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Single Idea 12056

[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 4. Formal Relations / c. Ancestral relation ]

Full Idea

x bears to y the 'ancestral' of the relation R just if either x bears R to y, or x bears R to some w that bears R to y, or x bears R to some w that bears R to some z that bears R to y, or.....

Gist of Idea

An ancestral relation is either direct or transitively indirect

Source

David Wiggins (Substance [1995], 4.10.1)

Book Ref

'Philosophy: a Guide Through the Subject', ed/tr. Grayling,A.C. [OUP 1995], p.231

A Reaction

A concept invented by Frege (1879).

The 4 ideas with the same theme [a relation which is passed from one thing to the next]:

10032 'Ancestral' relations are derived by iterating back from a given relation [Frege, by George/Velleman]
12056 An ancestral relation is either direct or transitively indirect [Wiggins]
10617 The 'ancestral' of a relation is a new relation which creates a long chain of the original relation [Smith,P]
22284 'Greater than', which is the ancestral of 'successor', strictly orders the natural numbers [Potter]