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Single Idea 11156
[filed under theme 9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 7. Essence and Necessity / a. Essence as necessary properties
]
Full Idea
The essence of a thing was said to be that without which the thing could neither be, nor be conceived to be.
Gist of Idea
The essence is that without which a thing can neither be, nor be conceived to be
Source
John Stuart Mill (System of Logic [1843], 1.6.2)
Book Ref
Mill,John Stuart: 'System of Logic (9th ed, 2 vols)' [Longmans, Green etc 1875], p.123
A Reaction
Fine cites this as the 'modal' account of essence, as opposed to the 'definitional' account.
The
108 ideas
from John Stuart Mill
7076
|
Mill wondered if he would be happy if all his aims were realised, and answered no
[Mill, by Critchley]
|
20515
|
Maximise happiness by an area of strict privacy, and an area of utilitarian interventions
[Mill, by Wolff,J]
|
20516
|
Mill defends freedom as increasing happiness, but maybe it is an intrinsic good
[Wolff,J on Mill]
|
20517
|
Utilitarianism values liberty, but guides us on which ones we should have or not have
[Mill, by Wolff,J]
|
7215
|
True freedom is pursuing our own good, while not impeding others
[Mill]
|
7214
|
Ethics rests on utility, which is the permanent progressive interests of people
[Mill]
|
7212
|
Individuals have sovereignty over their own bodies and minds
[Mill]
|
7210
|
The will of the people is that of the largest or most active part of the people
[Mill]
|
7211
|
Prevention of harm to others is the only justification for exercising power over people
[Mill]
|
7213
|
Liberty arises at the point where people can freely and equally discuss things
[Mill]
|
7216
|
The ethics of the Gospel has been supplemented by barbarous Old Testament values
[Mill]
|
7217
|
The main argument for freedom is that interference with it is usually misguided
[Mill]
|
7231
|
The worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it
[Mill]
|
7219
|
Society can punish actions which it believes to be prejudicial to others
[Mill]
|
7226
|
Benefits performed by individuals, not by government, help also to educate them
[Mill]
|
7224
|
We need individual opinions and conduct, and State education is a means to prevent that
[Mill]
|
7225
|
It is a crime to create a being who lacks the ordinary chances of a desirable existence
[Mill]
|
7228
|
Individuals often do things better than governments
[Mill]
|
7227
|
It is evil to give a government any more power than is necessary
[Mill]
|
7230
|
Aim for the maximum dissemination of power consistent with efficiency
[Mill]
|
7222
|
It is a crime for someone with a violent disposition to get drunk
[Mill]
|
7220
|
Restraint for its own sake is an evil
[Mill]
|
7218
|
Individuals are not accountable for actions which only concern themselves
[Mill]
|
7221
|
Blocking entry to an unsafe bridge does not infringe liberty, since no one wants unsafe bridges
[Mill]
|
7223
|
Pimping and running a gambling-house are on the border between toleration and restraint
[Mill]
|
7229
|
People who transact their own business will also have the initiative to control their government
[Mill]
|
20508
|
How people vote should be on public record, so they can be held accountable
[Mill, by Wolff,J]
|
20504
|
People can only participate in decisions in small communities, so representatives are needed
[Mill]
|
20505
|
Direct democracy is inexperience judging experience, and ignorance judging knowledge
[Mill]
|
20507
|
Voting is a strict duty, like jury service, and must only be aimed at the public good
[Mill]
|
4944
|
Mill says names have denotation but not connotation
[Mill, by Kripke]
|
7762
|
Proper names are just labels for persons or objects, and the meaning is the object
[Mill, by Lycan]
|
8625
|
What physical facts could underlie 0 or 1, or very large numbers?
[Frege on Mill]
|
5201
|
Mill says logic and maths is induction based on a very large number of instances
[Mill, by Ayer]
|
9360
|
If two black and two white objects in practice produced five, what colour is the fifth one?
[Lewis,CI on Mill]
|
12411
|
Mill is too imprecise, and is restricted to simple arithmetic
[Kitcher on Mill]
|
5656
|
Empirical theories of arithmetic ignore zero, limit our maths, and need probability to get started
[Frege on Mill]
|
17091
|
Explanation is fitting of facts into ever more general patterns of regularity
[Mill, by Ruben]
|
17086
|
Surprisingly, empiricists before Mill ignore explanation, which seems to transcend experience
[Mill, by Ruben]
|
8345
|
A cause is the total of all the conditions which inevitably produce the result
[Mill]
|
10391
|
Causes and conditions are not distinct, because we select capriciously from among them
[Mill]
|
17895
|
Combining two distinct assertions does not necessarily lead to a single 'complex proposition'
[Mill]
|
11156
|
The essence is that without which a thing can neither be, nor be conceived to be
[Mill]
|
9888
|
Mill mistakes particular applications as integral to arithmetic, instead of general patterns
[Dummett on Mill]
|
9794
|
There are no such things as numbers in the abstract
[Mill]
|
9796
|
Things possess the properties of numbers, as quantity, and as countable parts
[Mill]
|
9795
|
Numbers have generalised application to entities (such as bodies or sounds)
[Mill]
|
9798
|
Different parcels made from three pebbles produce different actual sensations
[Mill]
|
9797
|
'2 pebbles and 1 pebble' and '3 pebbles' name the same aggregation, but different facts
[Mill]
|
9799
|
3=2+1 presupposes collections of objects ('Threes'), which may be divided thus
[Mill]
|
9800
|
Arithmetic is based on definitions, and Sums of equals are equal, and Differences of equals are equal
[Mill]
|
9801
|
Numbers must be assumed to have identical units, as horses are equalised in 'horse-power'
[Mill]
|
16845
|
The whole theory of induction rests on causes
[Mill]
|
14547
|
The strict cause is the total positive and negative conditions which ensure the consequent
[Mill]
|
14545
|
A cause is an antecedent which invariably and unconditionally leads to a phenomenon
[Mill]
|
12190
|
Necessity is what will be, despite any alternative suppositions whatever
[Mill]
|
16805
|
Causal inference is by spotting either Agreements or Differences
[Mill, by Lipton]
|
16835
|
The Methods of Difference and of Agreement are forms of inference to the best explanation
[Mill, by Lipton]
|
16843
|
Mill's methods (Difference,Agreement,Residues,Concomitance,Hypothesis) don't nail induction
[Mill, by Lipton]
|
9806
|
Whatever is made up of parts is made up of parts of those parts
[Mill]
|
9802
|
Numbers denote physical properties of physical phenomena
[Mill]
|
9803
|
We can't easily distinguish 102 horses from 103, but we could arrange them to make it obvious
[Mill]
|
9804
|
Arithmetical results give a mode of formation of a given number
[Mill]
|
9805
|
12 is the cube of 1728 means pebbles can be aggregated a certain way
[Mill]
|
9417
|
What are the fewest propositions from which all natural uniformities could be inferred?
[Mill]
|
8377
|
Causation is just invariability of succession between every natural fact and a preceding fact
[Mill]
|
16860
|
Inductive generalisation is more reliable than one of its instances; they can't all be wrong
[Mill]
|
16859
|
Most perception is one-tenth observation and nine-tenths inference
[Mill]
|
9079
|
We can focus our minds on what is common to a whole class, neglecting other aspects
[Mill]
|
9078
|
The study of the nature of Abstract Ideas does not belong to logic, but to a different science
[Mill]
|
9080
|
General conceptions are a necessary preliminary to Induction
[Mill]
|
9081
|
We don't recognise comparisons by something in our minds; the concepts result from the comparisons
[Mill]
|
9082
|
Clear concepts result from good observation, extensive experience, and accurate memory
[Mill]
|
9624
|
Numbers are a very general property of objects
[Mill, by Brown,JR]
|
4773
|
Mill's regularity theory of causation is based on an effect preceded by a conjunction of causes
[Mill, by Psillos]
|
8741
|
Numbers must be of something; they don't exist as abstractions
[Mill]
|
4775
|
In Mill's 'Method of Agreement' cause is the common factor in a range of different cases
[Mill, by Psillos]
|
4776
|
In Mill's 'Method of Difference' the cause is what stops the effect when it is removed
[Mill, by Psillos]
|
10427
|
All names are names of something, real or imaginary
[Mill]
|
22623
|
Necessity can only mean what must be, without conditions of any kind
[Mill]
|
8742
|
The only axioms needed are for equality, addition, and successive numbers
[Mill, by Shapiro]
|
21335
|
Belief that an afterlife is required for justice is an admission that this life is very unjust
[Mill]
|
21329
|
Nature dispenses cruelty with no concern for either mercy or justice
[Mill]
|
21328
|
Killing is a human crime, but nature kills everyone, and often with great tortures
[Mill]
|
21330
|
Nature makes childbirth a miserable experience, often leading to the death of the mother
[Mill]
|
21331
|
Hurricanes, locusts, floods and blight can starve a million people to death
[Mill]
|
21332
|
We don't get a love of 'order' from nature - which is thoroughly chaotic
[Mill]
|
21333
|
Evil comes from good just as often as good comes from evil
[Mill]
|
21334
|
No necessity ties an omnipotent Creator, so he evidently wills human misery
[Mill]
|
7202
|
The English believe in the task of annihilating evil for the victory of good
[Nietzsche on Mill]
|
6697
|
Moral rules protecting human welfare are more vital than local maxims
[Mill]
|
3763
|
Ultimate goods such as pleasure can never be proved to be good
[Mill]
|
3767
|
Motive shows the worth of the agent, but not of the action
[Mill]
|
5935
|
Mill's qualities of pleasure is an admission that there are other good states of mind than pleasure
[Ross on Mill]
|
3764
|
Actions are right if they promote pleasure, wrong if they promote pain
[Mill]
|
3766
|
Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied
[Mill]
|
3765
|
Only pleasure and freedom from pain are desirable as ends
[Mill]
|
3768
|
Orthodox morality is the only one which feels obligatory
[Mill]
|
3769
|
With early training, any absurdity or evil may be given the power of conscience
[Mill]
|
3772
|
The will, in the beginning, is entirely produced by desire
[Mill]
|
3771
|
Virtues only have value because they achieve some further end
[Mill]
|
3770
|
General happiness is only desirable because individuals desire their own happiness
[Mill]
|
3776
|
Utilitarianism only works if everybody has a totally equal right to happiness
[Mill]
|
3774
|
Rights are a matter of justice, not of benevolence
[Mill]
|
3773
|
No individual has the right to receive our benevolence
[Mill]
|
3775
|
A right is a valid claim to society's protection
[Mill]
|
3583
|
External objects are permanent possibilities of sensation
[Mill]
|
3537
|
I judge others' feeling by analogy with my body and behaviour
[Mill]
|