Full Idea
At the heart of the 'Parmenides' puzzles about composition is the thesis that composition is identity. Considered thus, a whole adds nothing to an ontology that already includes its parts
Gist of Idea
In Parmenides, if composition is identity, a whole is nothing more than its parts
Source
report of Plato (Parmenides [c.366 BCE]) by Verity Harte - Plato on Parts and Wholes 2.5
Book Reference
Harte,Verity: 'Plato on Parts and Wholes' [OUP 2002], p.105
A Reaction
There has to be more to a unified identity that mere proximity of the parts. When do parts come together, and when do they actually 'compose' something?