Overview

A Survey of Metaphysics provides a systematic overview of modern metaphysics, covering all of the most important topics likely to be encountered on a metaphysics course. The conception of metaphysics underlying the book is the fairly traditional and widely-shared one that metaphysics deals with the deepest questions that can be raised concerning the fundamental structure of reality as a whole. The book is divided into six main parts, each relatively self-contained, focusing in turn on the following major themes: identity and change, necessity and essence, causation, agency and events, space and time, and universals and particulars. In an introductory chapter, the conception of metaphysics underlying the book is explained and defended against the many and varied opponents of metaphysics those students are likely to encounter. While the book makes reference when necessary to the history of metaphysics, its emphasis is on contemporary views and issues. The author's approach is not narrowly partisan, but avoids bland neutrality in matters of controversy.

Full Product Details

Author:   E. J. Lowe (, Professor of Philosophy, University of Durham)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.602kg
ISBN:  

9780198752530

ISBN 10:   0198752539
Pages:   416
Publication Date:   17 January 2002
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

1: Introduction: The nature of metaphysics Part I Identity and Change 2: Identity over time and change of composition 3: Qualitative change and the doctrine of temporal parts 4: Substantial change and spatiotemporal coincidence Part II Necessity, Essence, and Possible Worlds 5: Necessity and identity 6: Essentialism 7: Possible worlds Part III Causation and Conditionals 8: Conterfactual conditionals 9: Causes and conditions 10: Conterfactuals and event causation Part IV Actions and Events 11: Event causation and agent causation 12: Actions and Events 13: Events, things, and space-time Part V Space and Time 14: Absolutism versus relationalism 15: Incongruent conterparts and the nature of space 16: The paradoxes of motion and the possibility of change 17: Tense and the reality of time 18: Causation and the direction of time Part VI Universals and Particulars 19: Realism versus nominalism 20: The abstract and the concrete

Reviews

`This is a great book. It will immediately become--and will remain for some time--one of the two or three books that are seriously considered for any metaphysics course that uses a textbook. ' Professor Trenton Merricks, University of Virginia, US `This book provides excellent coverage for typical courses in metaphysics...Lowe has avoided unnecessary technicalities and jargon; the writing is both clear and accessible to typical philosophy undergraduates. He has done a remarkable job on this score.' Professor Gary Rosenkrantz, University of North Carolina, Greenboro

'E. J. Lowe, one of the UK's leading metaphysicians, has written a superb introduction to metaphysics. ... Lowe's book is the best introduction to metaphysics available.' THES

Author Information

E.J. Lowe is Professor of Philosophy at University of Durham

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