Full Idea
When thought of just as an object, the parts of a thing seem definitive and their arrangement seems inconsequential. But when thought of as an object of a familiar kind it is reversed: the arrangement is important and the parts are inessential.
Gist of Idea
Parts seem to matter when it is just an object, but not matter when it is a kind of object
Source
Michael Jubien (Possibility [2009], 1.4)
Book Reference
Jubien,Michael: 'Possibility' [OUP 2009], p.15
A Reaction
This is analogous to the Ship of Theseus, where we say that the tour operator and the museum keeper give different accounts of whether it is the same ship. The 'kind' Jubien refers to is most likely to be a functional kind.