is a hotdog a sandwich? is a smoothie a soup?
What a question! I love ones that really get your mind thinking. The definition of what constitutes a sandwich or a soup is really up to the person. I can provide my own take on the debate of course.
The whole concept of these sorts of questions might seem like a fun debate to get into with friends, or even strangers (after all, there’s no better entertainment than seeing someone get worked up over something like this); however, if you sit down and think about it it’s really more complicated than that!
There’s a philosophical theory proposed by Plato known as The Theory of Forms, that, according to Plato, are merely ideas of things that actually exist. They represent what each thing is supposed to be for it to be that specific individual thing.
To be taken into context of the question, on the matter of if a hot dog is a sandwich or if a smoothie is a soup... The Form of a sandwich shows qualities that something must have in order to be a sandwich. It’s simply a depiction of the idea of what a sandwich is.
However, no actual sandwich is an absolute perfect representation of the Form sandwich. They are similar, yes, they can be frighteningly similar, but every sandwich is different, and none are a 100% perfect representation of the Form no matter how much it seems it is.
Same goes for soups! You can get as close as you can to the idea of a perfect soup, but none are going to be perfect within in the framework of the Forms.
Of course... there are flaws with Plato’s theory, he even admitted to it being limiting. Aristotle also criticized Plato’s forms, though that is something I could spend several more posts explaining that I simply don’t have the time for (even this post is taking a bit longer than I’d like due to being so busy). If you’re curious about the criticism of the forms, check out this post by the Philosophical Society.
I can also draw parallels between squares and rectangles. Meaning, while a square is a rectangle (as well as a rhombus), a rectangle is not necessarily a square. So theoretically, a hot dog could be a sandwich but a sandwich isn’t necessarily a hot dog.
I realize I’m probably dancing around the question but I simply could not help myself with laying out the philosophical implications of your question! So, is a hot dog a sandwich and is a smoothie a soup? The answer lies in each persons own perceptions. But what is MY perception of it?
A hot dog is a hot dog, but it’s also a sandwich, though it also might not even exist at all, and this also applies to my perception of soups and smoothies.