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Ideas for 'talk', 'Politics' and 'To be is to be the value of a variable..'

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9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 8. Parts of Objects / c. Wholes from parts

22525	The whole is prior to its parts, because parts are defined by their role [Aristotle]
	Full Idea: It is necessary for the whole to be prior to the part. For if the whole body is put to death, there will no longer be a foot or a hand. For everything is defined by its function and by its capacity (so the hands and feet would no longer be the same).
	From: Aristotle (Politics [c.332 BCE], 1253a20)
	A reaction: It may be a mistake to ask which of these is 'prior'. If bricks make a wall, the whole depends on the parts, but the parts can exist without the whole. They continue to be possible parts of a wall (unlike severed feet).