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Single Idea 15756

[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 10. Properties as Predicates ]

Full Idea

Sometimes a predicate is true of a thing, not because (or only because) of any properties it has, but because something else, perhaps something related to it in certain ways, has certain properties.

Gist of Idea

Some truths are not because of a thing's properties, but because of the properties of related things

Source

Sydney Shoemaker (Causality and Properties [1980], §02)

Book Ref

Shoemaker,Sydney: 'Identity, Cause and Mind' [OUP 2003], p.209

A Reaction

I'm on mission to prize predicates and properties apart, and the strategy is to focus on what is true of something, given that this may not ascribe a property to the thing.

The 30 ideas with the same theme [properties as purely linguistic concepts]:

10956 If we only saw bronze circles, would bronze be part of the concept of a circle? [Aristotle]
10317 It is unclear whether Frege included qualities among his abstract objects [Frege, by Hale]
4028 Frege allows either too few properties (as extensions) or too many (as predicates) [Mellor/Oliver on Frege]
8534 Quine says the predicate of a true statement has no ontological implications [Quine, by Armstrong]
15804 If some dogs are brown, that entails the properties of 'being brown' and 'being canine' [Chisholm]
8780 Attributes are functions, not objects; this distinguishes 'square of 2' from 'double of 2' [Geach]
4034 Whether we apply 'cold' or 'hot' to an object is quite separate from its change of temperature [Armstrong]
8535 To the claim that every predicate has a property, start by eliminating failure of application of predicate [Armstrong]
13582 'Being a methane molecule' is not a property - it is just a predicate [Ellis]
15756 Some truths are not because of a thing's properties, but because of the properties of related things [Shoemaker]
15761 We should abandon the idea that properties are the meanings of predicate expressions [Shoemaker]
8564 There is obviously a possible predicate for every property [Mellor]
16471 I accept a hierarchy of properties of properties of properties [Stalnaker]
15563 Properties are very abundant (unlike universals), and are used for semantics and higher-order variables [Lewis]
15739 There is the property of belonging to a set, so abundant properties are as numerous as the sets [Lewis]
18433 There are far more properties than any brain could ever encodify [Lewis]
8604 We need properties as semantic values for linguistic expressions [Lewis]
7014 A particle and a coin heads-or-tails pick out to perfectly well-defined predicates and properties [Fodor]
18443 A successful predicate guarantees the existence of a property - the way of being it expresses [Hale/Wright]
10714 The expressions with properties as their meanings are predicates and abstract singular terms [Oliver]
10715 There are five main semantic theories for properties [Oliver]
7015 A predicate applies truly if it picks out a real property of objects [Heil]
4587 From the property predicates P and Q, we can get 'P or Q', but it doesn't have to designate another property [Heil]
18533 In Fa, F may not be a property of a, but a determinable, satisfied by some determinate [Heil]
18540 Predicates only match properties at the level of fundamentals [Heil]
13638 Properties are often seen as intensional; equiangular and equilateral are different, despite identity of objects [Shapiro]
8273 Is 'the Thames is broad in London' relational, or adverbial, or segmental? [Lowe]
14995 Predicates can be 'sparse' if there is a universal, or if there is a natural property or relation [Sider]
9503 To name an abundant property is either a Fregean concept, or a simple predicate [Bird]
18432 Quineans say that predication is primitive and inexplicable [Edwards]