Properties and Relations
Properties are features things have, such as being negatively charged; relations are ways things stand to one another, such as being heavier than. This topic studies their nature, individuation, and explanatory roles.
Definition
A property is a way a single thing can be; a relation is a way two or more things can stand to one another.
Scope
Covers sparse versus abundant conceptions of properties, the contrast between categorical and dispositional properties, the metaphysics of relations and their order, and how properties figure in laws and causation.
Core questions
- Are there sparse properties carving nature at the joints, or abundant ones for every predicate?
- Are properties categorical, dispositional, or both?
- What individuates a property, its causal role or something intrinsic?
- How do relations differ from monadic properties?
Key concepts
- Sparse property
- Abundant property
- Categorical base
- Disposition
- Relation
- Causal power
- Naturalness
Key theories
- Sparse versus abundant properties
- Lewis distinguishes abundant properties, one for every set or predicate, from sparse natural properties that ground objective resemblance, causal powers, and laws.
- Dispositional essentialism
- Properties are individuated by the causal powers they confer; their identity is fixed by the dispositions they bestow on their bearers.
- Universals as sparse properties
- Armstrong identifies the genuine, sparse properties with immanent universals posited by total science, distinguishing them from mere predicates.
History
Twentieth-century metaphysics revived close attention to properties through the universals debate. Lewis's distinction between sparse and abundant properties became standard, while Shoemaker's causal account inspired dispositional essentialism, a major contemporary program in the metaphysics of properties and laws.
Debates
- Categorical versus dispositional properties
- Categoricalists hold that fundamental properties have natures independent of their causal roles; dispositionalists hold that properties just are powers, individuated by what they enable their bearers to do.
Key figures
- David Lewis
- D. M. Armstrong
- Sydney Shoemaker
- C. B. Martin
- Alexander Bird
Related topics
Seminal works
- lewis1983
- armstrong1978
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between sparse and abundant properties?
- Abundant properties correspond to every meaningful predicate or set of things, however gerrymandered. Sparse properties are the comparatively few that ground genuine similarity, causal powers, and natural laws.