Table of Contents

General Introduction Part 1: History of Metaphysics 1. Pre-Socratic Themes: Being, Not-being and Mind 2. Plato: Arguments for Forms 3. Aristotle: Form, Matter and Substance 4. Aristotle: Time and Change 5. Medieval Metaphysics 1: The Problem of Universals 6. Medieval Metaphysics 2: Things, Non-things, God and Time 7. Descartes: The Real Distinction 8. Hobbes: Matter, Cause and Motion 9. Spinoza: Substance, Attribute and Mode 10. Locke: The Primary and Secondary Quality Distinction 11. Leibniz: Mind-body Causation and Pre-established Harmony 12. Berkeley: Arguments for Idealism 13. Hume: Necessary Connections and Distinct Existences 14. Kant: The Possibility of Metaphysics 15. Hegel and Schopenhauer: Reason and Will 16. Anti-Metaphysics I: Nietzsche 17. Bradley: the Supra-relational Absolute 18. Whitehead: Process and Cosmology Peter Simons 19. Heidegger: The Question of Being 20. Anti-Metaphysics II: Verificationism and Kindred Views 21. Metaphysics Revivified Part 2: Ontology: On What Exists 22. To Be 23. Not to Be 24. Razor Arguments 25. Substance 26. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Properties 27. Universals: The Contemporary Debate 28. Particulars 29. Persistence, Composition and Identity 30. Relations 31. Facts, Events and States of Affairs 32. Possible Worlds and Possibilia 33. Mathematical Entities 34. Fictional Objects 35. Vagueness 36. Minor Entities: Surfaces, Holes and Shadows 37. Truth-Makers and Truth-Bearers 38. Values Part 3: Metaphysics and Science 39. Space, Absolute and Relational 40. The Infinite 41. The Passage of Time 42. The Direction of Time 43. Causation 44. Laws and Dispositions 45. Probability and Determinism 46. Essences and Natural Kinds 47. Metaphysics and Relativity 48. Metaphysics and Quantum Physics 49. Supervenience, Reductionism and Emergence 50. Biometaphysics 51. Social Entities 52. The Mental and the Physical 53. The Self A Short Glossary of Metaphysics

About the Author

Robin Le Poidevin, University of Leeds, UK Peter Simons, Trinity College Dublin Andrew McGonigal, University of Leeds, UK Ross Cameron, University of Leeds, UK

Reviews

'The field of metaphysics is flourishing - and with an outstanding cast of contributors, the impressively-broad and satisfyingly-deep Routledge Companion to Metaphysics offers a superb guide to many of its most engaging and perplexing twists and turns, both historical and contemporary.' - Hud Hudson, Western Washington University, USA 'The Routledge Companion to Metaphysics promises to provide an accessible and historically informed survey of the field. It features over fifty articles, by some of the most prominent contemporary metaphysicians, covering virtually every major topic. Its combination of historical sweep and intellectual breadth set it apart from anything else on the market.' - Jonathan Schaffer, Australian National University, Australia 'This monumental volume presents a lively, up-to-date and extremely rich panorama of the present state of metaphysical debate. The 53 fully cross-referenced contributions are both admirably clear and deeply illuminating. It is difficult to imagine anything more useful for a course in metaphysics. This is bound to become a reference work for all scholars and students interested in metaphysics.' - Andrea Bottani, Bergamo University, Italy