No time, no wholes

a temporal and causal-oriented approach to the ontology of wholes

Riccardo Manzotti

pp. 193-214

in: Axiomathes 19 (2), 2009.

Abstract

What distinguishes a whole from an arbitrary sum of elements? I suggest a temporal and causal oriented approach. I defend two connected claims. The former is that existence is, by every means, coextensive with being the cause of a causal process. The latter is that a whole is the cause of a causal process with a joint effect. Thus, a whole is something that takes place in time. The approach endorses an unambiguous version of Restricted Composition that suits most commonsensical intuitions about wholes.