‘Metaphysics: The Fundamentals’ by Robert C. Koons and Timothy Pickavance

Fresh out this month, Metaphysics: The Fundamentals gives students and instructors a comprehensive survey of the whole of analytic metaphysics. Includes introductions to the metaphysical work of particular figures (contemporary and historical), and explores all the key questions. See more.

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Reviews:

 “Robert C. Koons and Timothy H. Pickavance have mastered the art of succinct and non-technical digression. They are to be commended for their clear summaries. And, most important, they write in a way that invites readers to make up their own minds without attempting to conceal their own conclusions. As a result they have written a refreshingly different introduction to metaphysics, which I highly recommend.”

Peter Forrest, University of New England

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“A superb overview of the central issues in contemporary metaphysics, written with clarity and rigor, exploring both particular issues and deep structural divides. ”

Alexander R. Pruss, Baylor University

Dialectica presents a FREE virtual issue!

Founded in 1947, dialectica is the official journal of the European Society for Analytic Philosophy (ESAP), publishing first-rate articles predominantly in theoretical and systematic philosophy. Although edited in Switzerland with a focus on analytical philosophy undertaken on the continent, dialectica publishes articles from all over the world and has a truly global relevance. It is ranked A on the European Research Index for the Humanities of the European Science Foundation. Click here to view recent submission statistics and here to read some highlights from the journal over the years.

Continuing the work of its founding members, dialectica seeks a better understanding of the mutual support between science and philosophy and promotes that both disciplines need and enjoy in their common search for understanding. In this exciting virtual issue, the editorial team has selected some recent articles to showcase content from dialectica that particularly reflects the journal’s relevance to a US audience. These articles are representative of the many domains in which dialectica publishes, from ontology to epistemology and philosophy of mind or the theory of rationality. dialectica has recently published special issues on vectors, concepts, emotions, colours, and the philosophy of Kit Fine. We are confident that you will find this virtual issue interesting and informative.

Two Defenses of Common-Sense Ontology
Uriah Kriegel

Paderewski Variations
R. Mark Sainsbury

The Model-Theoretic Argument against Quantifying over Everything
Iris Einheuser

Relation-Based Thought, Objectivity and Disagreement
Christopher Peacocke

A Tale of Two Vectors
Marc Lange

On Some Recent Criticisms of the ‘Linguistic’ Approach to Ontology
Matti Eklund

Against Universal Mereological Composition
Crawford Elder

Rationality, Reasoning and Group Agency
Philip Pettit

Towards a Neo-Aristotelian Mereology
Kathrin Koslicki

Response to Kathrin Koslicki
Kit Fine

If you enjoyed these articles, why not activate a free 30-day trial to dialectica?

Philosophical Investigations – Free Special Issue

Virtual Issue: Philosophical Investigations from past to present

Founded in 1978 and associated with the British Wittgenstein Society, Philosophical Investigations is published quarterly by Wiley-Blackwell. This international journal features articles, discussions, critical notices and reviews covering every branch of philosophy. Whether focusing on traditional or on new aspects of the subject, it offers thought-provoking articles and maintains a lively readership with an acclaimed discussion section and wide-ranging book reviews.

In this exciting virtual issue, the editorial team have selected some of the best articles, critical notices and reviews published in Philosophical Investigations from 1980 to the present day. We are confident that you will find this virtual issue interesting and informative. See below for a full list of articles, critical notices and reviews.

The Aesthetics of the Video Game

Space Invaders: the early origins of video games.

Tonight is the night of the 7th British Academy Video Games Awards, a ceremony which since 2003 has rewarded the creators of virtual environments that have had men, women and children alike frantically throwing their thumbs around all year. The host of the event, comedian Dara O’Briain, defended the right of the video game genre to be considered a form of art in an interview this morning for the BBC’s breakfast show, against the initial (and perhaps persisting) incredulity of his hosts.

The problem facing O’Briain is not one that has eluded treatment in the field of contemporary aesthetics and the philosophy of art. As surveyed by Grant Tavinor for Philosophy Compass, some interesting questions begin to emerge when the conceptual analyses of traditional philosophical aesthetics are applied to the increasingly sophisticated worlds of computer games.

Can Science Explain Existence?

Why is there something rather than nothing?  If you’re a philosopher, this is a familiar question and one that can be considered from the comfortable confines of an armchair.  However, according to a recent column in the New York Times, the answer, “may have been partially revealed in a recent experiment in the Tevatron — a particle accelerator — at Fermilab, in Batavia, Ill.”

The question addressed by the experiment was not about existence itself, of course, but rather about what we might call ‘conditional existence.’ 

Free Syllabus: Musical Works: Ontology and Meta-Ontology

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Musical Works: Ontology and Meta-Ontology
By Julian Dodd, The University of Manchester (September 2009)

Key Topics

Section: Aesthetics & Philosophy of Art

Subjects: Philosophy, Aesthetics, Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, Metaphysics

Key Topic: music

(See all Philosophy Compass ‘Teaching & Learning Guides‘)

FREE syllabus: Cartesian Debates on the Eternal Truths

Teaching & Learning Guide for: What is at Stake in the Cartesian Debates on the Eternal Truths?
By Patricia Easton, Claremont Graduate University

Keywords:

Section: History of Philosophy

Subjects: Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysics, Modern (C17th – C19th)

People: Descartes, René

Key Topics: truth, ontology

(See all Philosophy Compass ‘Teaching & Learning Guides‘)