Metaphysics and Epistemology Group (Tuesday - Week 8, MT22)

This paper seeks an answer to the special composition question that encompasses not only material objects but also social entities and natural kinds, where the latter are understood to be complex universals that have simpler universals as parts.  I start by defending fastenation for objects and then extract from fastenation the idea that the conjoinment of parts licences inferences among propositions concerning those parts.  I move from this to the proposal that entities are parts of some object when that object allows for the efficient, if lossy, compression of information about those parts.

If you would like to be added to the mailing list, used to advertise upcoming sessions and other metaphysics and epistemology activities in the university, please email alexander.kaiserman@philosophy.ox.ac.uk.