Intrinsic vs. extrinsic properties

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2013)
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Abstract

We have some of our properties purely in virtue of the way we are. (Our mass is an example.) We have other properties in virtue of the way we interact with the world. (Our weight is an example.) The former are the intrinsic properties, the latter are the extrinsic properties. This seems to be an intuitive enough distinction to grasp, and hence the intuitive distinction has made its way into many discussions in philosophy, including discussions in ethics, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of physics. Unfortunately, when we look more closely at the intuitive distinction, we find reason to suspect that it conflates a few related distinctions, and that each of these distinctions is somewhat resistant to analysis.

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reprint Weatherson, Brian; Marshall, Dan (2012) "Intrinsic vs. extrinsic properties". In Zalta, Ed, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, pp. : Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2012)

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Author Profiles

Brian Weatherson
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dan Marshall
Lingnan University

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New work for a theory of universals.David K. Lewis - 1983 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 61 (4):343-377.
On what grounds what.Jonathan Schaffer - 2009 - In Ryan Wasserman, David Manley & David Chalmers (eds.), Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. pp. 347-383.
Individualism and the mental.Tyler Burge - 1979 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 4 (1):73-122.

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