One of the simplest pieces of furniture, a chair is often a basic kind of seating arrangement used in most homes. Its main features are two adjoining pieces of a hard, sturdy material, secured to each other at a 90degree or slightly higher angle, with only a thin veneer of padding, typically about an inch thick, between them. Chairs can be made of a wide variety of materials, but most of them are wood, metal, wicker, or some combination of these materials. Some chairs also have fabric coverings, which can be pulled back to reveal the more simple underlying structure.
Many people believe that chairs are stationary objects, possessing no mobility. But this is certainly not the case. Chairs have various forms depending on the use. In certain homes, for example, a chair might be a footstool or a small rocking chair. Other families use end tables as an extra place to eat meals and sit for long periods of time.
But chairs are much more than merely side tables or eating devices. Chairs embody the essence of a home, with their combination of practicality and aesthetic beauty. And, like all essences, they are available in differing manifestations. There are four legs, two standard sizes (wide and tall) and a variety of colors, patterns, and materials to choose from.
The four legs of a chair are what allow humans to sit comfortably on it. This has two purposes, inorganic objectification and animal instinctual design. The first purpose of the legs is simply to keep the person who will be using it seated. In the case of end tables and other tables that are intended for two or more people, there is a balance between the desire to sit comfortably and the need to see everything around the table clearly. The second purpose of the legs of a chair is purely in animal instinctual design. Humans are comforted by the relaxation that comes with being sat upon a chair.
The second reason why people would want a chair, other than the ease of seating, is because it can be used as a platform to rest things. A rocking chair, for example, is a very convenient way to prop up one’s feet while listening to some sort of music. It is a very logical reason, and an example of how logic and reason can manifest themselves in an inanimate object. The rocking chair exudes an air of calm and soothing nature, because its motion mimics the smooth swaying of something being gently, softly, and gently rocked. It brings to mind the calm lake or ocean, where people sit and watch the waves gently crashing to the shore.
The third and last argument is that the soul of the world lives inside of chairs, and therefore anything that touches one is soul and possessions can pass through it into the next life. This is not really an argument, but more of a common understanding, and is what made the early Christians believe that the bodies of the dead will go to either heaven or hell depending on the deeds done in this life. So, yes, chairs do touch the souls of the living, just as much as they touch the souls of men who are sitting on them, whether those souls are good or evil, or merely walking.
