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This is a '''glossary of mereology'''. [[Mereology]] is the philosophical study of part-whole relationships, also called parthood relationships.<ref name="CambridgeSemantics">{{Citation |last1=Champollion |first1=Lucas |title=Mereology |date=2016 |work=The Cambridge Handbook of Formal Semantics |pages=369–388 |editor-last=Aloni |editor-first=Maria |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-formal-semantics/mereology/106055146B6A636BA720D4D3F39A38DF |access-date=2024-04-21 |series=Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139236157.014 |isbn=978-1-139-23615-7 |last2=Krifka |first2=Manfred |editor2-last=Dekker |editor2-first=Paul}}</ref>

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==A==
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{{term |1=anti-symmetry of parthood}}
{{defn |1=In mereology, a principle stating that if A is part of B and B is part of A, then A and B are identical, reinforcing the notion of precise part-whole relationships.<ref name="Lando2017">{{Cite book |last=Lando |first=Giorgio |title=Mereology: a philosophical introduction |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4725-8367-3 |location=London Oxford New York}}</ref>}}

{{term |1=atomic mereology}}
{{defn |1=A branch of [[mereology]] that deals with wholes that are ultimately composed of indivisible parts, or atoms, focusing on how such atomic parts combine to form larger wholes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koslicki |first=Kathrin |title=The structure of objects |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University press |isbn=978-0-19-953989-5 |location=Oxford |pages=15}}</ref>}}

{{term |1=atomless gunk}}
{{defn |1=See {{glossary link internal|gunk}}.}}
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==B==
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==C==
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{{term |1=calculus of individuals}}
{{defn |1=Because mereology applies to individuals, it is called the calculus of individuals, in contrast to set theory, which is called the calculus of classes.<ref name="Bunnin">{{Cite book |last1=Bunnin |first1=Nicholas |title=The Blackwell dictionary of Western philosophy |last2=Yu |first2=Jiyuan |date=2004 |publisher=Blackwell Pub |isbn=978-1-4051-0679-5 |location=Malden, MA |pages=424}}</ref>}}

{{term |1=classical mereology}}
{{defn |1=Classical mereology is the mereological theory obtained by assuming that the {{glossary link internal|parthood}} relation is a {{glossary link|glossary=Glossary of set theory|partial order|partial ordering}}, and that the unrestricted fusion principle holds.<ref name="CookDictionary">{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Roy T. |date=2009-03-20 |title=A Dictionary of Philosophical Logic |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9780748631971 |doi=10.1515/9780748631971|isbn=978-0-7486-3197-1 }}</ref>}}

{{term |1=composition}}
{{defn |1=The relation that connects many things to a single thing that includes whatever is in the many things, and nothing extraneous to them.<ref name="Lando2017" />}}

{{term |1=compositional universalism}}
{{defn |1=A position in mereology that holds any collection of entities, regardless of how disparate, can constitute a whole, leading to the possibility of any entities forming a composite object.<ref name="McDaniel_Metaphysics">{{Cite book |last=McDaniel |first=Kris |title=This is metaphysics: an introduction |date=2020 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-40078-4 |series=This is philosophy |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |pages=103}}</ref> Also called "{{glossary link internal|mereological universalism}}".<ref name="Contessa2012">{{Cite journal |last=Contessa |first=Gabriele |date=2012 |title=The junk argument: safe disposal guidelines for mereological universalists |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23250552 |journal=Analysis |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=455–457 |doi=10.1093/analys/ans071 |jstor=23250552 |issn=0003-2638}}</ref>}}
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==D==
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==E==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=extensional mereology}}
{{defn |1=A branch of mereology that focuses on the relations of parts to wholes based on the extensions of the parts, without regard to the nature or properties of the parts.<ref name="Lando2017" />}}

{{term |1=extensionality}}
{{defn |1=The principle in mereology stating that two objects are identical if they have the same {{glossary link internal|proper parthood|proper parts}}.<ref name="Cotnoir">{{Cite book |last1=Cotnoir |first1=A. J. |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/41620/chapter-abstract/353448521?redirectedFrom=fulltext |title=Mereology |last2=Varzi |first2=Achille C. |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191811647 |location=New York |chapter=What is Mereology?}}</ref>}}
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==F==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=fusion}}
{{defn |1=Synonym for "{{glossary link internal|mereological sum}}".<ref name="SEP_Mereology">{{Citation |last=Varzi |first=Achille |title=Mereology |date=2019 |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/mereology/ |access-date=2024-04-21 |edition=Spring 2019 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University}}</ref>}}
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==G==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=general extensional mereology}}
{{defn |1=General extensional mereology is the mereological theory obtained by assuming that the parthood relation is a {{glossary link|glossary=Glossary of set theory|partial order|partial ordering}} and that the strong supplementation principle, and the unrestricted fusion principle, hold.<ref name="CookDictionary" />}}

{{term |1=ground mereology}} 
{{defn |1=Ground mereology is the mereological theory obtained by assuming that the parthood relation is a {{glossary link|glossary=Glossary of set theory|partial order|partial ordering}}.<ref name="CookDictionary" />}}

{{term |1=[[Gunk (mereology)|gunk]]}}
{{defn |1=An object or substance whose parts all have {{glossary link internal|proper parthood|proper parts}}, which means the object is divisible into {{glossary link internal|parthood|parts}} indefinitely, with no simplest parts or atoms. (Short for "atomless gunk".)}}

{{term |1=gunky}}
{{defn |1=Adjective describing entities, or worlds, made out of atomless [[Gunk (mereology)|gunk]] – that is, objects all of whose parts have {{glossary link internal|proper parthood|proper parts}}.<ref name="Giberman2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Giberman |first1=Daniel |last2=Philosophy Documentation Center |date=2020 |title=What it takes to be hunky |url=http://www.pdcnet.org/oom/service?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=&rft.imuse_id=tht_2020_0009_0001_0051_0057&svc_id=info:www.pdcnet.org/collection |journal=Thought: A Journal of Philosophy |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=51–57 |doi=10.1002/tht3.442 |issn=2161-2234}}</ref>}}
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==H==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=harmony}}
{{defn |1=The principle that an object x is part of an object y if, and only if, the region in space occupied by x is part of the region in space occupied by y.<ref name="Lando2017" /><ref name="Uzquiano2011">{{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/12009 |title=Oxford Studies in Metaphysics: volume 6 |date=2011-02-10 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-172541-8 |pages=199–224 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199603039.001.0001 |last1=Bennett |first1=Karen |last2=Zimmerman |first2=Dean W. }}</ref>}}

{{term |1=hunky}}
{{defn |1=Adjective describing a [[possible world]] that is both {{glossary link internal|gunky}} and {{glossary link internal|junky}}.<ref name="Duenger2009">{{Cite journal |last=Bohn |first=Einar Duenger |date=April 2009 |title=Must There be a Top Level? |url=https://academic.oup.com/pq/article-lookup/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9213.2008.573.x |journal=The Philosophical Quarterly |language=en |volume=59 |issue=235 |pages=193–201 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9213.2008.573.x}}</ref><ref name="Giberman2020" />}}
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==I==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=[[identity of indiscernibles]]}}
{{defn |1=A principle often discussed in the context of mereology, stating that no two distinct objects have exactly the same properties, thus differentiating even similar wholes by their specific parts.}}
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==J==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=junk}}
{{defn |1=A state of affairs where all objects are {{glossary link internal|proper parthood|proper parts}} of something else, which means objects are composable into further objects indefinitely, never forming a complete "world". (Short for "worldless junk"; coined as the converse of "atomless {{glossary link internal|gunk}}".)<ref name="Schaffer2010">{{Cite journal |last=Schaffer |first=Jonathan |date=2010-01-01 |title=Monism: The Priority of the Whole |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/the-philosophical-review/article/119/1/31/2871/Monism-The-Priority-of-the-Whole |journal=The Philosophical Review |language=en |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=31–76 |doi=10.1215/00318108-2009-025 |issn=0031-8108}}</ref>}}

{{term |1=junky}}
{{defn |1=Adjective describing a [[possible world]] with {{glossary link internal|junk}} in it, i.e., a world where every object is a {{glossary link internal|proper parthood|proper part}} of something else.<ref name="Duenger2009" />}}
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==K==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=knug}}
{{defn |1=Term coined by John Parsons<ref>{{Citation |last=Parsons |first=Josh |title=Theories of Location |date=2007-05-31 |work=Oxford Studies In Metaphysics |pages=201–232 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199218394.003.0007 |access-date=2024-04-22 |publisher=Oxford University PressOxford |doi=10.1093/oso/9780199218394.003.0007 |isbn=978-0-19-921839-4}}</ref> for what is more commonly called "{{glossary link internal|junk}}"; coined to be "{{glossary link internal|gunk}}" written backwards.<ref name="Giberman2020" />}}

{{term |1=knunk}}
{{defn |1=A proposed term for structures that are {{glossary link internal|junky}} and all their members are {{glossary link internal|gunky}}; coinage by Giberman, inspired by Parsons's "knug", to reflect what must have been meant by the coiners of "hunky", since, if worlds are taken to be concrete objects, no gunky-and-junky worlds are possible.<ref name="Giberman2020" />}}
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==L==
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==M==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=mereological continuity}}
{{defn |1=The principle in mereology that suggests wholes are continuously divisible into smaller and smaller parts, with no abrupt discontinuities in the structure of the objects.}}

{{term |1=[[mereological essentialism]]}}
{{defn |1=The view in mereology that parts are essential to the wholes they constitute; that is, a whole cannot exist without having precisely those parts.}}

{{term |1=mereological extensionality}}
{{defn |1=The principle in mereology stating that two objects are identical if they have the same {{glossary link internal|proper parthood|proper parts}}.<ref name="Cotnoir">{{Cite book |last1=Cotnoir |first1=A. J. |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/41620/chapter-abstract/353448521?redirectedFrom=fulltext |title=Mereology |last2=Varzi |first2=Achille C. |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191811647 |location=New York |chapter=What is Mereology?}}</ref>}}

{{term |1=mereological fusion}}
{{defn |1=Synonym for "{{glossary link internal|mereological sum}}".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gruszczyński |first=R. |date=2013 |title=Mereological Fusion as an Upper Bound |journal=Bulletin of the Section of Logic |volume=42 |pages=135–150}}</ref>}}

{{term |1=mereological harmony}}
{{defn |1=See {{glossary link internal|harmony}}.<ref name="Lando2017" /><ref name="Uzquiano2011" />}}

{{term |1=mereological monism}}
{{defn |1=The view that, in a large and significant domain of things, {{glossary link internal|classical mereology|classical}} {{glossary link internal|extensional mereology}} is the only correct theory of {{glossary link internal|parthood}} and {{glossary link internal|composition}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fine |first=Kit |date=1994 |title=Compounds and Aggregates |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2216046 |journal=Noûs |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=137–158 |doi=10.2307/2216046 |jstor=2216046 |issn=0029-4624}}</ref><ref name="Lando2017" /> Not to be confused with {{glossary link internal|monism}}.}}

{{term |1=mereological nihilism}}
{{defn |1=The philosophical position that denies the existence of composite objects, asserting that only basic, partless entities exist.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ney |first=Alyssa|author-link=Alyssa Ney |title=Metaphysics: an introduction |date=2023 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-351-14120-8 |edition=2nd |location=London; New York, NY}}</ref>}}

{{term |1=mereological sum}}
{{defn |1=An object that is composed of all and only the entities in a given collection, according to the principles of mereology.<ref name="SEP_Mereology" />}}

{{term |1=mereological universalism}}
{{defn |1=The view that two objects always compose a third, which is to say, that mereological composition is unrestricted.<ref name="Contessa2012" /> Also called "{{glossary link internal|compositional universalism}}".<ref name="McDaniel_Metaphysics" />}}

{{term |1=mereology}}
{{defn |1=The study of the relationships between parts and wholes, and the principles governing the composition of objects.<ref name="SEP_Mereology" />}}

{{term |1=minimal mereology}}
{{defn |1=Minimal mereology is the mereological theory obtained by assuming that the parthood relation is a {{glossary link|glossary=Glossary of set theory|partial order|partial ordering}}, and that the weak supplementation principle holds.<ref name="CookDictionary" />}}

{{term |1=monism}}
{{defn |1=The view that there is only one fundamental object, which is the [[cosmos]], and that all other objects (its parts) derive their reality from it.<ref name="Bohn2012">{{Cite journal |last=Bohn |first=Einar Duenger |date=2012-03-01 |title=Monism, Emergence, and Plural Logic |journal=Erkenntnis |language=en |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=211–223 |doi=10.1007/s10670-011-9280-4 |issn=1572-8420|doi-access=free }}</ref> Formally, <math>(\exists ! x) Bx ~ \& ~ Bu</math>, where <math>u</math> represents the cosmos, and <math>B</math> represents the status of being a basic actual concrete object, i.e., an object that is concrete and does not depend on anything concrete.<ref name="Schaffer2010" /> Not to be confused with senses of "[[monism]]" outside of mereology, or with {{glossary link internal|mereological monism}}.}}
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==N==
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{{term |1=non-well-founded mereology}}
{{defn |1=An approach to mereology where parts and wholes can form circular or self-referential structures, challenging traditional, well-founded notions of parthood.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=COTNOIR |first1=AARON J. |last2=BACON |first2=ANDREW |date=2011-12-09 |title=Non-Wellfounded Mereology |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1755020311000293 |journal=The Review of Symbolic Logic |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=187–204 |doi=10.1017/s1755020311000293 |issn=1755-0203|hdl=10023/3157 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>}}
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==O==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=overlap}}
{{defn |1=In mereology, the relation between objects or sets that share at least one {{glossary link internal|parthood|part}} in common.<ref name="SEP_Mereology" />}}
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==P==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=parthood}}
{{defn |1=The relation between an entity and a composite object of which it is a part, central to [[mereology]], the study of parts and wholes.<ref name="CambridgeSemantics" />}}

{{term |1=proper parthood}}
{{defn |1=A relation between two entities where one is a part of the other but not equivalent to it, indicating a [[strict subset]] relationship in the context of mereology.<ref name="SEP_Mereology" />}}

{{term |1=pluralism}}
{{defn |1=The view there are more than one fundamental object; opposed to {{glossary link internal|monism}}.<ref name="Bohn2012" /> Not to be confused with senses of "[[Pluralism (philosophy)|pluralism]]" outside of mereology.}}

{{term |1=priority pluralism}}
{{defn |1=Another term for {{glossary link internal|pluralism}}, emphasizing that pluralities are metaphysically ''prior'' to wholes, although wholes exist.<ref name="Giberman2020" />}}
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==Q==
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==R==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=reflexivity of parthood}}
{{defn |1=The property according to which everything is part of itself.<ref name="SEP_Mereology" />}}
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==S==
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{{term |1=[[Simple (philosophy)|simple]]}}
{{defn |1=In mereology, a simple is an object that has no parts other than itself, often considered in discussions of mereological nihilism and the debate over the existence of composite objects.}}

{{term |1=strong supplementation principle}}
{{defn |1=A principle in mereology stating that if an object is not part of another, then there must be a part of the latter that does not overlap with the object, emphasizing the distinctness and separability of parts within wholes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Canavotto |first1=Ilaria |last2=Giordani |first2=Alessandro |date=2022-10-01 |title=An Extensional Mereology for Structured Entities |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-020-00305-5 |journal=Erkenntnis |language=en |volume=87 |issue=5 |pages=2343–2373 |doi=10.1007/s10670-020-00305-5 |issn=1572-8420|doi-access=free |hdl=11245.1/065d3752-aa56-4bb0-bb00-ae404b5a6a8a |hdl-access=free }}</ref>}}
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==T==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=transitivity of parthood}}
{{defn |1=The property where if A is part of B, and B is part of C, then A is part of C, emphasizing the chain-like nature of {{glossary link internal|parthood|part-whole relationships}}.<ref>{{Citation |last=Johansson |first=Ingvar |title=Relations and Predicates |chapter=On the Transitivity of the Parthood Relations |date=2013-05-02 |pages=161–182 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110326857.161/html |access-date=2024-04-21 |publisher=De Gruyter |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110326857.161 |isbn=978-3-11-032685-7}}</ref>}}
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==U==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=underlap}}
{{defn |1=A concept in mereology where two objects do not share any parts in common, opposite of {{glossary link internal|overlap}}, emphasizing the disjointness of the objects.<ref name="SEP_Mereology" />}}

{{term |1=unrestricted fusion}}
{{defn |1=A principle in mereology allowing for the existence of a composite object consisting of any collection of parts, regardless of how dispersed or unrelated those parts may be.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/6540/chapter-abstract/150472735 |title=Mereology and Location |date=2014-01-09 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-959382-8 |editor-last=Kleinschmidt |editor-first=Shieva |chapter=Mereology and Modality |pages=33–56 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199593828.003.0003}}</ref>}}
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==V==
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==W==
{{glossary}}
{{term |1=worldless junk}}
{{defn |1=See {{glossary link internal|junk}}.}}
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==X==
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==Y==
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==Z==
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==See also==
* [[Glossary of set theory]]
* [[Mereology]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Philosophy topics}}

[[Category:Philosophy-related glossaries|Mereology]]
[[Category:Wikipedia glossaries using description lists]]