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9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 11. Essence of Artefacts

[essence of objects made by creatures]

11 ideas
Things are more unified if the unity comes from their own nature, not from external force [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: More unified is whatever is a whole with a certain shape and form, especially if it is by nature and not by force (e.g. by gluing or nailing or tying up), when, that is, it contains in itself the cause of its being continuous.
     From: Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 1052a24)
     A reaction: [see also Phys 192b] This is about the only principle available for saying why the essence of an artefact is lesser than a natural essence. The healing of wounds shows that animals have a greater unity than tables?
The hallmark of an artefact is that its active source of maintenance is external [Aristotle, by Gill,ML]
     Full Idea: There is a critical line to be drawn between those entities whose active source of maintenance is internal and those whose source is external. This is the chief line that Aristotle draws between organisms and artefacts.
     From: report of Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], ess) by Mary Louise Gill - Aristotle on Substance Ch.7
     A reaction: Plants need water and sunlight, so I'm not sure that this marks the line quite clearly enough.
Artificial things like watches and pistols have distinct kinds [Locke]
     Full Idea: Artificial things are of distinct species, as well as natural. ..For why should we not think a watch and a pistol as distinct species one from another, as a horse and a dog?
     From: John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 3.06.41)
     A reaction: This is the beginning of a topic which has caused a lot of modern debate in trying to assess essentialist claims.
Human artefacts may have essences, in their purposes [Popper]
     Full Idea: One might adopt the view that certain things of our own making, such as clocks, may well be said to have 'essences', viz. their 'purposes', and what makes them serve these purposes.
     From: Karl Popper (Conjectures and Refutations [1963], 3.3 n17)
     A reaction: This is from one of the arch-opponents of essentialism. Could we take him on a slippery slope into essences for evolved creatures, or their organs? His argument says admitting an essence for a clock prevents using it for another purpose.
Artefacts are individuated by some matter having a certain function [Wiggins]
     Full Idea: Ordinary artefacts are individuated, rather indeterminately and arbitrarily, by reference to a parcel of matter so organised as to subserve a certain function.
     From: David Wiggins (Sameness and Substance [1980], 3.3)
The persistence of artifacts always covertly involves intelligent beings [Inwagen]
     Full Idea: Statements that are apparently about the persistence of artifacts make covert reference to the dispositions of intelligent beings to maintain certain arrangements of matter.
     From: Peter van Inwagen (Material Beings [1990], 13)
     A reaction: If you build a self-sustaining windmill that pumps water, that seems to have an identity of its own, apart from the intentions of whoever makes it and repairs it. The function of an artefact is not just the function we want it to have.
One might be essentialist about the original bronze from which a statue was made [Forbes,G]
     Full Idea: In the case of artefacts, there is an essentialism about original matter; for instance, it would be said of any particular bronze statue that it could not have been cast from a totally different quantity of bronze.
     From: Graeme Forbes (In Defense of Absolute Essentialism [1986], 3)
     A reaction: Forbes isn't endorsing this, and it doesn't sound convincing. He quotes the thought 'I wish I had made this pot from a different piece of clay'. We might corrupt a statue by switching bronze, but I don't think the sculptor could do so.
Same parts does not ensure same artefact, if those parts could constitute a different artefact [Forbes,G]
     Full Idea: Sameness of parts is not sufficient for identity of artefacts at a world, since the very same parts may turn up at different times as the parts of artefacts with different designs and functions.
     From: Graeme Forbes (The Metaphysics of Modality [1985], 7.2)
     A reaction: Thus the Ship of Theseus could be dismantled and turned into a barn (as happened with the 'Mayflower'). They could then be reconstituted as the ship, which would then have two beginnings (as Chris Hughes has pointed out).
Artefacts have fuzzy essences [Forbes,G]
     Full Idea: Artefacts can be ascribed fuzzy essences. ...We might say that it is essential to an artefact to have 'most' of its parts.
     From: Graeme Forbes (The Metaphysics of Modality [1985], 7.6)
     A reaction: I think I prefer to accept the idea that essences are unstable things, in all cases. For all we know, electrons might subtly change their general character, or cease to be uniform, tomorrow. Essences explain, and what needs explaining changes.
Many artefacts have dispositional essences, which make them what they are [Mumford]
     Full Idea: Thermostats, thermometers, axes, spoons, and batteries have dispositional essences, which make them what they are.
     From: Stephen Mumford (Dispositions [1998], 01.2 iv)
     A reaction: I would have thought that we could extend this proposal well beyond artefacts, but it certainly seems particularly clear in artefacts, where a human intention seems to be inescapably involved.
Original parts are the best candidates for being essential to artefacts [Simons]
     Full Idea: Original parts are the best candidates for being essential to artefacts. It is hard to conceive how an object could have as essential a part which was attached at some time after the object had come into being.
     From: Peter Simons (Parts [1987], 7.4)
     A reaction: Without its big new memory upgrade my computer would be hopelessly out of date. Simons is awesome in some ways, but seems rather confused when it comes to discussing essence. I think Wiggins may have been a bad influence on him.