Material Beings Quotes

“To get the xs to compose something, one need only bring them into contact; if the xs are in contact, they compose something; and if they are not in contact, they do not compose anything.”
― Peter van Inwagen, Material Beings

“I have found it helpful to ask not ‘In what circumstances is a plank a part of a ship?’ but, rather, ‘In what circumstances do planks compose (add up to, form) something?”
― Peter van Inwagen, Material Beings

“Can we stipulate that or establish a convention that or make it true by definition that there is an object that has X, Y, and Z (and no other atoms) as parts? Let us ask what one might actually say in order to accomplish something along these lines.”
― Peter van Inwagen, Material Beings

“Let us always remember Abraham Lincoln’s undeservedly neglected riddle: How many legs has a dog got if you call a tail a leg? The answer, said Lincoln, and he was right, is four, because calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one.”
― Peter van Inwagen, Material Beings