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Full Idea
To every property there obviously corresponds a possible predicate applying to all and only those particulars with that property.
Gist of Idea
There is obviously a possible predicate for every property
Source
D.H. Mellor (Properties and Predicates [1991], 'Intro')
Book Ref
'Properties', ed/tr. Mellor,D.H. /Oliver,A [OUP 1997], p.255
A Reaction
This doesn't strike me as at all obvious. If nature dictates the properties, there may be vastly more than any human language could cope with. It is daft to say that a property can only exist if humanity can come up with a predicate for it.
| 8564 | There is obviously a possible predicate for every property [Mellor] |
| 8566 | We need universals for causation and laws of nature; the latter give them their identity [Mellor] |
| 8565 | If properties were just the meanings of predicates, they couldn't give predicates their meaning [Mellor] |
| 8567 | Singular causation requires causes to raise the physical probability of their effects [Mellor] |
| 8568 | A property is merely a constituent of laws of nature; temperature is just part of thermodynamics [Mellor] |