Abstract
An intrinsic property is roughly a property something has in virtue of how it is, as opposed to how it is related to other things. More carefully, the property of being F is intrinsic iff, necessarily, for any x that is F, x is F in virtue of how it is, as opposed to how it is related to wholly distinct things or how wholly distinct things are. An extrinsic property, on the other hand, is any property that is not intrinsic. An example of an extrinsic property is the property of being an uncle. The property of being an uncle is extrinsic since, necessarily, any uncle is an uncle at least partly in virtue of how he is related to people wholly distinct from him. Examples of intrinsic properties are more controversial. It is widely held, however, that both the property of being cubical and the property of being made of tin are examples of intrinsic properties.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Companion to intrinsic properties |
| Publisher | De Gruyter |
| Pages | 199-220 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9783110290868 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |