Varieties of Things Foundations of Contemporary Metaphysics

by Macdonald, Cynthia

• ISBN13: 9780631186946
• ISBN10: 0631186948
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-26
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Varieties of Things: Foundations of Contemporary Metaphysics is about some of the most fundamental kinds of things that there are; the things that we encounter in everyday experience. A book about the things that we encounter in everyday experience. Contains a thorough and accessible discussion of the nature and aims of metaphysics. Examines a wide range of ontological categories, including both particulars and universals. Mounts a forceful and persuasive case for anti-reductionism.

Author Biography

Cynthia Macdonald is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She is Associate Editor of the Australasian Journal of Philosophy and the author or editor of numerous publications, including The Philosophy of Psychology: Debates on Psychological Explanation (co-edited with Graham Macdonald, Blackwell, 1994), Connectionism: Debates on Psychological Explanation (co-edited with Graham Macdonald, Blackwell, 1995) and Contemporary Readings in the Foundations of Metaphysics (co-edited with Stephen Laurence, Blackwell, 1998).

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Part I: Metaphysics and Its Tools
The Nature and Function of Metaphysics	3	(33)
The Methodology and Subject Matter of Metaphysics	4	(4)
Aristotle's Conception of Metaphysics	8	(3)
Kant's Conception of Metaphysics	11	(3)
A Working Conception of Metaphysics	14	(22)
Some Tools of Metaphysics	36	(43)
Criteria of Ontological Commitment: Two Examples	36	(20)
`No Entity without Identity': Identity Conditions for Objects	56	(3)
Individuation Conditions, Identity Conditions, and Metaphysical Kinds	59	(4)
Principles and Criteria of Identity	63	(16)
Part II: Particulars
Material Substances	79	(56)
Our Ontological Commitment to Material Substances	79	(2)
The Bundle Theory and the Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles	81	(3)
Problems with the Bundle Theory	84	(26)
The Bare Substratum Theory and the Principle of Acquaintance	110	(3)
Objections to the Bare Substratum Theory	113	(1)
An Alternative	114	(21)
Persons and Personal Identity	135	(46)
Our Ontological Commitment to Persons	135	(3)
Candidates for Persistence Conditions for Persons	138	(12)
The Closest Continuer Theory and Its Problems	150	(5)
Does the Concept of Identity Apply to Persons?	155	(7)
The Multiple Occupancy Thesis	162	(2)
Back to Basics: Continuity and Fission	164	(5)
A Suggestion	169	(12)
Events	181	(38)
Our Ontological Commitment to Events	183	(3)
Three Criteria: Spatio-temporal Coincidence, Necessary Spatio-temporal Coincidence, and Sameness of Cause and Effect	186	(7)
The Property Exemplification Account of Events (PEE)	193	(26)
Part III: Universals
Universals and the Realism/Nominalism Dispute	219	(41)
The Issue	223	(2)
Varieties of Nominalism	225	(11)
Two Conceptions of Universals	236	(3)
The Regress Charge and Two Unsuccessful Attempts to Meet It	239	(6)
An Alternative	245	(15)
Bibliography	260	(12)
Index	272

Excerpts

"Varieties of Things: Foundations of Contemporary Metaphysics explores the fundamental ontological categories of things; things that we encounter in everyday life, such as material substances, persons, events, and universals." "The author begins with a thorough and accessible discussion of the nature and aims of metaphysics. She then goes on to develop tools that can be used to engage in metaphysical thinking about the basic varieties of things." "The book both surveys existing accounts of the natures of these kinds of things, and argues for unique original positions of its own. The arguments support a systematically anti-reductionist view of the basic ontological categories."--BOOK JACKET.