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1、OntologicalRealismTheodoreSiderForthcominginDavidChalmers,DavidManley,andRyanWasserman,eds.,Metametaphysics,OxfordUni-versityPress.1.TheontologyofcompositematerialobjectsIn1987,PetervanInwagenaskedagoodquestion.(Askingtherightquestionisoftentheharde
2、stpart.)Heasked:whatdoyouhavetodotosomeobjectstogetthemtocomposesomething—tobringintoexistencesomefurtherthingmadeupofthoseobjects?Gluethemtogetherorwhat?1Somesaidthatyoudon’thavetodoanything.2Nomatterwhatyoudototheobjects,they’llalwayscomposesomethi
3、ngfurther,nomatterhowtheyarearranged.ThuswelearnedofthefusionofthecoinsinourpocketsandtheEiffeltower.Otherssaidthattheobjectshavetobefastenedtogetherinsomeway,thewaythepartsofthethingsweusuallythinkaboutare.ButvanInwagentaughtusofpeoplestuckorgluedor
4、sewnorfusedtoeachother.Suchentanglements,vanInwagenthought,createnonewentities.Otherssaidthatnothingyoucoulddototheobjectswouldmakethemcomposesomethingfurther.Accordingtothese“mereologicalnihilists”,tables,chairs,computers,molecules,people,andotherco
5、mpositeobjects,simplydon’texist.Allthatexistaresimples—entitieswithoutfurtherparts;subatomicparticlespresumably—whichare“arrangedtable-wise”3,“arrangedchair-wise”,andsoon.4VanInwagenhimselfalsodispensedwithtablesandchairs,butdepartedfromthenihilistsb
6、yadmittingpeopleandotherlivingthingsintohisontology.(Whyhesparedthelivingfewcouldtell.)ThankstoFrankArntzenius,KarenBennett,DavidChalmers,AndyEgan,MattiEklund,HilaryGreaves,JohnHawthorne,EliHirsch,ThomasHofweber,AlexJackson,Sarah-JaneLeslie,AndyMcGo
7、nigal,AlanMusgrave,JillNorth,LauriePaul,andRyanWasserman.1SeevanInwagen(1987,1990).2Quine(1976);Lewis(1986,pp.212–213).Reallytheyhadalreadysaidthat.Allowmepoeticlicense.3vanInwagen(1990)coinedthisconvenientlocution.4CianDorr(2002,2005)defendsmereolog
8、icalnihilism.1Thisdebateinontologythengotconnectedtootherdebatesaboutmaterialobjects,especiallythoseconcerningpersistenceovertime.Forinstance,thenihilistshaveaveryquicksolutiontotheoldpuzzleofthestatueandthelumpofclay:neitherexists!52.Losingone’snerv
