Overview

This introduction to the topic of ontology - the philosophical study of what exists and what it means for something to exist - aims to provide students taking courses in metaphysics with a comprehensive account of the central ideas at the heart of the subject of being. The first part of the work explores questions of pure philosophical ontology: what is meant by the concept of being, why something exists rather than nothing, and why there is only one logically contingent actual world. The author argues that logic provides the only possible answers to these fundamental problems of pure ontology. The second part of the book examines issues of applied scientific ontology. The author offers a critical survey of some of the most influential traditional ontologies such as the distinction between appearance and reality, and the categories of substance and transcendence. The ontology of physical entities - space, time, matter and causation - are examined as well as the ontology of abstract entities - sets, numbers, properties, relations and propositions. The special problems posed by the subjectivity of mind, and of God, are also explored. The final chapter deals with the ontology of culture, language and art.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dale Jacquette
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Acumen Publishing Ltd
Weight:   0.557kg
ISBN:  

9781902683553

ISBN 10:   1902683552
Pages:   368
Publication Date:   31 October 2002
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: being as such Part I: Pure philosophical ontology 1. What it is to be (on Heidegger) 2. Combinatorial ontology 3. Why there is something rather than nothing 4. Why there is only one logically contingent actual world 5. Concepts of existence in philosophical logic and the analysis of being qua being Part II: Applied antology and the metaphysics of science 6. Ontological commitment (on Quine) 7. Appearance, reality, substance, transcendence 8. Physical entities: space, time, matter and causation, physical states of affairs and events, natural laws 9. Abstract entities, particular and universal: numbers, sets, properties, qualities, relations, propositions, possibilities, logical, mathematical, and metaphysical laws 10. Subjectivity of mind in the world of objective physical facts 11. God: a divine supernatural mind? 12. Ontology of culture, language, art and artefacts Conclusion: scientific-philosophical ontology Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

A highly stimulating book which provides an extremely interesting, even daring, vision of ontology within a solidly analytical framework. - Philosophical Books A clear and powerful vision of ontology... very well written, very well organized, its theses are clear and it is packed with interesting material. - John Divers, University of Sheffield

"""A highly stimulating book which provides an extremely interesting, even daring, vision of ontology within a solidly analytical framework."" - Philosophical Books ""A clear and powerful vision of ontology... very well written, very well organized, its theses are clear and it is packed with interesting material."" - John Divers, University of Sheffield"

Author Information

Dale Jacquette is Senior Professorial Chair in Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

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