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Varieties of Things
Foundations of Contemporary Metaphysics
Cynthia MacDonald (Author)
9780631186946, Wiley
Hardback, published 19 August 2005
292 pages
25 x 10 x 1.5 cm, 0.567 kg
"[This] book is well written in a no-nonsense style. First Rate." (The Philosophical Quarterly) "An exceptionally good introduction and tour through central topics in contemporary metaphysics. The book could easily be used alone for an upper level course in metaphysics or as a commentary alongside original articles. It is written clearly, with illuminating examples and engaging discussion." (Review of Metaphysics) "Macdonald's Varieties of Things: Foundations of Contemporary Metaphysics is an excellent study in ontology. It provides a descriptive metaphysical account of the ontology of material substances, persons, events, and universals. While the book provides a sophisticated account of the issues, it is written in a way that makes it accessible to an advanced undergraduate student audience. And given its novel defenses of some positions, it will also be of considerable interest to professional philosophers working on the issues" "Amongst the book’s most notable virtues are its clarity and the author’s careful attention to detail in setting out arguments and counter-arguments for various positions. The opening chapters on the nature of metaphysics are excellent. The later chapters on material substances, persons, events, and universals are thorough, closely argued and well informed."
—Brian McLaughlin, Rutgers University
—Jonathan Lowe, University of Durham
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.
Preface vii Part I: Metaphysics and Its Tools 1 The Nature and Function of Metaphysics 3 The Methodology and Subject Matter of Metaphysics 4 Aristotle’s Conception of Metaphysics 8 Kant’s Conception of Metaphysics 11 A Working Conception of Metaphysics 14 2 Some Tools of Metaphysics 36 Criteria of Ontological Commitment: Two Examples 36 ‘No Entity without Identity’: Identity Conditions for Objects 56 Individuation Conditions, Identity Conditions, and Metaphysical Kinds 59 Principles and Criteria of Identity 63 Part II: Particulars 3 Material Substances 79 Our Ontological Commitment to Material Substances 79 The Bundle Theory and the Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles 81 Problems with the Bundle Theory 84 The Bare Substratum Theory and the Principle of Acquaintance 110 Objections to the Bare Substratum Theory 113 An Alternative 114 4 Persons and Personal Identity 135 Our Ontological Commitment to Persons 135 Candidates for Persistence Conditions for Persons 138 The Closest Continuer Theory and Its Problems 150 Does the Concept of Identity Apply to Persons? 155 The Multiple Occupancy Thesis 162 Back to Basics: Continuity and Fission 164 A Suggestion 169 5 Events 181 Our Ontological Commitment to Events 183 Three Criteria: Spatio-temporal Coincidence, Necessary Spatio-temporal Coincidence, and Sameness of Cause and Effect 186 The Property Exemplification Account of Events (PEE) 193 Part III: Universals 6 Universals and the Realism/Nominalism Dispute 219 The Issue 223 Varieties of Nominalism 225 Two Conceptions of Universals 236 The Regress Charge and Two Unsuccessful Attempts to Meet It 239 An Alternative 245 Bibliography 260 Index 272
Subject Areas: Philosophy [HP]
