Nominalism about Properties
Title | Nominalism about Properties PDF eBook |
Author | Ghislain Guigon |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 224 |
Release | 2015-02-11 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1317532260 |
Nominalism, which has its origins in the Middle Ages and continues into the Twenty-First Century, is the doctrine that there are no universals. This book is unique in bringing together essays on the history of nominalism and essays that present a systematic discussion of nominalism. It introduces the reader to the distinction between particulars and universals, to the difficulties posed by this distinction, and to the main motivations for the rejection of universals. It also describes the main varieties of nominalism about properties and provides tools to understand how they developed in the history of Western Philosophy. All essays are new and are written by experts on the topic, and they advance the discussion about nominalism to a new level.
Resemblance Nominalism
Title | Resemblance Nominalism PDF eBook |
Author | Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 251 |
Release | 2002-07-04 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 0199243778 |
Gardeners, poets, lovers, and philosophers are all interested in the redness of roses; but only philosophers wonder how it is that two different roses can share the same property. Are red things red because they resemble each other? Or do they resemble each other because they are red? Since the 1970s philosophers have tended to favour the latter view, and held that a satisfactory account of properties must involve the postulation of either universals or tropes. But Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra revives the dormant alternative theory of resemblance nominalism, showing first that it can withstand the attacks of such eminent opponents as Goodman and Armstrong, and then that there are reasons to prefer it to its rival theories. The clarity and rigour of his arguments will challenge metaphysicians to rethink their views on properties.
The Nature of Properties
Title | The Nature of Properties PDF eBook |
Author | Michael Tooley |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 390 |
Release | 1999 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9780815330660 |
First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Properties as Processes
Title | Properties as Processes PDF eBook |
Author | Johanna Seibt |
Publisher | |
Pages | 337 |
Release | 1990 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9780917930591 |
Peirce and the Threat of Nominalism
Title | Peirce and the Threat of Nominalism PDF eBook |
Author | Paul Forster |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 273 |
Release | 2011-03-17 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1139497839 |
Charles Peirce, the founder of pragmatism, was a thinker of extraordinary depth and range - he wrote on philosophy, mathematics, psychology, physics, logic, phenomenology, semiotics, religion and ethics - but his writings are difficult and fragmentary. This book provides a clear and comprehensive explanation of Peirce's thought. His philosophy is presented as a systematic response to 'nominalism', the philosophy which he most despised and which he regarded as the underpinning of the dominant philosophical worldview of his time. The book explains Peirce's challenge to nominalism as a theory of meaning and shows its implications for his views of knowledge, truth, the nature of reality, and ethics. It will be essential reading both for Peirce scholars and for those new to his work.
Deflating Existential Consequence
Title | Deflating Existential Consequence PDF eBook |
Author | Jody Azzouni |
Publisher | Oxford University Press, USA |
Pages | 250 |
Release | 2004 |
Genre | Mathematics |
ISBN | 0195159888 |
If we take mathematical statements to be true, must we also believe in the existence of abstract invisible mathematical objects? This text claims that the way to escape such a commitment is to accept true statements which are about objects that don't exist in any sense at all.
Universals
Title | Universals PDF eBook |
Author | James Porter Moreland |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 193 |
Release | 2014-12-18 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1317490010 |
Things are particulars and their qualities are universals, but do universals have an existence distinct from the particular things describable by those terms? And what must be their nature if they do? This book provides a careful and assured survey of the central issues of debate surrounding universals, in particular those issues that have been a crucial part of the emergence of contemporary analytic ontology. The book begins with a taxonomy of extreme nominalist, moderate nominalist, and realist positions on properties, and outlines the way each handles the phenomena of predication, resemblance, and abstract reference. The debate about properties and philosophical naturalism is also examined. Different forms of extreme nominalism, moderate nominalism, and minimalist realism are critiqued. Later chapters defend a traditional realist view of universals and examine the objections to realism from various infinite regresses, the difficulties in stating identity conditions for properties, and problems with realist accounts of knowledge of abstract objects. In addition, the debate between Platonists and Aristotelians is examined alongside a discussion of the relationship between properties and an adequate theory of existence. The book's final chapter explores the problem of individuating particulars. The book makes accessible a difficult topic without blunting the sophistication of argument required by a more advanced readership.