In 1949’s The Concept of Mind, Gilbert Ryle gives this example:
“One day a girl visited a college campus. After seeing buildings, teachers,
students, and dorms, she looked at the tour guide and sweetly asked, ‘This is
all nice, but when do I get to see the university?’ ”
Now I don’t agree with Ryle on too much,
but he deserves credit for coining the expression that describes what is wrong
with the girl’s thinking in this story. The mistake she makes is called a category error. She has seen buildings,
teachers, students and dorms, and thinks a “university” is just one more item in
the same category or on the same level as these things. She fails to grasp that
all these elements make up the
university. The university itself is in a different category.
Christians and unbelievers alike are
susceptible to category error.