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Single Idea 15070
[filed under theme 10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 6. Necessity from Essence
]
Full Idea
It is of the nature of Socrates to be a man; and from this it appears to follow that necessarily he is a man.
Gist of Idea
It is the nature of Socrates to be a man, so necessarily he is a man
Source
Kit Fine (Necessity and Non-Existence [2005], 04)
Book Ref
Fine,Kit: 'Modality and Tense' [OUP 2005], p.328
A Reaction
I'm always puzzled by this line of thought, because it is only the intrinsic nature of beings like Socrates which decides in the first place what a 'man' is. How can something help to create a category, and then necessarily belong to that category?
The
17 ideas
with the same theme
[necessity comes from the essence of actual things]:
22505
|
The two right angles of a triangle necessitate that a quadrilateral has four
[Aristotle]
|
12612
|
Some things have external causes of their necessity; others (the simple) generate necessities
[Aristotle]
|
15108
|
Aristotle's says necessary truths are distinct and derive from essential truths
[Aristotle, by Koslicki]
|
17182
|
Necessity is in reference to essence or to cause
[Spinoza]
|
5447
|
Metaphysical necessities are true in virtue of the essences of things
[Ellis]
|
13570
|
Individual essences necessitate that individual; natural kind essences necessitate kind membership
[Ellis]
|
11162
|
Socrates is necessarily distinct from the Eiffel Tower, but that is not part of his essence
[Fine,K]
|
11168
|
Metaphysical necessities are true in virtue of the nature of all objects
[Fine,K]
|
15070
|
It is the nature of Socrates to be a man, so necessarily he is a man
[Fine,K]
|
5449
|
Essentialism is often identified with belief in 'de re' necessary truths
[Mautner]
|
18502
|
If basic physics has natures, then why not reality itself? That would then found the deepest necessities
[Heil]
|
16543
|
If an essence implies p, then p is an essential truth, and hence metaphysically necessary
[Lowe]
|
16544
|
Metaphysical necessity is either an essential truth, or rests on essential truths
[Lowe]
|
19276
|
The big challenge for essentialist views of modality is things having necessary existence
[Hale]
|
19293
|
Essentialism doesn't explain necessity reductively; it explains all necessities in terms of a few basic natures
[Hale]
|
19294
|
If necessity derives from essences, how do we explain the necessary existence of essences?
[Hale]
|
14371
|
We can base counterfactuals on powers, not possible worlds, and hence define necessity
[Jacobs]
|