Parts: A Study in Ontology

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Clarendon Press, 1987 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 390 pages
Although the relationship of part to whole is one of the most fundamental there is, this is the first full-length study of this key concept. Showing that mereology, or the formal theory of part and whole, is essential to ontology, Simons surveys and critiques previous theories--especially the standard extensional view--and proposes a new account that encompasses both temporal and modal considerations. Simons's revised theory not only allows him to offer fresh solutions to long-standing problems, but also has far-reaching consequences for our understanding of a host of classical philosophical concepts.

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Contents

Extensional PartWhole Theory
5
Survey of Extensional Mereology
46
Problems
101
Copyright

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