Download or read book A Metaphysics of Platonic Universals and their Instantiations written by José Tomás Alvarado and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-10-27 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a detailed defense of a metaphysics of Platonic universals and a conception of particular objects that is coherent with said metaphysics. The work discusses all the main alternatives in metaphysics of properties and tries to show why universals are the entities that best satisfy the theoretical roles required for a property. The work also explains the advantages of Platonic over Aristotelian universals in the metaphysics of modality and natural laws. Moreover, it is argued that only Platonic universals are coherent with the grounding profile required for universals. The traditional objections against Platonism are discussed and answered. The third part of the book, finally, offers a conception of particular objects as nuclear bundles of tropes that is coherent with the Platonic ontology of universals. This book is of interest to anyone that wants to understand the current –and intricate– debate in metaphysics of properties and its incidence in many other areas in philosophy.
Download or read book Substances and Universals in Aristotle s Metaphysics written by Theodore Scaltsas and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Theodore Scaltsas brings the insights of contemporary philosophy to bear on a classic problem in metaphysics that stems from Aristotle's theory of substance. Scaltsas provides an analysis of the enigmatic notions of potentiality and actuality, which he uses to explain Aristotle's substantial holism by showing how the concrete and the abstract parts of a substance form a dynamic, diachronic whole.
Download or read book Platonism and the Objects of Science written by Scott Berman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-20 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are the objects of science? Are they just the things in our scientific experiments that are located in space and time? Or does science also require that there be additional things that are not located in space and time? Using clear examples, these are just some of the questions that Scott Berman explores as he shows why alternative theories such as Nominalism, Contemporary Aristotelianism, Constructivism, and Classical Aristotelianism, fall short. He demonstrates why the objects of scientific knowledge need to be not located in space or time if they are to do the explanatory work scientists need them to do. The result is a contemporary version of Platonism that provides us with the best way to explain what the objects of scientific understanding are, and how those non-spatiotemporal things relate to the spatiotemporal things of scientific experiments, as well as everything around us, including even ourselves.
Download or read book Universals in Ancient Philosophy written by Riccardo Chiaradonna and published by Scuola Normale Superiore. This book was released on 2013 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The problem of universals is one of the crucial problems of contemporary philosophy in such areas as ontology, philosophy of language and epistemology. Are there general entities? Or is the world only populated by individuals, and universals are just concepts? What role does generality play in science? What is the relationship between general terms and the world? It is not always acknowledged that such questions have been at the centre of philosophical investigation since antiquity and that ancient philosophers have come up with a range of interesting and stimulating answers. This volume reconstructs the debate on universals in ancient thought, covering a period of about a thousand years, from the Sophists to the late Neoplatonists. Besides offering contributions on Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophers and Neoplatonism, the volume also deals with some lesser known aspects of Greek thought such as ancient medicine and mathematics.
Download or read book Plato Metaphysics and the Forms written by Francis A. Grabowski and published by Continuum. This book was released on 2008-06-24 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An important new monograph on Plato's metaphysics, focusing on the theory of the forms, which is the central philosophical concept in Plato's theory.
Download or read book Putting Properties First written by Matthew Tugby and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-23 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Putting Properties First considers the metaphysics of natural science. It develops and defends a contemporary metaphysical theory of natural modality called 'Modal Platonism', which puts properties first in the metaphysical hierarchy. According to this theory, natural properties-such as mass and charge-are fundamental entities which ground the laws of nature and the behavioural dispositions of physical things. This theory differs from other 'properties-first' approaches in two main ways. First, it views properties as Platonic universals, which exist even if they are not instantiated by anything. Second, the theory rejects the popular idea that properties are identical with, or essentially dependent upon, dispositions. Instead, Modal Platonism views properties as qualities which necessarily ground dispositions and other modal phenomena. This theory solves a range of philosophical puzzles regarding dispositions and laws. Given that laws of nature are a necessary precondition for scientific enquiry, Modal Platonism promises to provide a plausible metaphysical framework for all natural science.
Download or read book The Problem of Universals in Early Modern Philosophy written by Stefano Di Bella and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-06-29 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient topic of universals was central to scholastic philosophy, which raised the question of whether universals exist as Platonic forms, as instantiated Aristotelian forms, as concepts abstracted from singular things, or as words that have universal signification. It might be thought that this question lost its importance after the decline of scholasticism in the modern period. However, the fourteen contributions contained in The Problem of Univerals in Early Modern Philosophy indicate that the issue of universals retained its vitality in modern philosophy. Modern philosophers in fact were interested in 3 sets of issues concerning universals: (i) issues concerning the ontological status of universals, (ii) issues concerning the psychology of the formation of universal concepts or terms, and (iii) issues concerning the value and use of universal concepts or terms in the acquisition of knowledge. Chapters in this volume consider the various forms of "Platonism," "conceptualism" and "nominalism" (and distinctive combinations thereof) that emerged from the consideration of such issues in the work of modern philosophers. Furthermore, this volume covers not only the canonical modern figures, namely, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, but also more neglected figures such as Pierre Gassendi, Pierre-Sylvain Regis, Nicolas Malebranche, Henry More, Ralph Cudworth and John Norris.
Download or read book Putting Properties First written by Matthew Tugby and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-07-07 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Putting Properties First considers the metaphysics of natural science. It develops and defends a contemporary metaphysical theory of natural modality called 'Modal Platonism', which puts properties first in the metaphysical hierarchy. According to this theory, natural properties-such as mass and charge-are fundamental entities which ground the laws of nature and the behavioural dispositions of physical things. This theory differs from other 'properties-first' approaches in two main ways. First, it views properties as Platonic universals, which exist even if they are not instantiated by anything. Second, the theory rejects the popular idea that properties are identical with, or essentially dependent upon, dispositions. Instead, Modal Platonism views properties as qualities which necessarily ground dispositions and other modal phenomena. This theory solves a range of philosophical puzzles regarding dispositions and laws. Given that laws of nature are a necessary precondition for scientific enquiry, Modal Platonism promises to provide a plausible metaphysical framework for all natural science.
Download or read book Two Arguments for the Identity of Indiscernibles written by Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-08-25 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles is the thesis that, necessarily, no two (concrete) objects differ only numerically. This is the weakest version of the Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles. Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra argues that there is no trivial version of the Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles, since what is usually known as the trivial version of the principle is consistent with objects differing only numerically. He provides two positive arguments for the Principle: one based on broadly Humean considerations excluding a certain kind of necessary connection between distinct objects, and the other based on ideas about what grounds the having of certain properties by objects. This book also presents two new arguments against restricted versions of the principle according to which, necessarily, no two objects can be purely qualitatively indiscernible or intrinsically purely qualitatively indiscernible. It is further argued that one of the arguments for the weakest version of the principle can be extended to abstract objects. The conclusion is drawn that, necessarily, there are no objects, whether abstract or concrete, that differ only numerically.
Download or read book Non Reflexive Logics Non Individuals and the Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics written by Jonas R. B. Arenhart and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-09-05 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the philosophical work of Décio Krause. Non-individuality, as a new metaphysical category, was thought to be strongly supported by quantum mechanics. No one did more to promote this idea than the Brazilian philosopher Décio Krause, whose works on the metaphysics and logic of non-individuality are now widely regarded as part of the consolidated literature on the subject. This volume brings together chapters elaborating on the ideas put forward and defended by Krause, developing them in many different directions, commenting on aspects not completely developed so far, and, more importantly, critically addressing their current formulations and defenses by Krause himself. Given that Krause’s ideas do connect directly and indirectly with a wide array of subjects, such as the philosophy of quantum mechanics, more broadly understood, the philosophy of logic and logical philosophy, non-classical logics, metaphysics, and ontology, this volume contains important material for the research on logic and foundations of science, broadly understood. All the invited contributors have already worked with the ideas developed by Décio (some of them still work with them), being also distinct authors and extremely relevant in their areas of expertise. The volume is aimed at philosophers, including those of physics and quantum mechanics.
Download or read book The Hellenistic Philosophers Translations of the principal sources with philosophical commentary written by A. A. Long and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1987 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Volume I presents the texts in new translations by the authors, and these are accompanied by a philosophical and historical commentary designed for use by all readers, including those with no background in the classical world. With its glossary and indexes, this volume can stand alone as an independent tool of study."--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book The Hellenistic Philosophers Volume 1 Translations of the Principal Sources with Philosophical Commentary written by A. A. Long and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1987-04-09 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume 1 presents the texts in new translations by the authors, and these are accompanied by a philosophical and historical commentary designed for use by all readers, including those with no background in the classical world. With its glossary and indexes, this volume can stand alone as an independent tool of study.
Download or read book Scientific Realism and Laws of Nature A Metaphysics of Causal Powers written by Michel Ghins and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book On Ideas written by Gail Fine and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book on Aristotle's important but neglected essay Peri ideon, 'On Ideas', to be published in English. Gail Fine explores the philosophical merits of Aristotle's criticisms of Plato, and relates their views to current debates about universals, properties, meaning, and knowledge. The full, annotated text of Peri ideon is included, with translation.
Download or read book What is this Thing Called Metaphysics written by and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plato s Parmenides written by Samuel Scolnicov and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003-07-08 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all Plato’s dialogues, the Parmenides is notoriously the most difficult to interpret. Scholars of all periods have disagreed about its aims and subject matter. The interpretations have ranged from reading the dialogue as an introduction to the whole of Platonic metaphysics to seeing it as a collection of sophisticated tricks, or even as an elaborate joke. This work presents an illuminating new translation of the dialogue together with an extensive introduction and running commentary, giving a unified explanation of the Parmenides and integrating it firmly within the context of Plato's metaphysics and methodology. Scolnicov shows that in the Parmenides Plato addresses the most serious challenge to his own philosophy: the monism of Parmenides and the Eleatics. In addition to providing a serious rebuttal to Parmenides, Plato here re-formulates his own theory of forms and participation, arguments that are central to the whole of Platonic thought, and provides these concepts with a rigorous logical and philosophical foundation. In Scolnicov's analysis, the Parmenides emerges as an extension of ideas from Plato's middle dialogues and as an opening to the later dialogues. Scolnicov’s analysis is crisp and lucid, offering a persuasive approach to a complicated dialogue. This translation follows the Greek closely, and the commentary affords the Greekless reader a clear understanding of how Scolnicov’s interpretation emerges from the text. This volume will provide a valuable introduction and framework for understanding a dialogue that continues to generate lively discussion today.
Download or read book Metaphysics written by Alyssa Ney and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-13 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Metaphysics: An Introduction combines comprehensive coverage of the core elements of metaphysics with contemporary and lively debates within the subject. It provides a rigorous and yet accessible overview of a rich array of topics, connecting the abstract nature of metaphysics with the real world. Topics covered include: Basic logic for metaphysics An introduction to ontology Abstract objects Material objects Critiques of metaphysics Free will Time Modality Persistence Causation Social ontology: the metaphysics of race This outstanding book not only equips the reader with a thorough knowledge of the fundamentals of metaphysics but provides a valuable guide to contemporary metaphysics and metaphysicians. Additional features such as exercises, annotated further reading, a glossary, and a companion website www.routledge.com/cw/ney will help students find their way around this subject and assist teachers in the classroom.
