ABSTRACT

Originally published in 1992. The history of Western philosophy can be seen as a battle between those that insist that the "physical universe" exists and those would claim that there is a much larger "world" which contains atemporal and nonspatial things as well. The central part of this book, and the battle, concerns the existence of universals. Starting with the mediaeval definition of the issue found in Porphry and Boethius, the author then considers modern and contemporary versions of the battle. He concludes that what is at stake between naturalists and ontologists is the existence and nature of a number of important categories, like structures, relations, sets, numbers and so on.

chapter Chapter I|13 pages

The Discovery of the World: Timeless Being

chapter Chapter II|32 pages

The Battle Over the World: Universals

chapter Chapter III|45 pages

The Structure of the World: The Categories

chapter Chapter IV|29 pages

The Substratum of the World: Existence

chapter Chapter V|14 pages

The Enigma of the World: Negation