Single Idea 15446

[catalogued under 9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 5. Composition of an Object]

Full Idea

Not just any operation that makes new things from old is a form of composition! There is no sense in which my parents are part of me, and no sense in which two numbers are parts of their greatest common factor.

Gist of Idea

Composition is not just making new things from old; there are too many counterexamples

Source

David Lewis (Against Structural Universals [1986], 'Variants')

Book Reference

Lewis,David: 'Papers in Metaphysics and Epistemology' [CUP 1999], p.97


A Reaction

One of those rare moments when David Lewis seems to have approached a really sensible metaphysics. Further on he rejects all forms of composition apart from mereology.