The structure of the world : metaphysics and representation / Steven French.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

French, Steven, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Metaphysics.

First philosophy.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Structuralism.

Realism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 394 pages) : 1 illustration

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Metaphysics and representation

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Steven French articulates and defends the bold claim that there are no objects in the world. He draws on metaphysics and philosophy of science to argue for structural realism - the position that we live in a world of structures - and defends a form of eliminativism about objects that sets laws and symmetry principles at the heart of ontology.

Contents:

Theory change : From Fresnel's Equations to group theoretic structure

Mixing in the Metaphysics 1 : Underdetermination

Mixing in the Metaphysics 2 : Humility

Scenes from the lost history of structuralism

The Presentation of objects and the representation of structure

OSR and 'group structural realism'

The Elimination of objects

Mathematics, 'Physical' structure and the nature of causation

Modality, structures, and dispositions

The Might of modal structuralism

Structure, modality, and unitary inequivalence

Shifting to structures in biology and beyond.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-19-877666-7

0-19-150772-5

OCLC:

922972764