Reading Metaphysics: Selected Texts with Interactive Commentary Book

Sources and Acknowledgements     viii
Introduction     1
Personal Identity     9
Introduction     9
'Personal Identity'     13
Commentary on Parfit     30
'Personhood and Personal Identity'     36
Commentary on Schechtman     54
Further Reading     59
Essay Questions     59
Free Will     60
Introduction     60
'The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism'     62
Commentary on van Inwagen     75
'Could Have Done Otherwise' (extract from Elbow Room)     82
Commentary on Dennett     93
Further Reading     97
Essay Questions     97
Appendix     98
Realism and Anti-realism     100
Introduction     100
'On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme'     106
Commentary on Davidson     117
'Thought and Reality' (extract from The View from Nowhere)     125
Commentary on Nagel     139
Further reading     145
Essay questions     145
Realism and Nominalism     146
Introduction     146
'"OstrichNominalism" or "Mirage Realism"?'     150
Commentary on Devitt     157
'Against "Ostrich" Nominalism: A Reply to Michael Devitt'     160
Commentary on Armstrong     170
Further reading     173
Essay questions     174
Possible Worlds     175
Introduction     175
Extract from Counterfactuals     183
Commentary on Lewis     187
Extract from Naming and Necessity     192
Commentary on Kripke     197
Further reading     203
Essay questions     203
Persistence over Time     204
Introduction     204
Extract from On the Plurality of Worlds     209
Commentary on Lewis     212
'Endurance and Temporary Intrinsics'     214
Commentary on Haslanger     220
'Tensing the Copula'     223
Commentary on Lewis     230
Further reading     233
Essay questions     233
Bibliography     234
Index     240