Full Idea
There is at the moment a pipe on my desk. Its stem has been removed but it remains a pipe for all that; otherwise no pipe could survive a thorough cleaning.
Gist of Idea
Clearly a pipe can survive being taken apart
Source
Richard Cartwright (Scattered Objects [1974], p.175)
Book Reference
Cartwright,Richard: 'Philosophical Essays' [MIT 1987], p.175
A Reaction
To say that the pipe survives dismantling is not to say that it is fully a pipe during its dismantled phase. He gives a further example of a book in two volumes.