How to define extrinsic properties

Roger Harris

pp. 461-478

in: Axiomathes 20 (4), 2010.

Abstract

There are, broadly, three sorts of account of intrinsicality: "self-sufficiency', "essentiality' and "pure qualitativeness'. I argue for the last of these, and urge that we take intrinsic properties of concrete objects to be all and only those shared by actual or possible duplicates, which only differ extrinsically. This approach gains support from Francescotti's approach: defining "intrinsic' in contradistinction to extrinsic properties which "consist in' relations which rule out intrinsicality. I answer Weatherson's criticisms of Francescotti, but, to answer criticisms of my own, I amend his account, proposing that possession of an extrinsic property consists in a relation to one or more actual or possible distinct concrete objects. Finally I indicate ways to avoid some apparent objections to this account.