  It is difficult to give a general precise specification of the terms ‘intrinsic qualitative property’ and ‘supervenience.’ Intuitively, a property of an object is intrinsic just in case that object has this property in and for itself and independently of the existence or the state of any other object. A property is qualitative (as opposed to individual) if it does not depend on the existence of any particular object. And the intrinsic qualitative properties of an object O supervene upon the intrinsic qualitative properties and relations of its parts and the spatiotemporal relations between them just in case there is no change in the properties and relations of O without a change in the properties and relations of its parts and/or the spatiotemporal relations between them. (For attempts to analyze the term ‘intrinsic property,’ see for example Langton and Lewis 1998 and the entry on intrinsic vs. extrinsic properties. For a review of different types of supervenience, see for example Kim 1978, McLaughlin 1994 and the entry on supervenience.)