Aristotle on nature and incomplete substance

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Jennifer Trusted

"The theme of this book, that inanimate matter is far more mysterious than common sense and even science allow, is justified through consideration of various Western philosophical and scientific theories. Jennifer Trusted suggests that there are three types of theory which have guided inquiry: corpuscular theories based on the view that matter is composed of small, material particles; non-material reality theories based on the view that the properties of matter are a consequence of immaterial forces which themselves constitute ultimate reality; and idealist theories which claim that sensible objects and materials are but mental constructs."--BOOK JACKET. "These three theories also influence theories as to the interaction of matter and mind and theories of conscious awareness, which are discussed in the final chapter."--BOOK JACKET.

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James Giles

Phenomenalism is a philosophical theory of perception involving the idea that statements about material objects can be explained in terms of statements about actual and possible sense experiences. In this study James Giles explores the development of phenomenalism through the works of Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and others. He shows how problems occur for phenomenalists precisely at the point where they abandon their empiricism. Holding to empiricism, Giles then presents his own version of phenomenalism as a metaphysical thesis in which the material objects are constructed out of sense experience. He then argues that the major critiques of phenomenalism, including Wittgenstein’s private language argument and Sellars’ famous attack on the ‘myth of the given’, all fail to dislodge the basic phenomenalist insights.

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Brian Cantwell Smith

On the Origin of Objects represents the final stage in Brian Cantwell Smith's decades-long investigation into the philosophical and metaphysical foundations of computation, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science. Based on a sustained critique of the formal tradition underlying reigning views, he argues for an embedded, participatory, "irreductionist," metaphysical alternative. Smith seeks nothing less than to revise our understanding not only of the machines we build but also of our world with which they interact.

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John W. Carroll

John W. Carroll undertakes a careful philosophical examination of laws of nature, causation, and other related topics. He argues that laws of nature are not susceptible to the sort of philosophical treatment preferred by empiricists. Indeed, he shows that empirically pure matters of fact need not even determine what the laws are. Similar, and even stronger, conclusions are drawn about causation. Replacing the traditional view of laws and causation as requiring some kind of foundational legitimacy, the author argues that these phenomena are inextricably intertwined with everything else. This distinctively clear and detailed discussion of what it is to be a law will be valuable to a broad swathe of philosophers in metaphysics, epistemology, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of science.