Carroll John W. - An Introduction to Metaphysics

John W. Carroll

North Carolina State University

Ned Markosian

Western Washington University

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, So Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo

Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

www.cambridge.org

Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521533683

ISBN 978-0-511-76640-4 mobipocket

ISBN 978-0-511-76779-1 eBook (Kindle edition)

ISBN 978-0-521-82629-7 Hardback

ISBN 978-0-521-53368-3 Paperback

The aim of this book is to introduce the philosophically curious to the central topics of contemporary metaphysics.

We expect that our audience will include undergraduate philosophy majors who have maybe already taken an introductory survey course in philosophy or a first course in symbolic logic, and who are now enrolled in a course devoted solely to topics in metaphysics. We also expect that our audience will include graduate students in philosophy who are either getting their first opportunity to tackle contemporary metaphysical issues or are looking for a book to keep on hand as a useful resource as they undertake a rigorous research seminar on some specific metaphysical topic. We hope that many more reflective minds, ranging from the contemplative layperson to sages of the philosophical professoriate, will find our text valuable as a source of sober reasoning and at least the occasional insight.

We have written this book as teachers. Though we realize that there is no way to keep our own philosophical commitments from seeping into our arguments and our choice of topics, we have tried not to make the book a forum for advancing metaphysical doctrines. We have gone out of our way to introduce topics and arguments without pressuring the reader to settle on any definite conclusions. In fact, the reader will find scattered about lots of spots where we cut off the discussion in order to identify the pros and cons of a particular thesis and then move on to another issue. In no case do we take what we say here to be the final word on a topic.

To help make the book accessible and engaging, we have not burdened it with extensive references. So, for example, we have made no attempt to identify everyone who has defended compatibilism about freedom and determinism or to reference all the possible criticisms of compatibilism. We focus our discussion only on the most important formulations and criticisms of the view. Our annotative approach has been to include references to a few excellent and central works that would be a good next stop for readers on their way to further knowledge of metaphysics, whether they are needing sources to write a term paper or just want to find out what else David Armstrong, David Lewis, or Peter van Inwagen three philosophers who figure centrally in this book has to say.

It is rare that a philosophy teacher takes a class from the beginning to the end of a single metaphysics book. So each chapter of our book is self-contained; a teacher can assign any subset of the chapters. We should say, though, that we think all students planning to read any of the main topic chapters will benefit from having read . There we introduce our conception of metaphysics, introduce some basics about necessity and ontology, and explain why we set aside a certain common sort of skeptical question that can get in the way of thinking about metaphysical topics.

Although we write in the first person plural and have both been involved at least a little in writing each of the chapters, it will be obvious to those familiar with our other work who did the bulk of the writing in each of the eight main topic chapters. For those not so familiar: Ned was the primary author on Freedom and determinism ( was closer to being a joint project than any of the others.) Basically, each of us focused on the topics with which we felt the most comfortable. Fortunately, our own philosophical views are compatible enough and the nature of the text is sufficiently devoid of specialized judgments that it has not been difficult for either of us to live with the words put in our mouths by our co-author.

Thanks to Hilary Gaskin at Cambridge University Press and to Mark Heller for getting us started on this project. Additional thanks to Hilary for guiding us to publication; this includes arranging for a helpful review editor who provided comments on a nearly final draft. Funding to support preparation of the index by Ann Rives was provided by the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at NC State. Our thanks also go to the many colleagues and teachers who have discussed the central issues with us or who have otherwise provided crucial support over the years. These include David Auerbach, Randy Carter, Catherine Driscoll, Ron Endicott, Doug Jesseph, Michael Pendlebury, Ann Rives, Stephen Schiffer, David Robb, Melissa Schumaker, and David Sipfle, as well as Mark Aronszajn, Greg Fitch (RIP), Ed Gettier, Robert Grimm, Fred Feldman, Hud Hudson, Gary Matthews, Sharon Ryan, Tom Ryckman, Ted Sider, and Ryan Wasserman. We hope we havent forgotten any teachers or colleagues who should be on this list. We certainly wont forget our immediate families. They are our greatest source of support. Thank you wives and children. Ned lost both his parents during this project. Johns are doing well but have had their own serious health challenges to deal with. For getting us on the does-exist list and for decades of nurture and guidance, most of all, thank you moms and dads.