Description
Book SynopsisThe relationship of part to whole is one of the most fundamental there is, yet until now there has been no full-length study of this concept. This book shows that mereology, the formal theory of part and whole, is essential to ontology. Peter Simons surveys and criticizes previous theories, especially the standard extensional view, and proposes a more adequate account which encompasses both temporal and modal considerations in detail. This has far-reaching consequences for our understanding of such classical philosophical concepts as identity, individual, class, substance and accident, matter, form, essence, dependence, and integral whole. It also enables the author to offer new solutions to long-standing problems surrounding these concepts, such as the Ship of Theseus Problem and the issue of mereological essentialism. The author shows by his use of formal techniques that classical philosophical problems are amenable to rigorous treatment, and the book represents a synthesis of issues
Trade ReviewA clear and careful work both in metaphysics and in the history and logic of mereology....Simons's care and precision and his sensitivity to fine distinctions are what make the book a success. * The Philosophical Review *
Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; PART 1 EXISTENSIONAL PART-WHOLE THEORY; 1. CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES OF EXTENSIONAL MEREOLOGY; 2. SURVEY OF EXTENSIONAL MEREOLOGY; 3. PROBLEMS; 4. OCCURRENTS, CLASSES, AND MASSES; PART II MEREOLOGY OF CONTINUANTS; 5. TEMPORARY PARTS AND INTERMITTENT EXISTENCE; 6. SUPERPOSITION, COMPOSITION, AND MATTER; PART III ESSENCE, DEPENDENCE, AND INTEGRITY; 7. ESSENTIAL PARTS; 8. ONTOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE; 9. INTEGRAL WHOLES; CONCLUDING REMARKS; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX.
