Vague Objects within Classical Logic and Standard Mereology, and without Indeterminate Identity

Journal of Philosophical Logic 46 (4):457-465 (2017)
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Abstract

Weatherson argues that whoever accepts classical logic, standard mereology and the difference between vague objects and any others, should conclude that there are no vague objects. Barnes and Williams claim that a supporter of vague objects who accepts classical logic and standard mereology should recognize that the existence of vague objects implies indeterminate identity. Even though it is not clearly stated, they all seem to be committed to the assumption that reality is ultimately constituted by mereological atoms. This assumption is not granted by standard mereology which instead remains silent on whether reality is atomic or gunky; therefore, I contend that whoever maintains classical logic, standard mereology and the difference between vague objects and any others, is not forced to conclude with Weatherson that there are no vague objects; nor is she compelled to revise her point of view according to Barnes and Williams’s proposal and to accept that the existence of vague objects implies indeterminate identity.

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Elisa Paganini
Università degli Studi di Milano

Citations of this work

Boundary.Achille C. Varzi - 2013 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Metaphysical Vagueness Without Vague Objects.Al Abasnezhad & C. S. I. Jenkins - 2018 - Thought: A Journal of Philosophy 7 (4):278-283.
Metaphysics as Logic.Andrea Strollo - 2018 - Rivista di Estetica 69:7-20.

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Parts: a study in ontology.Peter M. Simons - 1987 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Parts: A Study in Ontology.Peter Simons - 1987 - Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Parts of Classes.David K. Lewis - 1991 - Mind 100 (3):394-397.
Parts : a Study in Ontology.Peter Simons - 1987 - Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 2:277-279.

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