What does "nothing over and above its parts" actually mean

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4765367
AutoresJeroen Smid (0000-0003-2621-1562, Lund University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2017
Volumen12
Número1
Páginase12391
Fecha de publicación2017-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPhilosophy Compass (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1747-9991 • E-ISSN: 1747-9991
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/phc3.12391
OpenAlexW2577309655
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas31

Some philosophers say that a whole is "nothing over and above" its parts. Most also take general extensilonal mereology to be treating wholes as "nothing over and above" their parts. It is not always clear, however, what exactly is meant by the phrase "nothing over and above." Nor is it obvious why the phrase is associated with mereology, and what purpose it serves there. In the words of Peter Van Inwagen (, 210): "This slippery phrase has had a lot of employment in philosophy, but what it means is never explained by its employers." This paper sheds light on the various senses in which one might hold that a whole is "nothing over and above" its parts, and on how these senses are related both to each other and to mereology

Epistemology · Linguistics · Mereology · Nothing · Phrase · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Philosophy and Theoretical Science