's so much because I'm a library nerd as *why* I am one.
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Date: Mar. 3rd, 2017 09:04 pm (UTC)From: