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Informationen zum Autor Helen Beebee is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham. She is the author of Hume on Causation (2006) and co-editor, with Julian Dodd, of Truthmakers: The Contemporary Debate (2005). Julian Dodd is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Manchester. He is the author of Works of Music: An Essay in Ontology (2007) and An Identity Theory of Truth (2000), and co-editor of Truthmakers: The Contemporary Debate (2005). Klappentext This collection brings together key contemporary texts in metaphysics. Designed for students and general readers, it has a distinctive pedagogical aim: to enable readers to engage critically with challenging philosophical texts, and thereby use such texts as a springboard for their own philosophical thought and writing. Each text is followed by a detailed commentary, which puts the author's views and arguments into context, explains key terms and argumentative moves, and - most importantly - asks a variety of questions. The questions are designed to prompt the reader to think critically about what the author is saying and why she is saying it, to think of objections, and to formulate and justify his or her own views on the topic. The book includes texts by Kripke, Lewis, Parfit, Armstrong, Nagel, and Dennett, amongst others, and discusses the following topics: free will, personal identity, realism and nominalism, modality, persistence, and realism and anti-realism. Zusammenfassung * A student-friendly collection of key contemporary texts in metaphysics. * Each text is followed by a detailed commentary! setting it in context. * Includes questions designed to help readers think hard about what the author is saying and why! to think of objections! and to formulate his or her own views. Inhaltsverzeichnis Sources and Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 1 Personal Identity 9 Introduction 9 Derek Parfit , 'Personal Identity' 13 Commentary on Parfit 30 Marya Schechtman , 'Personhood and Personal Identity' 36 Commentary on Schechtman 54 Further Reading 59 Essay Questions 59 2 Free Will 60 Introduction 60 Peter van Inwagen , 'The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism' 62 Commentary on van Inwagen 75 Daniel Dennett , 'Could Have Done Otherwise' (extract from Elbow Room) 82 Commentary on Dennett 93 Further Reading 97 Essay Questions 97 Appendix 98 3 Realism and Anti-realism 100 Introduction 100 Donald Davidson , 'On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme' 106 Commentary on Davidson 117 Thomas Nagel , 'Thought and Reality' (extract from The View from Nowhere) 125 Commentary on Nagel 139 Further reading 145 Essay questions 145 4 Realism and Nominalism 146 Introduction 146 Michael Devitt , ' ''Ostrich Nominalism''or ''Mirage Realism''?' 150 Commentary on Devitt 157 D. M. Armstrong , 'Against ''Ostrich'' Nominalism: A Reply to Michael Devitt' 160 Commentary on Armstrong 170 Further reading 173 Essay questions 174 5 Possible Worlds 175 Introduction 175 David Lewis , extract from Counterfactuals 183 Commentary on Lewis 187 Saul Kripke , extract from Naming and Necessity 192 Commentary on Kripke 197 Further reading 203 Essay questions 203 6 Persistence over Time 204 Introduction 204 David Lewis , extract from On the Plurality of Worlds 209 Commentary on Lewis 212 Sally Haslanger , 'Endurance and Temporary Intrinsics' 214 Commentary on Haslanger 220 David Lewis , 'Tensing the Copula...
