Science in Metaphysics: Exploring the Metaphysics of Properties and Laws
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Book Overview
Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 5
Against Dispositional Monism.............................................................................................. 11
1.1 Preliminaries: Two Distinct Issues ....................................................................................11
1.2 The Truthmaking Criterion for the Dispositional/Categorical Distinction ...................12
1.3 Arguing Against Dispositional Monism From the Actual Existence of Fundamental
Categorical Features ........................................................................................................................17
1.3.1 Spatiotemporal Relations as fundamental categorical features .............................181.3.1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................18
1.3.1.2 Spatiotemporal Relations and Subjunctive Conditionals in pre-GR theories ..21
1.3.1.3 Bird's Argument for the Dispositional Essence of Spatiotemporal Relations ..22
1.3.1.4 An Appraisal of the Argument .............................................................................24
1.3.1.5 A Nomic interpretation of Bird's counterfactual?..............................................31
Against Identity Theory and Neutral Monism.................................................................... 35
2.1 Identity Theory....................................................................................................................352.1.1 Problems for Identity Theory....................................................................................35
2.1.1.1 The objection from the independent variability of dispositionality with respect
to categoricality and vice versa. ..............................................................................................35
2.1.1.2 The one categoricality-multiple dispositionalities problem................................37
2.1.1.3 How can we understand (and justify) the 'surprising' triple identity?.............38
2.1.2 A Unique Categoricality? ..........................................................................................43
2.2 Neutral Monism ..................................................................................................................452.2.1 Neutral Monism and the Modified Ungrounded Argument...................................45
2.2.2 Agnosticism.................................................................................................................51
In Defence of Categorical Monism....................................................................................... 53
3.1 In defence of the categoricality of fundamental properties: the argument from
renormalisation ................................................................................................................................53
3.2 Objections ............................................................................................................................58Categorical Monism and Quidditism................................................................................... 63
4.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................63
4.2 Versions of RNDV...............................................................................................................65
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4.3 Defending RNDV ................................................................................................................72
4.3.1 The Permutation Difficulty.............................................................................
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