| 1953 | On the Elements of Being: I |
| p.115 | p.115 | 8508 | A 'trope' is an abstract particular, the occurrence of an essence |
| Full Idea: I shall divert the word 'trope' to stand for the abstract particular which is, so to speak, the occurrence of an essence. | |||
| From: Donald C. Williams (On the Elements of Being: I [1953], p.115) | |||
| A reaction: Thus tropes entered philosophical discussion. Presumably the precedent for an 'abstract particular' would be a particular occurrence of the number 7. |
| p.116 | p.116 | 8509 | A world is completely constituted by its tropes and their connections |
| Full Idea: Any possible world, and hence, of course, this one, is completely constituted by its tropes and connections of location and similarity. | |||
| From: Donald C. Williams (On the Elements of Being: I [1953], p.116) | |||
| A reaction: Note that Williams regularly referred to possible worlds in 1953. This is a full-blooded trope theory, which asserts that objects are bundles of tropes, so that both particulars and universals are ontologically taken care of. |
| p.119 | p.119 | 8510 | 'Socrates is wise' means a concurrence sum contains a member of a similarity set |
| Full Idea: 'Socrates is wise' means that the concurrence sum (Socrates) includes a trope which is a member of the similarity set (Wisdom). | |||
| From: Donald C. Williams (On the Elements of Being: I [1953], p.119) | |||
| A reaction: Resemblance has to be taken as a basic (and presumably unanalysable) concept, which invites Russell's objection (Idea 4441). |