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2 ideas
13191 | The properties of a thing flow from its essence [Leibniz] |
Full Idea: It is the same to look for perfection in an essence and in the properties that flow from an essence. | |
From: Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Wolff [1715], 1715.05.18) | |
A reaction: It is helpful to have Leibniz spelling out his commitment to the traditional view of essence, as that from which the more evident properties flow. |
18965 | We know what things are by distinguishing them, so identity is part of ontology [Quine] |
Full Idea: We cannot know what something is without knowing how it is marked off from other things. Identity is thus of a piece with ontology. | |
From: Willard Quine (Ontological Relativity [1968], p.55) | |
A reaction: Actually it is failure of identity which seems to raise questions of individuation. If I say 'this apple is [pause] identical to this apple', I don't see how that helps me to individuate apples. |