Rethinking origin essentialism (for artefacts)

Citation

Roca-Royes S (2016) Rethinking origin essentialism (for artefacts). In: Jago M (ed.) Reality Making. Mind Association Occasional Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 152-176. http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198755722.001.0001/acprof-9780198755722

Abstract
The thesis that the material origins of artefacts are essential to them is highly intuitive, but in a flexible version: it is not exact match of material origins that is intuitively essential, but approximate match. After an in‐depth exploration of the theoretical options open to accommodate the flexible version, the paper ends up favouring the inflexible one.

Keywords
Essentiality of Origin; S4; sufficiency properties; coincidents; individual essences

People

Dr Sonia Roca Royes

Senior Lecturer, Philosophy