On the Elements of Ontology: Attribute Instances and Structure

D. W. Mertz

Published by De Gruyter 2016

On the Elements of Ontology

Attribute Instances and Structure

D. W. Mertz

Volume 68 in the series Philosophische Analyse / Philosophical Analysis

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110455212

Overview
Contents

About this book

Central to Elements is an assay of the attributional union properties and relations have with their subjects, a topic historically left metaphorical. The work critiques eight Aristotelian assumptions concerning attribute dependence and ‘inherence’, per se subjects (‘substances’), attributes as agent-organizers, and unity-by-a-shared-one. Groups of these assumptions are seen to yield contradiction, vicious regress, or other problems. This analysis, joined with insights from an assay of ubiquitous structure, motivate ten theses explicating attribution and its primary ontic status. The theses detail: attributes proper as individuated instances, structure as instance-generated facts and their two forms of composition, the conditioning role and universal nature of instances’ component intensions, the primacy of attribute instances for generating all forms of composition and complex entities, and identity and indiscernibility criteria for the latter. Principal is the insight that attribution is intension-determined combinatorial agency. It is its systematizing implications that provide solutions to classic problems, e.g., Composition, Individuation, and Universals, and in net generate a comprehensive one-category structuralist ontology.

Author / Editor information

Donald W. Mertz, University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	IX
1. Overview: Attribution, Structure, and the Five Forms of Composition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Instance vs. Classic Ontology: Individuation and Adherence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
3. Instance vs. Classic Ontology: Intensions and Unification Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
4. Atomic Structures: Facts and Their Natures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
5. Complex Structures and Ontic Atoms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	291
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics, libraries, institutions
Pages
- Front matter: 21
- Main content: 305
Keywords: Aristotle; categories; unity; universals; individuation

eBook

Published: February 22, 2016
ISBN: 9783110455212

Hardcover

Published: February 22, 2016
ISBN: 9783110454208