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Single Idea 12019

[filed under theme 9. Objects / E. Objects over Time / 12. Origin as Essential ]

Full Idea

McGinn assimilates the origin relation among organisms to the identity relation, so that the necessity of origin becomes a special case of the necessity of identity. We argue that this assimilation is illegitimate.

Gist of Idea

McGinn falsely claims necessity of origin is a special case of the necessity of identity

Source

comment on Colin McGinn (On the Necessity of Origin [1976]) by Graeme Forbes - The Metaphysics of Modality 6.1

Book Ref

Forbes,Graeme: 'The Metaphysics of Modality' [OUP 1985], p.134

A Reaction

Not sure about this. I have long suspected what McGinn suspects. Once you have identified the organism with a particular origin, it hardly seems surprising that this particular origin has become inescapable.

The 21 ideas with the same theme [origin of an object is part of what is essential to it]:

11378 How a thing is generated does not explain its essence [Aristotle, by Politis]
12101 Aristotle wants definition, not identity, so origin is not essential to him [Aristotle, by Witt]
12286 If two things are the same, they must have the same source and origin [Aristotle]
11867 If we lose track of origin, how do we show we are maintaining a reference? [Kripke, by Wiggins]
12018 Kripke argues, of the Queen, that parents of an organism are essentially so [Kripke, by Forbes,G]
17046 Could the actual Queen have been born of different parents? [Kripke]
8274 Socrates can't have a necessary origin, because he might have had no 'origin' [Lowe on Kripke]
12135 Interrupted objects have two first moments of existence, which could be two beginnings [Brody]
14070 A particular statue has sortal persistence conditions, so its origin defines it [Gibbard]
19280 I can ask questions which create a context in which origin ceases to be essential [Lewis]
12102 Essential properties of origin are too radically individual for an Aristotelian essence [Witt]
12019 McGinn falsely claims necessity of origin is a special case of the necessity of identity [Forbes,G on McGinn]
12020 An individual might change their sex in a world, but couldn't have differed in sex at origin [Forbes,G]
11165 If Socrates lacks necessary existence, then his nature cannot require his parents' existence [Fine,K]
13101 Necessity-of-origin won't distinguish ex nihilo creations, or things sharing an origin [Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
15696 Peope favor historical paths over outward properties when determining what something is [Gelman]
12872 The zygote is an essential initial part, for a sexually reproduced organism [Simons]
19214 In twinning, one person has the same origin as another person [Merricks]
11894 Origin is not a necessity, it is just 'tenacious'; we keep it fixed in counterfactual discussions [Mackie,P]
19030 Why does origin matter more than development; why are some features of origin more important? [Vetter]
19040 We take origin to be necessary because we see possibilities as branches from actuality [Vetter]