Ontology and Metaontology: A Contemporary Guide PDF
Preview Ontology and Metaontology: A Contemporary Guide
Ontology and Metaontology AlsO AvAilAble frOM blOOMsbury Heidegger, Ethics and the Practice of Ontology, David Webb Metaphysics: An Introduction, Jonathan Tallant Pragmatist Metaphysics, Sami Pihlström Quine: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gary Kemp Quine’s Naturalism, Paul A. Gregory The Bloomsbury Companion to Metaphysics, edited by Neil A. Manson and Robert W. Barnard The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophical Logic, edited by Leon Horsten and Richard Pettigrew The Science, Politics, and Ontology of Life-Philosophy, edited by Scott Campbell and Paul W. Bruno Transcendental Ontology, Markus Gabriel Ontology and Metaontology A Contemporary Guide francesco berto and Matteo Plebani Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2015 © Francesco Berto and Matteo Plebani 2015 Francesco Berto and Matteo Plebani have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Authors of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-4411-9195-3 PB: 978-1-4411-8289-0 ePDF: 978-1-4725-7329-2 ePub: 978-1-4725-7330-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Berto, Francesco. Ontology and metaontology: a contemporary guide/Francesco Berto and Matteo Plebani. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4411-9195-3 (hardback)–ISBN 978-1-4411-8289-0 (pbk.)–ISBN 978-1-4725-7330-8 (epub) –ISBN 978-1-4725-7329-2 (epdf) 1. Ontology. I. Plebani, Matteo. II. Title. BD311.B47 2015 111–dc23 2014021253 Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India To our parents, who made us part of what there is. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements ix introduction: What is Ontology? What is Metaontology? 1 Part i Quinean Metaontology 1 On Denoting 15 2 1948: On What There is 23 3 The standard view 34 Part ii Alternative Metaontologies 4 Ontological Pluralism and Neo-fregeanism 55 5 Carnap’s view of Ontology and Neo-Carnapians 68 6 fictionalism 83 7 Meinongianism 99 8 The Grounding Approach 113 Part iii Ontology 9 Abstract Objects i: Numbers & Co. 123 10 Abstract Objects ii: linguistic Types, Propositions and values 152 viii Contents 11 Possible Worlds 163 12 Material Objects 181 13 fictional Objects 199 14 beyond Particulars: Properties and events 211 References 229 Author Index 241 Subject Index 244 Acknowledgements We are most grateful to Doug Edwards, David Liggins, Tuomas Tahko, Stephan Torre, Achille Varzi and Alberto Voltolini for their helpful comments and remarks on various parts of this book. The division of labour for it has been as follows: we wrote the Introduction together. Chapters 1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13 were written by Francesco Berto. Chapters 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 14 were written by Matteo Plebani. We reviewed each other’s chapters. Parts of Chapters 1, 3, and 7 draw on Chapters 2 and 4–6 of Francesco Berto’s Synthèse Library book Existence as a Real Property. Thanks to Springer for allowing us to use that material. Parts of Chapter 9 draw on Matteo Plebani’s survey of nominalistic strategies in the philosophy of mathematics (‘Nominalismo in filosofia della matematica’) for the online journal Aphex. Thanks to the editors for allowing us to use that material. Parts of Chapter 11 come from Francesco Berto’s entry ‘Impossible Worlds’ for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Thanks to the editors, and particularly to Ed Zalta, for allowing us to reuse that material.
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