Philosophers approach the problem of possibility in two markedly different ways: with reference to worlds, whereby an event is possible if there is a world in which it occurs, and with reference to modal properties, whereby an event is a possible manifestation of a property of some substance or object. Showing how the world-account cannot properly explain the nature of possibilities within worlds, Ferenc Huoranszki argues that the latter approach is more plausible. He develops a theory of contingent possibilities grounded in a distinction between abilities and dispositions as real, first-order modal properties of objects, with fundamentally distinct ontological roles. By understanding abilities as first-order modal properties, and by linking such modal properties to counterfactual conditionals, Huoranszki argues we can distinguish between variably generic or specific abilities and identify more or less abstract possibilities in a world. In doing so, he furthers our understanding of how we reason with possibilities in both ordinary and theoretical contexts. Providing a novel account of dispositions, abilities and their capacity to explain modality, this book advances current debates in contemporary metaphysics.
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1. Introduction: Contingency, Worlds and Properties 2. Abilities and Dispositions 3. Specificity and Intrinsicness 4. Abilities, Dispositions and Conditionals 5. Reasoning with Possibilities 6. Manifestations and Events 7. Concluding Remarks: Abilities, Qualities and the Priority of the Actual References Index
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This book makes a worthwhile contribution to a serious ongoing debate in metaphysics. At times brilliant, The Metaphysics of Contingency has novel and challenging wisdom to offer on the nature and role of dispositions and powers that will interest both the Aristotelian and the Humean alike. Huoranszki’s account provides a worthy addition to a growing contemporary literature.
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Develops a new account of contingent possibilities, grounded in the distinction between abilities and dispositions as modal properties of objects with fundamentally different ontological roles.
Puts forward an original theory of contingent possibilities and the metaphysics of modality
The Mind, Meaning and Metaphysics series publishes cutting-edge research in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, metaphysics and epistemology. The basic questions in this area are wide-ranging and complex: What is thinking and how does it manage to represent the world? How does language facilitate interpersonal cooperation and shape our thinking? What are the fundamental building blocks of reality, and how do we come to know what reality is? These are long-standing philosophical questions but new and exciting answers continue to be invented, in part due to the input of the empirical sciences. Volumes in the series address such questions, with a view to both contemporary debates and the history of philosophy. Each volume reflects the state of the art in theoretical philosophy, but also makes a significant original contribution to it.
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781350277182
Publisert
2024-02-22
Utgiver
Vendor
Bloomsbury Academic
Høyde
234 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
248

Forfatter

Om bidragsyterne

Ferenc Huoranszki is Professor of Philosophy at the Central European University (Vienna Campus), Austria.