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Single Idea 13954

[from 'Some Remarks on Essentialism' by Richard Cartwright, in 9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 14. Knowledge of Essences ]

Full Idea

I see no reason for thinking essentialism unintelligible, but a chief perplexity is the obscurity of the grounds on which ratings of attributes as essential or accidental are to be made.

Gist of Idea

The difficulty in essentialism is deciding the grounds for rating an attribute as essential

Source

Richard Cartwright (Some Remarks on Essentialism [1968], p.158)

Book Reference

Cartwright,Richard: 'Philosophical Essays' [MIT 1987], p.158


A Reaction

In that case some of us younger philosophers will have to roll up our sleeves and tease out the grounds for essentialism, starting with Aristotle and Leibniz, and ending with the successes of modern science.