I describe an account of ontological categories which does justice to the facts that not all categories are ontological categories and that ontological categories can stand in containment relations. The account sorts objects into different categories in the same way in which grammar sorts expressions . It then identifies the ontological categories with those which play a certain role in the systematization of collections of categories. The paper concludes by noting that on my account what ontological categories there are is (...) partially interest-relative, and that furthermore no object can belong essentially to its ontological category. (shrink)

This paper is the first part of an exploration into the logical properties of relative identity. After providing the semantic grounds for various monadic logics of relative identity, I define the minimal system and its nine extensions. It is suggested that despite their purely formal origin at least some of them may contain nontrivial philosophical insights. All logics are axiomatized by means of sound and complete sequent calculi. I show their affinities with existing formalizations.

Al-Farahr’s commentarv and short treatise on Aristotle’s De interpretatione. Introduction and translation from Arabic by F. Zimmerman. Oxford: Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1987. clii + 287 pp. of English. £22.50 Johann Andreas Segner, Specimen logicae universaliter demonstrate. Appendices: Two dissertations De syllogismo. Edited by Mirella Capozzi. Bologna: Editrice CLUEB, 1990. clxxii + 281 pp. 85 000 Lire M. Borga, P. Fregugua And D. Palladino, I contribua fondazionali della scuola di Peano. Milano: Franco Angeli, 1985, 257 (...) pp. No price stated F. Cavaliere. La logica formale in Unione Sovietica. Gli anni del dibattito 1946-1965. Firenze: La Nuova Italia Editrice, 1990. ix + 140pp. Lire 42000 William S. Hatcher, Logic and logos. Essays on science, religion and philosophy. Oxford: George Ronald, 1990. x + 147 pp. £4.50/$9.50 E. J. Lowe, Kinds of being: a study of individuation, identity and the logic of sortal terms. Oxford and New York: Basil Blackwell, 1989. £25.00/$550.00 Reinhardt Grossmann, The fourth way. A theory of knowledge. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1990. 312 pp.$35.00 J. Etchemendy. The concept of logical consequence. Cambridge, Mass, and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1990. vi 4- 174 pp. £19.95 Bernard Bolzano, Las paradojas del infinito. Translated from the German by L. Felipe Segura. Introduction by J. Sebestik. Mexico City: Faculty of Sciences, University of Mexico, 1991. 163 pp. No price stated W. Stantfy Jfvons, Pure logic and other minor works. Photoreprinted Bristol: Thoemmes, 1991. xxiii + 299 pp. No price stated Felix Kaufmann, L’infinito in matematica. Translated from the German, with an introduction, by L. Albertazzi. Gardolo di Trento: Luigi Reverdito Editore, 1990. 297 pp. L. 32.000 Massimo Libardi, Teorie de lie parti e delVintero. Mereologie estensionali. Trento: Centro Studi per la Filosofia Mitteleuropea, Quaderni 4-6, 302 pp. 22,000 lire M. S. Burcjin and V. I. Kuznetsoff, Aksio-logichcskiye aspekîi nauchnikh teorii. Kiev; Naukova Dymka, 1991. 184 pp. 3 roubles Hans Burkhardt and Barry Smith, Handbook of metaphysics and ontology. 2 vols. Munich: Philosophia, 1991. 1005 pp. 650 DM. (shrink)

We investigate the higher-order modal logic , which is a variant of the system presented in our previous work. A semantics for that system, founded on the theory of quasi sets, is outlined. We show how such a semantics, motivated by the very intuitive base of Schrödinger logics, provides an alternative way to formalize some intensional concepts and features which have been used in recent discussions on the logical foundations of quantum mechanics; for example, that some terms like 'electron' have (...) no precise reference and that 'identical' particles cannot be named unambiguously. In the last section, we sketch a classical semantics for quasi set theory. (shrink)

In this paper, I consider the philosophical consequences of one tradition in Trinitarian theology, which emphasizes that each of the persons of the Trinity is wholly God. I pay special attention to Leftow’s claim that the persons of the Godhead must be divine in the same sense of the word ‘divine’ as the Godhead itself. I argue that the existing philosophical account of the Trinity which best captures this view is what I have termed the ‘Strong Theory of Relative Identity,’ (...) first proposed Peter Geach. I then develop what I take to be the most pressing objection to this account of the Trinity, namely that it cannot be supplemented with a coherent model-theoretic semantics. I end with a suggestion for responding to this objection. (shrink)

Sortal predicates have been associated with a counting process, which acts as a criterion of identity for the individuals they correctly apply to. We discuss in what sense certain types of predicates suggested by quantum physics deserve the title of ‘sortal’ as well, although they do not characterize either a process of counting or a criterion of identity for the entities that fall under them. We call such predicates ‘quantum-sortal predicates’ and, instead of a process of counting, to them is (...) associated a ‘criterion of cardinality’. After their general characterization, it is discussed how these predicates can be formally described. (shrink)

According to the sortal conception of the universe of individuals every individual falls under a highest sortal, or category. It is argued here that on this conception the identity relation is defined between individuals a and b if and only if a and b fall under a common category. Identity must therefore be regarded as a relation of the form \, with three arguments x, y, and Z, where Z ranges over categories, and where the range of x and y (...) depends on the value of Z. An identity relation of this kind can be made good sense of in Martin-Löf’s type theory. But identity so construed requires a reformulation of Hume’s Principle that makes this principle unfit for explaining the sortal concept of cardinal number. The Neo-Logicist can therefore not appeal to the sortal conception in tackling the Julius Caesar problem, as proposed by Hale and Wright. (shrink)

In this research work I take into account the relation of indistinguishability. This relation seems to be prima facie reflexive, symmetric and transitive; in short, an equivalence relation. However, there are some cases where the relation under consideration fails to be transitive. In this thesis I will discuss two of those cases: vagueness of gradabale adjectives and count nouns, and identity criteria involving perceptual phenomena. My research attempts to answer the following question: how is it possible to communicate and to (...) make meaningful judgments using vague terms and non-transitive identity criteria? This thesis presents an analysis of vagueness and identity criteria that shows that speakers always consider the elements which vague expressions refer to or whose names compose identity statements within a context and from a certain level of precision. I also attempt to provide a formal treatment of vague adjectives and count nouns on the one hand, and of identity criteria on the other. I employ two key concepts in both the treatments: context dependence and granularity. (shrink)

Sortal predicates have been associated with a counting process, which acts as a criterion of identity for the individuals they correctly apply to. We discuss in what sense certain types of predicates suggested by quantum physics deserve the title of 'sortal' as well, although they do not characterize either a process of counting or a criterion of identity for the entities that fall under them. We call such predicates 'quantum-sortal predicates' and, instead of a process of counting, to them is (...) associated a 'criterion of cardinality'. After their general characterization, it is discussed how these predicates can be formally described. (shrink)