The Tools of Metaphysics and the Metaphysics of Science

The Tools of Metaphysics and the Metaphysics of Science
Contents
Preface
1 Postmodal Metaphysics and Structuralism
	1.1 Tools in metaphysics
	1.2 Postmodal metaphysics
	1.3 Structuralism
	1.4 Modal and postmodal structuralism
	1.5 The challenge for postmodal structuralism
	1.6 Essence
	1.7 Ground
	1.8 Fundamentality
	1.9 Apology
2 Nomic Essentialism
	2.1 Nomic essentialism and ground
	2.2 Other grounding claims: existence, identity
	2.3 Nomic essentialism and essence
	2.4 Nomic essentialism and fundamentality
	2.5 Ungrounded or fundamental existentials?
	2.6 The replacement strategy and resemblance nominalism
3 Individuals
	3.1 Entities and individuals
	3.2 Traditional metaphysical arguments against individuals
	3.3 Metametaphysical argument against individuals
	3.4 Structural realists against individuals
	3.5 Dasgupta against individuals
	3.6 Mathematical structuralists against individuals
	3.7 Antihaecceitism
	3.8 Eliminative structural realism
	3.9 Bundle theory
	3.10 Bare particulars
	3.11 Ground and monism
	3.12 Indeterminate identity
	3.13 Weak discernibility and individuation
	3.14 Algebraic and quantier generalism
	3.15 Against Dasgupta’s argument
	3.16 How far to go?
	3.17 Generalist nomic essentialism
	3.18 Antistructuralist conclusions
4 Quantities
	4.1 The problem of quantity
	4.2 Simple absolutism
	4.3 Representation theorems and comparativism
	4.4 Laws and simple absolutism
	4.5 Existence assumptions and intrinsic laws
	4.6 Intrinsic laws and Mundy’s multigrade view
	4.7 Intrinsicality of laws
	4.8 Baker’s escape velocity argument
	4.9 Lawhood relativized to representation functions
	4.10 Absolutism and laws
	4.11 Pessimistic conclusions
	4.12 Appendix: ramsifying fundamental properties away
5 Equivalence
	5.1 Symmetry, translation, meaning, modality, grain
	5.2 Examples: quantities, metric, ontology
	5.3 Fundamentality
	5.4 Difcult choices
	5.5 Quotienting
	5.6 The signicance of quotienting
	5.7 Actual and counterfactual equivalence
	5.8 Against quotienting
6 The Fundamentalist Vision
References
Index