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Single Idea 15750

[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 13. Tropes / b. Critique of tropes ]

Full Idea

Trope theory cannot analyse similarity, because duplication of tropes is itself a primitive relation of similarity.

Gist of Idea

Tropes need a similarity primitive, so they cannot be used to explain similarity

Source

David Lewis (On the Plurality of Worlds [1986], 1.5)

Book Ref

Lewis,David: 'On the Plurality of Worlds' [Blackwell 2001], p.65

A Reaction

A reasonable reply to this one, I think, is that no one can explain or analyse similarity. To say that the same universal (or bunch of graded universals) is instantiated explains nothing. Maybe type-identity must be primitive in any theory?

Related Idea

Idea 15749 Trope theory (unlike universals) needs a primitive notion of being duplicates [Lewis]

The 22 ideas with the same theme [arguments against the existence of tropes]:

14327 Trope theorists cannot explain how tropes resemble each other [Russell, by Mumford]
15480 Objects are not bundles of tropes (which are ways things are, not parts of things) [Martin,CB]
8538 Trope theory needs extra commitments, to symmetry and non-transitivity, unless resemblance is exact [Armstrong]
4445 If properties and relations are particulars, there is still the problem of how to classify and group them [Armstrong]
15750 Tropes need a similarity primitive, so they cannot be used to explain similarity [Lewis]
15749 Trope theory (unlike universals) needs a primitive notion of being duplicates [Lewis]
15748 Trope theory needs a primitive notion for what unites some tropes [Lewis]
8527 More than one trope (even identical ones!) can occupy the same location [Daly]
8528 If tropes are linked by the existence of concurrence, a special relation is needed to link them all [Daly]
10742 Tropes can overlap, and shouldn't be splittable into parts [Oliver]
4611 The supporters of 'tropes' treat objects as bundles of tropes, when I think objects 'possess' properties [Heil]
4483 If abstract terms are sets of tropes, 'being a unicorn' and 'being a griffin' turn out identical [Loux]
18352 Tropes have existence independently of any entities [Lowe]
8286 Tropes cannot have clear identity-conditions, so they are not objects [Lowe]
8294 How can tropes depend on objects for their identity, if objects are just bundles of tropes? [Lowe]
8296 Does a ball snug in plaster have one trope, or two which coincide? [Lowe]
8295 Why cannot a trope float off and join another bundle? [Lowe]
12253 If tropes are in space and time, in what sense are they abstract? [Oderberg]
4462 A colour-trope cannot be simple (as required), because it is spread in space, and so it is complex [Moreland]
4463 In 'four colours were used in the decoration', colours appear to be universals, not tropes [Moreland]
7959 How do a group of resembling tropes all resemble one another in the same way? [Macdonald,C]
7960 Trope Nominalism is the only nominalism to introduce new entities, inviting Ockham's Razor [Macdonald,C]