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Peter Van Inwagen
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Being: A Study in Ontology

by Peter van Inwagen (Author)
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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.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0192883968
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0192883964
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    March 22, 2023
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    9 x 1.4 x 6.5 inches
  7. Print length
    320 pages
  8. See all details
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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"The book is something of a historical document...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

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (March 22, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0192883968
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0192883964
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 1.4 x 6.5 inches

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