Causal essentialism and mereological monism

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Several philosophers have recently defended Causal Essentialism-the view that every property confers causal powers, and whatever powers it confers, it confers essentially. I argue that on the face of it, Causal Essentialism implies a form of Monism, and in particular, the thesis I call 'Mereological Monism': that there is some concretum that is a part of every concretum. However, there are three escape routes, three views which are such that if one of them is true, Causal Essentialism does not imply any form of Monism at all. I survey the costs associated with taking these escape routes along with the costs associated with accepting Mereological Monism.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)227-255
Number of pages29
JournalPhilosophical Studies
Volume169
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Causal essentialism
  • Monism
  • Necessary connections
  • Null individual
  • Patchwork
  • Weak supplementation

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Philosophy

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