Skip to main content

An Introduction to the Problems of the Theory of Parthood

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 261 Accesses

Part of the book series: Trends in Logic ((TREN,volume 54))

Abstract

In everyday speech, the expression ‘part’ is usually understood as having the sense of the expressions ‘fragment’, ‘bit’, and so forth.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See Footnote 18 in Appendix A.

  2. 2.

    It is well-known that a relation is asymmetric iff it is irreflexive and antisymmetric. All necessary information on the subject of relations (including dependencies between the properties of a given relation) may be found in Appendix A.3.

  3. 3.

    Recall that for binary relations \(R_1\) and \(R_2\) on U the binary relation \(R_1\circ R_2\) on U may be defined by the following condition: \(x\mathrel {R_1\circ R_2} y \iff \exists _{z\in U}(x\mathbin {R}_1 z\wedge z\mathbin {R}_2 y)\).

  4. 4.

    The broadening of the extension of the word ‘part’ can sometimes lead to “philosophical misunderstandings”. The strange-sounding term ‘ingrediens’ is in this case an “ally”, as it reminds us that it is an “artificial” concept. Let us also note here that a misunderstanding arises from the choice of ‘ingredient’ as the translation of ‘ingredjens’ in the English translations of Leśniewski’s works (cf. Leśniewski 1991). The word ‘ingredient’ has a ready translation in Polish as ‘składnik’ and Leśniewski deliberately distanced himself from this word. It is therefore better to use the word ‘ingrediens’ in translation, thus preserving continuity with its (philosophico-logical) use in contemporary Polish.

  5. 5.

    For example, it also follows from the Weak Supplementation Principle adopted by Simons (1987) (see also point 2.3.1). The principle of polarisation (\(\mathrm {pol}_{\scriptscriptstyle {\sqsubseteq }}\)) appears in (Simons 1987) as the Strong Supplementation Principle.

  6. 6.

    We explain why in Sect. 2.13.

  7. 7.

    This is a special case, as we could also recognise the element u as the zero and so add nothing.

  8. 8.

    By starting from the strictly partially-ordered set \(\langle U,\prec \rangle \) with the zero \(\varnothing \) and putting \(\mathop {\preceqq } :\!=\mathord {\prec }\cup \mathrm {id}_{U}\), we can also obtain a partially-ordered set with zero \(\varnothing \).

  9. 9.

    Such concepts we call coextensive (cf. Remark A.2.13).

  10. 10.

    It is, however, different in the case of distributive classes (cf. Remark A.2.13).

  11. 11.

    A name which has exactly one referent we will call monoreferential. A name which has at least two referents we will call polyreferential.

  12. 12.

    For example, see, e.g., (Cotnoir 2010) (where (Varzi 2008) is discussed) and the literature it mentions.

  13. 13.

    We have used here figuratively the word ‘true’ instead of the word ‘proper’, because the latter word could be used in connection with the word ‘part’ whereas here we are concerned with ‘truth’ in the quasi sense.

  14. 14.

    See Appendices A.3.3 and B.9.

  15. 15.

    It is not now permissible to adopt the definition ‘\(\forall \!_{x,y\in U}(x<y \;\mathrel {\mathord {:}\mathord {\Longleftrightarrow }}\;x\lesssim y \wedge x\ne y)\)’, so long as one wants to have an asymmetric relation. Under this second definition, the relation is asymmetric if and only if \(\lesssim \) is antisymmetric.

References

  • Cotnoir, A. J. (2010). Anti-symmetry and non-extensional mereology. The Philosophical Quarterly, 60, 396–405. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9213.2009.649.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, I. (2005/2006). Formal mereology and ordinary language – Reply to Varzi. Applied Ontology, 1, 157–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leśniewski, S. (1991). On the foundations of mathematics. In S. Surma, J. Srzednicki, D. Barnett, & V. Rickey (Eds.), Collected works (Vol. I, pp. 174–382)., Nijhoff international philosophy, Series no. 44 Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. English version of (Leśniewski, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931).

    Google Scholar 

  • Leśniewski, S. (1927). O podstawach matematyki (On the foundations of mathematics). Przegląd Filozoficzny, 30, 164–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leśniewski, S. (1928). O podstawach matematyki (On the foundations of mathematics). Przegląd Filozoficzny, 31, 261–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leśniewski, S. (1929). O podstawach matematyki (On the foundations of mathematics). Przegląd Filozoficzny, 32, 60–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leśniewski, S. (1930). O podstawach matematyki (On the foundations of mathematics). Przegląd Filozoficzny, 33, 77–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leśniewski, S. (1931). O podstawach matematyki (On the foundations of mathematics). Przegląd Filozoficzny, 34, 142–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leśniewski, S. (1931). O podstawach matematyki (On the foundations of mathematics). Przegląd Filozoficzny, 34, 142–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics (Vol. 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139165693.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pietruszczak, A. (2000). Metamereologia (Metamereology). Toruń: The Nicolaus Copernicus Univesity Press. English version (2018): Metamereology. Toruń: The Nicolaus Copernicus University Scientific Publishing House. https://doi.org/10.12775/3961-4

  • Pietruszczak, A. (2018). Metamereology. Toruń: The Nicolaus Copernicus Univesity Scientific Publishing House. English version of (Pietruszczak 2000). https://doi.org/10.12775/3961-4

  • Rescher, N. (1955). Axioms for the part relation. Philosophical Studies, 6, 8–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02341057.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, P. (1987). Parts. A study in ontology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199241460.001.0001.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Varzi, A. C. (2005/2006). A note on the transitivity of parthood. Applied Ontology, 1, 141–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Varzi, A. C. (2008). The extensionality of parthood and composition. The Philosophical Quarterly, 58, 108–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrzej Pietruszczak .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Pietruszczak, A. (2020). An Introduction to the Problems of the Theory of Parthood. In: Foundations of the Theory of Parthood. Trends in Logic, vol 54. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36533-2_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics