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Single Idea 8553
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 8. Scientific Essentialism / d. Knowing essences
]
Full Idea
There is a prima facie case for saying that the immutability of the causal potentialities of a property implies their essentiality. ...If they cannot vary across time, they also cannot vary across possible worlds.
Gist of Idea
It looks as if the immutability of the powers of a property imply essentiality
Source
Sydney Shoemaker (Causality and Properties [1980], §05)
Book Ref
Shoemaker,Sydney: 'Identity, Cause and Mind' [OUP 2003], p.217
A Reaction
This is only the beginning of scientific essentialism, but one of the targets is to save the phenomena. It is also involves unimaginability (of different powers from a given property) implying necessity.
The
15 ideas
with the same theme
[whether we can know essences, and if so, how]:
9787
|
Scientists must know the essential attributes of the things they study
[Aristotle]
|
16745
|
No one even knows the nature and properties of a fly - why it has that colour, or so many feet
[Bacon,R]
|
7713
|
We identify substances by supposing that groups of sensations arise from an essence
[Locke]
|
12545
|
Other spirits may exceed us in knowledge, by knowing the inward constitution of things
[Locke]
|
17968
|
By digging deeper into the axioms we approach the essence of sciences, and unity of knowedge
[Hilbert]
|
12310
|
Real essences are scientifically knowable, but so are non-essential properties
[Copi]
|
6612
|
Without general principles, we couldn't predict the behaviour of dispositional properties
[Ellis]
|
5487
|
Essentialism requires a clear separation of semantics, epistemology and ontology
[Ellis]
|
8553
|
It looks as if the immutability of the powers of a property imply essentiality
[Shoemaker]
|
4965
|
Science searches basic structures in search of essences
[Kripke]
|
21219
|
Find the essence by varying an object, to see what remains invariable
[Velarde-Mayol]
|
14307
|
Some dispositions are so far unknown, until we learn how to manifest them
[Mumford]
|
9437
|
To distinguish accidental from essential properties, we must include possible members of kinds
[Mumford]
|
15704
|
Essentialism starts from richly structured categories, leading to a search for underlying properties
[Gelman]
|
6789
|
If flame colour is characteristic of a metal, that is an empirical claim needing justification
[Bird]
|