More Kinds of Being: A Further Study of Individuation, Identity, and the Logic of Sortal Terms

In More Kinds of Being E. J. Lowe, one of the world′s most distinguished contemporary metaphysicians, thoroughly reworks and expands upon the philosophical concepts first put forth in his acclaimed book Kinds of Being (1989). Taking into account significant developments in his metaphysical thinking over the past 20 years, Lowe delves deeper into the fundamental ontological categories into which all existing entities fall. While this new volume strengthens and extends many of his original arguments, Lowe′s focus remains on the category of kinds or sorts and their individual instances – the latter being persisting objects , which exist at every level of the spatial scale from galaxies to atoms and include, as an especially important case, persons such as ourselves. He proceeds to show that while an object of one sort is occasionally constituted by, but not identical with, an object of another sort, persons appear not to be constituted by anything, making them special among the beings that populate the universe. Lowe also reveals why the category of kinds or sorts plays a crucial role in our understanding of scientific laws and of the dispositional properties or powers of things – a role which requires us to rethink the very foundations of modern logic in order to accommodate the logical relations between law–statements and disposition–statements. Combining an Aristotelian spirit with startling originality, More Kinds of Being presents a thought–provoking and important new contribution to the field of contemporary analytical metaphysics.

Preface∗ vii Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 1 The Varieties of ′Is′ 3 Individuals, Kinds, and Realism 4 Semantics, Metaphysics, and Necessity 6 New Developments∗ 8 2 Sortal Terms and Criteria of Identity 12 3 Individuals, Sorts, and Instantiation 29 4 Number, Unity, and Individuality∗ 42 5 The Absoluteness of Identity: A Defence 57 Appendix: Some Formal Principles and Arguments 72 6 Identity and Constitution 77 7 Parts and Wholes 92 8 Persons and Their Bodies 104 Matter and Organisms 104 Organisms and Persons 113 Is There a Criterion of Personal Identity? 125 9 Sortal Terms and Natural Laws 141 10 Plural Quantification and Sortal Reference∗ 164 11 Laws, Dispositions, and Sortal Logic 179 Appendix: An Axiomatic System of Sortal Logic 194 12 What Sorts of Things Are There?∗ 198 The Syntax and Semantics of Complex Sortal Terms 198 On the Identity of Sorts 212 Bibliography∗ 217 Index 223

E.J. Lowe is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Durham. One of the foremost metaphysicians working in philosophy today, he is the author of numerous influential articles and books in metaphysics, philosophy of mind and the history of philosophy, including Kinds of Being (Blackwell, 1989) and, most recently, The Four–Category Ontology: A Metaphysical Foundation for Natural Science (2006).

“The two issues I have raised only serve to highlight the originality of Lowe’s work. More Kinds of Beingis a remarkable book. It sets the stage for numerous debates in metaphysics, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind that are sure to continue much longer than another two decades.”  ( Mind , 1 January 2013) "Throughout, one finds the usual clarity, thoroughness, and systematic thinking that are a mark of all of Lowe′s ever expanding and remarkable corpus. This book should be in every college and university library." ( CHOICE, July 2010) " More Kinds of Being is densely and masterfully argued, written with great clarity, and makes a number of important original contributions to the field. It is certainly essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary analytical metaphysics. This is a metaphysical study of lasting value and significance." ( Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews , August 12, 2010)