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Full Idea
An aggregate, but not a composite substance, is resolved into parts. A composite substance only needs the coming together of parts, but is not essentially constituted by them, otherwise it would be an aggregate.
Gist of Idea
A composite substance is a mere aggregate if its essence is just its parts
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Des Bosses [1715], 1716.05.29)
Book Ref
Leibniz,Gottfried: 'Philosophical Essays', ed/tr. Arlew,R /Garber,D [Hackett 1989], p.203
A Reaction
The point is that there is more to some things than there mere parts. Only some unifying principle, in addition to the mere parts, bestows a unity. Mereology is a limited activity if it has nothing to say about this issue.
| 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] |