Dear Editor,
I read with interest the seemingly interminable debate on corporal punishment in schools. What concerns me is not so much the validity of the arguments but the regularity with which the word”corporeal” supplants “corporal”.
Both terms do mean “of the human body; bodily; physical” on one level but a distinction arises when “corporeal” means “tangible; material” in the philosophical context.
I could be wrong, but I believe “corporeal” is misused in the context of flogging. In that context the word is considered obsolete or at least obsolescent. On the contrary, “corporeal” is standard use in philosophy.
Yours faithfully,
R. Khan
