Barnard Robert W. - The Continuum Companion to Metaphysics

The Continuum Companion to Metaphysics

The Continuum Companions series is a major series of single volume companions to key research fields in the humanities aimed at postgraduate students, scholars and libraries. Each companion offers a comprehensive reference resource giving an overview of key topics, research areas, new directions and a manageable guide to beginning or developing research in the field. A distinctive feature of the series is that each companion provides practical guidance on advanced study and research in the field, including research methods and subject-specific resources.

The Continuum Companion to Aesthetics, edited by Anna Christina Ribeiro

The Continuum Companion to Continental Philosophy, edited by John Mullarkey and Beth Lord

The Continuum Companion to Epistemology, edited by Andrew Cullison

The Continuum Companion to Ethics, edited by Christian Miller

The Continuum Companion to Existentialism, edited by Jack Reynolds, Felicity Joseph and Ashley Woodward

The Continuum Companion to Hume, edited by Alan Bailey and Dan OBrien

The Continuum Companion to Leibniz, edited by Brendan Look

The Continuum Companion to Locke, edited by S.-J. Savonious-Wroth, Paul Schuurman and Jonathan Walmsley

The Continuum Companion to Philosophy of Mind, edited by James Garvey

The Continuum Companion to Pragmatism, edited by Sami Pihlstrm

The Continuum Companion to Spinoza, edited by Wiep van Bunge

The Continuum Companion to the Philosophy of Language, edited by Manuel Garcia-Carpintero and Max Kolbel

Forthcoming in Philosophy:

The Continuum Companion to Berkeley, edited by Bertil Belfrage and Richard Brook

The Continuum Companion to Hegel, edited by Allegra de Laurentiis and Jeffrey Edwards

The Continuum Companion to Hobbes, edited by S. A. Lloyd

The Continuum Companion to Political Philosophy, edited by Andrew Fiala and Matt Matravers

The Continuum Companion to Plato, edited by Gerald A. Press

The Continuum Companion to Socrates, edited by John Bussanich and Nicholas D. Smith

The Continuum Companion
to Metaphysics

Edited by

Neil A. Manson

Robert W. Barnard

Continuum International Publishing Group

The Tower Building 11 York Road London SE1 7NX

80 Maiden Lane Suite 704 New York NY 10038

www.continuumbooks.com

Neil A. Manson, Robert W. Barnard and Contributors, 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

The authors have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Authors of this work.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-4411-3708-1

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

The Continuum companion to metaphysics / edited by Neil A. Manson and Robert W. Barnard.

p. cm. (Continuum companions)

Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

ISBN 978-0-8264-4061-7 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4411-3022-8 (ebookpdf) 1. Metaphysics. I. Manson, Neil A., 1967- II. Barnard, Robert W. III. Title: Companion to metaphysics.

BD111.C628 2011

110dc23

2011045892

Contents

Robert W. Barnard

Amie L. Thomasson

Tony Roy

Roy T. Cook

D. Gene Witmer

Thomas W. Polger

Stephan Blatti

Nikk Effingham

David B. Hershenov

Kevin Timpe

Graham Oppy

Tony Roy and Matthew Davidson

Contributors

Robert W. Barnard

Associate Professor

Department of Philosophy and Religion

University of Mississippi

University, MS, US

Stephan Blatti

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Department of Philosophy

University of Memphis

Memphis, TN, US

Roy T. Cook

Associate Professor

Department of Philosophy

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN, US

Matthew Davidson

Associate Professor

Department of Philosophy

California State University

San Bernardino, CA, US

Nikk Effingham

Lecturer

Department of Philosophy

University of Birmingham

Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK

David B. Hershenov

Professor

Department of Philosophy

State University of New York

Buffalo, NY, US

Neil A. Manson

Associate Professor

Department of Philosophy and Religion

The University of Mississippi

University, MS, US

Graham Oppy

Professor

Department of Philosophy

Monash University

Melbourne, VIC, AU

Thomas W. Polger

Associate Professor

Department of Philosophy

University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati, OH, US

Tony Roy

Professor

Department of Philosophy

California State University

San Bernardino, CA, US

Amie L. Thomasson

Professor

Department of Philosophy

University of Miami

Miami, FL, US

Kevin Timpe

Associate Professor

Department of Philosophy

Northwest Nazarene University

Nampa, ID, US

D. Gene Witmer

Associate Professor

Department of Philosophy

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL, US

Introduction

Robert W. Barnard

Metaphysics is a curious discipline, if it counts as a single discipline at all. It is hard to point to anything narrower than the nature of reality as the special subject of metaphysics. Within philosophy, ethics and epistemology are more unified and coherent; each focuses on a handful of easily recognized central themes. Logic is narrower still. This situation is complicated by the fact that there is a commonly held picture of metaphysics that is different from that of the philosophers. Witness that in many popular bookstores, the Metaphysics shelf might include some philosophy books, but will almost certainly include tomes on the powers of crystals, the nature and role of angels, the foibles or achievements of ancient astronauts, and perhaps some works on eastern religion. The bedtime story told to young philosophers is that The Metaphysics was what the editors of Aristotles work had left over and put on the shelf next to his works on nature (meta- means beyond or after). So, from the beginning, metaphysics has been the catch-all category for leftover, mysterious, supernatural, and sometimes off-the-wall speculations. But if you are reading this volume, you probably already know that this is not what most philosophers mean by metaphysics.

The history of philosophy can help us narrow our interest; it has collected a more or less specific set of questions under the heading of metaphysics. In some cases these questions seem scientific or quasi-scientificfor example, how consciousness is related to the brain. More often, these questions are about the ultimate nature of things, including not just how things are, but how they might or must be and how they relate to one another. The centrality of such questions can be illustrated with a thumbnail sketch of the history of metaphysics.