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Single Idea 12265

[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 2. Defining Kinds ]

Full Idea

Any water is said to be specifically the same as any other water because it has a certain similarity to it.

Gist of Idea

All water is the same, because of a certain similarity

Source

Aristotle (Topics [c.331 BCE], 103a20)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'Posterior Analytics and Topica', ed/tr. Tredennick,H/Forster,ES [Harvard 1960], p.289

A Reaction

(Cf. Idea 8153) It take this to be the hallmark of a natural kind, and we should not lose sight of it in the midst of discussions about rigid designation and essential identity. Tigers are only a natural kind insofar as they are indistinguishable.

Related Idea

Idea 8153 By knowing one piece of clay or gold, you know all of clay or gold [Anon (Upan)]

The 34 ideas from 'Topics'

12259 Reasoning is when some results follow necessarily from certain claims [Aristotle]
12260 Dialectic starts from generally accepted opinions [Aristotle]
12261 Differentia are generic, and belong with genus [Aristotle]
12262 An 'idion' belongs uniquely to a thing, but is not part of its essence [Aristotle]
12263 'Genus' is part of the essence shared among several things [Aristotle]
12264 An 'accident' is something which may possibly either belong or not belong to a thing [Aristotle]
12265 All water is the same, because of a certain similarity [Aristotle]
12266 'Same' is mainly for names or definitions, but also for propria, and for accidents [Aristotle]
12267 There are ten categories: essence, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, position, state, activity, passivity [Aristotle]
12271 Induction is the progress from particulars to universals [Aristotle]
12272 We describe the essence of a particular thing by means of its differentiae [Aristotle]
12273 Unit is the starting point of number [Aristotle]
12274 Begin examination with basics, and subdivide till you can go no further [Aristotle]
12275 We value friendship just for its own sake [Aristotle]
12276 Justice and self-control are better than courage, because they are always useful [Aristotle]
12277 Friendship is preferable to money, since its excess is preferable [Aristotle]
12278 'Being' and 'oneness' are predicated of everything which exists [Aristotle]
12279 The differentia indicate the qualities, but not the essence [Aristotle]
12280 Genus gives the essence better than the differentiae do [Aristotle]
12281 Man is intrinsically a civilized animal [Aristotle]
12282 An individual property has to exist (in past, present or future) [Aristotle]
12283 In definitions the first term to be assigned ought to be the genus [Aristotle]
12284 Everything that is has one single essence [Aristotle]
11261 Puzzles arise when reasoning seems equal on both sides [Aristotle]
12285 The definition is peculiar to one thing, not common to many [Aristotle]
13269 In the case of a house the parts can exist without the whole, so parts are not the whole [Aristotle]
12286 If two things are the same, they must have the same source and origin [Aristotle]
12287 Two identical things have the same accidents, they are the same; if the accidents differ, they're different [Aristotle]
12288 Numerical sameness and generic sameness are not the same [Aristotle]
12289 The genera and the differentiae are part of the essence [Aristotle]
12290 Destruction is dissolution of essence [Aristotle]
12291 There can't be one definition of two things, or two definitions of the same thing [Aristotle]
12292 Definitions are easily destroyed, since they can contain very many assertions [Aristotle]
12293 We say 'so in cases of this kind', but how do you decide what is 'of this kind'? [Aristotle]