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Single Idea 13432

[filed under theme 9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 1. Essences of Objects ]

Full Idea

The essence of a circle consists in the equality of all lines drawn from its centre to its circumference.

Gist of Idea

The essence of a circle is the equality of its radii

Source

Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Thomasius [1669], 1669)

Book Ref

Cover,J/O'Leary-Hawthorne,J: 'Substance and Individuation in Leibniz' [CUP 1999], p.24

A Reaction

Compare Locke in Idea 13431 and Spinoza in Idea 13073 on the essence of geometrical figures. A key question is whether the essence is in the simplest definition, or in a complex and wide-ranging account, e.g. including conic sections for circles.

Related Ideas

Idea 13431 A space between three lines is both the nominal and real essence of a triangle, the source of its properties [Locke]

Idea 13073 To understand the properties we must know the essence, as with a circle [Spinoza]

The 27 ideas with the same theme [idea that objects have essences, as well as other features]:

11199 Aristotelian essence underlies behaviour, or underlies definition, or is the source of existence [Aristotle, by Aquinas]
12304 Aristotelian essence is retained with identity through change, and bases our scientific knowledge [Aristotle, by Copi]
11294 Aristotle says changing, material things (and not just universals) have an essence [Aristotle, by Politis]
11298 Are essences actually universals? [Aristotle, by Politis]
11202 It is by having essence that things exist [Aquinas]
4828 The essence of a thing is what is required for it to exist or be conceived [Spinoza]
12498 Particular substances are coexisting ideas that seem to flow from a hidden essence [Locke]
12520 The best I can make of real essence is figure, size and connection of solid parts [Locke]
13771 Real essence is the constitution of the unknown parts of a body which produce its qualities [Locke]
12743 A true being must (unlike a chain) have united parts, with a substantial form as its subject [Leibniz]
13088 Subjects include predicates, so full understanding of subjects reveals all the predicates [Leibniz]
13077 Basic predicates give the complete concept, which then predicts all of the actions [Leibniz]
12908 Essences exist in the divine understanding [Leibniz]
13432 The essence of a circle is the equality of its radii [Leibniz]
24089 Essences are fictions needed for beings who represent things [Nietzsche]
15576 Heidegger seeks a non-traditional concept of essence as 'essential unfolding' [Heidegger, by Polt]
5443 Kripke and others have made essentialism once again respectable [Ellis]
14666 Socrates is a contingent being, but his essence is not; without Socrates, his essence is unexemplified [Plantinga]
11976 Aristotelian essentialism says essences are not relative to specification [Lewis]
14221 Serious essentialism says everything has essences, they're not things, and they ground necessities [Shalkowski]
11177 Can the essence of an object circularly involve itself, or involve another object? [Fine,K]
12241 Essences are real, about being, knowable, definable and classifiable [Oderberg, by PG]
15685 Essentialism is either natural to us, or an accident of our culture, or a necessary result of language [Gelman]
15684 Children's concepts include nonobvious features, like internal parts, functions and causes [Gelman]
15700 In India, upper-castes essentialize caste more than lower-castes do [Gelman]
11889 Essentialism must avoid both reduplication of essences, and multiple occupancy by essences [Mackie,P]
15110 An essence and what merely follow from it are distinct [Koslicki]