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Single Idea 12062

[filed under theme 9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / a. Individuation ]

Full Idea

Later in 'Metaphysics' Aristotle sees form as offering better prospects of separability and being a this, and treats separability and being a 'this' as better indicators of substancehood than not being a predicable.

Gist of Idea

Aristotle's form improves on being non-predicable as a way to identify a 'this'

Source

report of Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], hylom) by David Wiggins - Substance 4.11.5

Book Ref

'Philosophy: a Guide Through the Subject', ed/tr. Grayling,A.C. [OUP 1995], p.238

A Reaction

'Form' will be the word 'eidos', which is also Plato's word for his 'Forms'. I'm thinking that form will bestow individual identity, as in the snubness of a particular nose, where merely being 'a nose' only gives general identity.

The 37 ideas with the same theme [principles for picking out objects]:

13263 We can grasp whole things in science, because they have a mathematics and a teleology [Plato, by Koslicki]
11247 To know a thing is to know its primary cause or explanation [Aristotle]
12062 Aristotle's form improves on being non-predicable as a way to identify a 'this' [Aristotle, by Wiggins]
13090 The principle of diversity for corporeal substances is their matter [Aquinas, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
16632 We distinguish one thing from another by contradiction, because this is, and that is not [Duns Scotus]
1211 Viewing an object at an instant, we perceive identity when we see it must be that thing and not another [Locke]
12508 Living things retain identity through change, by a principle of organisation [Locke]
12979 The only way we can determine individuals is by keeping hold of them [Leibniz]
12775 Things seem to be unified if we see duration, position, interaction and connection [Leibniz]
12701 Leibniz moved from individuation by whole entity to individuation by substantial form [Leibniz, by Garber]
21293 Individuation is only seeing that a thing is stable and continuous over time [Hume]
17432 Frege's universe comes already divided into objects [Frege, by Koslicki]
18441 No entity without identity (which requires a principle of individuation) [Quine]
8277 I prefer 'no object without identity' to Quine's 'no entity without identity' [Lowe on Quine]
15810 Maybe we can only individuate things by relating them to ourselves [Chisholm]
14655 The 'identity criteria' of a name are a group of essential and established facts [Plantinga]
17519 To express borderline cases of objects, you need the concept of an 'object' [Ayers]
12132 Indiscernibility is a necessary and sufficient condition for identity [Brody]
11900 We can accept criteria of distinctness and persistence, without making the counterfactual claims [Mackie,P on Wiggins]
11870 Activity individuates natural things, functions do artefacts, and intentions do artworks [Wiggins]
16492 Individuation needs accounts of identity, of change, and of singling out [Wiggins]
16493 Individuation can only be understood by the relation between things and thinkers [Wiggins]
13375 The idea that every entity must have identity conditions is an unfortunate misunderstanding [Jubien]
12017 In all instances of identity, there must be some facts to ensure the identity [Forbes,G]
8965 Neither mere matter nor pure form can individuate a sphere, so it must be a combination [Lowe]
8268 Some things (such as electrons) can be countable, while lacking proper identity [Lowe]
13102 If you individuate things by their origin, you still have to individuate the origins themselves [Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
13103 Numerical difference is a symmetrical notion, unlike proper individuation [Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
4715 We may say that objects have intrinsic identity conditions, but still allow multiple accounts of them [O'Grady]
12850 To individuate something we must pick it out, but also know its limits of variation [Simons]
14601 Individuation aims to count entities, by saying when there is one [Schaffer,J]
11897 A principle of individuation may pinpoint identity and distinctness, now and over time [Mackie,P]
11898 Individuation may include counterfactual possibilities, as well as identity and persistence [Mackie,P]
14950 Maybe individuation can be explained by thermodynamic depth [Ladyman/Ross]
18570 There may be several ways to individuate things like concepts [Machery]
18765 Individuation was a problem for medievals, then Leibniz, then Frege, then Wittgenstein (somewhat) [Anderson,CA]
16649 Scholastics say there is a genuine thing if it is 'separable' [Pasnau]