This book gathers together thirteen of Peter van Inwagen's essays on metaphysics, several of which have acquired the status of modern classics in their field. They range widely across such topics as Quine's philosophy of quantification, the ontology of fiction, the part-whole relation, the theory of "temporal parts," and human knowledge of modal truths. A specially-written introduction completes the collection, which will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in metaphysics.
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This book gathers together thirteen of Peter van Inwagen's essays on metaphysics, several of which have acquired the status of modern classics in their field. They range widely across such topics as Quine's philosophy of quantification, the ontology of fiction, the part-whole relation, the theory of 'temporal parts', and human knowledge of modal truths. A specially-written introduction completes the collection, which will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in metaphysics.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Collection of some of the best recent work in metaphysics,
By Parableman (Syracuse, New York USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ontology, Identity, and Modality: Essays in Metaphysics (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy) (Hardcover)
Peter van Inwagen is one of the best metaphysicians writing today, and this book includes some of his best work previously available only in journals. It includes his defense of three-dimensionalism (and attack on four-dimensionalism), his attack on the idea that there are multiple levels of being (a view often attributed to Meinong), his defense of a moderate modal skepticism of a sort, and lots of other work from one of the most influential and creative metaphysicians of our time.The introduction includes a great summary of van Inwagen's work up to the time of publication and some detailed thoughts on the papers reprinted here. Many of these thoughts indicate his further thoughts on the matter or even in some cases where he's changed his mind in a substantive way or changed how he thinks the material would best be presented. In some ways this introduction is like some of David Lewis' postscripts to papers in his two volumes of collected papers entitled Philosophical Papers. So the introduction itself is worth having for his continued thoughts on some of these issues. All said, this collection is definitely worth having.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Quine has called the question "What is there?" "the ontological question." Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hairless horses, most general activity, proper temporal parts, indexical theory, transparent iron, modal ontology, same intrinsic properties, modal premise, momentary properties, modal knowledge, ontological innocence, indexical phrase, ascription relation, modal epistemology, undetached parts, modal judgments, maximal states, substitutional quantification, identity across time, one possible world, mereological sum, modal beliefs, objectual quantification, spatiotemporal objects, modal statements Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
David Lewis, Martin Chuzzlewit, Weak Theory, Eiffel Tower, The Nature of Necessity, Parts of Classes, Alvin Plantinga, Linguistic Abstractionism, Unsound Abstractionist, C-actual C-world, New York, Chisholm Objection, Continental Rationalists, Genuine Modal Realism, Lewis Objection, Peter van Inwagen, British Empiricists, Leibniz's Law, Michael Tooley, Midwest Studies, Pictorial Abstractionism, The Philosophical Review, Unsound Abstractionism, American Philosophical Quarterly, Peter Unger New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Quine has called the question "What is there?" "the ontological question." Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hairless horses, most general activity, proper temporal parts, indexical theory, transparent iron, modal ontology, same intrinsic properties, modal premise, momentary properties, modal knowledge, ontological innocence, indexical phrase, ascription relation, modal epistemology, undetached parts, modal judgments, maximal states, substitutional quantification, identity across time, one possible world, mereological sum, modal beliefs, objectual quantification, spatiotemporal objects, modal statements Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
David Lewis, Martin Chuzzlewit, Weak Theory, Eiffel Tower, The Nature of Necessity, Parts of Classes, Alvin Plantinga, Linguistic Abstractionism, Unsound Abstractionist, C-actual C-world, New York, Chisholm Objection, Continental Rationalists, Genuine Modal Realism, Lewis Objection, Peter van Inwagen, British Empiricists, Leibniz's Law, Michael Tooley, Midwest Studies, Pictorial Abstractionism, The Philosophical Review, Unsound Abstractionism, American Philosophical Quarterly, Peter Unger New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 44
books:
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10
books
cite this book:
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- On the Plurality of Worlds by David Lewis on 12 pages
- The Nature of Necessity (Clarendon Library of Logic & Philosophy) by Alvin Plantinga on 9 pages
- Parts of Classes by David K. Lewis on 7 pages
- Martin Chuzzlewit (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens on 5 pages
- The Theory of Relativity: & Other Essays by Albert Einstein on page 174, page 175, and page 176
See all 44 books this book cites
- Analytic Philosophy Without Naturalism (Routledge Studies in Twentieth Century Philosophy) by Antonella Corradini in Front Matter
- Current Issues in Theoretical Philosophy: What Is Truth? by Richard Schantz in Back Matter
- Grazer Philosophische Studien Volume 67 - 2004 by Leopold Stubenberg on page 155
- Personal Identity (Blackwell Readings in Philosophy) by Raymond Martin in Back Matter
- Oxford Studies in Metaphysics: Volume 1 by Dean W. Zimmerman on page 124
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