Full Idea
When you say Simmias is taller than Socrates but shorter than Phaedo, so you mean there is in Simmias both tallness and shortness? - I do. ...But surely he is not taller than Socrates because he is Simmias but because of the tallness he happens to have?
Gist of Idea
If Simmias is taller than Socrates, that isn't a feature that is just in Simmias
Source
Plato (Phaedo [c.374 BCE], 102b-c)
Book Reference
Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.88
A Reaction
He adds that both people must be cited. This appears to be what we now call a rejection relative height as an 'internal' relation, which is it would presumably be if it was a feature of one or of both men.
Related Idea
Idea 21349 Two people are indirectly related by height; the direct relation is internal, between properties [Heil]