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Single Idea 12059

[filed under theme 9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / e. Individuation by kind ]

Full Idea

To say that the river is changing constantly in every respect is not to say that it is changing in respect of being a river.

Gist of Idea

A river may change constantly, but not in respect of being a river

Source

David Wiggins (Substance [1995], 4.11.2)

Book Ref

'Philosophy: a Guide Through the Subject', ed/tr. Grayling,A.C. [OUP 1995], p.235


A Reaction

Can't a river become a lake, or a mere stream? Wiggins's proposal does not help with the problem of a river which sometimes dries up (as my local river sometimes does). At what point do we decide it is no longer a river?


The 14 ideas from 'Substance'

Matter underlies things, composes things, and brings them to be [Wiggins]
We refer to persisting substances, in perception and in thought, and they aid understanding [Wiggins]
An ancestral relation is either direct or transitively indirect [Wiggins]
Sortal predications are answers to the question 'what is x?' [Wiggins]
A river may change constantly, but not in respect of being a river [Wiggins]
Sortal classification becomes science, with cross reference clarifying individuals [Wiggins]
The category of substance is more important for epistemology than for ontology [Wiggins]
Seeing a group of soldiers as an army is irresistible, in ontology and explanation [Wiggins]
Naming the secondary substance provides a mass of general information [Wiggins]
Substances contain a source of change or principle of activity [Wiggins]
We never single out just 'this', but always 'this something-or-other' [Wiggins]
If the kinds are divided realistically, they fall into substances [Wiggins]
'Human being' is a better answer to 'what is it?' than 'poet', as the latter comes in degrees [Wiggins]
Secondary substances correctly divide primary substances by activity-principles and relations [Wiggins]