Composition and plethological innocence

Date

2021-11-15

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Source Title

Analysis

Print ISSN

0003-2638

Electronic ISSN

1467-8284

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Volume

82

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1

Pages

67 - 74

Language

English

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Abstract

According to Composition as Identity (CAI), a whole is distinct from each of its parts individually, but identical to all of them taken together. It is sometimes claimed that, if you accept CAI, then your belief in a whole is ‘ontologically innocent’ with respect to your belief in its parts. This claim is false. But the defender of CAI can claim a different advantage for her view. Following Agustín Rayo, I distinguish ontology (which concerns what there is) from plethology (which concerns what there are). I then show that CAI allows us to introduce an interesting notion of ‘plethological innocence’ which would otherwise collapse into the notion of ‘ontological innocence’, and that CAI renders belief in composite objects plethologically (but not ontologically) innocent.

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