
Appearance in Reality
John Heil(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 16. September 2021
Book
Hardback
278 pages
978-0-19-886545-2 (ISBN)
Description
In Appearance in Reality, John Heil addresses a question at the heart of metaphysics: how are the appearances related to reality, how does what we find in the sciences comport with what we encounter in everyday experience and in the laboratory? Objects, for instance, appear to be colourful, noisy, self-contained, and massively interactive. Physics tells us they are dynamic swarms of colourless particles, or disturbances in fields, or something equally strange. Is what we experience illusory, present only in our minds? But then what are minds? Do minds elude physics? Or are the physicist's depictions mere constructs with no claim to reality? Perhaps reality is hierarchical: physics encompasses the fundamental things, the less than fundamental things are dependent on, but distinct from these. Heil's investigation advances a fourth possibility: the scientific image (what we have in physics) affords our best guide to the nature of what the appearances are appearances of.
Reviews / Votes
Heil managed to write a contribution to contemporary metaphysics that is surprisingly readable. Because of its clarity, Appearance in Reality can be read as a non-neutral introduction to many issues in metaphysics. * J. F. Richeimer, CHOICE *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
584 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-886545-2 (9780198865452)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions


Person
John Heil is professor of philosophy at Washington University in St Louis and at Durham University, and an Honorary Research Associate at Monash University. He works primarily on topics in metaphysics and the philosophy of mind and is author of a number of books, including The Universe as We Find It (Oxford, 2012), From an Ontological Point of View (Oxford, 2003), Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge, 2012), The Nature of True Minds (Cambridge, 1992), and Perception and Cognition (California, 1983). He is Editor of the Journal of the American Philosophical Association.
Author
Professor of philosophyProfessor of philosophy, Washington University in St Louis, and Durham University, and Honorary Research Associate, Monash University
Content
1: Metaphysics
2: Ontological Categories
3: Substance and Property
4: Essences, Kinds, Universals
5: Qualities and Powers
6: Qualities Unbound
7: Causation
8: Emergence and Downward Causation
9: Hylomorphism
10: The Art of the Possible
11: Brute Fact
12: Roots of Things
13: Reconciliation
14: Agency
Epilogue
2: Ontological Categories
3: Substance and Property
4: Essences, Kinds, Universals
5: Qualities and Powers
6: Qualities Unbound
7: Causation
8: Emergence and Downward Causation
9: Hylomorphism
10: The Art of the Possible
11: Brute Fact
12: Roots of Things
13: Reconciliation
14: Agency
Epilogue