Synopses & Reviews
This book revives a neglected but important topic in philosophy: the nature of substance. The belief that there are individual substances (for example, material objects and persons) is at the core of our common-sense view of the world, yet many metaphysicians deny the very coherence of the concept of substance. The authors develop a novel account of what an individual substance is in terms of independence from other beings.
Review
"The approach here is analytic, the style very clear and readable". Choice
Review
"Substance Among Other Categories is a useful essay in contemporary metaphysics. It would make interesting reading for graduate students and philosophers interested in the question of what substance is." Charlotte Witt, The Philosophical Review
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Substance and other categories; 2. Historically prominent accounts of substance; 3. Collectionist theories of substance; 4. The independence criterion of substance; 5. Souls and bodies; Appendix 1: the concrete-abstract distinction; Appendix 2: Continuous space and time and their parts: a defense of an Aristotelian account; Index.