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Single Idea 12519

[filed under theme 14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / k. Explanations by essence ]

Full Idea

The ring on my finger is supposed to have a real essence, whereby it is gold, from whence those qualities flow which I find in it, viz. its colour, weight, hardness, fusibility, fixedness, and change of colour upon a slight touch of mercury, etc.

Gist of Idea

Gold is supposed to have a real essence, from whence its detectable properties flow

Source

John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 2.31.06)

Book Ref

Locke,John: 'Essay Concerning Human Understanding', ed/tr. Nidditch,P.H. [OUP 1979], p.379

A Reaction

This is Locke's notion of essence, as simply the underlying cause of the detectable properties. Oderberg says real essences are not hidden, but are the macro-features we all know gold to have. Locke never denies real essences.

The 35 ideas with the same theme [explaining by showing hidden natures in things]:

16646 To understand a triangle summing to two right angles, we need to know the essence of a line [Aristotle]
15119 Aristotelian explanation by essence may need to draw on knowledge of other essences [Aristotle, by Koslicki]
11384 We know something when we fully know what it is, not just its quality, quantity or location [Aristotle]
16105 We know a thing when we grasp its essence [Aristotle]
16135 Real enquiries seek causes, and causes are essences [Aristotle]
11296 The explanation is what gives matter its state, which is the form, which is the substance [Aristotle]
11999 Essential properties explain in conjunction with properties shared by the same kind [Aristotle, by Kung]
22524 The nature of each thing is its mature state [Aristotle]
12000 Aristotle regularly says that essential properties explain other significant properties [Aristotle, by Kung]
11198 Definition of essence makes things understandable [Aquinas]
16784 Forms make things distinct and explain the properties, by pure form, or arrangement of parts [Arnauld,A/Nicole,P]
13073 To understand the properties we must know the essence, as with a circle [Spinoza]
17026 From the phenomena, I can't deduce the reason for the properties of gravity [Newton]
16037 Locke seems to use real essence for scientific explanation, and substratum for the being of a thing [Locke, by Jones,J-E]
16032 To explain qualities, Locke invokes primary and secondary qualities, not real essences [Locke, by Jones,J-E]
12519 Gold is supposed to have a real essence, from whence its detectable properties flow [Locke]
12977 We will only connect our various definitions of gold when we understand it more deeply [Leibniz]
12729 The cause of a change is not the real influence, but whatever gives a reason for the change [Leibniz]
13089 To fully conceive the subject is to explain the resulting predicates and events [Leibniz]
13092 The essence of substance is the law of its changes, as in the series of numbers [Leibniz]
13569 To give essentialist explanations there have to be natural kinds [Ellis]
15975 Can the qualities of a body be split into two groups, where the smaller explains the larger? [Alexander,P]
15219 Essence explains passive capacities as well as active powers [Harré/Madden]
11995 Some peripheral properties are explained by essential ones, but don't themselves explain properties [Kung]
11996 Some non-essential properties may explain more than essential-but-peripheral ones do [Kung]
11848 Asking 'what is it?' nicely points us to the persistence of a continuing entity [Wiggins]
12064 The category of substance is more important for epistemology than for ontology [Wiggins]
12049 Naming the secondary substance provides a mass of general information [Wiggins]
14322 If fragile just means 'breaks when dropped', it won't explain a breakage [Mumford]
17481 Nuclear charge (plus laws) explains electron structure and spectrum, but not vice versa [Hendry]
11905 Locke's kind essences are explanatory, without being necessary to the kind [Mackie,P]
15114 Discovering the Aristotelian essence of thunder will tell us why thunder occurs [Koslicki]
15710 Bohr explained the periodic table and chemical properties of elements, using the quantum atom [Kumar]
16783 Essences must explain, so we can infer them causally from the accidents [Pasnau]
16975 Essences are used to explain natural kinds, modality, and causal powers [Tahko]