Overview
- A comprehensive introduction to the notion of existence – arguably, the most important concept of ontology and metaphysics
- Introduces both mainstream and non-standard theories within the philosophical debate on existence
- Adopts a meta-ontological viewpoint and develops an original neo-Meinongian theory
Part of the book series: Synthese Library (SYLI, volume 356)
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Existence as Logic
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Front Matter
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Nonexistence
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Front Matter
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Close Encounters (with Nonexistents) of the Third Kind
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Analytic Ontology
- Existence
- Existence logic
- Existential Philosophy
- Fundamental Ontology
- Hume existence
- Impossible Worlds
- Kant existence
- Kripke existence
- Meinongian
- Meinongianism
- Meta-ontology
- Metaphysics
- Metaphysics ontology
- Modal Meinongianism
- Ontology Metaphysics
- Parmenides existence
- Philosophy Existence
- Philosophy of Quantification
- Plato existence
- Quine existence
- Russell existence
About this book
This profound exploration of one of the core notions of philosophy—the concept of existence itself—reviews, then counters (via Meinongian theory), the mainstream philosophical view running from Hume to Frege, Russell, and Quine, summarized thus by Kant: “Existence is not a predicate.” The initial section of the book presents a comprehensive introduction to, and critical evaluation of, this mainstream view. The author moves on to provide the first systematic survey of all the main Meinongian theories of existence, which, by contrast, reckon existence to be a real, full-fledged property of objects that some things possess, and others lack. As an influential addition to the research literature, the third part develops the most up-to-date neo-Meinongian theory called Modal Meinongianism, applies it to specific fields such as the ontology of fictional objects, and discusses its open problems, laying the groundwork for further research.
In accordance with the latest trends in analytic ontology, the author prioritizes a meta-ontological viewpoint, adopting a dual definition of meta-ontology as the discourse on the meaning of being, and as the discourse on the tools and methods of ontological enquiry. This allows a balanced assessment of philosophical views on a cost-benefit basis, following multiple criteria for theory evaluation. Compelling and revealing, this new publication is a vital addition to contemporary philosophical ontology.
Reviews
Dale Jacquette, Universität Bern
Institut für Philosophie
Berto’s book is a passionate defence of the old-fashioned yet for a long while discredited idea that existence is a first-order property that some individual possess while some others – past and future objects, intentional objects, fictional objects … - lack. Berto refreshens this idea by providing new intriguing arguments against its detractors and by developing what he calls Modal Meinongianism, a theory originally presented by Graham Priest. Noone interested in logico-semantical and ontological issues should refrain from carefully reading this book.
Alberto Voltolini
Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences, University of Turin
Authors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Existence as a Real Property
Book Subtitle: The Ontology of Meinongianism
Authors: Francesco Berto
Series Title: Synthese Library
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4207-9
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-007-4206-2Published: 17 October 2012
Softcover ISBN: 978-94-007-9588-4Published: 09 November 2014
eBook ISBN: 978-94-007-4207-9Published: 17 October 2012
Series ISSN: 0166-6991
Series E-ISSN: 2542-8292
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXII, 242
Topics: Metaphysics, Ontology, History of Philosophy