Download Fundamentals of Ontological Commitment by Paolo Valore PDF

By Paolo Valore

This booklet offers the normal ontological dedication strategy, including a safeguard of the thesis of ontological relativity. It presents, even as, a wide-ranging assessment of the floor conceptual instruments of ontology. Their attainable purposes are defined via a wide array of examples and open difficulties, and crucial references to the classics of philosophy.

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16 Meixner (1997), p. 29: ¬∃y(x < y ∧ x = y) 17 Cf. Goodman (1958) and Simons (1987), pp. 11–12. 18 Cf. Simons (1987), p. 12. Brought to you by | Universität Osnabrück Authenticated Download Date | 2/6/16 4:39 PM 40 | 4 Mereological Tools of Ontological Analysis We’ll indicate that x overlaps with y as follows: x◦y In U1 , for instance, the following are true: a ◦ b, b ◦ c. 3 ¬∀x∀y∀z (x ◦ y ∧ y ◦ z) → x ◦ z Naturally, if it is the case that exactly the same individuals overlap with two objects, then the two are identical: ∀z (z ◦ x ↔ z ◦ y) → x = y Intransitivity is exemplified in U1 , where a ◦ b ∧ b ◦ c doesn’t allow us to derive a ◦ c.

Remark that Leśniewski’s notion of part is what we shall hereafter call “proper part”, while what we define as a “part” is called, in his writings, “ingredient”. 7 Cf. Leśniewski (1992), §2, theorem ii. 8 Cf. Leśniewski (1992), §1, axiom i, relative to “proper parts”, alongside definition i in §2. Cf. also Simons (1987), p. 10. 9 Cf. Leśniewski (1992), §3, theorem iv; Tarski (1929), postulate i. Cf. also Simons (1987), p. 10. 1 Parts and Proper Parts | 37 the universe, which means mereology pertains to formal ontology, as we defined it.

We could perhaps postulate a maximally general activity entailed by any other human activity (such as “lasting” or “getting older”). It is clear, however, that even such activity, whatever its generality, would still be one of many activities – and a predicate like all the rest. Drawing a distinction between “existing” and “getting older” doesn’t mean there is no connection between the two, but simply that the former can’t be replaced by the latter. If, for example, we want to say that “There are (there exist) even numbers greater than 10”, we cannot convey the intended meaning if we replace “There are” (or “there exist”) with more innocuous predicates.

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