more from this thinker     |     more from this text

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]