The Nature of Ordinary Objects

Description

The metaphysics of ordinary objects is an increasingly vibrant field of study for philosophers. This volume gathers insights from a number of leading authors, who together tackle the central issues in contemporary debates about the subject. Their essays engage with topics including composition, persistence, perception, categories, images, artifacts, truthmakers, metaontology, and the relationship between the manifest and scientific images. Exploring the nature of everyday things, the contributors situate their arguments and the latest research against the background of the field's development. Moreover, many essays propose new ideas and approaches, looking ahead to the future of the metaphysical study of ordinary objects. Featuring numerous clearly explained examples and with thoughtful links drawn to other, related disciplines such as pragmatism, this wide-ranging volume fills a major gap in the literature and will be important for scholars working in metaphysics.

Javier Cumpa is Senior Fellow in the Department of Logic and Theoretical Philosophy at Complutense University of Madrid. His research focuses on metaphysics, and his work has been published in journals including Ratio, American Philosophical Quarterly, and Philosophical Studies. Bill Brewer is Susan Stebbing Professor of Philosophy at King's College London. His research focuses on philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and epistemology. His publications include Perception and Reason (1999), Perception and Its Objects (2011), and numerous papers in journals and collections.