The Nature of Ordinary Objects

The Nature of Ordinary Objects
Author: Javier Cumpa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2019-04-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 110716009X

Provides new insights into contemporary debates surrounding the metaphysics of objects, a subject undergoing an important revival.

Objects

Objects
Author: Daniel Z. Korman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2015
Genre: Metaphysics
ISBN: 0198732538

What sorts of material objects are there? Many philosophers opt for surprising answers to this question that seem deeply at odds with how we ordinarily think about the material world. Some embrace radically eliminative views, on which there are far fewer objects than we ordinarily take there to be, while others go in for radically permissive views on which there are legions of extraordinary objects that somehow escape our notice, despite being highly visible and right before our eyes. In this book, Daniel Z. Korman defends our ordinary, intuitive judgments about which objects there are. The book responds to a wide variety of arguments that have driven people away from the intuitive view: arbitrariness arguments, debunking arguments, overdetermination arguments, arguments from vagueness and material constitution, and the problem of the many. It also criticizes attempts to show that permissive and eliminative views are, despite appearances, entirely compatible with our ordinary beliefs and intuitions.

Ordinary Objects

Ordinary Objects
Author: Amie Lynn Thomasson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2007
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199764441

'Ordinary Objects' shows how to develop a common-sense ontology and defend it against a variety of eliminativist arguments. The text argues that the apparently diverse eliminativist arguments rest on a few shared assumptions, and that questioning these gives us reason to reevaluate the proper methods and limits of metaphysics.

Macroscopic Metaphysics

Macroscopic Metaphysics
Author: Paul Needham
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2018-01-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319709992

This book is about our ordinary concept of matter in the form of enduring continuants and the processes in which they are involved in the macroscopic realm. It emphasises what science rather than philosophical intuition tells us about the world, and chemistry rather than the physics that is more usually encountered in philosophical discussions. The central chapters dealing with the nature of matter pursue key steps in the historical development of scientific conceptions of chemical substance. Like many contemporary discussions of material objects, it relies heavily on mereology. The classical principles are applied to the mereological structure of regions of space, intervals of time, processes and quantities of matter. Quantities of matter, which don’t gain or lose parts over time, are distinguished from individuals, which are typically constituted of different quantities of matter at different times. The proper treatment of the temporal aspect of the features of material objects is a central issue in this book, which is addressed by investigating the conditions governing the application of predicates relating time and other entities. Of particular interest here are relations between quantities of matter and times expressing substance kind, phase and mixture. Modal aspects of these features are taken up in the final chapter.

The Story Behind

The Story Behind
Author: Emily Prokop
Publisher: Mango Media Inc.
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2018-10-15
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 163353829X

Surprising history of ordinary things Learn the fascinating history and trivia you never knew about things we use daily from the host of The Story Behind podcast. Everyday objects and major events in history: Every single thing that surrounds us has a story behind it. Many of us learn the history of humans and the major inventions that shaped our world. But what you may not have learned is the history of objects we surround ourselves with every day. You might not even know how the major events in history (World Wars, ancient civilizations, revolutions, etc.) influenced the inventions of things we use today. The history and science behind the ordinary: From the creator of The Story Behind podcast comes this revelatory new book. The Story Behind will give insight into everyday objects we don’t think much about when we use them. Topics covered in the podcast will be examined in more detail along with many new fascinating topics. Learn how lollipops got started in Ancient Egypt, how podcasts were invented, and why Comic Sans was created. Learn the torture device origins of certain exercise equipment and the espionage beginnings of certain musical instruments. Ordinary things from science to art, food to sports, customs to fashion, and more are explored. Readers will: • Understand the wonders behind everyday objects • Learn truly obscure history and fun facts that will change the way they see the world • Learn how major historic events still affect us today through seemingly mundane things • Become formidable trivia masters

Making Objects and Events

Making Objects and Events
Author: Simon J. Evnine
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2016-07-07
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191085251

Simon J. Evnine explores the view (which he calls amorphic hylomorphism) that some objects have matter from which they are distinct but that this distinctness is not due to the existence of anything like a form. He draws on Aristotle's insight that such objects must be understood in terms of an account that links what they are essentially with how they come to exist and what their functions are (the coincidence of formal, final, and efficient causes). Artifacts are the most prominent kind of objects where these three features coincide, and Evnine develops a detailed account of the existence and identity conditions of artifacts, and the origins of their functions, in terms of how they come into existence. This process is, in general terms, that they are made out of their initial matter by an agent acting with the intention to make an object of the given kind. Evnine extends the account to organisms, where evolution accomplishes what is effected by intentional making in the case of artifacts, and to actions, which are seen as artifactual events.

The Beauty of Everyday Things

The Beauty of Everyday Things
Author: Soetsu Yanagi
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2019-01-31
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0241366364

The daily lives of ordinary people are replete with objects, common things used in commonplace settings. These objects are our constant companions in life. As such, writes Soetsu Yanagi, they should be made with care and built to last, treated with respect and even affection. They should be natural and simple, sturdy and safe - the aesthetic result of wholeheartedly fulfilling utilitarian needs. They should, in short, be things of beauty. In an age of feeble and ugly machine-made things, these essays call for us to deepen and transform our relationship with the objects that surround us. Inspired by the work of the simple, humble craftsmen Yanagi encountered during his lifelong travels through Japan and Korea, they are an earnest defence of modest, honest, handcrafted things - from traditional teacups to jars to cloth and paper. Objects like these exemplify the enduring appeal of simplicity and function: the beauty of everyday things.

The Extraordinary in the Ordinary: The Aesthetics of Everyday Life

The Extraordinary in the Ordinary: The Aesthetics of Everyday Life
Author: Thomas Leddy
Publisher: Broadview Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2012-02-07
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1770483071

This book explores the aesthetics of the objects and environments we encounter in daily life. Thomas Leddy stresses the close relationship between everyday aesthetics and the aesthetics of art, but places special emphasis on neglected aesthetic terms such as ‘neat,’ ‘messy,’ ‘pretty,’ ‘lovely,’ ‘cute,’ and ‘pleasant.’ The author advances a general theory of aesthetic experience that can account for our appreciation of art, nature, and the everyday.

The Double Lives of Objects

The Double Lives of Objects
Author: Thomas Sattig
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2015-02-19
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191505536

Thomas Sattig develops and defends a novel philosophical picture of ordinary objects, such as persons, tables, trees, and mountains. His theory carves a middle way between the two accounts that have dominated traditional metaphysics of material objects, namely, classical mereology and Aristotelian hylomorphism. It answers metaphysical, semantical, and psychological questions in a unified framework: What is the nature of ordinary objects? How do we speak about such objects? And how do we conceive of them? The core thesis is that ordinary objects lead double lives: they are compounds of matter and form; and since their matter and form have different qualitative profiles, ordinary objects can be described differently from different conceptual perspectives. A philosophical theory of ordinary objects faces the hard task of saving our common-sense conception of objects from a wide range of hard problems that present our familiar worldview as internally inconsistent and as incompatible with plausible metaphysical principles. The book argues that the proposed theory does a better job than its rivals in saving the appearances. The key that unlocks each problem is that seemingly inconsistent judgements about objects are really consistent because they manifest different perspectives on the same double-layered objects. Many long-standing philosophical mysteries about ordinary objects dissolve, once we realize that they lead double lives. The theory contributes to a wide variety of philosophical debates, including those about parts and composition, persistence, coincidence and constitution, personal identity, modality de re, the grounding problem, determinism, vague objects, the problem of the many, and relativistic metaphysics.

Ontology Without Borders

Ontology Without Borders
Author: Jody Azzouni
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2017
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0190622555

A new approach to the metaphysics, background logic, and semantics of ontological debate, Ontology Without Borders offers new solutions to perennial philosophical puzzles about constitution and the nonexistent. Book jacket.