Moderate Realism and its Logic - Hardcover

Mertz, Donald W

 
9780300065619: Moderate Realism and its Logic
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0300065612 ISBN 13: 9780300065619
Publisher: Yale University Press, 1996

Synopsis

In this book D. W. Mertz applies the rules and systems of mathematics and logic to instance ontology, or particularism-the doctrine that asserts the individuality of properties and relations. He surveys the history of instance ontology in writings from ancient times to the present, offers a lucid argument for its validity and extraordinary problem-solving capacities, and associates it with a version of the realist position he calls "moderate realism."

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About the Author

D. W. Mertz is director of the Center for Academic Development, adjunct assistant professor of philosophy, and senior lecturer in mathematics at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

From the Back Cover

Instance ontology, or particularism - the doctrine that asserts the individuality of properties and relations - has been a persistent topic in Western philosophy, discussed in works by Plato and Aristotle, by Muslim and Christian scholastics, and by philosophers of both realist and nominalist positions. This book by D. W. Mertz is the first sustained analysis that applies the rules and systems of mathematics and logic to instance ontology in order to argue for its validity and for its problem-solving capacities and to associate it with a version of the realist position that Mertz calls "moderate realism". Mertz surveys the history of instance ontology in writings from Plato and Aristotle through Leibniz, followed by modern philosophers such as Bertrand Russell and D. M. Armstrong, among others. He also includes a thorough critique of the recent work of Keith Campbell and other contemporary nominalists. Building on the insights gained through this historical overview, he delves deeper into the logic of instance ontology and uncovers some of its extraordinary problem-solving features: distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate impredicative reasoning; uniformly diagnosing the self-referential paradoxes; being free from the limitation theorems of Godel and Tarski; providing a basis for the derivation of arithmetic construed intensionally; and formally distinguishing identity and indiscernibility.

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Publisher
Yale University Press
Publication date
1996
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0300065612
ISBN 13 
9780300065619
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
326