Against mereological nihilism
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It is argued that mereological nihilism fails because it cannot answer the special arrangement question: when is it true that the xs are arranged F-wise?Abstract:
I argue that mereological nihilism fails because it cannot answer (what I describe as) the special arrangement question: when is it true that the xs (the mereological simples) are arranged F-wise? I suggest that the answers given in the literature fail and that the obvious responses that could be made look to undermine the motivations for adopting nihilism in the first place.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Mereological nihilism and the special arrangement question
TL;DR: If nihilists need to employ such phrases as “there are xs arranged F-wise,” non-nihilists will need to do so as well, and any costs incurred by the nihilist when she employs such phrases will be shared by everyone else.
Journal ArticleDOI
Simplicity as a criterion of theory choice in metaphysics
TL;DR: The authors defend the notion that theoretical simplicity is truth conducive in metaphysics, against several recent objections, and argue that there is no special problem with the notion of theoretical simplicity in science.
Dissertation
Composition and Identities
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the way objects are arranged is relevant with respect to the question which object they compose, i.e. to which objects they are identical to.
References
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Book
Naming and Necessity
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make a connection between the mind-body problem and the so-called "identity thesis" in analytic philosophy, which has wide-ranging implications for other problems in philosophy that traditionally might be thought far-removed.
Book
A World of States of Affairs
TL;DR: This paper argued that the world is a world of states of affairs, not things, and used the phrase "state of affairs" rather than the word "fact" to mean no more than possible fact.
Book
Parts of Classes
TL;DR: Taking classes apart the trouble with classes a framework for set theory set theory for mereologists.
Book
Objects and persons
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an explanation of Eliminativism and its relation to Epiphenomenalism and Epistemicism, and consider the following: 1. Explaining Elimination 2. Considerations in Favour of Eliminating Us? 3. Epinealism 4. Surviving Elimination 5. Mental Causation and Free Will 7.