Every Thing Must Go: Metaphysics Naturalized

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James Ladyman (University of Bristol) Don Ross (University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Cape Town)

Every Thing Must Go

Metaphysics Naturalized

James Ladyman (University of Bristol), Don Ross (University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Cape Town), David Spurrett , John Collier

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English

Oxford University Press
10 September 2009

Information theory; Philosophy; Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology; Philosophy of science; Physics

Every Thing Must Go argues that the only kind of metaphysics that can contribute to objective knowledge is one based specifically on contemporary science as it really is, and not on philosophers' a priori intuitions, common sense, or simplifications of science. In addition to showing how recent metaphysics has drifted away from connection with all other serious scholarly inquiry as a result of not heeding this restriction, they demonstrate how to build a metaphysics compatible with current fundamental physics ('ontic structural realism'), which, when combined with their metaphysics of the special sciences ('rainforest realism'), can be used to unify physics with the other sciences without reducing these sciences to physics itself. Taking science metaphysically seriously, Ladyman and Ross argue, means that metaphysicians must abandon the picture of the world as composed of self-subsistent individual objects, and the paradigm of causation as the collision of such objects. Every Thing Must Go also assesses the role of information theory and complex systems theory in attempts to explain the relationship between the special sciences and physics, treading a middle road between the grand synthesis of thermodynamics and information, and eliminativism about information. The consequences of the author's metaphysical theory for central issues in the philosophy of science are explored, including the implications for the realism vs. empiricism debate, the role of causation in scientific explanations, the nature of causation and laws, the status of abstract and virtual objects, and the objective reality of natural kinds.

By: James Ladyman (University of Bristol), Don Ross (University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Cape Town), David Spurrett, John Collier
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 233mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 21mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780199573097
ISBN 10: 0199573093
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 10 September 2009
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface 1: with David Spurrett: In Defence of Scientism 2: Scientific Realism, Constructive Empiricism and Structuralism 3: Ontic Structural Realism and the Philosophy of Physics 4: with John Collier: Rainforest Realism and the Unity of Science 5: with David Spurrett: Causation in a Structural World 6: Conclusion - Philosophy Enough Bibliography

Reviews for Every Thing Must Go: Metaphysics Naturalized

`Review from previous edition This challenging and provocative book contends that contemporary fundamental physics carries radically counterintuitive consequences for metaphysics. ' Jarrett Leplin, Philosophical Papers `An enticing work.' Jeremy Butterfield, Times Literary Supplement