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    If attributes alone individuate substances, then two nume... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Attributes, not modes, must be the individuating principle for substances.

    If attributes alone individuate substances, then two numerically distinct substances cannot share an attribute, yet Spinoza's own system allows finite modes of one attribute to be genuinely distinct, undermining attribute-based individuation as a general principle.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Spinoza explicitly states finite modes within one attribute are numerically distinct by their modifications and intensive degrees, not by attribute.
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    • 2.If attributes alone individuate, two modes sharing an attribute must be identical, but Spinoza's system clearly permits their real distinction.
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    • 3.This internal inconsistency shows attribute-based individuation cannot be Spinoza's actual metaphysical principle for substance individuation.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.The claim conflates individuation of substances with individuation of modes—these operate at different metaphysical levels in Spinoza's system.
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    • 2.Attributes individuate only substances (God's infinite expressions); finite modes are individuated by causal relations and intensive quantities, not attributes.
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    • 3.No contradiction arises if attribute-based individuation applies only to substances while modes follow distinct individuation principles.
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    Key Terms

    General principle(what attribute-based individuation is supposed to be, but fails to be)
    A rule or law that applies broadly across many situations, not just in one specific case.
    Genuinely distinct(how finite modes can be from each other in Spinoza's system)
    Really and truly different in an important way, not just appearing different on the surface.
    Individuate(metaphysics)
    To identify or distinguish something as a separate, individual thing with its own unique identity.
    Spinoza
    Baruch Spinoza was a 17th-century Dutch philosopher who argued that God and nature are the same thing, and that everything in the universe is interconnected as one unified whole. He believed that understanding how things work through reason and logic—rather than through emotion or superstition—leads to happiness and freedom. His ideas were revolutionary for his time and continue to influence modern philosophy, theology, and how we think about the relationship between mind and body.
    a priori(Frege treats 'analytic' as entailing 'a priori' for arithmetic.)
    Knowable independently of empirical experience; here treated as a consequence of analyticity.
    attributes(Lowe's four-category ontology)
    A category of universal property that characterizes kinds and is exemplified by objects.
    finite modes(Spinozistic metaphysics; the subject of whether they follow from God's nature)
    Objects or entities that are the same in [iv] and [v] but considered differently in each case
    numerically distinct(Used to characterize the parts of the Form that must exist separately in each participant)
    Being distinct in the sense of being different individual tokens, not merely different in kind or quality.
    substances(Used to distinguish the category of substance from that of property in ontology.)
    Individual objects; the entities that properties are predicated of.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Modality & Possibility1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Attributes individuate only substances (God's infinite expressions); finite mode...Attributes, not modes, must be the individuating principle for substances.

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    If attributes alone individuate, two modes sharing an attribute must be identica...
    No contradiction arises if attribute-based individuation applies only to substan...
    +3 moreShow less
    Spinoza explicitly states finite modes within one attribute are numerically dist...The claim conflates individuation of substances with individuation of modes—thes...This internal inconsistency shows attribute-based individuation cannot be Spinoz...