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Full Idea
Mereological essentialism says that nothing else could have been the unique entity composed of certain parts except the very thing that is composed of those parts.
Gist of Idea
Mereological essentialism says an entity must have exactly those parts
Source
Ernest Sosa (Varieties of Causation [1980], 2)
Book Ref
'Causation', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Tooley,M. [OUP 1993], p.237
A Reaction
This sounds initially implausible. It means the ship of Theseus ceases to be that ship if you change a single nail of it. Whether we say that seems optional, but if we do, it leads to the collaps of all our normal understanding of identity.
| 16792 | If parts change, the whole changes [William of Ockham] |
| 12884 | The same whole ceases to exist if a part is lost [Leibniz] |
| 12781 | A composite substance is a mere aggregate if its essence is just its parts [Leibniz] |
| 12139 | Mereological essentialism says that every part that ensures the existence is essential [Brody] |
| 8443 | Mereological essentialism says an entity must have exactly those parts [Sosa] |
| 14757 | Mereological essentialism says an object's parts are necessary for its existence [Sider] |
| 12874 | An essential part of an essential part is an essential part of the whole [Simons] |