Macroscopic Metaphysics : Middle-Sized Objects and Longish Processes / / by Paul Needham

• Autore: Needham Paul
• Pubblicazione: Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2017
• Edizione: 1st ed. 2017.
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (xv, 224 p.) : illustration
• Disciplina: 501
• Soggetto topico: Philosophy and science; Analytical chemistry; Physics; Metaphysics; Chemistry—History; Philosophy of Science; Analytical Chemistry; History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics; History of Chemistry
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Ch. 1 Mereology -- Ch. 2 Occupying Space -- Ch. 3 Constitution -- Ch. 4 Distributivity and Cumulativity -- Ch. 5 The Ancients’ Ideas of Substance -- Ch. 6 The Nature of Matter -- Ch. 7 The Relation of Macroscopic Description to Microstructure -- Ch. 8 Longish Processes -- Ch. 9 Modal Properties of Quantities.
• Sommario/riassunto: This book is about our ordinary concept of matter in the form of enduring continuants and the processes in which they are involved in the macroscopic realm. It emphasises what science rather than philosophical intuition tells us about the world, and chemistry rather than the physics that is more usually encountered in philosophical discussions. The central chapters dealing with the nature of matter pursue key steps in the historical development of scientific conceptions of chemical substance. Like many contemporary discussions of material objects, it relies heavily on mereology. The classical principles are applied to the mereological structure of regions of space, intervals of time, processes and quantities of matter. Quantities of matter, which don’t gain or lose parts over time, are distinguished from individuals, which are typically constituted of different quantities of matter at different times. The proper treatment of the temporal aspect of the features of material objects is a central issue in this book, which is addressed by investigating the conditions governing the application of predicates relating time and other entities. Of particular interest here are relations between quantities of matter and times expressing substance kind, phase and mixture. Modal aspects of these features are taken up in the final chapter.
• Titolo autorizzato: Macroscopic Metaphysics
• ISBN: 9783319709994; 3-319-70999-2; 3-319-70998-4
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910255449803321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II
• Serie: Synthese Library, Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, . 0166-6991 ; ; 390