Material Beings

Peter Van Inwagen

Published by Cornell University Press 1995

Material Beings

Peter Van Inwagen

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501713033

Overview
Contents

About this book

According to Peter van Inwagen, visible inanimate objects do not, strictly speaking, exist. In defending this controversial thesis, he offers fresh insights on such topics as personal identity, commonsense belief, existence over time, the phenomenon of vagueness, and the relation between metaphysics and ordinary language.

Author information

Peter van Inwagen isJohn Cardinal O'Hara Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of many books, includingThe Problem of EvilandOntology, Identity, and Modality.

1 01 eng 288 00 288 03 9 PHI013000 10 PHI000000 24 Cornell U.P. - website hierarchy Y04 Philosophy / Metaphysics

Reviews

08

"A fascinating, densely argued, and highly original book on the metaphysics of material objects. The objections van Inwagen raises to the standard views on material parthood are not easily answered. Moreover, his examination of the topic of personal identity is a significant contribution to the philosophy of the mind."—Philosophical Review

08 "Commonplace things such as hawks and handsaws pose philosophical problems at least as imposing as those presented by abstract objects such as numbers and divine beings. Van Inwagen argues vigorously for the view that our world contains . . . only living organisms, the activity of whose various parts constitute a life and against psychological accounts of personal identity. This gives only a rough idea of the contents of this rich and rewarding book."—Review of Metaphysics 08 "There is much to bee learned from this book. . . . Material Beings is a refreshing example of straight-on, full-speed metaphysics. Van Inwagen goes where his arguments lead him—and they lead him to some remarkable places indeed."—Philosophy and Phenomenological Research

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
2. The Special Composition Question Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
3. Contact, a Representative Answer to the Special Composition Question Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
4. The General Composition Question Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
5. What We Shall Not Presuppose Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
6. Answers to the Special Composition Question According to Which Composition Occurs When Some Type of Physical Bonding Occurs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
7. Answers to the Special Composition Question According to Which Composition Occurs When Combinations of Various Types of Physical Bonding Occur Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
8. Extreme Answers to the Special Composition Question: Nihilism and Universalism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
9. The Proposed Answer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
10. Why the Proposed Answer to the Special Composition Question, Radical Though It Is, Does Not Contradict Our Ordinary Beliefs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	98
11. The Topic of the Previous Section Continued: Paraphrase Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
12. Unity and Thinking Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
13. Artifacts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
14. The Identities of Material Objects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
15. Brain Transplants Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
16. Two Problerns about Personal Identity: Memory and Commissurotomy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	182
17. The Problem of the Many and the Vagueness of Composition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
18. The Vagueness of Identity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	228
19. The Vagueness of Existence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 288
Illustrations
- Other: 9 halftones
Keywords: Philosophy

eBook

Published: December 4, 1990
ISBN: 9781501713033