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Metaphysics-the philosophical study of the nature of reality-is a dynamic sub-field which encompasses many of the most fundamental and elusive questions in contemporary analytic philosophy. A concise and focused introduction to contemporary metaphysics, This is Metaphysics: An Introduction takes readers with minimal technical knowledge of the field on a guided tour of the intellectual landscape of the discipline.
Approachable and engaging, the book covers a broad range of key topics and principles in metaphysics, including classification, the nature and existence of properties, ontology, the nature of possibility and necessity, and fundamental questions concerning being and existence. Each chapter challenges readers to grapple with thought-provoking examples that build upon the seminal theoretical contributions of contemporary metaphysicians like Peter van Inwagen and David Lewis, and concludes with a "Doing Metaphysics" section encouraging readers to think through substantive metaphysical questions while weighing possible arguments and objections. A thoughtful and comprehensive introduction provides a framework for author Kris McDaniel's pedagogical approach, and each section incorporates multi-platform online resources and plentiful footnotes to support further reading and deeper conceptual engagement.
A welcome addition to the popular This is Philosophy series, This is Metaphysics is a reader-friendly survey of metaphysics for philosophy majors, undergraduates in introductory philosophy courses, and curious members of the general public interested in investigating this expansive and enigmatic area of study.
KRIS McDANIEL is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. In addition to his core work in metaphysics, he maintains research interests in ethics and in the history of philosophy. His work has been published in many journals, including Nous, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Mind, and Philosophical Quarterly.
An Introduction to This is Metaphysics 1
0.1 Who is This Book for? 1
0.2 Philosophy, Including Metaphysics, is for Everyone 6
0.3 An Overview of Metaphysics and Other Areas of Philosophy 6
0.4 Remarks for Instructors 12
0.5 Acknowledgments 13
1 Classification 14
1.1 Introduction 14
1.2 Two Kinds of Classification 15
1.3 Classification Confusions 18
1.4 Do Things Objectively Belong Together? 22
1.5 Two Questions about Classification 28
1.6 Classification and Properties 30
1.7 Doing Metaphysics 32
Further Reading 33
2 Properties 34
2.1 Introduction to the Metaphysics of Properties 34
2.2 Are Properties Theoretical Posits? 37
2.3 Issues in Language: Reference to Properties in Ordinary Speech 40
2.4 More Issues in Language: Properties as the Referents of Predicates 44
2.5 Issues in Metaphysics: Causation 46
2.6 Issues in Metaphysics: The Ontology of Events 47
2.7 Issues in Metaphysics: The Ontology of Material Objects 51
2.8 Tropes, Universals, and States of Affairs 54
2.9 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Properties 57
2.10 Perceptual Qualities 65
2.11 Doing Metaphysics 70
Further Reading 71
3 Parts and Wholes 72
3.1 Introduction 72
3.2 The Sufficiently Stuck Together Theory 74
3.3 The Mind-Dependence Theory of Composition 78
3.4 Life is the Answer? 85
3.5 Vagueness 87
3.6 Vagueness and Composition 92
3.7 A Radical Answer to the Special Composition Question: Compositional Nihilism 97
3.8 Another Radical Answer: Compositional Universalism 103
3.9 Other Questions about Parts and Wholes 106
3.10 Doing Metaphysics 111
Further Reading 112
4 Possibility and Necessity 113
4.1 Introduction 113
4.2 Different Kinds of Possibility and Necessity 115
4.3 The Idea of Possible Worlds 118
4.4 A Case for Possible Worlds 120
4.5 Some Theories of the Nature of Possible Worlds 126
4.6 An Alternative Theory of Possible Worlds: Propositions First 135
4.7 Another Alternative Theory of Possible Worlds: Primitive Possible Objects 139
4.8 Accidental and Essential Features 142
4.9 Theories of Possible Worlds and Theories of Essential Features 147
4.10 Doing Metaphysics 151
Further Reading 152
5 Time 153
5.1 Introduction to the Philosophy of Time 153
5.2 Methodological Issues in the Philosophy of Time 156
5.3 The Container View vs. the Relationalist View 161
5.4 Does Time Itself Change? 169
5.5 Time and Reasonable Emotions 175
5.6 How Do Things Persist through Time? 179
5.7 Doing Metaphysics 189
Further Reading 189
6 Freedom 190
6.1 Freedom and Why it Might Matter 190
6.2 The Static View and Freedom 192
6.3 Causal Determinism and Freedom 194
6.4 Compatibilism: Alternative Possibilities Compatibilism 197
6.5 Compatibilism 2: No Constraints Compatibilism 200
6.6 Indeterminism 203
6.7 Laws of Nature 205
6.8 Doing Metaphysics 212
Further Reading 212
7 Meta-Metaphysics 214
7.1 Getting More Meta 214
7.2 The Epistemology of Metaphysics 215
7.3 The Philosophy of Language of Metaphysics 227
7.4 The Metaphysics of Metaphysics 235
7.5 The Ethics of Metaphysics 243
7.6 Doing Metaphysics 254
Further Reading 254
Glossary 256
Index 264
0.1 I wrote this book with three possible audiences in mind: philosophy majors who are taking an upper-division metaphysics class, students in an entry-level introduction to philosophy course, and members of the general public who are curious about philosophy and willing to work through this book outside of a classroom.
0.2 I expect that members of the first audience are going to have the easiest time with this book because they already have some philosophy under their belt and so are familiar with philosophical modes of questioning and reasoning. They will also have the guidance of a professional philosopher to help address their questions, clarify what they might be confused about, and suggest further things to think about beyond what I have the space to deal with in this book. But I have done my best to make this book as accessible as possible to budding philosophers and the general public. I have tried to present what is objectively very difficult material in an easy and comfortable way by using down to earth language and a conversational style, and by employing familiar examples to illustrate the theories and arguments discussed. I have also included links to stuff that is online that is relevant or useful to consider as you read through the book.
0.3 Even so, you should expect to work hard as you read this book. Philosophy is not easy, and that is one reason that people have been wrestling with philosophical problems for thousands of years. You can't expect to read a philosophy book like you would read a Harry Potter novel. Instead, you should plan on periodically pausing after reading a section of the book-maybe even after reading a single paragraph-and then really thinking hard about what you've just read. When you pause, ask yourself the following questions:
In short, when working through a book of philosophy you must be a critical reader. You have to be an active participant, rather than a passive absorber of words and ideas. I've tried to make things as easy as possible, but I can't make an intrinsically difficult subject easy. If you aren't willing to do the work to think through the problems, puzzles, and arguments that will be discussed in the chapters to follow, you should put the book back on the shelf. I sincerely hope you won't though. The primary value of philosophy can only be seen by someone who has really worked through a philosophical problem.
0.4 Here is a suggestion for how to read this book critically. Read each chapter at least three times, but with deeper critical engagement each time. The first time you read the chapter, read it all the way through so that you get a feeling for the territory it covers. The second time you read the chapter, read it slowly, and pause at the end of each section so that you can write down any questions you might have about what is going on. If there is something that you don't understand while reading the chapter on this second reading, write down what you think you don't understand-and also guess what might be going on, and write your guess down too. If you have objections to an argument discussed, jot those down too. The third time you read the chapter, read it with the goal of finding answers to the questions you wrote down. Check to see whether any guesses you made have been confirmed or refuted. There is no guarantee that you will have all of these answers by the third read, but you should have a much clearer understanding of the issues discussed. In short, my recommendation is that you read through this book at three least times: first as a tourist, second as a detective, and third as a judge who compels the witnesses to answer your questions.
0.5 I will occasionally raise questions that I do not attempt to immediately answer. When this happens, I invite you to pause and consider these questions before reading further. How might answering them one way rather than another affect the arguments you are considering?
0.6 I have tried to make this book as accessible as I can. This is why I have made an effort to minimize the use technical jargon. But occasionally the introduction of technical terminology is important, and so sometimes I introduce some. My view on technical jargon is this: in every field, whenever it is feasible to avoid using technical phrases and stick instead to ordinary words, this is what you should do. Technical jargon should be viewed as a necessary evil, and like all necessary evils, it should be tolerated only when genuinely necessary, or at the very least, only when it is too cumbersome or annoying to do without it.
0.7 There are three situations in which it is a good idea to introduce technical jargon. First, sometimes using technical terminology lets you avoid writing out the same complicated sentences over and over again. In short, when you need an abbreviation, a bit of technical jargon can be useful. Here's a paragraph in which the introduction of some technical terminology would have been very helpful:
A lot of people want to know what makes a life worth living. Some people think that a person's life is worth living if and only if that person experiences a greater amount of pleasure than pain throughout the course of her life, and that a life is better or worse to the extent that the balance of pleasure over pain is higher or lower. But I think that the theory that a person's life is worth living if and only if that person experiences throughout her life a greater amount of pleasure than pain, and that a life is a better or worse life to the extent that the balance of pleasure minus pain in that life is higher or lower, is a false theory. Here is an argument against the theory that a person's life is worth living if and only if that person experiences throughout her life a greater amount of pleasure than pain, and that a life is a better or worse life to the extent that the balance of pleasure minus pain in that life is higher or lower. Suppose there is a person who spends the entirety of his life isolated from other human beings, acquires no interesting knowledge, and participates in no worthwhile activities, but derives a lot of pleasure from scratching himself. This person never experiences any pain. This person has a life that is barely worth living-few of us would switch places with him because we correctly think that our life is a better life. But the theory that a person's life is worth living if and only if that person experiences a greater amount of pleasure than pain throughout the course of her life, and that a life is better or worse to the extent that the balance of pleasure over pain is higher or lower, implies that this person has a great life. So, the theory that that a person's life is worth living if and only if that person experiences throughout her life a greater amount of pleasure than pain, and that a life is a better or worse life to the extent that the balance of pleasure minus pain in that life is higher or lower is false.
What a cumbersome paragraph to read! (It wasn't much fun to write either.) Even if the argument contained in this paragraph is a great argument, it is really hard to figure out what that argument is because you have to keep reading the same long chunk of words. Some way of abbreviating that long chunk would help. To see this, check out this paragraph:
A lot of people want to know what makes a life worth living. Some people think that a person's life is worth living if and only if that person experiences a greater amount of pleasure than pain throughout the course of her life, and that a life is better or worse to the extent that the balance of pleasure over pain is higher or lower. Let's call this theory hedonism. I think that hedonism is a false theory. Here is an argument against hedonism. Suppose there is a person who spends the entirety of his life isolated from other human beings, acquires no interesting knowledge, and participates in no worthwhile activities, but derives a lot of pleasure from scratching himself. This person never experiences any pain. This person has a life that is barely worth living-few of us would switch places with him because we correctly think that our life is a better life. But hedonism implies that this person has a great life. So, hedonism is false.
I trust that you see that the second paragraph is much easier to read and understand because I introduced a bit of technical jargon, specifically, the word "hedonism." So sometimes technical terminology is necessary (or at least extremely helpful!) because it serves to abbreviate. But the jargon will be useful only if you also commit to remembering what that jargon abbreviates. So, when you come across any technical jargon, please commit yourself to remembering what it means! It will make your trek through this book more straightforward. (That said, there is a glossary at the end of the book that...
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