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Every Thing Must Go Metaphysics Naturalized

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This book is available in Oxford Scholarship Online - view abstracts and keywords at book and chapter level.

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Metaphysics

Philosophy of Science

Physics

Every Thing Must Go

Metaphysics Naturalized

James Ladyman and Don Ross
with David Spurrett and John Collier

368 pages | 234x156mm

978-0-19-957309-7 | Paperback | 10 September 2009

Also available as: Hardback

Price: £22.50

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Powerful critique of analytic metaphysics
Bold, controversial thesis with far-reaching implications for key areas of philosophy
Informed by the latest developments in physics and the special sciences
Opens the door for further research in naturalistic metaphysics

Every Thing Must Go argues that the only kind of metaphysics that can contribute to objective knowledge is one based specifically on contemporary science as it really is, and not on philosophers' a priori intuitions, common sense, or simplifications of science. In addition to showing how recent metaphysics has drifted away from connection with all other serious scholarly inquiry as a result of not heeding this restriction, they demonstrate how to build a metaphysics compatible with current fundamental physics ('ontic structural realism'), which, when combined with their metaphysics of the special sciences ('rainforest realism'), can be used to unify physics with the other sciences without reducing these sciences to physics itself. Taking science metaphysically seriously, Ladyman and Ross argue, means that metaphysicians must abandon the picture of the world as composed of self-subsistent individual objects, and the paradigm of causation as the collision of such objects.

Every Thing Must Go also assesses the role of information theory and complex systems theory in attempts to explain the relationship between the special sciences and physics, treading a middle road between the grand synthesis of thermodynamics and information, and eliminativism about information. The consequences of the author's metaphysical theory for central issues in the philosophy of science are explored, including the implications for the realism vs. empiricism debate, the role of causation in scientific explanations, the nature of causation and laws, the status of abstract and virtual objects, and the objective reality of natural kinds.

Readership: Professional philosophers and advanced students working in metaphysics, philosophy of physics, or philosophy of science.

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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

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Every Thing Must Go

Metaphysics Naturalized

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