Substance and Attribute
An ordinary object such as an apple has many attributes yet seems to be a single thing that bears them. This topic asks what an individual substance is and how it relates to the properties predicated of it.
Definition
A substance is an individual thing that exists in its own right and bears attributes; an attribute is a property predicated of a substance.
Scope
Covers the Aristotelian conception of primary substance, the substratum or bare-particular theory, bundle theory, and disputes over whether a thing is anything beyond its properties.
Core questions
- What is it to be an individual substance?
- Is there a substratum underlying an object's properties?
- Is an object just a bundle of its properties?
- What unifies the many attributes of one thing?
Key concepts
- Substance
- Attribute
- Substratum
- Bare particular
- Bundle
- Individuation
- Essence
Key theories
- Substratum (bare particular) theory
- Each thing has, besides its properties, a propertyless substratum that bears those properties and individuates the thing, a view associated with one reading of Locke's 'something we know not what'.
- Bundle theory
- An object is nothing but a bundle of co-present properties; there is no propertyless substratum underlying them.
- Aristotelian substance
- Primary substances are individual things such as this man or this horse; in the Metaphysics Aristotle analyzes substance in terms of form, matter, and essence.
History
Aristotle's account of primary substance set the agenda; medieval and early modern philosophers, including Locke and Leibniz, debated the substratum and the unity of substance. Twentieth-century empiricists revived bundle theory, and contemporary analytic metaphysics continues to weigh substratum against bundle accounts.
Debates
- Substratum versus bundle
- Substratum theorists posit a bare particular to bear and individuate properties; bundle theorists deny any such substratum and identify the object with its compresent properties, facing the question of what unifies and individuates the bundle.
Key figures
- Aristotle
- John Locke
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- Bertrand Russell
- Michael Loux
Related topics
Seminal works
- aristotleMetaphysics
- locke1690
Frequently asked questions
- Is an object anything more than its properties?
- Substratum theorists say yes, there is a bearer underlying the properties; bundle theorists say no, the object just is a bundle of compresent properties. The dispute turns on individuation and the unity of an object.