Contingency, Time, and Possibility An Essay on Aristotle and Duns Scotus

by Massie, Pascal

• ISBN13: 9780739149294
• ISBN10: 0739149296
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-11-19
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

If we are to distinguish mere non-being from that which is not, yet may be, or from that which was not, yet could have been, or from that which will not be, yet could become, we are committed in some way to granting being to possibilities. The possible is not actual; yet it is not nothing. What then could it be? What ontological status could it possess?

Author Biography

Pascal Massie is associate professor of philosophy at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Contingent Encounters
Contingency, Chance, Fortune	p. 19
The Surprise and the Why	p. 39
Modal Hierarchy and Its Ontological Foundation
Contingency, Logic, and Logos	p. 51
Megarian Possibilities	p. 67
The Master Argument	p. 75
Aristotle's Resolution	p. 85
Possibilities, Time, Ontology
The Being of Possibilities	p. 105
The Priority of Actuality	p. 117
'In-Either-of-Two-Ways': Matter and Limbo	p. 127
The Future of Possibilities	p. 133
Potentiality and Non-Being	p. 143
Toward Divine Power	p. 153
Duns Scotus and the Possibilities of the Will
'Ex Nihilo' and 'Post Non Esse': Scotus' Questions on Metaphysics, IX	p. 171
The Will and Its Objects	p. 187
Entitative and Active Contingency	p. 201
Preliminary Remarks on a Contemporary Interpretation	p. 211
Another Sea Battle	p. 217
Future and Eternity	p. 231
The Free Play of the Wills	p. 247
Saving Contingency: Ockham's Objection	p. 263
Conclusion: Thinking the Impossible	p. 273
Bibliography	p. 289
Index	p. 301
About the Author	p. 305
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.