Qualitative Persistence

Abstract The main conclusion of chapter 3 is that concrete events are not causal relata and that tropes are to be preferred over exemplifications of universals. This preference, however, is conditional on two further claims: that there are tropes and that tropes can persist over time. Given that the existence of tropes cannot be taken for granted, this conditional argument must be followed by an argument for tropes as such. And given that the preference for tropes is partly based on the anticipation of an account of causation in terms of persistence—specifically,of trope persistence—an argument for the possibility of trope persistence is called for. Fortunately, both of these argumentative requirements can be satisfied by a single argument.