Date of Award
9-2009
Document type
dissertation
Access Type
Open Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Philosophy
First Advisor
Jonathan Schaffer
Second Advisor
Phillip Bricker
Third Advisor
Lynne Rudder Baker
Subject Categories
Philosophy
Abstract
In this work I first develop, motivate, and defend the view that mereological composition, the relation between an object and all its parts collectively, is a relation of identity. I argue that this view implies and hence can explain the logical necessity of classical mereology, the formal study of the part-whole relation. I then critically discuss four contemporary views of the same kind. Finally, I employ my thesis in a recent discussion of whether the world is fundamentally one in number.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/f4zq-r707
Recommended Citation
Bohn, Einar, "Composition as Identity: a Study in Ontology and Philosophical Logic" (2009). Open Access Dissertations. 92.
https://doi.org/10.7275/f4zq-r707
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/92