A PROBLEMATIC MEREOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: TRANSITIVITY IMPLIES IDENTITY

In the present research, it is argued that two different mereological theories incur in the problem according to which the transitivity of proper parthood relation implies identity. The mereological theories are: (i) Kathrin Koslicki's theory presented in her work The Structure of Objects (2008) and (ii) the theory according to which Tractarian propositions are analyzed as mereological wholes in the context of Edmund Husserl's theory of wholes and parts. The main objective is to demonstrate that, in formal terms, any mereological analysis that accepts that transitivity implies identity is inconsistent, and also presents certain specific problems that arise for each of the mentioned theories.