What exactly is a philosophers stone?

[jason]

Saw this term on another thread,and I've heard of it before,but I've never known what it meant.

[Frank]

Hi:

I believe it's a kind of fungus, sort of, mushroom like. Something that when ingested can give a person whacky experiences.

Yours,
Frank

[no_leaf_clover]

From answers.com via a Google search:

The stone or material that practitioners of alchemy believed capable of changing other metals into gold...Figuratively, the “philosopher's stone” is a substance thought to be capable of regenerating man spiritually.

[Nay]

You were close Frank..

First thing that came to my mind, was Harry Potter..lol. go figure.

[Frank]

Hi:

But it is a kind of fungus, I just checked. Do a search on philosophers stone +fungus.

I thought it was, because they talk about it here. Where I live is truffle country. In the late autumn they come along with their trained pigs, sniffing them out from the roots of all the oak trees in the woods around here.

Yours,
Frank

[Nay]

"truffle county"  well, that makes sense, no wonder!  

Saw a program on the whole pig snuffing thing.....dang, those truffle's must be good, cause they had to pull that hog OFF the root...

[atalanta]

'The Philosopher's Stone' is the first of the series of Harry Potter books.  The stone is prized because it is said that even if you are within a thread of dying the stone will bring you back to life.  It heals, regenerates and provides the possessor with immortality.  The stone was wanted by the evil Lord Voldemort who had killed Harry's parents because he had tried to kill Harry with a curse and it backfired and killed him.  Voldemort however, survived by taking over the bodies of small animals.  The animals didn't live long and he was eager to get the stone because it would bring him back to life.  Harry thwarted the attempt and the stone was destroyed.  

By book five Voldemort, through the aid of a servant, a Death Eater called Wormtail, comes back to life but he isn't exactly human yet.  He is sort of like a cross between a snake and a human being.  

Book 6, comes out in early July and the movie later in the year.  Can't wait!  Grab a copy of the first one and have a read.  I thought it was all hype and I wouldn't read or like it, but I got hooked against my will.  Wonder if there isn't some sorcery going on about the book.

[Frank]

He he you see, Nay, they are the ones confused, not me, lol. If you read the actual question then the answer is clear. There is a significant difference between The Philosophers Stone and a philosophers stone. The latter is what the original poster is asking about, not the former. Unless jason got his grammatical expressions in a twist. :)

The answer given by NLC is also incorrect, as his response clearly opens with, "Figuratively, the philosopher's stone....". When the original question clearly states, "What exactly is a philosophers stone." An exact definition, by definition, cannot be a figurative definition.

So that's 2-0 to Frank, ha ha ha ha ha...

Yours,
Frank

[beavis]

theres a few kinds of fungus good for "philosophising"  

[Nay]

*nay's head explodes*

See what you did Frank? haha  Beavis, you're scaring me again.

[Telos]

Actually, Frank, your definition is the figurative one.

At least, according to Wikipedia:

In modern times, Philosopher's Stone has become a slang name for an hallucinogenic mushroom, Psilocybe mexicana or P. tampanensis, closely related to the more well-known Psilocybe cubensis. See Psilocybe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher's_stone

You have to scroll all the way down. And, no, I did not just add that to the article for the purpose of having the chance to correct Frank. :)

[Frank]

Telos:

Nice try but no cigar. If it is an actual slang name then it can't be figurative. So that makes it 3-0. LOL, I'm on a roll.

Gonna buy a lottery ticket tomorrow. Ha ha ha ha...

Yours,
Frank

[Telos]

What? Slang isn't figurative language?!

crap!!

[no_leaf_clover]

If it is an actual slang name then it can't be figurative.

What? lol

And yes, I told him exactly what a philosopher's stone was - figuratively! Perhaps 'figuratively' was implied by the post, which would support the idea that it was figurative, because it didn't exactly exist.

See, it all makes perfect sense.

[Frank]

Telos:

I'll give you half a point, lol.

It depends on the slang used, of course. If it is common slang then this is merely a situation where people are using different words that are ordinarily known to describe a particular thing. That is what I meant by "actual slang name" in my previous post. In other words, in this event I would argue there is no metaphorical element.

My example, here, would be that of the noun: bling-bling, as in ostentatious jewellery. This is clearly a slang term. But note that the common meaning of the noun is the meaning I have described. Bling-bling has no other more common meaning from which an implicit comparison may be drawn.
   
As I am sure you are aware, for an expression to be figurative there must be a metaphorical element that creates an implicit comparison.

I do accept that a group of people may, for one reason or another, develop a particular manner of speaking where certain figures of speech represent other known words or phrases. That, of course, would be speaking figuratively. For example, the term "mechanic” representing the term "assassin" in underworld patois. This is clearly figurative as the term mechanic, to most people, ordinarily means one thing, yet to the group in question it represents another thing entirely.

The question, here, is not whether slang, per se, is figurative speech or not. Because when you analyse the facts of it, in some cases slang could definitely be said to be figurative, and in other cases slang is merely the use of a more commonly known term, for any particular thing.

The key questions are:

Is philosophers-stone a figurative representation of a certain hallucinogenic mushroom? Or is philosophers-stone simply a common-o-garden, modern-day term for the said fungus?

In evidence, I refer you to your source, who clearly state, and I quote: "In modern times, Philosopher's Stone has become a slang name for an hallucinogenic mushroom, Psilocybe mexicana..."

I would suggest, therefore, the latter of the two questions above could be the only rightful course.

According to your source, the term philosophers-stone, these days, has but one common meaning. In which case there can be no metaphorical element. Hence no implicit comparison can possibly be drawn between philosophers-stone and the hallucinogenic mushroom in question. For the simple reason philosophers stone is[/u] the applicable term for the said mushroom, and is not a common term for any other thing in accordance with our current understanding.

That concludes the case for the defence, your honour. :)

Yours in sport,
Frank

PS
NLC: LMAO!