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This book challenges the widely accepted philosophical principle of parsimony, which holds that theories lacking simplicity are inherently doubtful. It critically examines this principle in its unqualified form and explores various ways to present it in a more philosophically appealing manner. The book evaluates different versions of the principle, considering the implications of endorsing one version over another. It is intended for both academics and students of philosophy.
List of contents
Introduction.- 1 Metaphysical Realism and Its Rivals.- 2 Ontology and Ideology.- 3 Parsimony.- 4 Modality: Possible Worlds and Beyond.- 5 Modal Metaphysics: An Opiniated Introduction.- 6 Soft Impossibilities.- 7 Hyperintensional Metaphysics.- 8 Philosophical Intuitions and the Incredulous Stare.- 9 Extended Modal Realism.- 10 Extended Modal Realism for the Cheap.- 11 Hyperintensional Equivalence.- 12 Persistence: Temporal and Modal.- 13 Moving Towards Unparsimonious Metaphysics.- Conclusion.- Index.
About the author
Martin Vacek
is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He is also experienced in leading and administering research. He is the vice-director of the Institute of Philosophy SAS, the head of the Department of Analytic Philosophy at the Institute and the editor-in-chief of Organon F: Journal for analytic philosophy and founder of the metaphysics.sk platform. He works in metaphysics, especially (any aspect of) modality and fiction, which makes him particularly apt to lead the present project. He studied in Bratislava (Slovakia), Leeds (UK), and as a visiting PhD student at the Australian National University in Canberra (Australia). He taught philosophy and logic at the University of Leeds and at Comenius University. He currently holds the Stefan Schwarz Scholarship as a postdoc fellow at the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He published two books,
TheNature of Impossibility
and
(Extended) Modal Realism and Philosophical Analysis
, as well as several original papers on this topic (in Acta Analytica, Axiomathes, Filozofia, Organon F, Peter Lang, Principia). He has attended important scientific conferences worldwide, and participated in several events devoted to popularising philosophy for the broader public. He is an editor-in-chief of the journal Organon F and also serves as a referee for many scientific journals. Importantly, he has organised the annual international conferences Modal Metaphysics: Issues on the (Im)Possible I-VIII, Philosophy of Language (I): Semantics of Fictional Discourse I-II and Propositions, Reference and Meaning.
