A Modern Illustration: Database Design


Companion piece to Two Definitions of Quality.


Modern database architecture offers a concrete example of how objects can be understood as structured bundles of qualities. In well-designed databases, a main table — like "Products" — might contain only an identifier, while most descriptive information is stored in related tables linked through foreign keys:

  • A specifications table records dimensions and materials
  • A suppliers table tracks who made the product
  • A pricing table stores cost data for different markets
  • A classifications table organizes products by type and function

Even names can be kept in reference tables, making them easier to translate, update, or reuse.

For example, a laptop product in such a system isn't defined by a single field. Its identity emerges from a network of features:

  • Specifications: 15.6" screen, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
  • Supplier: TechCorp, 2024 model
  • Pricing: $899 wholesale
  • Classifications: electronics category, portable device type, business use

This isn't just a technical strategy — it mirrors something deeper about identity. A "product" exists not as a standalone entity, but as the intersection of various qualities. Remove the relationships, and the object dissolves into fragments: dimensions without context, prices without things, classifications without subjects. Identity comes from the pattern of connections among qualities, not from some essential core.

This architectural model reflects how we understand most things — as assemblies of qualities held together by structure and context.

It's important to note that an object's identity is not tied to a fixed set of qualities. As Descartes observed in his example of melting wax, all perceptible features may change — shape, smell, texture, even sound — and yet we still recognize it as the same wax. What remains is not a fixed list of qualities, but a coherent transformation within a pattern we continue to recognize. This suggests that identity depends not only on which qualities are present, but also on how they relate, persist, and evolve together over time.

Return to Two Definitions of Quality.