Treatise on Basic Philosophy: Ontology I: The Furniture of the WorldSpringer Science & Business Media, 1977 M06 30 - 354 pages In this Introduction' we shall sketch the business of ontology, or metaphysics, and shall locate it on the map of learning. This has to be done because there are many ways of construing the word 'ontology' and because of the bad reputation metaphysics has suffered until recently - a well deserved one in most cases. 1. ONTOLOGICAL PROBLEMS Ontological (or metaphysical) views are answers to ontological ques tions. And ontological (or metaphysical) questions are questions with an extremely wide scope, such as 'Is the world material or ideal - or perhaps neutral?" 'Is there radical novelty, and if so how does it come about?', 'Is there objective chance or just an appearance of such due to human ignorance?', 'How is the mental related to the physical?', 'Is a community anything but the set of its members?', and 'Are there laws of history?'. Just as religion was born from helplessness, ideology from conflict, and technology from the need to master the environment, so metaphysics - just like theoretical science - was probably begotten by the awe and bewilderment at the boundless variety and apparent chaos of the phenomenal world, i. e. the sum total of human experience. Like the scientist, the metaphysician looked and looks for unity in diversity, for pattern in disorder, for structure in the amorphous heap of phenomena - and in some cases even for some sense, direction or finality in reality as a whole. |
Contents
SUBSTANCE | 26 |
12 Axiomatic Foundation of Association Theory | 28 |
13 Consequences | 31 |
14 Atom Aggregates | 36 |
15 Clustering | 37 |
16 Historical Remark | 38 |
2 Assembly | 39 |
22 Formalization | 40 |
3 Disposition | 179 |
32 Elucidation | 181 |
33 Potency and Act | 183 |
34 Unrealized Possibilities and Counterfactuals | 184 |
4 Probability | 185 |
42 Probability State Space | 187 |
43 Propensity Interpretation | 190 |
5 Chance propensity | 194 |
23 Definitions | 42 |
24 Some Consequences | 45 |
25 Atoms and Levels | 47 |
26 Alternative Formalizations | 49 |
27 Concluding Remarks | 50 |
32 Entities and Concepts | 52 |
33 Existence and Individuation | 53 |
4 Concluding remarks | 55 |
FORM | 57 |
1 Property and attribute | 58 |
12 AttributeProperty Correspondence | 59 |
2 Analysis | 62 |
22 Intrinsic and Mutual Primary and Secondary | 65 |
3 Theory | 69 |
32 Basic Assumptions and Conventions | 72 |
33 Laws as Properties | 77 |
34 Precedence and Conjunction of Properties | 80 |
35 Similarity | 85 |
36 Indiscernibility | 90 |
4 Properties of properties | 92 |
42 Property Weight | 94 |
43 Resultants and Emergents | 97 |
44 Properties of Properties | 98 |
5 Status of properties | 99 |
52 A Critique of Platonism | 102 |
53 The Problem of Universals | 104 |
6 Concluding remarks | 108 |
THING | 110 |
12 Assumptions | 112 |
13 Thing and Construct | 116 |
14 Model Thing | 119 |
2 State | 123 |
22 State Function | 125 |
23 Law Statements as Restrictions on State Functions | 128 |
Preliminaries | 131 |
25 Definition of a State Space | 133 |
26 Equivalent Representations of States | 136 |
27 State and State Preparation | 138 |
28 Concluding Remarks | 139 |
3 From class to natural kind | 140 |
33 Kinds and Species | 143 |
34 The Algebra of Kinds | 147 |
35 Variety | 150 |
4 The world | 152 |
42 Individuals Populations Communities and Species | 153 |
43 Existence Concepts | 155 |
44 Nothingness and Virtual Existence | 158 |
45 Existence Criteria | 160 |
5 Concluding remarks | 162 |
POSSIBILITY | 164 |
1 Conceptual possibility | 165 |
Relative | 168 |
22 Chrysippian Possibility | 172 |
23 Real Possibility as Lawfulness | 173 |
24 Factual Necessity | 174 |
25 Possibility Criteria | 177 |
52 Analysis | 197 |
53 Upshot | 198 |
6 Marginalia | 199 |
62 Possible Worlds Metaphysics | 202 |
63 Modality and Probability | 204 |
64 Randomness | 208 |
65 Probability and Causality | 210 |
66 The Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics | 211 |
7 Concluding remarks | 212 |
CHANGE | 215 |
1 Changeability | 216 |
12 Changeability | 218 |
2 Event | 221 |
22 The Event Space | 222 |
23 The Representation of Processes | 226 |
24 The Space of Lawful Events | 229 |
25 Keeping Track of Changing States | 232 |
26 Rate Extent and Change Potential | 237 |
3 Process | 243 |
32 General Concepts and Principles | 251 |
4 Action and reaction | 256 |
42 Aggregates and Systems | 262 |
43 Reference Frame | 264 |
5 Panta rhei | 267 |
52 Dynamicism | 268 |
53 Interconnectedness | 270 |
54 Three Misconceptions | 271 |
6 Concluding remarks | 273 |
SPACETIME | 276 |
1 Conflicting views | 278 |
12 Approaches to Chronotopics Building | 281 |
2 Space | 283 |
22 A Philosophers Space | 285 |
23 The Physicists Space | 287 |
24 Bulk and Shape | 293 |
25 Concluding Remarks | 294 |
3 Duration | 296 |
32 Before and After | 297 |
33 Duration | 301 |
4 Spacetime | 305 |
42 Position in Spacetime | 309 |
43 Change in Spacetime | 312 |
5 Spatiotemporal properties | 314 |
52 Time Reversal and Process Reversibility | 317 |
53 Antecedence Causality Principle | 320 |
54 Action by Contact | 323 |
55 Spatiotemporal Contiguity | 325 |
56 The Causal Relation | 326 |
6 Matters of existence | 327 |
62 Existence of Space and Time | 328 |
7 Concluding remarks | 330 |
335 | |
INDEX OF NAMES | 344 |
348 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
A. V. Miller absolute abstract according to Hegel actual Aristotle atomic basic becoming chemistry concept concrete consciousness contradiction defined definite determined dialectic dynamics of immediacy elements empirical entities example existence external fact finite formal function gravitation Hegel Hegel's logic Hegel's philosophy Hegelian hence Heraclitus historical hypothesis idea identity identity philosophy individual interpretation J. N. Findlay Kant kind knowledge Kosok laws mathematical matter means mechanics mediation metaphysics modal logic movement negation Newton Newtonian notion objects ontology opposition organism particles particular phenomena Phenomenology Philosophy of Nature philosophy of science physical position Postulate predicate principle properties pure quantum quantum mechanics reality reference reflection relation relative Remark represents Science of Logic scientific theory scientists sense space spacetime spatiotemporal specific spirit Stallo structure sublation substances theoretical things thinking thought tion transition truth unity universal Zusatz
Popular passages
Page ii - TREATISE ON BASIC PHILOSOPHY 1 SEMANTICS I Sense and Reference 2 s EMAN TI cs ii Interpretation and Truth 3 ONTOLOGY i The Furniture of the World...
Page 17 - ... predict, and produce. M9. There are several kinds of law (nomological pluralism). There are the so-called causal laws and probabilistic laws; there are laws that relate properties on a single level (eg, biological laws) and laws that relate properties at different levels (eg, psychosocial laws). MIO. There are several levels of organization'. physical, chemical, biological, social, technological, etc. The so-called higher levels emerge from other levels in the course of certain processes but,...
Page 4 - Obviously then it is the work of one science to examine being qua being, and the attributes which belong to it qua being, and the same science will examine not only substances but also their attributes, both those above named and the concepts "prior" and "posterior," "genus" and "species," "whole" and "part,