Combining Texts

Ideas for 'Mahaprajnaparamitashastra', 'Necessity and Non-Existence' and 'On the Moral and Legal State of Abortion'

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10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 6. Necessity from Essence
It is the nature of Socrates to be a man, so necessarily he is a man [Fine,K]
     Full Idea: It is of the nature of Socrates to be a man; and from this it appears to follow that necessarily he is a man.
     From: Kit Fine (Necessity and Non-Existence [2005], 04)
     A reaction: I'm always puzzled by this line of thought, because it is only the intrinsic nature of beings like Socrates which decides in the first place what a 'man' is. How can something help to create a category, and then necessarily belong to that category?