Ontology, Identity, and Modality

This book gathers together thirteen of Peter van Inwagen’s essays on metaphysics, several of which have acquired the status of modern classics in their field. They range widely across such topics as Quine’s philosophy of quantification, the ontology of fiction, the part-whole relation, the theory of ‘temporal parts’, and human knowledge of modal truths. In addition, van Inwagen considers the question as to whether the psychological continuity theory of personal identity is compatible with materialism, and defends the thesis that possible states of affairs are abstract objects, in opposition to David Lewis’s ‘extreme modal realism’. A specially-written introduction completes the collection, which will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in metaphysics.

• Author is one of the most distinguished metaphysicians • Several of the essays are classics in their field • Clear and accessible written style will make the volume attractive to a graduate market

Introduction; Part I. Ontology: 1. Meta-ontology; 2. Why I don’t understand substitutional quantification; 3. Creatures of fiction; 4. Why is there anything at all? Part II. Identity: 5. The doctrine of arbitrary undetached parts; 6. Composition as identity; 7. Four-dimensional objects; 8. Temporal parts and identity across time; 9. Materialism and the psychological-continuity account of personal identity; Part III. Modality: 10. Indexicality and actuality; 11. Plantinga on trans-world identity; 12. Two concepts of possible worlds; 13. Modal epistemology; Index.