Oxford University Press, USA
Writing the Book of the World
Writing the Book of the World
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In order to perfectly describe the world, it is not enough to speak truly. In this ambitious and ground-breaking book, Theodore Sider argues that for a representation to be fully successful, truth is not enough; the representation must also use the right concepts--concepts that carve at the
joints--so that its conceptual structure matches reality's structure. There is an objectively correct way to write the book of the world. According to Sider, metaphysics is primarily about fundamentality rather than necessity, conceptual analysis, or ontology. Fundamentality is understood in terms of structure: the fundamental truths are those truths that involve structural (joint-carving) concepts. Sider argues that part of the
theory of structure is an account of how structure connects to other concepts. For example, structure can be used to illuminate laws of nature, explanation, reference, induction, physical geometry, substantivity, conventionality, objectivity, and metametaphysics. Another part is an account of how
structure behaves. Since structure is a way of thinking about fundamentality, Sider's account implies distinctive answers to questions about the nature of fundamentality. These answers distinguish his theory of structure from other recent theories of fundamentality, including Kit Fine's theory of
ground and reality, the theory of truthmaking, and Jonathan Schaffer's theory of ontological dependence.
Author: Theodore Sider
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 01/13/2012
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.30w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780199697908
joints--so that its conceptual structure matches reality's structure. There is an objectively correct way to write the book of the world. According to Sider, metaphysics is primarily about fundamentality rather than necessity, conceptual analysis, or ontology. Fundamentality is understood in terms of structure: the fundamental truths are those truths that involve structural (joint-carving) concepts. Sider argues that part of the
theory of structure is an account of how structure connects to other concepts. For example, structure can be used to illuminate laws of nature, explanation, reference, induction, physical geometry, substantivity, conventionality, objectivity, and metametaphysics. Another part is an account of how
structure behaves. Since structure is a way of thinking about fundamentality, Sider's account implies distinctive answers to questions about the nature of fundamentality. These answers distinguish his theory of structure from other recent theories of fundamentality, including Kit Fine's theory of
ground and reality, the theory of truthmaking, and Jonathan Schaffer's theory of ontological dependence.
Author: Theodore Sider
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 01/13/2012
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.30w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780199697908
About the Author
Theodore Sider is Frederick J. Whiton Chair of Philosophy at Cornell University. He completed his PhD at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has previously held positions at New York University, the University of Rochester, Syracuse University, and Rutgers University. He is the author of Riddles of Existence: A Guided Tour of Metaphysics (OUP, 2005), Four-Dimensionalism: An Ontology of Persistence and Time (OUP, 2001), and a textbook: Logic for Philosophy (OUP, 2010).
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