Kindle Price: $71.43

Save $28.56 (29%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

eBook features:
  • Highlight, take notes, and search in the book
Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Peter Van Inwagen
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Being: A Study in Ontology Kindle Edition

by Peter van Inwagen (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
See all formats and editions
For millennia, philosophers have debated about the existence of things - not only the existence of things like God, demons and the soul, but things like mathematical objects, qualities and attributes, or merely possible states of affairs and people. Ontology is the present-day name for the part of philosophy that addresses such questions. Being attempts to answer these old questions-and the question of how one should go about attempting to answer them.

This book presents and defends a meta-ontology and an ontology. Quine has taught us to use the word 'ontology' as a label for the part of philosophy that addresses "the ontological question" - 'What is there?' Meta-ontology, then, is the part of philosophy that addresses two questions, 'What is it to be (or to exist)?' and 'How should one attempt to answer the ontological question?' Chapters 1 and 5 are devoted to meta-ontology - Chapter 1 to a defense of the "neo-Quinean" meta-ontology,
Chapter 5 to an examination of various alternative meta-ontologies. The essence of neo-Quineanism is that 'x exists' and 'Something is x' and 'The number of things that are x is not 0' mean more or less the same thing'. Neo-Quineanism obviously entails that there are no non-existent things, for nothing is
such that nothing is it and everything is such that the number of things identical with it is 1. Chapter 2 is an examination of various positions that imply that there are non-existent things. The topic of Chapter 3 is the ancient "problem of universals," or the problem of the existence and nature of abstract objects. Chapter 4 is devoted to questions concerning possible worlds and other objects belonging to the ontology of modality.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-0192883964
  2. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  3. Publisher
    OUP Oxford
  4. Publication date
    November 24, 2022
  5. Language
    English
  6. File size
    1096 KB
  7. See all details
Next page

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is something of a historical document... this book will be very welcome to those working in the resurgence of analytic meta-ontology because it uncovers the roots of contemporary thinking about being." -- Choice

About the Author

Peter van Inwagen, John Cardinal O'Hara Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame

Peter van Inwagen is the John Cardinal O'Hara Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has delivered the Maurice Lectures at King's College, London, the Wilde Lectures on Natural Religion at Oxford University, the Stewart Lectures at Princeton University, and the Gifford Lectures at the University of St Andrews, where he received an honorary doctorate. He is the author of eight books and over two hundred essays and critical studies, and has had three books and four international conferences devoted to his work.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BNJHGBDJ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ OUP Oxford (November 24, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 24, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1096 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Peter Van Inwagen

Peter Van Inwagen

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

No customer reviews

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report