Substance: Its Nature and Existence (Problems of Philosophy) by Joshua Hoffman (PDF)

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Substance has been a leading idea in the history of Western philosophy. Joshua Hoffman and Gary S. Rosenkrantz explain the nature and existence of individual substances, including both living things and inanimate objects. Specifically written for students new to this important and often complex subject, Substance provides both the historical and contemporary overview of the debate.Great Philosophers of the past, such as Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Locke, and Berkeley were profoundly interested in the concept of substance. And, the authors argue, a belief in the existence of substances is an integral part of our everyday world view. But what constitutes substance? Was Aristotle right to suggest that artefacts like tables and ships don’t really exist?Substance: Its Nature and Existence is one of the first non-technical, accessible guides to this central problem and will be of great use to students of metaphysics and philosophy.

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Editorial Reviews: Review “The issues discussed…are at the center of one of the most lively debates in contemporary metaphysics; and the position Hoffman and Rosenkrantz stake out is appealing and carefully articulated. Their views deserve careful attention from philosophers working on the metaphysics of persistence through time, personal identity, artifact identity, and mereology.”-“The Philosophical Review “H&R’s book is a challenging read whose definitions are explicated with great rigour and exactness.”-“International Philosophical Quarterly, March 1998 Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1 Issue No. 149 “Extremely well organised and written in a clear, uncluttered and economical style.”-E. J. Lowe, University of Durham From the Back Cover Substance: Its Nature and Existence is one of the first accessible introductions to the history and contemporary debates surrounding the idea of substance. An important and often complex issue, substance is at the heart of Western philosophy. Substances are distinguished from other kinds of entities such as properties, events, times, and places. This book investigates the very nature and existence of individual substances, including both living things and inanimate objects. Taking as their starting point the major philosophers in the historical debate – Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, and Hume – Joshua Hoffman and Gary S. Rosenkrantz move on to a novel analysis of substance in terms of a kind of independence which insubstantial entities do not possess. The authors explore causal theories of the unity of the parts of inanimate objects and organisms; contemporary views about substance; the idea that the only existing physical substances are inanimate pieces of matter and living organisms, and that artifacts such as clocks, and natural formations like stars, do not really exist. Substance: Its Nature and Existence provides students of philosophy and metaphysics with an introduction to and critical engagement with a key philosophical issue. About the Author Joshua Hoffman, Gary Rosenkrantz Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐It provides a good review of the concept of susbtance.

⭐Written by Hoffman and Rosenkranz and published in 1997, ‘Substance: Its Nature and Existence’ is an installment in Routledge’s ‘The Problems of Philosophy’ series. As a philosophical subject ‘substance’ falls within the domain of metaphysics; the branch of philosophy that is concerned with first principles, such as; being, cause, space, time and so forth. After having fallen by the wayside of Anglo-American philosophy in the early twentieth century metaphysics, as attested by works such as this, has experienced something of a revival in recent decades.What exactly is a substance? While belief in particular enduring entities appears both intuitive and necessary, it is difficult to say precisely how the notion of substance should be understood, prime matter, bare particulars, form matter composites, property bundles or something else? In the present text the authors implement the two-pronged approach that is characteristic of this series, a survey and critical assessment of leading historic approaches to the subject followed by their own solution to the problem. From a content perspective the text is solid if unremarkable. The historic analysis is largely uncontentious while the authors’ own proposal though feeling somewhat ad hoc is no worse than many others. And, while it is important to acknowledge that this is an informed and thorough analysis by reputable scholars I was somewhat disappointed by the text. First and foremost, it is a tedious and difficult read. Now to be fair, part of this difficulty is due to the nature of the topic – metaphysical discussions such as this are inherently abstruse. That said, the book suffers from the plodding and awkward prose that unfortunately characterize much contemporary academic philosophy. Second, there does not appear to be an obvious audience for the book. While the Problems of Philosophy series is aimed at both students and scholars, the present text does not seem to be optimized for either audience. For students seeking an introduction to the issue there are better options, e.g. Howard Robinson’s excellent piece on ‘Substance’ available through the on-line Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. It covers the historic and contextual material in a more concise and readable manner. While for scholars, the authors’ particular views would be better presented in a paper-length discussion. (As an aside the material in the current book looks remarkably similar to that covered in their earlier 1994 text ‘Substance Among other Categories’).Overall, while by no means a terrible book – better is available.

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