more from Thomas Reid

Single Idea 21322

[catalogued under 9. Objects / E. Objects over Time / 13. No Identity over Time]

Full Idea

All bodies, as they consist of innumerable parts, are subject to continual changes of their substance. When such changes are gradual, because language could not afford a different name for each state, it retains the same name and is considered the same.

Gist of Idea

We treat slowly changing things as identical for the sake of economy in language

Source

Thomas Reid (Essays on Intellectual Powers 3: Memory [1785], III.Ch 4)

Book Reference

'Personal Identity', ed/tr. Perry,John [University of California 1975], p.112


A Reaction

This is hard to deny. We could hardly rename a child each morning. Simlarly, we can't have a unique name for each leaf on a tree. Economy of language explains a huge amount in philosophy.