Substance: Difference between revisions
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Larry_Sanger (talk) Deleted old article, as it just gave the dictionary definition, and that ain't a subject for an encyclopedia article. The philosophical meaning, however, is! |
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In philosophy, ''substance'' means, approximately, that element of an [[object]] without which it would not exist. In the millenia-old [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian tradition]], as well as [[early modern philosophy|early modern]] traditions that follow it, substances are treated as having [[attribute (philosophy)|attribute]]s and [[mode (philosophy)|modes]]. |
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A substance is something that exists as a quantity of [[matter]] but not as a specific identifiable object. Water is a substance. Air is a substance. Sand is a substance. Ice is a substance. So is cement. |
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See [[objecthood]] and [[substance theory]]. |
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But if you mix water, sand and cement into a solid block, it is not a substance because the block is directly identifiable as an object. |
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Go back to [[Epistemology]], [[Existence]], [[Metaphysics]], [[Ontology]], [[Philosophy]]. |
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Revision as of 12:32, 25 June 2001
In philosophy, substance means, approximately, that element of an object without which it would not exist. In the millenia-old Aristotelian tradition, as well as early modern traditions that follow it, substances are treated as having attributes and modes.
See objecthood and substance theory.