Glossary of mereology
 | This article cites its sources but its page references ranges are too broad or incorrect. (April 2024) |
This is a glossary of mereology. Mereology is the philosophical study of part-whole relationships, also called parthood relationships.[1]
A[edit]
- anti-symmetry of parthood
- In mereology, a principle stating that if A is part of B and B is part of A, then A and B are identical, reinforcing the notion of precise part-whole relationships.[2]
- atomic mereology
- A branch of mereology that deals with wholes that are ultimately composed of indivisible parts, or atoms, focusing on how such atomic parts combine to form larger wholes.[3]
- atomless gunk
- See gunk.
B[edit]
C[edit]
- calculus of individuals
- Because mereology applies to individuals, it is called the calculus of individuals, in contrast to set theory, which is called the calculus of classes.[4]
- classical mereology
- Classical mereology is the mereological theory obtained by assuming that the parthood relation is a partial ordering, and that the unrestricted fusion principle holds.[5]
- composition
- The relation that connects many things to a single thing that includes whatever is in the many things, and nothing extraneous to them.[2]
- compositional universalism
- A position in mereology that holds any collection of entities, regardless of how disparate, can constitute a whole, leading to the possibility of any entities forming a composite object.[6] Also called "mereological universalism".[7]
D[edit]
E[edit]
- extensional mereology
- A branch of mereology that focuses on the relations of parts to wholes based on the extensions of the parts, without regard to the nature or properties of the parts.[2]
- extensionality
- The principle in mereology stating that two objects are identical if they have the same proper parts.[8]
F[edit]
- fusion
- Synonym for "mereological sum".[9]
G[edit]
- general extensional mereology
- General extensional mereology is the mereological theory obtained by assuming that the parthood relation is a partial ordering and that the strong supplementation principle, and the unrestricted fusion principle, hold.[5]
- ground mereology
- Ground mereology is the mereological theory obtained by assuming that the parthood relation is a partial ordering.[5]
- gunk
- An object or substance whose parts all have proper parts, which means the object is divisible into parts indefinitely, with no simplest parts or atoms. (Short for "atomless gunk".)
- gunky
- Adjective describing entities, or worlds, made out of atomless gunk – that is, objects all of whose parts have proper parts.[10]
H[edit]
- harmony
- The principle that an object x is part of an object y if, and only if, the region in space occupied by x is part of the region in space occupied by y.[2][11]
- hunky
- Adjective describing a possible world that is both gunky and junky.[12][10]
I[edit]
- identity of indiscernibles
- A principle often discussed in the context of mereology, stating that no two distinct objects have exactly the same properties, thus differentiating even similar wholes by their specific parts.
J[edit]
- junk
- A state of affairs where all objects are proper parts of something else, which means objects are composable into further objects indefinitely, never forming a complete "world". (Short for "worldless junk"; coined as the converse of "atomless gunk".)[13]
- junky
- Adjective describing a possible world with junk in it, i.e., a world where every object is a proper part of something else.[12]
K[edit]
- knug
- Term coined by John Parsons[14] for what is more commonly called "junk"; coined to be "gunk" written backwards.[10]
- knunk
- A proposed term for structures that are junky and all their members are gunky; coinage by Giberman, inspired by Parsons's "knug", to reflect what must have been meant by the coiners of "hunky", since, if worlds are taken to be concrete objects, no gunky-and-junky worlds are possible.[10]
L[edit]
M[edit]
- mereological continuity
- The principle in mereology that suggests wholes are continuously divisible into smaller and smaller parts, with no abrupt discontinuities in the structure of the objects.
- mereological essentialism
- The view in mereology that parts are essential to the wholes they constitute; that is, a whole cannot exist without having precisely those parts.
- mereological extensionality
- The principle in mereology stating that two objects are identical if they have the same proper parts.[8]
- mereological fusion
- Synonym for "mereological sum".[15]
- mereological harmony
- See harmony.[2][11]
- mereological monism
- The view that, in a large and significant domain of things, classical extensional mereology is the only correct theory of parthood and composition.[16][2] Not to be confused with monism.
- mereological nihilism
- The philosophical position that denies the existence of composite objects, asserting that only basic, partless entities exist.[17]
- mereological sum
- An object that is composed of all and only the entities in a given collection, according to the principles of mereology.[9]
- mereological universalism
- The view that two objects always compose a third, which is to say, that mereological composition is unrestricted.[7] Also called "compositional universalism".[6]
- mereology
- The study of the relationships between parts and wholes, and the principles governing the composition of objects.[9]
- minimal mereology
- Minimal mereology is the mereological theory obtained by assuming that the parthood relation is a partial ordering, and that the weak supplementation principle holds.[5]
- monism
- The view that there is only one fundamental object, which is the cosmos, and that all other objects (its parts) derive their reality from it.[18] Formally, , where represents the cosmos, and represents the status of being a basic actual concrete object, i.e., an object that is concrete and does not depend on anything concrete.[13] Not to be confused with senses of "monism" outside of mereology, or with mereological monism.
N[edit]
- non-well-founded mereology
- An approach to mereology where parts and wholes can form circular or self-referential structures, challenging traditional, well-founded notions of parthood.[19]
O[edit]
- overlap
- In mereology, the relation between objects or sets that share at least one part in common.[9]
P[edit]
- parthood
- The relation between an entity and a composite object of which it is a part, central to mereology, the study of parts and wholes.[1]
- proper parthood
- A relation between two entities where one is a part of the other but not equivalent to it, indicating a strict subset relationship in the context of mereology.[9]
- pluralism
- The view there are more than one fundamental object; opposed to monism.[18] Not to be confused with senses of "pluralism" outside of mereology.
- priority pluralism
- Another term for pluralism, emphasizing that pluralities are metaphysically prior to wholes, although wholes exist.[10]
Q[edit]
R[edit]
- reflexivity of parthood
- The property according to which everything is part of itself.[9]
S[edit]
- simple
- In mereology, a simple is an object that has no parts other than itself, often considered in discussions of mereological nihilism and the debate over the existence of composite objects.
- strong supplementation principle
- A principle in mereology stating that if an object is not part of another, then there must be a part of the latter that does not overlap with the object, emphasizing the distinctness and separability of parts within wholes.[20]
T[edit]
- transitivity of parthood
- The property where if A is part of B, and B is part of C, then A is part of C, emphasizing the chain-like nature of part-whole relationships.[21]
U[edit]
- underlap
- A concept in mereology where two objects do not share any parts in common, opposite of overlap, emphasizing the disjointness of the objects.[9]
- unrestricted fusion
- A principle in mereology allowing for the existence of a composite object consisting of any collection of parts, regardless of how dispersed or unrelated those parts may be.[22]
V[edit]
W[edit]
- worldless junk
- See junk.
X[edit]
Y[edit]
Z[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Champollion, Lucas; Krifka, Manfred (2016), Aloni, Maria; Dekker, Paul (eds.), "Mereology", The Cambridge Handbook of Formal Semantics, Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 369–388, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139236157.014, ISBN 978-1-139-23615-7, retrieved 2024-04-21
- ^ a b c d e f Lando, Giorgio (2017). Mereology: a philosophical introduction. London Oxford New York: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4725-8367-3.
- ^ Koslicki, Kathrin (2008). The structure of objects. Oxford: Oxford University press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-19-953989-5.
- ^ Bunnin, Nicholas; Yu, Jiyuan (2004). The Blackwell dictionary of Western philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. p. 424. ISBN 978-1-4051-0679-5.
- ^ a b c d Cook, Roy T. (2009-03-20). A Dictionary of Philosophical Logic. doi:10.1515/9780748631971. ISBN 978-0-7486-3197-1.
- ^ a b McDaniel, Kris (2020). This is metaphysics: an introduction. This is philosophy. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-118-40078-4.
- ^ a b Contessa, Gabriele (2012). "The junk argument: safe disposal guidelines for mereological universalists". Analysis. 72 (3): 455–457. doi:10.1093/analys/ans071. ISSN 0003-2638. JSTOR 23250552.
- ^ a b Cotnoir, A. J.; Varzi, Achille C. (2021). "What is Mereology?". Mereology. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191811647.
- ^ a b c d e f g Varzi, Achille (2019), "Mereology", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2024-04-21
- ^ a b c d e Giberman, Daniel; Philosophy Documentation Center (2020). "What it takes to be hunky". Thought: A Journal of Philosophy. 9 (1): 51–57. doi:10.1002/tht3.442. ISSN 2161-2234.
- ^ a b Bennett, Karen; Zimmerman, Dean W. (2011-02-10). Oxford Studies in Metaphysics: volume 6. Oxford University Press. pp. 199–224. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199603039.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-172541-8.
- ^ a b Bohn, Einar Duenger (April 2009). "Must There be a Top Level?". The Philosophical Quarterly. 59 (235): 193–201. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9213.2008.573.x.
- ^ a b Schaffer, Jonathan (2010-01-01). "Monism: The Priority of the Whole". The Philosophical Review. 119 (1): 31–76. doi:10.1215/00318108-2009-025. ISSN 0031-8108.
- ^ Parsons, Josh (2007-05-31), "Theories of Location", Oxford Studies In Metaphysics, Oxford University PressOxford, pp. 201–232, doi:10.1093/oso/9780199218394.003.0007, ISBN 978-0-19-921839-4, retrieved 2024-04-22
- ^ Gruszczyński, R. (2013). "Mereological Fusion as an Upper Bound". Bulletin of the Section of Logic. 42: 135–150.
- ^ Fine, Kit (1994). "Compounds and Aggregates". Noûs. 28 (2): 137–158. doi:10.2307/2216046. ISSN 0029-4624. JSTOR 2216046.
- ^ Ney, Alyssa (2023). Metaphysics: an introduction (2 ed.). London ; New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-351-14120-8.
- ^ a b Bohn, Einar Duenger (2012-03-01). "Monism, Emergence, and Plural Logic". Erkenntnis. 76 (2): 211–223. doi:10.1007/s10670-011-9280-4. ISSN 1572-8420.
- ^ COTNOIR, AARON J.; BACON, ANDREW (2011-12-09). "Non-Wellfounded Mereology". The Review of Symbolic Logic. 5 (2): 187–204. doi:10.1017/s1755020311000293. hdl:10023/3157. ISSN 1755-0203.
- ^ Canavotto, Ilaria; Giordani, Alessandro (2022-10-01). "An Extensional Mereology for Structured Entities". Erkenntnis. 87 (5): 2343–2373. doi:10.1007/s10670-020-00305-5. ISSN 1572-8420.
- ^ Johansson, Ingvar (2013-05-02), "On the Transitivity of the Parthood Relations", Relations and Predicates, De Gruyter, pp. 161–182, doi:10.1515/9783110326857.161, ISBN 978-3-11-032685-7, retrieved 2024-04-21
- ^ Kleinschmidt, Shieva, ed. (2014-01-09). "Mereology and Modality". Mereology and Location. Oxford University Press. pp. 33–56. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199593828.003.0003. ISBN 978-0-19-959382-8.
