Full Idea
To deserve the name of 'property' is to be suited to play the right theoretical role. It is wrong to speak of 'the' role associated with the word 'property', as if it were fully and uncontroversially settled.
Gist of Idea
To be a 'property' is to suit a theoretical role
Source
David Lewis (On the Plurality of Worlds [1986], 1.5)
Book Reference
Lewis,David: 'On the Plurality of Worlds' [Blackwell 2001], p.55
A Reaction
Once again I see a chicken-and-egg problem. Surely something has a theoretical role because of its intrinsic character, or its prior definition? How could you formulate a theory if you lacked properties? We don’t meet properties as gaps in theories.