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Single Idea 11295
[filed under theme 7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / g. Particular being
]
Full Idea
Apparently Aristotle thinks that if something is not a determinate and well-defined thing ..then it is not a being at all.
Gist of Idea
There is no being unless it is determinate and well-defined
Source
report of Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], id) by Vassilis Politis - Aristotle and the Metaphysics
Book Ref
Politis,Vasilis: 'Aristotle and the Metaphysics' [Routledge 2004], p.218
A Reaction
See Aristotle's account of 'matter', which seems to fit Politis's view. It is hard to go all the way with Aristotle on this, as indeterminate gunk (e.g. mud, which Plato so disliked!) seems to thoroughly exist. But for us it rests on determinate atoms.
The
16 ideas
with the same theme
[being as only found in substances or particulars]:
20903
|
The only distinctions are Configuration (shape), Disposition (order) and Turning (position)
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
566
|
If nothing exists except individuals, how can there be a science of infinity?
[Aristotle]
|
16090
|
Being must be understood with reference to one primary sense - the being of substance
[Aristotle, by Gill,ML]
|
570
|
Nothing is added to a man's existence by saying he is 'one', or that 'he exists'
[Aristotle]
|
12061
|
The primary subject seems to be substance, to the fullest extent
[Aristotle]
|
10946
|
Existence requires thisness, as quantity or quality
[Aristotle]
|
16152
|
Other types of being all depend on the being of substance
[Aristotle]
|
11295
|
There is no being unless it is determinate and well-defined
[Aristotle, by Politis]
|
13735
|
Aristotle discusses fundamental units of being, rather than existence questions
[Aristotle, by Schaffer,J]
|
21813
|
Number determines individual being
[Plotinus]
|
15812
|
Being implies distinctness, which implies division, unity, and multitude
[Aquinas]
|
9110
|
The words 'thing' and 'to be' assert the same idea, as a noun and as a verb
[William of Ockham]
|
12319
|
What is not truly one being is not truly a being either
[Leibniz]
|
6921
|
Particularity belongs to being, whereas generality belongs to thought
[Feuerbach]
|
4064
|
The idea of a thing and the idea of existence are two sides of the same coin
[Quine, by Crane]
|
13404
|
To exist necessarily is to have an essence whose own essence must be instantiated
[Jubien]
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