Object and Property

Denkel argues that objects are nothing more than bundles of properties, and he tackles some central questions of ontology.

Arda Denkel (Author)

9780521042093, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 September 2007

276 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.7 cm, 0.363 kg

'This is an ambitious book. It offers an account of the nature of physical objects, an understanding of individual essences, a novel account of causation, and much more.' Mind

Professor Arda Denkel argues here that objects are nothing more than bundles of properties. From this point of view he tackles some central questions of ontology: how is an object distinct from others; how does it remain the same while it changes through time? A second contention is that properties are particular entities restricted to the objects they inhabit. The appearance that they exist generally, in a multitude of things, is due to the way we conceptualize them. Other problems dealt with include how objects bear similarities by belonging to the same kinds, and how change in them is caused. Denkel defends a thoroughgoing particularism and offers purely qualitative accounts of individuation, identity, essences and matter. Throughout, the main alternative positions are surveyed, and the relevant historical background is traced.

Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Ultimacy and objecthood
3. Individuation and objecthood
4. Identity and individuality
5. Change, matter and identity
6. Properties, particularity and objecthood
7. Essence and individuality
8. Causation and particular properties
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology [HPJ]