Single Idea 11895

[catalogued under 9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 5. Essence as Kind]

Full Idea

Brody bases sortal essentialism on the notion of a property that an individual must possess throughout its existence if it possesses it at any time in its existence. ...'Once an F, always an F'. ...Being a parrot is not a temporary occupation.

Gist of Idea

A sortal essence is a property which once possessed always possessed

Source

report of Baruch Brody (Identity and Essence [1980]) by Penelope Mackie - How Things Might Have Been 7.1

Book Reference

Mackie,Penelope: 'How Things Might Have Been' [OUP 2006], p.119


A Reaction

Hm. Would being less than fifty metres tall qualify as a sortal essence, for a giraffe or a uranium rod? If there is one thing an essential property should be, it is important. How do we assess importance? By explanatory power! Watch this space.