Structural universals as structural parts

toward a general theory of parthood and composition

Thomas Mormann

pp. 209-227

in: Essays on non-empiricist rigorous philosophy, Axiomathes 20, 2010.

Abstract

David Lewis famously argued against structural universals since they allegedly required what he called a composition "sui generis" that differed from standard mereological composition. In this paper it is shown that, although traditional Boolean mereology does not describe parthood and composition in its full generality, a better and more comprehensive theory is provided by the foundational theory of categories. In this category-theoretical framework a theory of structural universals can be formulated that overcomes the conceptual difficulties that Lewis and his followers regarded as unsurmountable. As a concrete example of structural universals groups are considered in some detail.

Cited authors

Lewis David