Full Idea
It is widely held, and I think correctly so, that a necessary condition for the existence of relations is that both of the relata exist.
Gist of Idea
It is a necessary condition for the existence of relations that both of the relata exist
Source
Craig Bourne (A Future for Presentism [2006], 3.III Pr4)
Book Reference
Bourne,Craig: 'A Future for Presentism' [OUP 2006], p.95
A Reaction
This is either trivial or false. Relations in the actual world self-evidently relate components of it. But I seem able to revere Sherlock Holmes, and speculate about relations between possible entities.
Related Idea
Idea 14010 All relations between spatio-temporal objects are either spatio-temporal, or causal [Bourne]