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Full Idea
Earth, air, fire and water, viewed as elements, are, by tradition, the leading candidates for being the things that persist through change.
Gist of Idea
Traditionally, the four elements are just what persists through change
Source
Verity Harte (Plato on Parts and Wholes [2002], 4.4)
Book Ref
Harte,Verity: 'Plato on Parts and Wholes' [OUP 2002], p.252
A Reaction
Physics still offers us things that persist through change, as conservation laws.
15838 | The problem with the term 'sum' is that it is singular [Harte,V] |
15837 | What exactly is a 'sum', and what exactly is 'composition'? [Harte,V] |
15839 | If something is 'more than' the sum of its parts, is the extra thing another part, or not? [Harte,V] |
15841 | Mereology began as a nominalist revolt against the commitments of set theory [Harte,V] |
15842 | An ad hominem refutation is reasonable, if it uses the opponent's assumptions [Harte,V] |
15848 | Mereology treats constitution as a criterion of identity, as shown in the axiom of extensionality [Harte,V] |
15858 | Traditionally, the four elements are just what persists through change [Harte,V] |