Ideas of Crawford L. Elder, by Theme

[American, fl. 2004, Professor at the University of Connecticut.]

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8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 1. Nature of Properties

13795	Properties only have identity in the context of their contraries
	Full Idea: The very being, the identity, of any property consists at least in part in its contrasting as it does with its own proper contraries.
	From: Crawford L. Elder (Real Natures and Familiar Objects [2004], 2.4)
	A reaction: See Elder for the details of this, but the idea that properties can only be individuated contextually sounds promising.

9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 3. Unity Problems / c. Statue and clay

13798	Maybe we should give up the statue
	Full Idea: Some contemporary metaphysicians infer that one of the objects must go, namely, the statue.
	From: Crawford L. Elder (Real Natures and Familiar Objects [2004], 7.2)
	A reaction: [He cites Zimmerman 1995] This looks like a recipe for creating a vast gulf between philosophers and the rest of the population. If it is right, it makes the true ontology completely useless in understanding our daily lives.

9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 6. Essence as Unifier

13797	The loss of an essential property means the end of an existence
	Full Idea: The loss of any essential property must amount to the end of an existence.
	From: Crawford L. Elder (Real Natures and Familiar Objects [2004], 3)
	A reaction: This is orthodoxy for essentialists, and I presume that Aristotle would agree, but I have a problem with the essence of a great athlete, who then grows old. Must we say that they lose their identity-as-an-athlete?

9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 9. Essence and Properties

13794	Essential properties by nature occur in clusters or packages
	Full Idea: Essential properties by nature occur in clusters or packages.
	From: Crawford L. Elder (Real Natures and Familiar Objects [2004], 2.2)
	A reaction: Elder proposes this as his test for the essentialness of a property - his Test of Flanking Uniformities. A nice idea.

13796	Essential properties are bound together, and would be lost together
	Full Idea: The properties of any essential nature are bound together....[122] so any case in which one of our envisioned familiar objects loses one of its essential properties will be a case in which it loses several.
	From: Crawford L. Elder (Real Natures and Familiar Objects [2004], 3)
	A reaction: This sounds like a fairly good generalisation rather than a necessary truth. Is there a natural selection for properties, so that only the properties which are able to bind to others to form teams are able to survive and flourish?