Mereology, modality and magic

Australasian Journal of Philosophy 88 (1):117 – 133 (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

If the property _being a methane molecule_ is a universal, then it is a structural universal: objects instantiate _being a methane molecule_ just in case they have the right sorts of proper parts arranged in the right sort of way. Lewis argued that there can be no satisfactory account of structural universals; in this paper I provide a satisfactory account.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 91,202

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Medieval mereology.Desmond Paul Henry - 1991 - Philadelphia: B.R. Grüner.
Perfectly Understood, Unproblematic, and Certain.Karen Bennett - 2015 - In Barry Loewer & Jonathan Schaffer (eds.), A Companion to David Lewis. Oxford, UK: Wiley. pp. 250–261.
Mereology and modality.Gabriel Uzquiano - 2014 - In Shieva Kleinschmidt (ed.), Mereology and Location. Oxford University Press. pp. 33-56.
Structural Universals and Formal Relations.Joan Pagés - 2002 - Synthese 131 (2):215 - 221.
Tensed Mereology.Paul Hovda - 2013 - Journal of Philosophical Logic 42 (2):241-283.
Neither magic nor mereology: A reply to Lewis.Peter Forrest - 1986 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 64 (1):89 – 91.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-05-07

Downloads
231 (#83,311)

6 months
25 (#107,413)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Katherine Hawley
PhD: Cambridge University; Last affiliation: University of St. Andrews

Citations of this work

Mereology.Achille C. Varzi - 2016 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Properties.Francesco Orilia & Michele Paolini Paoletti - 2020 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
The metaphysics of natural kinds.Alexander Bird - 2018 - Synthese 195 (4):1397-1426.
Abstracta and Abstraction in Trope Theory.A. R. J. Fisher - 2020 - Philosophical Papers 49 (1):41-67.

View all 25 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

On the Plurality of Worlds.David K. Lewis - 1986 - Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell.
New work for a theory of universals.David K. Lewis - 1983 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 61 (4):343-377.
What is a Law of Nature?D. M. Armstrong - 1983 - New York: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Sydney Shoemaker.
On the Plurality of Worlds.David Lewis - 1986 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 178 (3):388-390.

View all 28 references / Add more references