Blackwell Reference Online

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What are “extrinsic” properties and how do they differ from “intrinsic” properties? On one standard interpretation, F is an extrinsic property (of an object, state, event, process, etc.) just if to possess F is to stand in some relation to other, wholly distinct or non-overlapping, contingent things. Any property which is not extrinsic is intrinsic. The following are clear examples of extrinsic properties: being an uncle of Joe, being 100 km west of Sydney, being a war widow, once having met Barry Humphries, being Fred's favorite number. Examples of intrinsic properties are: being triangular, weighing 90 kg, being 6 ft tall, being identical to Nixon, being self-identical (note that the latter two properties, though intrinsic, are relational). The fact that we generally and non-collusively agree on how to classify new cases confirms the genuineness of the extrinsic/intrinsic distinction. Can we characterize the distinction in other terms? It might be thought that the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic properties corresponds to that between causal and non-causal properties: perhaps all intrinsic properties are causal, and all extrinsic properties are non-causal (where a property is causal if its possession by an object contributes to the object's causal powers, or features in causal explanations). It is true that many intrinsic properties are causal, and that many extrinsic ... log in or subscribe to read full text