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Single Idea 16797
[filed under theme 2. Reason / D. Definition / 6. Definition by Essence
]
Full Idea
Locke may have gone a long way towards describing the real essence of a person.
Gist of Idea
Maybe Locke described the real essence of a person
Source
report of John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 2.27.09) by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 30.5
Book Ref
Pasnau,Robert: 'Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671' [OUP 2011], p.725
A Reaction
Locke resisted the idea that we could know real essences, but this idea makes the point that if you give a good definition of something you can hardly fail to be invoking its essence.
The
14 ideas
with the same theme
[essence as what figures in a successful definition]:
11389
|
Socrates sought essences, which are the basis of formal logic
[Socrates, by Aristotle]
|
12080
|
Essence is not all the necessary properties, since these extend beyond the definition
[Aristotle, by Witt]
|
11153
|
A definition is an account of a what-it-was-to-be-that-thing
[Aristotle]
|
12382
|
What it is and why it is are the same; screening defines and explains an eclipse
[Aristotle]
|
12285
|
The definition is peculiar to one thing, not common to many
[Aristotle]
|
16797
|
Maybe Locke described the real essence of a person
[Locke, by Pasnau]
|
11216
|
If definitions aim at different ideals, then defining essence is not a unitary activity
[Gupta]
|
11171
|
Defining a term and giving the essence of an object don't just resemble - they are the same
[Fine,K]
|
11178
|
The essence or definition of an essence involves either a class of properties or a class of propositions
[Fine,K]
|
16539
|
A definition of a circle will show what it is, and show its generating principle
[Lowe]
|
16540
|
Defining an ellipse by conic sections reveals necessities, but not the essence of an ellipse
[Lowe]
|
16548
|
An essence is what an entity is, revealed by a real definition; this is not an entity in its own right
[Lowe]
|
19291
|
A canonical defintion specifies the type of thing, and what distinguish this specimen
[Hale]
|
15116
|
Essences cause necessary features, and definitions describe those necessary features
[Koslicki]
|