Single Idea 10934

[catalogued under 9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 7. Essence and Necessity / b. Essence not necessities]

Full Idea

It is easy to confuse the notion of an essential property that a thing could not lack, with a property it could not lose. My having spent Christmas 2007 in Tennessee is a non-essential property I could not lose.

Gist of Idea

Unlosable properties are not the same as essential properties

Source

Adolph Rami (Essential vs Accidental Properties [2008], §1)

Book Reference

'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.5


A Reaction

The idea that having spent Christmas in Tennessee is a property I find quite bewildering. Is my not having spent my Christmas in Tennessee one of my properties? I suspect that real unlosable properties are essential ones.