RE>

Chris and Jon,

I agree with Jon that Peirce's pragmatism shows the way
to find an answer to Chris's question.

Chris Partridge wrote:

&gt;&gt; You are right that people are using 3-D and 4-D -- and by association
&gt;&gt; E(ndurantist) and P(erdurantist) -- to cover a wide variety of things.
&gt;&gt; However, I think you would be wrong to dismiss the terms -- however
&gt;&gt; ugly they are.  They are terms of art in philosophical ontology and,
&gt;&gt; while related to the points you make below, are 