The phenomenology of M&M's

Edmund Husserl, the great Czech philosopher, once wrote a book called Ideen zu einer reinen Phänomenologie und phänomenologischen Philosophie. Erstes Buch: Allgemeine Einführung in die reine Phänomenologie (Loosely translated: "General Introduction to Phenomenology"). Published in 1913, the book predated the introduction of M&M's by 38 years. It is safe to say that Edmund Husserl never ate an M&M, although he was likely familiar with the broader generis of candy coated beans (Jordan Almonds apparently date back to the 17th century, according to Wikipedia).

When I tried M&M's Premiums, a new product from Mars, Incorporated, I was immediately reminded of Husserl's work.

I don't think anyone really understands Husserl's book, but it has something to do with the independence of the world of ideas and the physical world, and the independence of this world of ideas with, say, the logical world of mathematics. Central to Husserl's thought is the idea of an eidos, or essence. An eidos exists independently of an object or even a class of objects; for example the color red would be an eidos. This leads to questions such as whether these essences can exist independently of consciousness, or whether we have to think of them as essential objects of consciousness, because "red" exists to us as human beings but perhaps not to other creatures. But these questions are for another blog entry.

In the main, as I munched on this new M&M -- or more accurately this new object deemed to be an M&M by Mars, Incorporated -- I wondered, what exactly is the eidos of an M&M? According to the wikipedia, M&M's are "candy-coated pieces of chocolate with the letter "m" inscribed on them, produced by Mars, Incorporated."

Now, this new M&M in fact had no candy coated shell; it was actually strangely soft. It turns out that the chocolate coating is the "coating" on this bean. And the layer of chocolate around the almond was disturbingly thin--to the point where it was nearly undetectable.

I really don't know what the eidos of an M&M is--whether, for example, a candy coated shell is a necessary condition for M&M-ness--but it is safe to say that this new object is not an M&M.

And then just today, I ran into an oblong Oreo with fudge filling. "Perfect for dipping," the package says, as if a round cookie has been a lifelong annoyance to Oreo dippers around the world. At Oreo.com, the brand extensions span 10 pages. What is the eidos of an Oreo?

Haiku

Long words have ruined
The best lines of my haiku.
Sesquipedalian.