Bloomsbury Natural and Artifactual Objects in Contemporary Metaphysics: Exercises in Analytic Ontology

What is an object? How do we look at them? Why do they matter?This collection presents a lively, timely discussion of natural and artifactual objects, considering the relationship between them from a range of philosophical perspectives, including the philosophy of biology, the metaphysics of space and the philosophy of perception. Beginning from the starting point that natural objects are bona fide, endowed with some natural border between themselves and everything else, while artifactual objects depend on the observation of tacit conventions and may include the ordinary objects of everyday life, this volume explores, contextualises and interrogates objects. Contributors discuss a variety of objects including physical, scientific and mental ones, as well as things that appear to question the limits of object-hood, including holes, Quinean 'posits' and language. The very first collection to address this growing topic within analytic philosophy, Natural and Artifactual Objects in Contemporary Metaphysics represents a highly original work, showcasing some of the most important and influential philosophers working in Europe today. Review "The 13 essays Davies (Univ. of Bergamo, Italy) has gathered discuss problems arising from the distinction between natural and nonnatural objects and between language--the supreme human artifact--and language-indifferent nature ... Summing Up: Recommended. Researchers and faculty." - CHOICE "When philosophers deal with ontology, they still turn their attentions primarily to ideal worlds constructed out of sets, or bare particulars, or atomless gunk. Outside philosophy, in contrast, ontology is being vigorously applied to real-world problems in areas such as genomics, engineering design, materials science or geopolitics. This groundbreaking volume is the first major study of the philosophical issues brought to light by this new applied ontology. It will be an indispensable resource for the work that is to come." --Barry Smith, Director of National Center for Ontological Research, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA"Everybody agrees: there is a big difference between the natural and the artifactual, between the mind-independent features of reality and the products of our worldmaking practices. The challenge, as the essays in this book admirably show, is where to draw the line, and how to do so without begging the question. A rich, engaging, highly original contribution to the classical debate between metaphysical realism and constructivism." --Achille C. Varzi, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, USA About the Author Richard Davies is a Professor of Philosophy at University of Bergamo, Italy.