metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

, quidditism is the perspective implied by the belief that nomological roles do not supervene on

causal Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the ca ...

properties Property is the ownership of land, resources, improvements or other tangible objects, or intellectual property. Property may also refer to: Mathematics * Property (mathematics) Philosophy and science * Property (philosophy), in philosophy an ...

. Quidditism endorses the existence of quiddities (the existence of "whatness" of properties) and is typically characterized in opposition to causal

essentialism Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their identity. In early Western thought, Plato's idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an "idea" or "form". In ''Categories'', Aristotle sim ...

.Wang, Jennifer, "The Nature of Properties: Causal Essentialism and Quidditism", ''Philosophy Compass'', 11(3), March 2016, pp. 171–172.

Notes

Essentialism Ontology {{ontology-stub