Single Idea 16235

[catalogued under 9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / e. Individuation by kind]

Full Idea

Burke says a single object cannot have incompatible persistence conditions, for this would entail that there are events in which the object would both survive and perish. He says one sortal 'dominates' the other (sweater dominates thread).

Gist of Idea

Persistence conditions cannot contradict, so there must be a 'dominant sortal'

Source

report of Michael Burke (Dion and Theon: an essentialist solution [1994]) by Katherine Hawley - How Things Persist 5.3

Book Reference

Hawley,Katherine: 'How Things Persist' [OUP 2004], p.152


A Reaction

This I take to be the most extreme version of sortal essentialism, and strikes me as incredibly gerrymandered and unacceptable. It is just too anthropocentric to count as genuine metaphysics. I may care more about the thread.

Related Idea

Idea 16234 Burke says when two object coincide, one of them is destroyed in the process [Burke,M, by Hawley]