Introduction -- Ontology -- Levels of reality -- Predicates and properties -- Difficulties for the levels conception -- Abandoning the levels conception: first steps -- Philosophical analysis -- Truth making -- Powers -- Dispositional and categorical properties -- Properties as pure powers -- The identity theory -- Universals -- Modes -- Imperfect similarity -- Objects -- Substantial identity -- Applications -- Colour -- Intentionality -- Conscious experience -- Zombies
Summary
Implicit in much contemporary philosophy is a Picture Theory of language according to which we can 'read off' features of the world from features of our ways of talking about the world. I argue that truth-making is not entailment and that the Picture Theory should be jettisoned and replaced by an attitude of ontological seriousness. Freed of constraints imposed by the Picture Theory, we are in a position to see our way through metaphysical difficulties associated with contemporary philosophy of mind
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 250-259) and index
