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Single Idea 12035

[from 'works' by Gottfried Leibniz, in 9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 1. Unifying an Object / c. Unity as conceptual ]

Full Idea

Leibniz is committed with apparent consistency to both a purely qualitative character of all thisnesses, and to primitiveness of individual identity. He regards thisnesses as conjunctions of simpler, logically independent suchnesses.

Clarification

Adams's 'suchnesses' are qualitative, and his 'thisnesses' are not

Gist of Idea

Leibniz bases pure primitive entities on conjunctions of qualitative properties

Source

report of Gottfried Leibniz (works [1690]) by Robert Merrihew Adams - Primitive Thisness and Primitive Identity 5

Book Reference

'Metaphysics - An Anthology', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Kim,J. [Blackwell 1999], p.179


A Reaction

Hence Leibniz is held to say that all of the qualitative properties are 'essential' to the object, since all of them are needed to constitute its identity. Hence absolutely nothing about an object, even an electron, could be different, which is daft.