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143Personal identity and the survival of deathIn Jens Johansson Fred Feldman Ben Bradley (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Death, . pp. 97. 2013.
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115Mind-Body DualismProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 111 (2pt2). 2011.I attempt to rebut Dean Zimmerman's novel argument (2010), which he presents in support of substance dualism, for the conclusion that, in spite of its popularity, the combination of property dualism with substance materialism represents a precarious position in the philosophy of mind. I take issue with Zimmerman's contention that the vagueness of 'garden variety' material objects such as brains or bodies makes them unsuitable candidates for the possession of phenomenal properties. I also argue t…Read more
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107Persons and bodies: Constitution without mereology? (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 64 (3). 2002.Lynne Rudder Baker and many others think that paradigmatic instances of one object constituting another—a piece of marble constituting a statue, or an aggregate of particles constituting a living body—involve two distinct objects in the same place at the same time. Some who say this believe in the doctrine of temporal parts; but others, like Baker, reject this doctrine. Such philosophers, whom one might call “coincidentalists”, cannot say that these objects manage to share space in virtue of sha…Read more
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101Dualism in the Philosophy of MindIn John Corcoran (ed.), Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2nd edition, Macmillan. 2006.
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85From Experience to ExperiencerIn Mark C. Baker & Stewart Goetz (eds.), The Soul Hypothesis: Investigations Into the Existence of the Soul, Continuum Press. pp. 168. 2011.
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78Resisting Rowe's No-Best-World Argument for AtheismIn Quo Vadis, Metaphysics?: Essays in Honor of Peter van Inwagen, Walter De Gruyter Gmbh. pp. 443-468. 2019.
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78Metaphysics: The Big Questions (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 1991.This volume provides a vital student resource: a collection of the essential classic and contemporary readings in metaphysics.
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73The Ontology of Physical Objects (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 53 (1): 220-224. 1993.
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67On Perceiving God: Prospects for a Cognitive Science of Religious ExperienceIn Alvin Goldman & Brian P. McLaughlin (eds.), Metaphysics and Cognitive Science, Oxford University Press. pp. 125-154. 2019.
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59Could Extended Objects Be Made Out of Simple Parts?Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 56 (1): 1-29. 1996.Let us say that an extended object is “composed wholly of simples” just in case it is an aggregate of absolutely unextended parts spread throughout an extended region—that is, just in case there is a set S such that: every member is a point-sized part of the object, and for every x, x is part of the object if and only if it has a part in common with some member of S. Could a truly extended substance be composed entirely of unextended parts? Reflection upon the fact that it must be at least possi…Read more
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58Richard Gale and the Free Will DefensePhilo 6 (1): 78-113. 2003.Chapter Four of Richard Gale’s On the Nature and Existence of God constitutes an ambitious 80-page monograph on the “free will defense” (FWD). Much of Gale’s argument is aimed at Plantinga’s FWD, but the scope of his criticism extends, finally, to all versions. Gale’s main contentions are that: (i) no version of the FWD can get off the ground without the substantive, true conditionals often called “counterfactuals of human freedom” by contemporary Molinists; (ii) the best theory of these conditi…Read more
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54Oxford Studies in Metaphysics:Volume 3: Volume 3 (edited book)Oxford University Press UK. 2007.Oxford Studies in Metaphysics is the forum for the best new work in this flourishing field. Much of the most interesting work in philosophy today is metaphysical in character: this new series is a much-needed focus for it. OSM offers a broad view of the subject, featuring not only the traditionally central topics such as existence, identity, modality, time, and causation, but also the rich clusters of metaphysical questions in neighbouring fields, such as philosophy of mind and philosophy of sci…Read more
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52On the Logic of Intentional HelpFaith and Philosophy 13 (3): 402-404. 1996.In this note, we explore certain aspects of “the logic of helping”; offer an account of the metaphysics of helping God; and suggest a way in which God’s help differs from human help.
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49Substance (review)Philosophical Review 108 (1): 118-122. 1999.This book addresses two basic questions: What is the proper philosophical analysis of the concept of substance? and What kinds of compound substances are there? The second question is mainly addressed by asking what relations among objects are necessary and sufficient for their coming to compose a larger whole. The first 72 pages of the book contain a short history of attempts to answer the first question, and a brief presentation of the analysis the authors defend at length in their earlier boo…Read more
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45Substance: Its Nature and ExistencePhilosophical Review 108 (1): 118. 1999.This book addresses two basic questions: What is the proper philosophical analysis of the concept of substance? and What kinds of compound substances are there? The second question is mainly addressed by asking what relations among objects are necessary and sufficient for their coming to compose a larger whole. The first 72 pages of the book contain a short history of attempts to answer the first question, and a brief presentation of the analysis the authors defend at length in their earlier boo…Read more
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38Material peopleIn Michael J. Loux & Dean W. Zimmerman (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics, Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 491-526. 2003.
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38Persons and Bodies: Constitution Without Mereology?Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 64 (3): 599-606. 2002.
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35Oxford Studies in Metaphysics Volume 13 (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2023.Oxford Studies in Metaphysics is dedicated to the timely publication of new work in metaphysics, broadly construed. These volumes provide a forum for the best new work in this flourishing field. They offer a broad view of the subject, featuring not only the traditionally central topics such as existence, identity, modality, time, and causation, but also the rich clusters of metaphysical questions in neighboring fields, such as philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. This book is the 13th v…Read more
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35Ever Better Situations and the Failure of Expression PrinciplesFaith and Philosophy 35 (4): 408-416. 2018.William Rowe argues that if an omnipotent, omniscient being were faced with an infinite hierarchy of better and better worlds to create, that being could not also be unsurpassably morally excellent. His argument assumes that, at least in ideal circumstances, degree of moral goodness must be perfectly expressed in the degree of goodness of the outcomes chosen. Reflection upon the application of analogous expression principles for certainty and desire shows that such principles can be expected to …Read more
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32Ever Better Situations and the Failure of Expression PrinciplesFaith and Philosophy 35 (4): 408-416. 2018.William Rowe argues that if an omnipotent, omniscient being were faced with an infinite hierarchy of better and better worlds to create, that being could not also be unsurpassably morally excellent. His argument assumes that, at least in ideal circumstances, degree of moral goodness must be perfectly expressed in the degree of goodness of the outcomes chosen. Reflection upon the application of analogous expression principles for certainty and desire shows that such principles can be expected to …Read more
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29Anti-Molinist Argument'In Ken Perszyk (ed.), Molinism: The Contemporary Debate, Oxford University Press. pp. 140. 2011.
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28Oxford Studies in Metaphysics I (edited book)Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.Oxford Studies in Metaphysics is a major new series dedicated to the timely publication of new work in this highly fertile field of philosophy.
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27Indivisible Parts and Extended ObjectsThe Monist 79 (1): 148-180. 1996.Physical boundaries and the earliest topologists. Topology has a relatively short history; but its 19th century roots are embedded in philosophical problems about the nature of extended substances and their boundaries which go back to Zeno and Aristotle. Although it seems that there have always been philosophers interested in these matters, questions about the boundaries of three-dimensional objects were closest to center stage during the later medieval and modern periods. Are the boundaries of …Read more
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27Three Introductory Questions: Is Analytic Philosophical Theology an Oxymoron? Is Substance Dualism Incoherent? What's in this Book, Anyway?In Peter van Inwagen and Dean Zimmerman (ed.), Persons: Human and Divine, Oxford University Press. pp. 1--32. 2007.
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25Robinson's Regress Argument from Vagueness to DualismDialectica 999 (1). 2022.Howard Robinson's *From the Knowledge Argument to Mental Substance* contains two quite different arguments from the vagueness of composite objects to the conclusion that I am not a physical object at all. One of them, developed over the course of several chapters, takes the following form: All composite physical objects (and only composite physical objects are candidates to be a human being) are non-fundamental; non-fundamental things are inevitably vague in various ways; this vagueness shows th…Read more
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23Oxford Studies in Metaphysics, Volume 8 (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2013.Oxford Studies in Metaphysics is dedicated to the timely publication of new work in metaphysics, broadly construed. These volumes provide a forum for the best new work in this flourishing field. They offer a broad view of the subject, featuring not only the traditionally central topics such as existence, identity, modality, time, and causation, but also the rich clusters of metaphysical questions in neighbouring fields, such as philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. This book is the eight…Read more