TY - JOUR
T1 - Causal essentialism and mereological monism
AU - Segal, Aaron
N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements I would like to thank Alvin Plantinga, Jonathan Schaffer, Peter van Inwagen, and an anonymous referee for very helpful comments on earlier drafts. Work on this project was supported in part by the Analytic Theology Summer Stipend Program, sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and the Center for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Notre Dame. I am very grateful for their support.
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Causal essentialism
KW - Monism
KW - Necessary connections
KW - Null individual
KW - Patchwork
KW - Weak supplementation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84900867832&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11098-013-0180-0
DO - 10.1007/s11098-013-0180-0
M3 - مقالة
SN - 0031-8116
VL - 169
SP - 227
EP - 255
JO - Philosophical Studies
JF - Philosophical Studies
IS - 2
ER -