more from David Lewis

Single Idea 15444

[catalogued under 9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 8. Parts of Objects / c. Wholes from parts]

Full Idea

Different things can be made of the same parts at different times, as when the tinkertoy house is taken apart and put back together as a tinkertoy car.

Clarification

'Tinkertoy' is Lego to you

Gist of Idea

Different things (a toy house and toy car) can be made of the same parts at different times

Source

David Lewis (Against Structural Universals [1986], 'Variants')

Book Reference

Lewis,David: 'Papers in Metaphysics and Epistemology' [CUP 1999], p.95


A Reaction

More important than it looks! This is Lewis's evasion of the question of the structure of the parts. Times will individuate different structures, but if I take type-identical parts and make a house and a car simultaneously, are they type-identical?