ABSTRACT

According to what we may call the substratum theory, a thing such as an apple or a pebble is composed of a substance in which a variety of attributes inhere, or which supports them or is their bearer or their owner. The substance itself is held to be something distinct from the sum of its properties. Philosophers who adopt the view that a thing is just a bundle of properties sometimes reject the substratum theory in a way which throws it into an unexpected light. The conception of substratum is a metaphysical mistake, not a scientific one, and is not correctable by scientific means. If science keeps to its own sphere, it cannot clash with any metaphysical theory. Metaphysicians who find the substratum theory unacceptable also feel the importance of the semantic similarity that grammar tends to conceal, and are dissatisfied with the grammar that conceals it.