Accepting Hypertolerance

Abstract

This is the first of two chapters exploring the option of resolving various Tolerance Puzzles by accepting Hypertolerance, the conclusion that the objects in question could have been arbitrarily different in the respects relevant to the puzzle. This chapter discusses two influential objections to certain Hypertolerance claims, one based on the doctrine of ‘Anti-haecceitism’ (according to which an object’s qualitative profile suffices for its identity), and another based on the doctrine of ‘Overlap Essentialism’ (according to which a table originally made of certain matter could not have been originally made of entirely non-overlapping matter). We consider some arguments for Overlap Essentialism from certain ‘sufficiency of origin’ principles, and discuss some difficult cases which put pressure on Overlap Essentialism.