Matthew Davidson - Böcker

This volume collects the most important articles on the _ metaphysics of modality by noted philosopher Alvin _ Plantinga. The book chronicles Plantinga's thought from the late 1960's to the present. Platinga is here concerned with fundamental issues in mataphysics: what is the nature of _ abstract objects like possible worlds, properties, _ propositions, and such phenomena? Are there possible but _ non-actual objects? Can objects that do not exist exemplify properties? In this thorough and searching book, Plantinga addresses these and many other questions that continue to_ preoccupy philosophers in the field. This volume contains_ some of the best work in metaphysics from the past 30 years, and will remain a source of critical contention and keen interest among philosophers of metaphysics and philosophical logic for years to come.

This volume collects the most important articles on the metaphysics of modality by noted philosopher Alvin Plantinga. The book chronicles Plantinga's thought from the late 1960's to the present. Plantinga here is concerned with fundamental issues in metaphysics: what is the nature of abstract objects like possible worlds, properties, propositions, and such phenomena? Are there possible but non-actual objects? Can objects that do not exist exemplify properties? In this thorough and searching book, Plantinga addresses these and many other questions that continue to preoccupy philosophers in the field. This volume contains some of the best work in metaphysics from the past 30 years, and will remain a source of critical contention and keen interest among philosophers of metaphysics and philosophical logic for years to come.

This book offers an in-depth and updated examination of the nature of haecceity—that primitive entity which explains why something is distinct from other things.The book begins by exploring different conceptions of haecceity throughout history. The discussion of various figures across history is important for getting clear on the nature of haecceity and its role in individuation. The next part of the book examines different views about the nature of haecceity. The author defends a view on which haecceities have objects that instantiate them as constituents. Following that, the book considers arguments for and against the existence of haecceities, the epistemology of haecceity, and the distinction between qualitative and non-qualitative properties.About Haecceity will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in metaphysics, philosophy of language, epistemology, logic, and history of philosophy.

This book offers an in-depth and updated examination of the nature of haecceity—that primitive entity which explains why something is distinct from other things.The book begins by exploring different conceptions of haecceity throughout history. The discussion of various figures across history is important for getting clear on the nature of haecceity and its role in individuation. The next part of the book examines different views about the nature of haecceity. The author defends a view on which haecceities have objects that instantiate them as constituents. Following that, the book considers arguments for and against the existence of haecceities, the epistemology of haecceity, and the distinction between qualitative and non-qualitative properties.About Haecceity will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in metaphysics, philosophy of language, epistemology, logic, and history of philosophy.

The book defends an account of propositions on which propositions are structured entities, built up out of properties, relations, and concrete objects. On this account, propositions exist and have truth conditions independent of human minds and linguistic activity.While this view of propositions has existed for more than 100 years, it has been under attack over the last two decades. It has come under attack from those who agree that propositions are structured but think that propositions obtain their semantic properties (things like truth conditions) from human mental or linguistic activity. It has also been attacked by those who deny that propositions are structured entities. This book responds to challenges from those who think that accounting for the truth conditions of mind-independent structured propositions is problematic. It critiques competing anti-realist views, offers a new account of singular propositions based on constituent contributions to truth conditions, and examines truth conditions for negative existential sentences. Throughout, the author builds a systematic case against propositions as primitive or set-theoretic entities.The Metaphysics of Propositions will appeal to researchers and advanced students interested in metaphysics, philosophy of language, and semantics.

Have you ever wondered what makes the questions a philosopher asks different from those asked by a non-philosopher? Is it a desire to seek the truth? Is it their reliance on scientific methods? Or is a philosophical question one that deals with the world we live in?For the Ancient Greek thinkers Plato and Aristotle, questions about philosophy concerned the fundamental nature of reality and how we know about it. This introduction is based on their views, boiling philosophy down to nine essential questions and using them to reveal how we think about the major topics of metaphysics (the nature of reality) and epistemology (knowledge). From ‘What Am I?’ to ‘What is Time?’, this is a fast-paced tour of the Western philosophical tradition. It walks you through age-old questions about God, free will, skepticism, truth and perception and along the way introduces you to distinctive features and methods including: · How to differentiate between a good and bad arguments · How to draw distinctions· How to clarify the terms and concepts used in common philosophical debates· How to tackle a thought experiment By unpacking and exploring each of the nine questions in turn, you find out what it really means to do philosophy. Not only do you emerge with a better understanding of the conceptual landscape around essential philosophical questions, you come to realize why it is that philosophers agree on very little. Here is a golden opportunity to think about some of the most important questions asked by philosophers over across the history of Western philosophical thought and discover why they still matter.

Have you ever wondered what makes the questions a philosopher asks different from those asked by a non-philosopher? Is it a desire to seek the truth? Is it their reliance on scientific methods? Or is a philosophical question one that deals with the world we live in?For the Ancient Greek thinkers Plato and Aristotle, questions about philosophy concerned the fundamental nature of reality and how we know about it. This introduction is based on their views, boiling philosophy down to nine essential questions and using them to reveal how we think about the major topics of metaphysics (the nature of reality) and epistemology (knowledge). From ‘What Am I?’ to ‘What is Time?’, this is a fast-paced tour of the Western philosophical tradition. It walks you through age-old questions about God, free will, skepticism, truth and perception and along the way introduces you to distinctive features and methods including: · How to differentiate between a good and bad arguments · How to draw distinctions· How to clarify the terms and concepts used in common philosophical debates· How to tackle a thought experiment By unpacking and exploring each of the nine questions in turn, you find out what it really means to do philosophy. Not only do you emerge with a better understanding of the conceptual landscape around essential philosophical questions, you come to realize why it is that philosophers agree on very little. Here is a golden opportunity to think about some of the most important questions asked by philosophers over across the history of Western philosophical thought and discover why they still matter.

Are there nonexistent objects? Can we make sense of objects having properties without thinking that there are nonexistent objects? Is existence a predicate? Can we make sense of necessarily existing objects depending on God? Tackling these central questions, Matthew Davidson explores the metaphysics of existence and nonexistence.He presents an extended argument for independence actualism, a previously undefended view that objects can have properties in worlds and at times at which they do not exist. Among other unique points of discussion, Davidson considers the nature of actualism, arguments for and against serious actualism, the semantics of “exists” as a predicate, the merits of different sorts of Meinongian theories, and different views on which God might ground the existence of necessarily existing abstracta. The book offers a Lewisian-style argument for adopting independence actualism in that the view may be used to solve many problems in metaphysics, philosophy of language and philosophy of religion.

Are there nonexistent objects? Can we make sense of objects having properties without thinking that there are nonexistent objects? Is existence a predicate? Can we make sense of necessarily existing objects depending on God? Tackling these central questions, Matthew Davidson explores the metaphysics of existence and nonexistence.He presents an extended argument for independence actualism, a previously undefended view that objects can have properties in worlds and at times at which they do not exist. Among other unique points of discussion, Davidson considers the nature of actualism, arguments for and against serious actualism, the semantics of “exists” as a predicate, the merits of different sorts of Meinongian theories, and different views on which God might ground the existence of necessarily existing abstracta. The book offers a Lewisian-style argument for adopting independence actualism in that the view may be used to solve many problems in metaphysics, philosophy of language and philosophy of religion.

This volume was conceived as a Festschrift to surprise Alvin Plantinga on his 70th birthday. That original plan was not entirely successful. For one thing, the day came and went well before the work was complete. For another, the project wasn’t quite a surprise: Plantinga caught wind of it (though not of its details) before the unveiling. The occasion was marked, however, by a presentation of a projected table of contents and an early draft of the cover painting by Keith Lehrer. Plantinga then saw the details, and was quite taken aback that the editors and a few contributors had come to South Bend from as far Virginia, Florida, and California to celebrate. Now we are pleased to offer the essays themselves. The collection ranges widely over metaphysics and epistemology. Its wingspan testifies to the breadth both of Plantinga’s own work and of the audience that has valued it. Some of the essays deal with ontology, examining actualism, presentism, antirealism, properties, and artifacts. Several essays in epistemology raise skeptical questions, work through the implications of naturalism or int- nalism, and engage Plantinga’s own Reidian account of warrant. Other contributions consider the bearing of philosophical ideas on the Christian faith–of split brain cases on the doctrine of the Trinity, for example, and of materialism on the afterlife. The contributors are friends, colleagues, and former students of Plantinga. The editors thank all of them for their eager participation in this project.