Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology Books

Book SynopsisPaul Ricoeur (1913-2005) was one of the outstanding French philosophers of the 20th century and his work is widely read in the English-speaking world. This unique volume comprises the lectures that Ricoeur gave on Plato and Aristotle at the University of Strasbourg in 1953-54.Table of ContentsEditor’s IntroductionThe Goal and Plan of the CourseI. PlatoPart I: “True Being” or the IdeaIntroduction to Plato, Part IChapter 1 The Meaning of the Platonic “Eidos”Chapter 2 Essence and LanguageChapter 3 Science and EssenceI. “Opinion” as the Negative of ScienceChapter 4 Science and EssenceII. Right Opinion as “Intermediary”Chapter 5 Science and EssenceIII. The Mathematical “Intermediary”Chapter 6 Science and Essence (Conclusion)IV. The “Terminus” of Science: ContemplationPart II: The Idea of Being and Non-BeingIntroduction to Plato, Part IIChapter 1 The Question of Being in the ParmenidesChapter 2 The Success and Failures of Platonism in the SophistChapter 3 The Genesis of the Sensible in the TimaeusPart III Being and the “Divine”Introduction to Plato, Part IIIChapter 1 The Problem of the “Divine” and pre-Socratic PhilosophyChapter 2 The “Divine” in PlatoII. AristotleIntroduction to AristotlePart I: Being as BeingChapter 1 The “Genetic” Interpretation of Aristotle’s MetaphysicsChapter 2 Philosophy: Its Intention and Its MemoryChapter 3 Philosophy and Its “Aporias”Chapter 4 The Object of “First Philosophy”Part II: Being and SubstanceIntroduction to Aristotle, Part IIChapter 1 Sensible Substance: Substance as SubstrateChapter 2 Sensible Substance (continued): Substance as FormChapter 3 Substance and the IndividualChapter 4 “Separated” Substance

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Book SynopsisTrade Review‘Ontology and Dialectics is a work of the highest importance. These lectures allow us not only to gain a clearer understanding of Adorno’s critique of Heidegger but also to understand more fully the project of a German-Jewish thinker who, having returned to Germany after the Second World War, wonders if philosophy “after Auschwitz” is still possible. The course shows Adorno developing and assembling many of the major concepts that would inform the mature phase of his thinking, right up to his untimely death in August 1969.’Gerhard Richter, Brown University“Adorno’s wider remarks about heteronomous thinking and the inimical socio-political effects this can have are of vital importance.”Marx & Philosophy Review of BooksTable of Contents Contents Editor’s Foreword LECTURE 1: ‘What Being Really is’ Against the philosophy of standpoints and philosophical world views; the meaning of rigour in philosophy and the positive sciences – the plan of these lectures; immanent critique – ‘What being really is’; ontology as structural interconnection – the doctrine of being contra idealism and methodology – the concept of meaning; the being of beings; the meaning of being – being and essence – categorial intuition versus abstraction LECTURE 2: On Ontological Difference The structure of being and being itself; regional ontologies and fundamental ontology – on the problem of ontological difference (I) – ontic questions and ontological questions – questions concerning the meaning of being – question of origin as petitio principii – circular reasoning (I) – critique of origins – circular reasoning (II) – fusion of mysticism and the claim to rationality – historical dimension of ‘the question of being’ LECTURE 3: History of the Concept of Being Circular reasoning (III) – the unreflected ‘question of being’ – being in the Pre-Socratics, in Plato and Aristotle – experience of being is not ‘prior’; being as product of abstraction – being and thought in Parmenides; abstraction and vital powers not distinguished for archaic thought; the most ancient not the truest – philosophy and the particular sciences; dialectic of enlightenment; residual character of being – two kinds of truth LECTURE 4: Being and Language (I) Prehistory of the new ontologies: Franz Brentano; ontology as counter-enlightenment – a double front against realism and conceptualism – fundamental ontology as hermeneutics; being and language; nominalist critique of language – analysis of the concept of being; positivism and language – conceptuality as domination of nature; inadequacy of concept and thing; thing in itself and being – functional understanding of concepts; double sense of being as concept and anti-concept LECTURE 5: Being and Language (II) Ambiguity of the concept of being (I) – arbitrariness in concept formation; Kant versus Spinoza - ambiguity of the concept of being (II) – ambiguity of the concept of being (III) – subjectivity as constitutive for ontology – substantial character of language; borrowing from theology – on the analysis of language; obligations regarding linguistic form – the wavering character of being LECTURE 6: Separating Being and Beings Examples from antiquity; on Aristotle’s terminology; the priority of the tode ti – genesis and validity; Heidegger’s being as third possibility; on Heidegger’s concept of origin – archaic dimension of Heidegger’s ontology; against genetic explanation; phenomenology and history – phenomenological method; red and redness; the inference to being-in-itself in Scheler and Heidegger – Husserl’s return to transcendentalism LECTURE 7: Mind in relation to Beings ‘Priority’ as petitio principii – critique of the possibility of ontology; on Cartesian dualism – phenomenological reduction of the subject; objectivity of the second level; shutting out beings – philosophical compulsion for cleanliness – allergy towards beings; an aura borrowed from theology; the story of Snow White – ontology as counterpart to nominalism and positivism LECTURE 8: Ontologizing the Ontic (I) The subject-object division not permanent; fundamental ontology and the loss of tradition; the ‘unintelligibility of Heidegger – oblivion of the numinous; material stuff and abstraction in the Pre-Socratics – ontology or dialectics; ‘being’ as ‘the wholly other’ – critique as differentiation; original non-differentiation; Heidegger’s anti-intellectualism – against postponement –Heidegger’s trick: ontologizing the ontic LECTURE 9: Ontologizing the Ontic (II) Conceptualizing the non-conceptual; philosophy of being and idealism, Heidegger and Hegel – ontologizing existence – spurious appeal of the new; fascination through ignorance – subreption of the nominalized verb ‘being’ – Dasein as being and a being – ‘Be who you are!’ – eidetic science and ontology – subjectivity as the site of being LECTURE 10: Ontological Need Heidegger and Kant; Kant’s ultimate intention – Heidegger’s thought as the site of being; a diminished concept of subject: absence of labour and spontaneity – initial observations on the ontological need – a sociological interjection – the ‘elevated tone’; Heidegger’s language and Adorno’s great grandfather; fundamental ontology as index of a lack LECTURE 11: The Abdication of Philosophy On the sociology of the ontological need – philosophy and society; distracting effect of Marxism; the relevance of morality – philosophy and the natural sciences; philosophy and art – Kant’s abdication before God, freedom, and immortality – the ‘resurrection of metaphysics’; impotence of philosophy in the face of the essential – Schelling, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche LECTURE 12: The Relation to Kierkegaard Science versus philosophy; accepted heresies – an anti-academic academy – licensed audacity – relation to Kierkegaard – ‘subjectivity is truth’ – history of the concept of ontology LECTURE 13: Critique of Subjectivism The anti-subjectivism of modern ontology – the problem of relativism (I); how questions vanish – the problem of relativism (II); ‘to the things themselves’ – transcendental subjectivism and egoity – the acosmism of post-Kantian idealism; the unreason of the world - the crisis of subjectivity and the development of cosmology – critique of the domination of nature; fundamental ontology and dialectical materialism; changes in the concept of reason LECTURE 14: Hypostasizing the Question The crucial role of subjectivity in Heidegger’s early thought; Heidegger and Lukács – need and truth; question and answer Ð the philosophical structure of the question; hypostasis of the question in Heidegger – the question as surrogate answer; the mechanism of subreption – the ideology of ‘man’ LECTURE 15: Time, Being, Meaning ‘Man’, ‘tradition’, ‘life’: indices of loss – philosophy of existence and philosophy of life – labour and the consciousness of time; phenomenology of ‘wisdom’; loss of historical continuity, America – antiques business and abstract time; ontologizing the concept of substance – time and being as complementary concepts; disenchantment of the world and the creation of meaning – raiding poetry LECTURE 16: Ontology and Society Heidegger’s archaic language; feigned origins; primordial history and petit bourgeois mentality – social presuppositions of ontology – ontology as philosophical neo-classicism – impossibility of ontology today – Heidegger’s strategy; sympathy with barbarism – phenomenological caprice – ‘project’ LECTURE 17: Mythic Content Regression to mythology – fate and hybris in the concept of being = blindness, anxiety, death; relation to religion – National Socialism and the homeland; National Socialism and the relation to history – the indeterminacy of myth and the longing for the concrete; the most concrete as the most abstract – being as ‘itself’ LECTURE 18: The Purity and Immediacy of Being Tautological determination of being; purity in Husserl; scholasticism and empiricism in Brentano – the method of eidetic intuition – intuition and the a priori – on the concept of ontological difference (II) – purity and immediacy irreconcilable; conceptuality as the Fall – idle talk and the forgetfulness of being; the experience of being, the language of nature and music LECTURE 19: The Indeterminacy of Being Pro domo – indeterminacy as determination – the ‘overcoming’ of nihilism; being as ens realissimum - the question of constitution versus the priority of being; synthesis and the synthesized; the physiognomic gaze – the particular transparent to its universal – being – the meaning of being (I) LECTURE 20: Meaning of Being and the Copula The meaning of being (II) – ontology as prescription – protest against reification; the problem of relativism (III) – structure of the lectures – the copula (I) LECTURE 21: The Copula and the Question of Being The copula (II) – the copula (III) – no transcendence of being – the childish question; language and truth – the question of being (I); ‘authenticity’ and the decline of civilisation – the question of being (II); LECTURE 22: Being and Existence Heidegger’s turn; the concept of ontological difference (III) – the mythology of being; archaism – function of the concept of existence – ‘Dasein is ontological in itself’ – ‘existence’ as authoritarian – ‘historicity’ – against the ontology of the non-ontological – history as the medium of philosophy – critique LECTURE 23: The Concept of Negative Dialectic ‘Peep hole metaphysics’ and negative dialectics - Left Hegelianism and the ban on images – priority of the object – reversing the subjective reduction – interpreting the transcendental – ‘transcendental illusion’; against hierarchy Editor’s Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThere is no alternative to postmetaphysical thinking : this statement, made by Jurgen Habermas in 1988, has lost none of its relevance.Trade Review"This new volume is a remarkable example of a lifework that is still very much a work in progress. It covers a rich variety of topics, honing in particularly on the meaning of religion in public life." —Die ZeitTable of ContentsContents Linguistification of the Sacred. In Place of a Preface I The Lifeworld as a Space of Reasons 1. From Worldviews to the Lifeworld 2. The Lifeworld as a Space of Symbolically Embodied Reasons 3. A Hypothesis concerning the Evolutionary Meaning of Rites II Postmetaphysical Thinking 4. The New Philosophical Interest in Religion. An Conversation with Eduardo Mendieta 5. Religion and Postmetaphysical Thinking: A Reply 6. A Symposium on Faith and Knowledge: Reply to Objections, Response to Suggestions III Politics and Religion 7. �The Political�: The Rational Meaning of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology 8. The �Good Life� Ð a �Detestable Phrase�: The Significance of the Young Rawls�s Religious Ethics for His Political Theory 9. Rawls�s Political Liberalism: Reply to the Resumption of a Discussion 10. Religion in the Public Sphere of �Post-Secular� Society Sources of the Texts Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the Nuu-chah-nulth understanding of the universe as an integrated and orderly whole, providing a viable theoretical alternative that both complements and expands the view of reality presented by Western science.Trade ReviewIt provides a holistic, spiritual perspective, in contrast to the objective, Cartesian perspective of western science. Atleo argues, successfully I believe, that this spiritual view of nature is in many ways superior to the western disenchantment of the world. This book is one that will be valuable for scholars of the Northwest Coast, traditional ecological knowledge, and indigenous intellectuals. As well, it will probably fine a popular audience among those interested in First Nations, environmentalism, and, of course, New Age philosophy. -- Michael Harkin, University of Wyoming * Journal of Anthropological Research, Spring 2005 *Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview is simultaneously at the cutting edge of social philosophy and steeped in mythic reality. Through a translation of Nuu-chah-nulth origin stories, Atleo elucidates the ontological perspective of these people from the West Coast of Canada. He successfully demonstrates the linkages that the core belief of Tsawalk, everything is one, has with quantum physics, weather patterns, and postmodern theory, among other things. This holistic concept is the lynch pin (and namesake) of the book, incorporating Euro-American ideas and methods into Nuu-chah-nulth ontology. Although the majority of the book is dedicated to the retelling of ancient myths and their analysis, Atleo is explicitly trying to instigate a new research pattern based on a realization of Tsawalk in the academy. Tsawalk is an archetype of cutting edge social research – it is biographical, focuses on ontology, is culturally relative, and deconstructionist. Brining Atleo’s particular perspective into this milieu provides a fascinating encounter. In the specific context of politics in colonial states, and the mushrooming of interest in indigenous politics, Tsawalk provides a means of opening a new dialogue between colonizers and the colonized. -- Andreas Krebs * IN-SPIRE *Table of ContentsPrologueAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Development of an Indigenous Theory1 Tsawalk * Origin Tales and the Nature of Reality: How Son of Raven Captured the Day2 Utl-cla * He-xwa: The Struggle for Balance3 Xaata-tsa * Thluch-ha: Getting Married4 Muu * Quis-hai-cheelth: One Who Transforms5 Suh-tcha * Thlawk-thlawk-qua: A Humble Petition6 Nuu-Pooh * Tloo-utl-ish-sum: Remember Me7 Utl-Pooh * Heshook-ish Tsawalk: Everything Is OneEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisIn this enthralling study of the ethereal, the scientific, and the strange, Beth A. Robertson investigates the gendered world of the seance, a place where self-proclaimed “psychic researchers” laid claim to objectivity and where spiritual mediums and the spirits they channeled resisted their methods.Trade ReviewWhile there has been a considerable academic interest in Victorian Spiritualism and séance room phenomena, the 1918–1939 period has been less well served. Beth Robertson’s Science of the Seance helps to redress that imbalance ... [S]he provides a useful introduction to some of the work exploring the boundary between this world and the next in the period. -- Tom Ruffles * Fortean Times *It’s a rare treat when I get to indulge my interest in the paranormal through such a well-researched and argued work as Beth A. Robertson’s Science of the Seance … it will appeal not only to those studying the paranormal, but also to scholars of technology, gender, and sexuality, and those who are interested in the origins of new sciences and the construction of knowledge ... It takes its subject matter seriously (which shouldn’t be underestimated), and makes far-reaching conclusions that cross disciplinary boundaries. It draws together a number of seemingly disparate threads into a concise framework that, for me, transformed how I thought about paranormal research. I look forward to more work like this. -- Matthew Hayes, The Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies, Trent University * American Review of Canadian Studies *In this provocative book, Robertson contends that the study of mediumship impacted both empirical methods and gender studies … A major contribution of this work is its description of how women, both as participants and researchers, debunked the stereotype that had linked femininity with “intellectual ineptitude.” Robertson’s work can serve as a model for further inquiries on the contributions psychical research can make to scholarship, methodology, and philosophy. -- S. Krippner, Saybrook University * CHOICE *Table of ContentsGroping in the Dark: An Introduction1 The “Scientific Self ”: Performative Masculinity in the Psychical Laboratory2 Otherworldly Subjects: Mediums and Spirits3 A Touch of the Uncanny: Sensing a Material Otherworld4 The Qualities of Quartz: Technology, Inscriptions, and Mechanizing Vision5 Fragments of a Spectral Self: Psychology, Medicine, and Aberrant Souls6 Teleplasmic Mechanics: Spirit Scientists and Vital TechnologiesThe Knot Unravelled: An EpilogueNotes; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn exploring this tradition of philosophical reflection on the nature of goodness, the twelve essays in this book (all but two published here for the first time) present some of the best recent historical scholarship in...

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Book Synopsis"Real" knowing always involves a political dimension, Linda Martín Alcoff suggests. But this does not mean we need to give up realism or the possibility of truth. Recent work in continental philosophy insists on the influence that power and desire...Trade ReviewA truly impressive scholarly achievement. For those who are interested in seeing how Gadamer and Foucault connect with Davidson and Putnam, Real Knowing is a rewarding and illuminating read. -- Matthias Steup * Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *This is a timely contribution to a fast-growing body of research in 'social epistemology,' a field drawing the attention of philosophers, sociologists of knowledge, social constructionists, and others. -- James Wong * Hypatia *

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Book SynopsisIn chapters ranging from "The Beautiful, the Dainty, and the Dumpy" to "Skin-deep or In the Eye of the Beholder?" Nick Zangwill investigates the nature of beauty as we conceive it, and as it is in itself. The notion of beauty is currently attracting...Trade ReviewThe core of aesthetics—at least when distinguished from the philosophy of art or criticism—is the study of beauty and the aesthetic experience. This is a fascinating but difficult part of the subject. Nick Zangwill has, as he says, been thinking about the topic for about a decade.... It is to the author's credit that he has given us a book packed with argument and insight, which is bound to open up new areas of enquiry in the area. -- Derek Matravers, The Open University * British Journal of Aesthetic *The book touches on an impressive range of topics in analytic aesthetics.... Throughout, Zangwill confronts the best of philosophical aesthetics in an engaging and honest style. When he is uneasy with his own views he says so, and he is not above occasionally admitting that his opponents are right. That said, Zangwill spends most of the book arguing iconoclastically and inventively against philosophical orthodoxy. Zangwill brings thoroughness, erudition and insight... to each of the issues he tackles.... The Metaphysics of Beauty as a stimulating and spirited tour through many of the central issues of contemporary aesthetics, is clear testament to the vibrancy of that tradition. -- Glenn Parsons, University of Toronto * Philosophy in Review *Zangwill has written a book which seeks, in part at least, to restore beauty to a primary place in aesthetic theory.... His project is quite ambitious. And Zangwill delivers. The book is enjoyable to read and offers an interesting alternative view of aesthetic value.... He writes with a clear, straightforward, and engaging style. The book is well researched. I enjoyed reading it, and I believe anyone interested in contemporary issues in aesthetics will find the book very rewarding. -- Julia Driver, Dartmouth College * Australasian Journal of Philosophy *

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Book SynopsisWhat role do metaphors play in philosophical language? Are they impediments to clear thinking that should be eradicated in the interests of terminological exactness? Or can they be used by philosophers to indicate the attitudes that regulate an epoch?Trade ReviewParadigms for a Metaphorology is a model of scholarly translation. Savage's handling of citations and sources is scrupulous and thorough.... And he provides judicious explanatory notes that work in conjunction with the afterword and Blumenberg's own notes to guide readers through Blumenberg's own reading and career. Finally, and most importantly, his English rendering is consistently accurate while also being, in the context of translations of German philosophy, remarkably readable.... In short, readers approaching Blumenberg's reflections on metaphor through the English language could not ask for a more reliable and helpful guide than this volume. -- David Adams * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsHans Blumenberg: An Introduction Part I: History, Secularization, and Reality 1. The Linguistic Reality of Philosophy (1946/1947) 2. World Pictures and World Models (1961) 3. "Secularization": Critique of a Category of Hisotrical Illegitimacy (1964) 4. The Concept of Reality and the Theory of the State (1968/1969) 5. Preliminary Remarks on the Concept of Reality (1974) Part II: Metaphors, Rhetoric, and Nonconceptuality 6. Light as a Metaphor for Truth: At the Preliminary Stage of Philosophical Concept Formation (1957) 7. Introduction to Paradigms for a Metaphorology (1960) 8. An Anthropological Approach to the Contemporary Significance of Rhetoric (1971) 9. Observations Drawn from Metaphors (1971) 10. Prospect for a Theory of Nonconceptuality (1979) 11. Theory of Nonconceptuality (circa 1975, excerpt) Part III: Nature, Technology, and Asthetics 12. The Relationship between Nature and Technology as a Philosophical Problem (1951) 13. "Imitation of Nature": Toward a Prehistory of the Idea of the Creative Being (1957) 14. Phenomenological Aspects on Life-World and Technization (1963) 15. Socrates and the objet ambigu: Paul Valery's Discussion of the Ontology of the Aesthetic Object and Its Tradition (1964) 16. The Essential Ambiguity of the Aesthetic Object (1966) 17. Speech Situation and Immanent Poetics (1966) Part IV: Fables, Anecdotes, and the Novel 18. The Absolute Father (1952/1953) 19. The Mythos and Ethos of America in the Work of William Faulkner (1958) 20. The Concept of Reality and the Possibility of the Novel (1964) 21. Pensiveness (1980) 22. Moments of Goethe (1982) 23. Beyond the Edge of Reality: Three Short Essays (1983) 24. Of Nonunderstanding: Glosses on Three Fables (1984) 25. Unknown Aesopica: From Newly Found Fables (1985) 26. Advancing into Eternal Silence: A Century after the Sailing of the Fram (1993)

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Book Synopsis"Real" knowing always involves a political dimension, Linda Martín Alcoff suggests. But this does not mean we need to give up realism or the possibility of truth. Recent work in continental philosophy insists on the influence that power and desire...Trade ReviewA truly impressive scholarly achievement. For those who are interested in seeing how Gadamer and Foucault connect with Davidson and Putnam, Real Knowing is a rewarding and illuminating read. -- Matthias Steup * Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *This is a timely contribution to a fast-growing body of research in 'social epistemology,' a field drawing the attention of philosophers, sociologists of knowledge, social constructionists, and others. -- James Wong * Hypatia *

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Book SynopsisMichael J. Loux here presents a fresh reading of two of the most important books of the Metaphysics, Books Z and H, in which Aristotle presents his mature theory of primary substances (ousiai). Focusing on the interplay of Aristotle's early and late...Trade ReviewLoux's investigation of the difficult central books of Aristotle's Metaphysics is clearly the result of a sustained, minute study of the text.... It offers a sensitive, carefully crafted interpretation of Aristotle's mature theory of substance. * Choice *Primary Ousia should be read by everyone with a serious interest in Aristotle. Its sharp focus and straightforward style will be appreciated by students seeking guidance through the tangled thickets of Metaphysics Z and H. Scholars will be rewarded by its detailed arguments and its careful consideration of alternative views. * The Philosophical Review *This work clearly makes a highly significant contribution to the study of Books Z and H, the center of Aristotle's Metaphysics. * Mind *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewScaltsas has written an extended and powerful treatment of some of the deepest and most puzzling features of Aristotelian metaphysics, producing an interpretation that covers a wide range not only of Aristotelian material but also of Platonic material. He offers detailed critiques of the views of various modern commentators as well as of philosophers. Scaltsas has made an important and original contribution to our interpretation of Metaphysics. * Philosophical Quarterly *Table of ContentsThe ThemeI. Matter 1. Physical Continuity in Change 2. Radical Transformation 3. Against Hot, Cold, Wet, and Dry Stuff 4. Quantity of Matter: Soma 5. The Essence of MatterII. Universals 1. The Rejection of the Platonic Forms 2. Existential Arguments for Aristotelian Forms 3. The Universality of the Material SubstratumIII. The Birth of the Subject 1. Plato's Discovery of the Subject 2. The "Nature-Feature" Problem 3. Does Participation Presuppose a Partaker?IV: The Substantial Form 1. A Substance and Its Parts: Plato's Legacy 2. The Aggregate Argument 3. Is the Substantial Form a Relation? 4. The Threshold Argument 5. The Trope-Overlap Argument 6. Structural Universals and Substantial Forms 7. The Aristotelian Solution to Davis Lewis's Paradox 8. Universality Requirements on the Substantial FormV. The Unity of Substance 1. Abstraction and Separateness 2. Types of Abstract Entity 3. The Metaphysics of Abstraction: The Unity of Matter and Form in a Substance 4. An Existential Dilemma about Matter and FormVI. Particulars 1. Nonmaterial Substances 2. Particularity and Subjecthood 3. Essence as Subject: The "Second Man" Argument 4. Particularity of Nonmaterial Substances 5. Particularity of Material Substances: How Similar Can Different Substances Be? 6. Substantial Holism 7. Kit Fine's Paradox on the Identity of Aristotelian SubstancesVII. The Zeta Contradictions 1. The Contradictions 2. The Consistent Zeta Picture 3. Self-Caused Unities 4. Potentiality Entails Homonymy 5. Is the Substantial Form of a Substance Numerically One?Conclusion: Revisiting the Zeta ContradictionsAppendix 1: Live Matter Appendix 2: Against Bare Substrata Appendix 3: Against Individual Forms Appendix 4: The Argument of Metaphysics M, 10Bibliography Index Locorum General Index

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Book SynopsisSubstance and Essence in Aristotle is a close study of Aristotle's most profound—and perplexing—treatise: Books VII-IX of the Metaphysics. These central books, which focus on the nature of substance, have gained a deserved reputation for their difficulty, inconclusiveness, and internal inconsistency. Despite these problems, Witt extracts from...

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Book SynopsisOne of the most important Anglo-American philosophers of our time here joins the current philosophical debate about the nature of truth. William P. Alston formulates and defends a realist conception of truth, which he calls alethic realism (from aletheia, Greek for truth). This idea holds that the truth value of a statement (belief or proposition) depends on whether what the statement is about is as the statement says it is. Michael Dummett and Hilary Putnam are two of the prominent and widely influential contemporary philosophers whose anti-realist ideas Alston attacks.Trade ReviewMuch in this book deserves agreement and applause; it is argued with care, subtlety, and good sense. * The Journal of Philosophy *Alston's book makes a distinguished contribution to thought about truth, both in its positive proposal and in its sustained criticism of epistemic conceptions.... His book is mandatory reading for anyone with even a slight interest in truth. * The Philosophical Review *From the standpoint of both general readers and professionals in the field this may be one of the best philosophical books to come along in some time.... The depth, the scope, and the clarity of Alston's analysis is matched only by that of the great philosophers with whom he contends. Highest recommendation for all collections. * Choice *This excellent, ludidly written study contains many valuable insights. * Erkenntnis *

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Book SynopsisThis collection of seventeen essays deals with the metaphysical, as opposed to the moral, issues pertaining to death. For example, the authors investigate (among other things) the issue of what makes death a bad thing for an individual, if indeed death is a bad thing.Trade Review"The great variety of viewpoints contained in this book make it a pleasure to read and study, full as it is of intelligent, sometimes brilliant, occasionally infuriating, but always stimulating arguments. It provides the reader with a fairly comprehensive survey of recent developments in the debate on the value of existence and the evil of death-as-non existence and as such it is certainly recommended." -- Canadian Philosophical Reviews"This book immediately becomes the most convenient source for recent writings that confront some of the more abstract aspects of the problem of death. Those possessed by philosophical curiosity but pressed for time must be grateful to Fischer for making these contributions so readily available. By and large, the authors are skillful communicators and, on occasion, advance their theses with playfulness and wit."–Omega"A balanced collection of 17 contemporary essays on something everyone needs to think about. . . . [Any] reader is bound to learn to think somewhat more clearly about what lies ahead." -- The Key ReporterTable of ContentsContributors; 1. Introduction: death, metaphysics, and morality John Martin Fischer; 2. Death Knocks Woody Allen; 3. Rationality and the fear of death Jeffrie G. Murphy; 4. Death Thomas Nagel; 5. The Makropulos case: reflections on the tedium of immortality Bernard Williams; 6. The evil of death Harry S. Silverstein; 7. How to be dead and not care: a defense of epicurus Stephen E. Rosenbaum; 8. The dead Palle Yourgrau; 9. The misfortunes of the dead George Pitcher; 10. Harm to others Joel Feinberg; 11. Reasons and persons Derek Parfit; 12. Why is death bad? Anthony L. Brueckner and John Martin Fischer; 13. Death and the value of life Jeff McMahan; 14. Annihilation Steven Luper-Foy; 15. Epicurus and annihilation Stephen E. Rosenbaum; 16. Some puzzles about the evil of death Fred Feldman; 17. Well-being and time J. David Velleman; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisThe central problem posed in these essays, collected from over a decade, is how in the wake of Western ontologies to conceive the coming, the birth that characterizes being. The author discusses being and representation in relation to Hegel, Schlegel, Baudelaire, Nietzsche, Freud, and Heidegger.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on intellectual history, cultural criticism, and rhetorical theory, this book chronicles the narrative transformation of "accidents"—whether collapsing buildings, unexpected meetings in the marketplace, monstrous births, or pirate attacks—from a philosophical dead end to an occasion for revelation and wonder in early modern religious life, dramatic practice, and experimental philosophy.Trade Review"Michael Witmore (Carnegie Mellon) has given us an extraordinary, erudite book (with full attention to Aristotelian, Scholastic, and Calvinist world views as challenged by chance, monstrous births, and other unexpected occurrences). His book fills a felt need and is sure to be a classic." -- BHR

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Book SynopsisA new collection from the acclaimed Irish poet Greg Delanty, The Professor of Forgetting swings back and forth on the fulcrum of what we call ‘""now’ and confronts our notion of how time passes.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR GREG DELANTY“A true poet.” - Christopher Ricks, Guardian“Everywhere he unleashes unbounded energy and upbeat cheer.” - F. D. Reeve, Poetry“Delanty writes poems that are wordily appealing in the way that Hopkins or late Auden appeal.” - Peter Reading, Times Literary Supplement“The poet laureate of the contemporary Irish-in-America. Delanty has catalogued an entire generation and its relationship to exile. He is the laureate of those who have gone.” - Colum McCann, Irish Times“The poet laureate of the contemporary Irish-in-America. Delanty has catalogued an entire generation and its relationship to exile. He is the laureate of those who have gone.” - Colum McCann, Irish Times

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Book SynopsisCollected in this text are the written notes of courses on the concept of nature give by Merleau-Ponty at the College de France in the 1950s. The ideas that animated the philosopher's lectures emerge in an early, fluid form in the process of being elaborated, negotiated, critiqued and reconsidered.

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Book SynopsisArgues that defensible philosophical theorization concerning the topic God' is both possible and necessary within the framework of an adequate systematic philosophy - which must include a theory of Being - but is not possible in the absence of such a framework. The book provides critiques of philosophical approaches to this topic that have not relied on such frameworks.

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Book SynopsisShows how the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, from its very beginnings, seeks to find sense or meaning within nature, and how this quest calls for and develops into a radically new ontology. This makes key issues in Merleau-Ponty's philosophy clear and accessible to a broad audience while also advancing original philosophical conclusions.

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Book SynopsisBrings together essays by leading theologians and philosophers on the fundamental importance of human reason and philosophy for Catholic theology and human cultures generally. This edited collection studies the contributions of reason, with its acquired wisdom, science, and scholarship, in five sections.

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Book SynopsisTime is money, Benjamin Franklin once said, and in a reading of European philosophy, this text shows how true this adage is. A history of philosophy of time, this work attempts to unravel the theoretical frameworks that have given time its shape in Western civilization.

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Book SynopsisA collection of essays by political theorists on Agamben's Homo Sacer.Trade Review“Politics, Metaphysics, and Death provides the most lucid and penetrating accounts available of the political thought of Italy’s most influential philosopher. Agamben’s engagement with the complex entanglement of modernity and the tradition, the contributors to this volume show, cannot be ignored by anyone who would face up to the demands now placed by politics on political theory.”—Frederick M. Dolan, author of Allegories of America: Narratives, Metaphysics, Politics“Andrew Norris and the contributors to this collection have not only performed extraordinary feats of textual exegesis but also produced a critical context and set of arguments with and concerning Agamben’s theory of sovereignty which will provide the starting point for all future study on his political thought.”—Thomas Dumm, author of A Politics of the OrdinaryTable of ContentsAcknowledgements vii Introduction: Giorgio Agamben and the Politics of the Living Dead / Andrew Norris 1 Au Hasard / Thomas Carl Wall 31 Bare Sovereignty: Homo Sacer and the Insistence of Law / Peter Fitzpatrick S/Citing the Camp / Erik Vogt 74 The Sovereign Weaver: Beyond the Camp / Andreas Kalyvas 107 Anagrammatics of Violence: The Benjaminian Ground of Homo Sacer / Anselm Haverkamp 135 Spaceing as the Shared: Heraclitus, Pindar, Agamben / Andrew Benjamin 145 Cutting the Branches of Akiba: Agamben’s Critique of Derrida / Adam Thurschwell 173 Linguistic Survival and Ethnicality: Biopolitics, Subjectivication, and Testimony in Remnants of Auschwitz / Catherine Mills 198 Supposing the Impossibility of Silence and of Sound, of Voice: Bataille, Agamben, and the Holocaust / Paul Hegarty 222 Law of Life / Rainer Maria Kiesow 248 The Exemplary Exception: Philosophical and Political Decisions in Giorgio Agamben’s Homo Sacer / Andrew Norris 262 The State of Exception / Giorgio Agamben 284 Contributors 299 Index 301

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Book SynopsisAdvancing the Enlightenment draws upon John Rawls, Gilles Deleuze, and Tariq Ramadan to present a vision for progressive politics. Rather than defend Kant’s ideas, heirs of the Enlightenment should create concepts such as overlapping consensus, rhizome, and space of testimony to facilitate alliances across religious and philosophical differences.Trade Review"Nicholas Tampio's Kantian Courage is a stellar example of what is best in the field of contemporary political theory. In this effort to balance the new against the old, Tampio's work displays an exemplary degree of openmindedness, intellectual honesty, scholarly care, and attentiveness to the complex difficulties that we as political thinkers of the twenty-first century find ourselves in." -The Review of Politics "Nicholas Tampio's Kantian Courage is a breath of fresh air in a field too often marked by pious exegeses of the canonical Enlightenment thinkers or bitter rejections of our Enlightenment heritage. One of the great virtues of Tampio's book is its ambitious attempt to make the Enlightenment relevant for modern times, to have it speak to contemporary crises and policy dilemmas." -Perspectives on Politics "A bold and exciting book, born out of the conviction that we need a new Enlightenment for the twenty-first century." -- -Paul Patton University of New South Wales "A wonderfully clear, appropriately comprehensive, and original work of scholarship. Kantian Courage labors to discover in Kant's thought intellectual resources for reconstituting an Enlightenment ethos in contemporary political theory and, presumably, in the late modern cultural landscape to the extent that political theory today could exercise such an influence." -- -Morton Schoolman University of Albany, SUNY

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Book SynopsisTransplanting the Metaphysical Organ reconstructs Romantic Organology, a discourse that German Romantics developed by combining scientific and philosophical discourses about biological function and speculative thought. Organology attempted to think a politically and scientifically destabilized world, and offered a metaphysics meant to alter the structure of that world.Trade Review"This is an ambitious, disciplined study that reveals new aspects of Romanticism: it is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in German Romanticism." -- John D. Caputo -Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "In Transplanting the Metaphysical Organ, Leif Weatherby gives us a fundamentally new view on Romanticism and its contribution to German Idealism. In Holderlin, Schelling, and Novalis, Weatherby unearths a surprisingly coherent discussion of the 'organ.' We see the Romantic philosophers and poets intervene in the age old Western debate on techne, physis and metaphysics, with the emphasis, however, on techne's interventions in it. A discourse emerges which neither subordinates techne to nature in the Aristotelian tradition nor hypostatizes technology in a Heideggerian reversal of the order of things. Rather, Romantic 'organology' is shown to introduce historicity and contingency into the heart of metaphysics. This is a discovery in the history of ideas, and it opens new ways of thinking technology today." -- -Rudiger Campe Yale University "Transplanting the Metaphysical Organ is a truly impressive work of scholarship. The author has a breathtaking command of the German philosophical tradition, including major figures, such as Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Schelling, as well as those who are less well-known outside the field of German studies. He has taken a single, somewhat innocuous concept-the 'organ'-and revealed it to be at the crux of a rapidly changing philosophical landscape whose terrain encompasses metaphysics, subject philosophy, the history of science, literature, and aesthetics. Accordingly, it should be of interest to anyone working in these fields." -- -Jocelyn Holland University of California, Santa BarbaraTable of Contents1. Introduction: Romantic Organology: Terminology and Metaphysics Part I: Towards Organology 2. Metaphysical Organs and the Emergence of Life: From Leibniz to Blumenbach 3. The Epigenesis of Reason: Force and Organ in Kant and Herder 4. The Organ of the Soul: Vitalist Metaphysics and the Literalization of the Organ Part II: Romantic Organology Romantic Organology: Towards a Technological Metaphysics of Judgment 5. The Tragic Task: Dialectical Organs and the Metaphysics of Judgment (Holderlin) 6. Electric and Ideal Organs: Schelling and the Program of Organology 7. Universal Organs: Novalis's Romantic Organology 8. Between Myth and Science: Naturphilosophie and the Ends of Organology Part III: After Organology 9. Technologies of Nature: Goethe's Hegelian Transformations 10. Instead of an Epilogue: Communist Organs, or Technology and Organology Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisDiano’s Form and Event has long been known in Europe as a major work not only for classical studies but even more for contemporary philosophy, anticipating the work of Deleuze, Badiou, Esposito, and Agamben. It now appears in English for the first time, with a substantial Introduction that situates the book in the genealogy of modern political philosophy.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Jacques Lezra | 1 Form and Event | 27 Illustrations | 105 Notes | 115

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Book SynopsisAn interdisciplinary collaboration that explores what it means to live with concepts, rather than think of them as mere tools for analysis.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Life with Concepts Andrew Brandel and Marco Motta | 1 1 Concepts of the Ordinary Sandra Laugier | 29 2 How Life Makes a Conversation of Us: Ontology, Ethics, and Responsive Anthropology Rasmus Dyring and Thomas Schwarz Wentzer | 50 3 Crisscrossing Concepts: Anthropology and Knowledge-Making Veena Das | 73 4 The Potencie of Text: Shifting Concepts of Myth and Literature Andrew Brandel | 110 5 How Social Are Our Concepts? Jocelyn Benoist | 140 6 Living with Zombies: Forms of Death at the Core of the Ordinary Marco Motta | 155 7 Creating Worlds: Imagination, Interpretation, and the Subjunctive Michael J. Puett | 181 8 The Life Course of Concepts Michael D. Jackson | 197 9 On Sorcery: Life with the Concept Michael Lambek | 215 10 How Ethical Is Our Life with Concepts? Reflections on Shared Medical Decision Making Michael Cordey | 243 11 In the Know: The Pain of the Other in Torture Rehabilitation Lotte Buch Segal | 271 Acknowledgments | 291 References | 293 List of Contributors | 323 Name Index | 325 Subject Index | 329

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Book SynopsisAn interdisciplinary collaboration that explores what it means to live with concepts, rather than think of them as mere tools for analysis.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Life with Concepts Andrew Brandel and Marco Motta | 1 1 Concepts of the Ordinary Sandra Laugier | 29 2 How Life Makes a Conversation of Us: Ontology, Ethics, and Responsive Anthropology Rasmus Dyring and Thomas Schwarz Wentzer | 50 3 Crisscrossing Concepts: Anthropology and Knowledge-Making Veena Das | 73 4 The Potencie of Text: Shifting Concepts of Myth and Literature Andrew Brandel | 110 5 How Social Are Our Concepts? Jocelyn Benoist | 140 6 Living with Zombies: Forms of Death at the Core of the Ordinary Marco Motta | 155 7 Creating Worlds: Imagination, Interpretation, and the Subjunctive Michael J. Puett | 181 8 The Life Course of Concepts Michael D. Jackson | 197 9 On Sorcery: Life with the Concept Michael Lambek | 215 10 How Ethical Is Our Life with Concepts? Reflections on Shared Medical Decision Making Michael Cordey | 243 11 In the Know: The Pain of the Other in Torture Rehabilitation Lotte Buch Segal | 271 Acknowledgments | 291 References | 293 List of Contributors | 323 Name Index | 325 Subject Index | 329

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Book SynopsisProvides an analysis of what philosopher Eric Voegelin described as ‘the decisive problem of philosophy’: the dilemma of the discovery of transcendent meaning and the impact of this discovery on human self-understanding.

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Book SynopsisAddresses many issues including the nature of mind, matter, ideas, and substance; the debate between those who believe human beings have free will and those who subscribe to determinism; fatalism, realism, and personal identity; and arguments for and against belief in the existence of God.Trade Review"This is a work of the highest quality It is lucid, spells out each position with readily comprehensible arguments, and manages in the process to effortlessly integrate the most current views with classical, historical material... It is without doubt the best general introduction to current treatments of metaphysics I have seen. A first-rate book." --Gerald Vision, Temple UniversityTable of ContentsPreface 1. Metaphysics; 2. Idealism; 3. Material Minds; 4. Substance; 5. Parts and Wholes; 6. Change; 7. Personal Identity; 8. Responsibility; 9. Causal Determinism; 10. Fate; 11. God; 12. Being Realistic Suggestions for Further Reading

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Book SynopsisSolidly grounded in Chinese primary sources, Neo Confucianism: Metaphysics, Mind, and Morality engages the latest global scholarship to provide an innovative, rigorous, and clear articulation of neo-Confucianism and its application to Western philosophy.Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part I Neo-Confucian Metaphysics: From Cosmology to Ontology 29 1 From Nothingness to Infinity: The Origin of Zhou Dunyi’s Cosmology 31 2 The Basic Constituent of Things: Zhang Zai’s Monist Theory of Qi 61 3 Cheng–Zhu School’s Normative Realism: The Principle of the Universe 85 4 Wang Fuzhi’s Theory of Principle Inherent in Qi 103 Part II Human Nature, Human Mind, and the Foundation of Human Morality 123 5 Zhu Xi’s Internal Moral Realism: Human Nature Is Principle 125 6 Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming’s Doctrine of Mind Is Principle 139 7 Wang Fuzhi’s Theory of Daily Renewal of Human Nature and His Moral Psychology 157 Part III The Cultivation of Virtue, Moral Personality, and the Construction of a Moral World 181 8 Zhang Zai on Cultivating Moral Personality 183 9 The Cheng Brothers’ Globaist Virtue Ethics and Virtue Epistemology 205 10 Zhu Xi’s Methodology for Cultivating Sagehood: Moral Cognitivism and Ethical Rationalism 227 11 Wang Yangming’s Intuitionist Model of Innate Moral Sense and Moral Reflexivism 245 12 Constructing a Moral World: Wang Fuzhi’s Social Sentimentalism 265 References 285 Index 301

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Book SynopsisThe Possibility of Culture: Pleasure and Moral Development in Kant's Aesthetics presents an in-depth exploration and deconstruction of Kant's depiction of the ways in which aesthetic pursuits can promote personal moral development. Presents an in-depth exploration of the connection between Kant's aesthetics and his views on moral development Reveals the links between Kant's aesthetics and his anthropology and moral psychology Explores Kant's notion of genius and his views on the connections between the social aspects of taste and moral development Addresses aspects of Kant's ethical theory that will interest scholars working in ethics and moral psychology Table of ContentsAcknowledgements viii Note on Citations ix Introduction 1 1 Aesthetics and Culture in Context 13 2 Beauty and Love 31 3 Beauty and Disinterestedness 46 4 Art, Genius, and Abstraction 66 5 Sublimity and Esteem 84 6 Choosing Culture Over Happiness 105 7 Conclusion 122 Bibliography 138 Index 143

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Book SynopsisTaking into account significant developments in the metaphysical thinking of E. J. Lowe over the past 20 years, More Kinds of Being: A Further Study of Individuation, Identity, and the Logic of Sortal Terms presents a thorough reworking and expansion of the 1989 edition of Kinds of Being. Brings many of the original ideas and arguments put forth in Kinds of Being thoroughly up to date in light of new developments Features a thorough reworking and expansion of the earlier work, rather than just a new edition Reflects the author''s conversion to what he calls ''the four-category ontology,'' a metaphysical system that takes its inspiration from Aristotle Provides a unified discussion of individuation and identity that should prove to be essential reading for philosophers working in metaphysics. Trade Review"The two issues I have raised only serve to highlight the originality of Lowe's work. More Kinds of Beingis a remarkable book. It sets the stage for numerous debates in metaphysics, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind that are sure to continue much longer than another two decades." (Mind, 1 January 2013) "Throughout, one finds the usual clarity, thoroughness, and systematic thinking that are a mark of all of Lowe's ever expanding and remarkable corpus. This book should be in every college and university library." (CHOICE, July 2010) "More Kinds of Being is densely and masterfully argued, written with great clarity, and makes a number of important original contributions to the field. It is certainly essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary analytical metaphysics. This is a metaphysical study of lasting value and significance." (Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, August 12, 2010)Table of ContentsPreface* vii Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 1 The Varieties of 'Is' 3 Individuals, Kinds, and Realism 4 Semantics, Metaphysics, and Necessity 6 New Developments* 8 2 Sortal Terms and Criteria of Identity 12 3 Individuals, Sorts, and Instantiation 29 4 Number, Unity, and Individuality* 42 5 The Absoluteness of Identity: A Defence 57 Appendix: Some Formal Principles and Arguments 72 6 Identity and Constitution 77 7 Parts and Wholes 92 8 Persons and Their Bodies 104 Matter and Organisms 104 Organisms and Persons 113 Is There a Criterion of Personal Identity? 125 9 Sortal Terms and Natural Laws 141 10 Plural Quantification and Sortal Reference* 164 11 Laws, Dispositions, and Sortal Logic 179 Appendix: An Axiomatic System of Sortal Logic 194 12 What Sorts of Things Are There?* 198 The Syntax and Semantics of Complex Sortal Terms 198 On the Identity of Sorts 212 Bibliography* 217 Index 223

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Book SynopsisA Companion to Relativism presents original contributions from leading scholars that address the latest thinking on the role of relativism in the philosophy of language, epistemology, ethics, philosophy of science, logic, and metaphysics. Features original contributions from many of the leading figures working on various aspects of relativismPresents a substantial, broad range of current thinking about relativismAddresses relativism from many of the major subfields of philosophy, including philosophy of language, epistemology, ethics, philosophy of science, logic, and metaphysicsTable of ContentsNotes on Contributors viii Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part I Characterizing Relativism 9 1 Global Relativism and Self-Refutation 11Max Kölbel 2 Relativism Requires Alternatives, Not Disagreement or Relative Truth 31Carol Rovane 3 Three Kinds of Relativism 53Paul Boghossian 4 Varieties of Relativism and the Reach of Reasons 70Michael Krausz Part II Truth and Language 85 5 Truth Relativism and Truth Pluralism 87Michael P. Lynch 6 The Many Relativisms: Index, Context, and Beyond 102Dan López de Sa 7 Variation in Intuitions about Reference and Ontological Disagreements 118Edouard Machery 8 Centered Worlds and the Content of Perception 137Berit Brogaard 9 Conceptual Relativism 159Kenneth A. Taylor 10 The Limits of Relativism in the Late Wittgenstein 179Patricia Hanna and Bernard Harrison Part III Epistemic Relativism 199 11 Epistemological Relativism: Arguments Pro and Con 201Harvey Siegel 12 Relativism About Epistemic Modals 219Andy Egan 13 Relativism and Confi rmation Theory 242Igor Douven 14 Epistemic Relativism, Epistemic Incommensurability, and Wittgensteinian Epistemology 266Duncan Pritchard 15 Relativism and Contextualism 286Patrick Rysiew Part IV Moral Relativism 307 16 Relativism in Contemporary Liberal Political Philosophy 309Graham M. Long 17 Secularism, Liberalism, and Relativism 326Akeel Bilgrami 18 Moral Relativism and Moral Psychology 346Christian B. Miller 19 Bare Bones Moral Realism and the Objections from Relativism 368Mark Balaguer 20 Virtue Ethics and Moral Relativism 391Christopher W. Gowans 21 Relativist Explanations of Interpersonal and Group Disagreement 411David B. Wong Part V Relativism in the Philosophy of Science 431 22 Relativism and the Sociology of Scientifi c Knowledge 433David Bloor 23 Incommensurability and Theory Change 456Howard Sankey 24 Thomas Kuhn’s Relativistic Legacy 475Alexander Bird 25 Anti-Realism and Relativism 489Christopher Norris Part VI Logical, Mathematical, and Ontological Relativism 509 26 Horror Contradictionis 511Johan Van Benthem 27 Varieties of Pluralism and Relativism for Logic 526Stewart Shapiro 28 Relativism in Set Theory and Mathematics 553Otávio Bueno 29 Putnam’s Model-Theoretic Argument 569Maximilian de Gaynesford 30 Quine’s Ontological Relativity 588Gary L. Hardcastle 31 Carving Up a Reality in Which There are no Joints 604Crawford L. Elder Index 621

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Book SynopsisIntroducing a new and ambitious position in the field, Kit Fine's Semantic Relationism is a major contribution to the philosophy of language.Trade Review"Combines careful, detailed argumentation with inspiration and synoptic vision for the bigger picture. ... One can reasonably expect Fine's book to be a spur for thinking about these issues for many years to come." (Mind, October 2009)Table of ContentsPreface. Introduction. 1. Coordination among Variables. A. The Desiderata. B. The Problem. C. The Contextualist Response. D. The Dismissive Response. E. The Instantial Approach. F. The Algebraic Approach. G. Relational Semantics for First-order Logic. 2. Coordination within Language. A. Frege’s Puzzle. B. Rejecting Compositionality. C. Semantic Fact. D. Closure. E. Referentialism Reconsidered. F. A Relational Semantics for Names. G. Transparency. 3. Coordination within Thought. A. Intentional Coordination. B. Strict Co-representation. C. The Content of Thought. D. The Cognitive Puzzle. 4. Coordination between Speakers. A. Kripke’s Puzzle. B. Some Related Puzzles. C. A Response. D. A Solution. E. A Deeper Puzzle. F. A Deeper Solution. G. The Role of Variables in Belief Reports. H. Some Semantical Morals. Postscript: Further Work. Index

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Book SynopsisIn a series of thought-provoking and original essays, eighteen leading philosophers engage in head-to-head debates of nine of the most cutting edge topics in contemporary metaphysics.Trade Review“Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics is a terrific book — 18 essays by some of the most distinguished voices in contemporary philosophy which collectively represent and define the state of the art in this ancient discipline. The writing is fresh and clear throughout, accessible to beginners but rigorous enough to satisfy the most exacting specialists. This is no bland survey of the subject: the book is structured as a series of debates, with partisans of opposed positions clashing directly on the page. For those who want to see how contemporary metaphysics is done, there is no better introduction to the subject.” — Gideon A. Rosen, Princeton University “This is an incredibly good collection of original papers about the central problems of metaphysics. I will certainly use the book as a text in my yearly introductory graduate seminar on metaphysics." — Peter Van Inwagen, University of Notre Dame “Until now we've had to choose between traditional texts, where the author pretends to be arguing with him/herself, and anthologies, where the reader pretends the authors are arguing with each other. This book has genuine focussed exchange between some of the best metaphysicians around. The introduction by Sider is a gem. What a great way to learn metaphysics.” — Prof. Stephen Yablo, MIT “What might one want in a contemporary metaphysics reader? There are plenty of volumes that reprint the 20th century precursors to current debates; no need for another one of those. What would be great is a collection of first-rate essays by leading philosophers which effectively engage the most important issues in the field and give attention not only to the substantive debates but the meta-philosophical questions such as: what is metaphysics and how is it possible? And now we have it: Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics does it all.” —Sally Haslanger, MIT “I'd see this book as most useful in an upper-level survey of metaphysics, or for philosophers who are not themselves metaphysicians, but want to acquaint themselves with these issues (or indeed, even for metaphysicians, but who focus on just a subset of these areas, wanting to get into other realms). For such purposes, this is a nice volume indeed. … Let me conclude, then, by reiterating the quality of the papers produced for this volume, and saying again that it would make a fine textbook, and a useful resource for the professional philosopher.” — Alan Sidelle, Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsTable of ContentsNotes on contributors. Introduction. I. Abstract entities. 1.1 Abstract entities: Chris Swoyer (University of Oklahoma). 1.2 There are no abstract objects: Cian Dorr (University of Pittsburgh). II. Causation and laws of nature. 2.1 Nailed to Hume’s cross?: John W. Carroll (North Carolina State University). 2.2 Causation and laws of nature: Reductionism: Jonathan Schaffer (University of Massachusetts-Amherst). III. Modality and possible worlds. 3.1 Concrete possible worlds: Phillip Bricker(University of Massachusetts- Amherst). 3.2 Ersatz possible worlds: Joseph Melia (University of Leeds). IV. Personal identity. 4.1 People and their bodies: Judith Jarvis Thomson (MIT). 4.2 Persons, bodies, and human beings: Derek Parfit (All Souls College, Oxford). V. Time. 5.1 The privileged present: defending an “A-theory” of time: Dean Zimmerman (Rutgers University). 5.2 The tenseless theory of time: J. J. C. Smart (Australian National University). VI. Persistence. 6.1 Temporal parts: Theodore Sider (Rutgers University). 6.2 Three-dimensionalism vs. four-dimensionalism: John Hawthorne (Rutgers University). VII. Free will. 7.1 Incompatibilism: Robert Kane (University of Texas at Austin). 7.2 Compatibilism, incompatibilism, and impossibilism: Kadri Vihvelin (University of Southern California). VIII. Mereology. 8.1 The moon and sixpence: a defense of mereological universalism: James van Cleve (University of Southern California). 8.2 Restricted composition: Ned Markosian (Western Washington University). IX. Meteontology. 9.1 Ontological arguments: interpretive charity and quantifier variance: Eli Hirsch (Brandeis University). 9.2 The picture of reality as an amorphous lump: Matti Eklund (Cornell University). Index

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Book SynopsisIn a series of thought-provoking and original essays, eighteen leading philosophers engage in head-to-head debates of nine of the most cutting edge topics in contemporary metaphysics.Trade Review“Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics is a terrific book — 18 essays by some of the most distinguished voices in contemporary philosophy which collectively represent and define the state of the art in this ancient discipline. The writing is fresh and clear throughout, accessible to beginners but rigorous enough to satisfy the most exacting specialists. This is no bland survey of the subject: the book is structured as a series of debates, with partisans of opposed positions clashing directly on the page. For those who want to see how contemporary metaphysics is done, there is no better introduction to the subject.” Gideon A. Rosen, Princeton University “This is an incredibly good collection of original papers about the central problems of metaphysics. I will certainly use the book as a text in my yearly introductory graduate seminar on metaphysics." Peter Van Inwagen, University of Notre Dame “Until now we've had to choose between traditional texts, where the author pretends to be arguing with him/herself, and anthologies, where the reader pretends the authors are arguing with each other. This book has genuine focussed exchange between some of the best metaphysicians around. The introduction by Sider is a gem. What a great way to learn metaphysics.” Prof. Stephen Yablo, MIT “What might one want in a contemporary metaphysics reader? There are plenty of volumes that reprint the 20th century precursors to current debates; no need for another one of those. What would be great is a collection of first-rate essays by leading philosophers which effectively engage the most important issues in the field and give attention not only to the substantive debates but the meta-philosophical questions such as: what is metaphysics and how is it possible? And now we have it: Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics does it all.” Sally Haslanger, MIT “Written with philosophical sophistication … .Rewarding and valuable … .Teaching papers … .It would make a fine … and useful resource for the professional philosopher.” Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsTable of ContentsNotes on Contributors vii Introduction Theodore Sider 1 Abstract Entities 9 1.1 Abstract Entities Chris Swoyer 11 1.2 There Are No Abstract Objects Cian Dorr 32 Causation and Laws of Nature 65 2.1 Nailed to Hume’s Cross? John W. Carroll 67 2.2 Causation and Laws of Nature: Reductionism Jonathan Schaffer 82 Modality and Possible Worlds 109 3.1 Concrete Possible Worlds Phillip Bricker 111 3.2 Ersatz Possible Worlds Joseph Melia 135 Personal Identity 153 4.1 People and Their Bodies Judith Jarvis Thomson 155 4.2 Persons, Bodies, and Human Beings Derek Parfit 177 Time 209 5.1 The Privileged Present: Defending an “A-Theory” of Time Dean Zimmerman 211 5.2 The Tenseless Theory of Time J. J. C. Smart 226 Persistence 239 6.1 Temporal Parts Theodore Sider 241 6.2 Three-Dimensionalism vs. Four-Dimensionalism John Hawthorne 263 Free Will 283 7.1 Incompatibilism Robert Kane 285 7.2 Compatibilism, Incompatibilism, and Impossibilism Kadri Vihvelin 303 Mereology 319 8.1 The Moon and Sixpence: A Defense of Mereological Universalism James Van Cleve 321 8.2 Restricted Composition Ned Markosian 341 Metaontology 365 9.1 Ontological Arguments: Interpretive Charity and Quantifier Variance Eli Hirsch 367 9.2 The Picture of Reality as an Amorphous Lump Matti Eklund 382 Index 397

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Book SynopsisThis extensively revised and expanded edition of van Inwagen and Zimmerman's popular collection of readings in metaphysics now features twenty-two additional selections, new sections on existence and reality, and an updated editorial commentary.Trade Review"An outstanding and outstandingly complete set of papers in metaphysics, selected by two of the foremost metaphysicians." Alvin Plantinga, University of Notre DameTable of ContentsPreface to 2nd Edition. Sources. Introduction: What is metaphysics?. Part I: What Are the Most General Features of the World?:. A. What is existence?. 1. Holes:David Lewis and Stephanie Lewis. 2. On What There Is:W. V. O. Quine. 3. Beyond Being and Nonbeing:Roderick M. Chisholm. B. What is the relationship between an individual and its characteristics?. 4. Universals: an Excerpt from The Problems of Philosophy:Bertrand Russell. 5. Universals as Attributes:. An Excerpt from Universals: an Opinionated Introduction,David M. Armstrong. 6. Universals and Resemblances: Chapter 1 of Thinking and Experience H. H. Price. 7. The Elements of Being:D.C. Williams. 8. The Identity of Indiscernibles:Max Black. 9. Distinct Indiscernibles and the Bundle Theory:Dean W. Zimmerman. C. What is time? What is space?. 10. Time: an Excerpt from The Nature of Existence:J. McT. E. McTaggart. 11. McTaggart’s Arguments against the Reality of Time: an Excerpt from Examination of McTaggart’s Philosophy. C. D. Broad. 12. The Notion of the Present:A. N. Prior. 13. Changes in Events and Changes in Things:A. N. Prior. 14. The General Problem of Time and Change: an Excerpt from Scientific Thought:C. D. Broad. 15. The Myth of Passage:D. C. Williams. 16. Some Free Thinking about Time:A. N. Prior. 17. The Fourth Dimension: an Excerpt from The Ambidextrous Universe:Martin Gardner. 18. Incongruent Counterparts and Higher Dimensions:James Van Cleve. 19. The Traditional Conception of Space, and the Principle of Extensive Abstraction:. An Excerpt from Scientific Thought:C. D. Broad. 20. Achilles and the Tortoise: Max Black. 21. A Contemporary Look at Zeno’s Paradoxes: an Excerpt from Space, Time, and Motion. Wesley C. Salmon. 22. Grasping the Infinite: José A. Benardete. 23. The Paradoxes of Time Travel: David Lewis. D. How do Things Persist through Changes of Parts and Properties?. 24. Of Confused Subjects Which Are Equivalent to Two Subjects:. An Excerpt from The Port-Royal Logic:Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole. 25. The Paradox of Increase:Eric T. Olson. 26. Identity, Ostension, and Hypostasis:W. V. O. Quine. 27. In Defense of Stages: Postscript B to “Survival and Identity”. David Lewis. 28. The Problem of Temporary Intrinsics: an Excerpt from On the Plurality of Worlds. David Lewis. 29. Temporary Intrinsics and Presentism:Dean W. Zimmerman. E. How do Causes Bring about their Effects?. 30. Constant Conjunction: an Excerpt from A Treatise of Human Nature. David Hume. 31. Efficient Cause and Active Power: an Excerpt from Essays on the Active Powers of the Human Mind. Thomas Reid. 32. Psychological and Physical Causal Laws: an Excerpt from The Analysis of Mind. Bertrand Russell. 33. Causality: an Excerpt from A Modern Introduction to Logic: L. Susan Stebbing. 34. Causality and Determination: G. E. M. Anscombe. Part II: What Is Our Place in the World?:. A. How Are Mind and Body Related?. 35. Which Physical Thing Am I?: an Excerpt from “Is There a Mind–Body Problem?”. Roderick M. Chisholm. 36. Personal Identity: a Materialist Account: Sydney Shoemaker. 37. An Argument for Animalism: Eric T. Olson. 38. Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons: Derek Parfit. 39. Personal Identity: the Dualist Theory: Richard Swinburne. 40. The Causal Theory of the Mind: David M. Armstrong. 41. The Puzzle of Conscious Experience: David J. Chalmers. 42. Neutral Monism: an Excerpt from Philosophy: Bertrand Russell. B. Is it Possible for Us to Act Freely?. 43. We Are Never Free: an Excerpt from The System of Nature. Paul-Henri Dietrich, Baron d’Holbach. 44. Free Will as Involving Determination and Inconceivable without It. R. E. Hobart. 45. Freedom, Causation, and Preexistence: an Excerpt from Problems of Mind and Matter. John Wisdom. 46. Human Freedom and the Self: Roderick M. Chisholm. 47. The Consequence Argument: Peter van Inwagen. 48. The Mystery of Metaphysical Freedom: Peter van Inwagen. 49. The Agent as Cause: Timothy O’Connor. 50. Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility: Harry G. Frankfurt. 51. Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person: Harry G. Frankfurt. Part III: Are There Many Worlds?:. A. Are There Worlds Other than the Actual World?. 52. Modal Realism at Work: an Excerpt from On the Plurality of Worlds. David Lewis. 53. Counterparts of Persons and Their Bodies: David Lewis. 54. Identity and Necessity: Saul Kripke. B. Is There More than One Actual World?. 55. After Metaphysics, What?: Hilary Putnam. 56. Truth and Convention: Hilary Putnam. 57. Nonabsolute Existence and Conceptual Relativity: an Excerpt from “Putnam’s Pragmatic Realism”. Ernest Sosa. 58. Addendum to “Nonabsolute Existence and Conceptual Relativity”: Objections and Replies. Ernest Sosa. Part IV: Why Is There a World?:. 59. The Problem of Being: Chapter 3 of Some Problems of Philosophy: William James. 60. Why Anything? Why This?: Derek Parfit. 61. Response to Derek Parfit: Richard Swinburne. 62. The Cosmological Argument: an Excerpt from A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God. Samuel Clarke. 63. The Cosmological Argument and the Principle of Sufficient Reason: William L. Rowe. 64. The Ontological Argument: Chapters II–IV of the Proslogion: St Anselm. 65. Anselm’s Ontological Arguments: Norman Malcolm. Index

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Book Synopsis* A collection of original papers by philosophers whose work is at the forefront of debate about the relevance of substantial metaphysical theories to science. * Responds in particular to recent publications by Brian Ellis on scientific essentialism, especially on the topics of laws, natural kinds and realism.Table of Contents1. Physical Realism: Brian Ellis. 2. Scientific Realism and Metaphysics: Stathis Psillos. 3. Kinds and Essences: John Heil. 4. Kinds, Essences and Powers: Stephen Mumford. 5. Laws and Essences: Alexander Bird. 6. Universals, the Essential Problem and Categorical Properties: Brian Ellis

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Book SynopsisFully extended and revised, A Companion to Metaphysics 2nd Edition includes a section of detailed review essays from renowned metaphysicians, and the addition of more than 30 new encyclopedic entries, taking the number of entries to over 300. Includes revisions to existing encyclopedic entries Features more than 30 all-new A to Z entries Offers a section of in-depth, essays from renowned metaphysicians Provides the most complete and up-to-date reference guide for students and professionals alike Trade Review?This is a resource no metaphysician in the Anglo-American tradition will want to do without. Summing Up: Essential.? (CHOICE, October 2009)Table of ContentsList of Contributors vii Introduction xiii Part I Extended Essays 1 Part II Metaphysics From A to Z 95 Index 637

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Book SynopsisMight we be parts of a divine mind? Could anything like an afterlife make sense? Starting with a Platonic answer to why the world exists, Immortality Defended suggests we could well be immortal in all of three separate ways.Trade Review"John Leslie addresses issues of belief in immortality and the creative role of value in a characteristically lively style, in the course of deploying a variety of arguments. He is always stimulating, even when one disagrees with him." Revd Dr John Polkinghorne, KBE, FRS "I believe Leslie will be remembered one hundred or two hundred years from now as one of the most unique, philosophically fundamental, and interesting thinkers of our time." Quentin Smith, Western Michigan University "This is an admirable piece of philosophical speculation, in the grand manner of great philosophers in the past, but informed by modern cosmology." J J C Smart, Monash University “Thought-provoking … useful to both the professional philosopher and to one just starting … .Touches on a variety of topics … and is exceptionally clear.” Religious Studies Review “Leslie has articulated and defended … the great subjects in the history of philosophy: God, the self, the nature and origin of the cosmos, value, and immortality.” Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsTable of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgments. 1. Pantheism: A Rapid Introduction. 2. Platonic Creation. 3. Divine and Human Minds. 4. Immortality. 5. Existence, Causation, and Life. Appendix: Brief Summary of the Book. Bibliography. Index of Names. Index of Subjects

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Book SynopsisMight we be parts of a divine mind? Could anything like an afterlife make sense? Starting with a Platonic answer to why the world exists, Immortality Defended suggests we could well be immortal in all of three separate ways.Trade Review"John Leslie addresses issues of belief in immortality and the creative role of value in a characteristically lively style, in the course of deploying a variety of arguments. He is always stimulating, even when one disagrees with him." Revd Dr John Polkinghorne, KBE, FRS "I believe Leslie will be remembered one hundred or two hundred years from now as one of the most unique, philosophically fundamental, and interesting thinkers of our time." Quentin Smith, Western Michigan University "This is an admirable piece of philosophical speculation, in the grand manner of great philosophers in the past, but informed by modern cosmology." J J C Smart, Monash University “Thought-provoking … useful to both the professional philosopher and to one just starting … .Touches on a variety of topics … and is exceptionally clear.” Religious Studies Review “Leslie has articulated and defended … the great subjects in the history of philosophy: God, the self, the nature and origin of the cosmos, value, and immortality.” Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsTable of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgments. 1. Pantheism: A Rapid Introduction. 2. Platonic Creation. 3. Divine and Human Minds. 4. Immortality. 5. Existence, Causation, and Life. Appendix: Brief Summary of the Book. Bibliography. Index of Names. Index of Subjects

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Book SynopsisKit Fine argues for a fundamentally new approach to the study of representation in language and thought. His key idea is that there may be representational relationships between expressions or elements of thought that are not grounded in the intrinsic representational features of the expressions or elements themselves.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Coordination among Variables A. The Desiderata B. The Problem C. The Contextualist Response D. The Dismissive Response E. The Instantial Approach F. The Algebraic Approach G. Relational Semantics for First-order Logic 2. Coordination within Language A. Frege’s Puzzle B. Rejecting Compositionality C. Semantic Fact D. Closure E. Referentialism Reconsidered F. A Relational Semantics for Names G. Transparency 3. Coordination within Thought A. Intentional Coordination B. Strict Co-representation C. The Content of Thought D. The Cognitive Puzzle 4. Coordination between Speakers A. Kripke’s Puzzle B. Some Related Puzzles C. A Response D. A Solution E. A Deeper Puzzle F. A Deeper Solution G. The Role of Variables in Belief Reports H. Some Semantical Morals Postscript: Further Work Index

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