Is a Corn Dog Without a Stick a Forlorn Dog?

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By Andrew Raines

Is a Corn Dog without a stick a Forlorn Dog? Seemingly a trivial matter, questions such as these can have wild implications pertaining to how human beings perceive the world. At what point does a thing stop being that thing. It may be useful to look at this problem through a philosophical lens. The Sorites paradox is a popular thought experiment that may prep our brains to think about more pragmatic and important problems, such as the essence of the corn dog. The thought experiment is described as follows:

 

“1000000 grains is a heap.

If 1000000 grains is a heap then 999999 grains is a heap.

So 999999 grains is a heap.

If 999999 grains is a heap then 999998 grains is a heap.

So 999998 grains is a heap.

If ...

... So 1 grain is a heap.”

 

This thought experiment asks the question, at what point did the heap cease to be a heap. Did the heap cease to be a heap at all, even as a single grain remained? Plato’s philosophy of essentialism may best answer this question. Essentialism claims that all things have an “essence.” An aspect that makes the thing what it is. Imagine a knife. It may have a handle and a blade. The handle may be made out of wood or steel or ivory and the blade may be made of slate or stone or iron, but no matter the combination, it is still a knife. Without a handle, it remains a knife as well. A small and impractical knife indeed, but a knife it remains. 

But what happens when the blade is removed. A block of stuff that fits neatly in hand remains, but one would certainly not call it a knife. The blade is the essence of the knife. A heap’s essence, on the other hand, is more subjective. There certainly is not a quantitative answer. One would be hard pressed to find a person who will say that a heap requires a certain number of things exactly to qualify as a heap. Thus, the Sorites paradox remains ambiguous. Such is the question of the Corn Dog. We must ask, is the stick the essence of the Corn Dog. 

To answer this question, one must look no further than to the name, “Corn Dog.” The name implies that the presence of corn-meal and a hotdog. Indeed, these are the necessary ingredients to produce a Corn Dog. Indeed, assuming proper preparation, a culinary creation using these ingredients will taste and look and smell like a professionally made Corn Dog, stick or no. In addition, it can accomplish all things that a sticked Corn Dog can. Therefore, I would argue that these are the only aspects essential to the Corn Dog. The stick makes the Corn Dog more convenient to consume, sure, but the removal of the stick does not change what it is. This is why Mini Corn Dogs can carry on the name of their larger ancestors. Because the stick is not an essence of the Corn Dog, a Corn Dog sans the stick remains a Corn Dog.

Helpful Links

The Truth about Corn Dogs Part 1