more from this thinker
|
more from this text
Single Idea 16537
[filed under theme 9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 7. Essence and Necessity / b. Essence not necessities
]
Full Idea
If an essence is a sum of essential properties (had in all possible worlds where it exists), Fine points out that it seems grossly to overgenerate essential properties ('S is either a man or a mouse', or 'S is such that 2+2=4').
Gist of Idea
Essence as necessary properties produces a profusion of essential properties
Source
report of Kit Fine (Essence and Modality [1994]) by E.J. Lowe - What is the Source of Knowledge of Modal Truths? 6
Book Ref
-: 'Mind' [-], p.16
A Reaction
To me this is the sort of mess you get into when you accept that 'being such that p' is a property. Defenders of the modal approach always have to eliminate 'trivial' properties from essences, but non-trivial is a defining feature of an essence.
The
22 ideas
with the same theme
[essence is different from necessary properties]:
12262
|
An 'idion' belongs uniquely to a thing, but is not part of its essence
[Aristotle]
|
17246
|
Some accidental features are permanent, unless the object perishes
[Hobbes]
|
17191
|
Nothing is essential if it is in every part, and is common to everything
[Spinoza]
|
13082
|
The complete concept of an individual includes contingent properties, as well as necessary ones
[Leibniz]
|
13189
|
A necessary feature (such as air for humans) is not therefore part of the essence
[Leibniz]
|
11180
|
Essentialist sentences are not theorems of modal logic, and can even be false
[Marcus (Barcan)]
|
11186
|
'Essentially' won't replace 'necessarily' for vacuous properties like snub-nosed or self-identical
[Marcus (Barcan)]
|
11185
|
'Is essentially' has a different meaning from 'is necessarily', as they often cannot be substituted
[Marcus (Barcan)]
|
11993
|
Jones may cease to exist without some simple property, but that doesn't make it essential
[Kung]
|
12763
|
Necessarily self-identical, or being what it is, or its world-indexed properties, aren't essential
[Stalnaker]
|
11918
|
The essence of a thing need not include everything that is necessarily true of it
[Molnar]
|
13376
|
We should not regard essentialism as just nontrivial de re necessity
[Jubien]
|
16537
|
Essence as necessary properties produces a profusion of essential properties
[Fine,K, by Lowe]
|
11163
|
The nature of singleton Socrates has him as a member, but not vice versa
[Fine,K]
|
11164
|
It is not part of the essence of Socrates that a huge array of necessary truths should hold
[Fine,K]
|
11167
|
Metaphysical necessity is a special case of essence, not vice versa
[Fine,K]
|
9206
|
We must distinguish between the identity or essence of an object, and its necessary features
[Fine,K]
|
12870
|
We must distinguish the de dicto 'must' of propositions from the de re 'must' of essence
[Simons]
|
11248
|
Necessary truths can be two-way relational, where essential truths are one-way or intrinsic
[Politis]
|
13166
|
Essences are no use in mathematics, if all mathematical truths are necessary
[Mancosu]
|
10934
|
Unlosable properties are not the same as essential properties
[Rami]
|
16749
|
Aristotelians deny that all necessary properties are essential
[Pasnau]
|