Mereology

predominant feature that characterizes a being, a thing, a phenomenon, etc. and which differentiates one being from another, one thing from another

thumb|right|The upper levels on this chart can be considered to supervene on the lower levels.

Mereology (; from Greek μέρος 'part' (root: μερε-, mere-) and the suffix -logy, 'study, discussion, science') is the philosophical study of part-whole relationships, also called parthood relationships. As a branch of metaphysics, mereology examines the connections between parts and their wholes, exploring how components interact within a system. This theory has roots in ancient philosophy, with significant contributions from Plato, Aristotle, and later, medieval and Renaissance thinkers like Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. Mereology was formally axiomatized in the 20th century by Polish l

Perdurantism or perdurance theory is a philosophical theory of persistence and identity. In metaphysics the debate over persistence currently involves three competing theories—one three-dimensionalist theory called "endurantism" and two four-dimensionalist theories called "perdurantism" and "exdurantism". For a perdurantist, all objects are considered to be four-dimensional "worms" that make up the different regions of spacetime. It is a fusion of all the perdurant's instantaneous time slices compiled and blended into a complete mereological whole. Perdurantism posits that temporal parts alone

belief that God is without distinguishable parts, characteristics or features (is "one")

philosophical thesis

A meronomy is a hierarchical taxonomy that deals with part–whole relationships. For example, a car has parts that include engine, body and wheels; and the body has parts that include doors and windows.