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    Carmelics

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    42
    Peter van Inwagen — Carmelics
    Thinkers/Peter van Inwagen
    Pv

    Peter van Inwagen

    contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy

    b. 1942

    Peter van Inwagen is an American analytic philosopher best known for his work in metaphysics, free will, and philosophy of religion. His 1983 book 'An Essay on Free Will' revitalized incompatibilism in contemporary debate, and his 'Material Beings' advanced a distinctive mereological nihilism about composite objects.

    WWikipedia

    Notable Achievements

    1

    Formulated the Consequence Argument for incompatibilism about free will and determinism

    2

    Developed a restrictive answer to the Special Composition Question in 'Material Beings'

    3

    Advanced influential work in philosophy of religion, including a defense of theism against the problem of evil

    4

    Served as President of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Central Division of the APA

    5

    Authored 'Metaphysics', a widely used introductory textbook in the field

    Positions & Arguments(6)

    Modality & Possibility

    claim

    By analogy, simply positing relational tropes does not provide an effective theoretical response to Bradley's argument

    claim

    The modal analysis of ability (MA) must be rejected

    claim

    The apparent multiplication of word-tokens from a single inscription based on different readings is not a genuine mereological multiplication of entities

    Truth & Knowledge

    claim

    By analogy, simply positing relational tropes does not provide an effective theoretical response to Bradley's argument

    Consciousness & Mind

    claim

    Lowe's solution to Bradley's regress merely replaces one equally thorny problem with another

    claim

    Bundle theory faces a problem of identity through change

    Moral Responsibility

    claim

    The modal analysis of ability (MA) must be rejected

    Free Will & Foreknowledge

    claim

    Disputes about free will ineluctably involve disputes about metaphysics and ethics.

    At a Glance

    Ideas

    6

    Topics

    5

    Era

    contemporary

    Tradition

    Analytic Philosophy

    Topic Influence

    Modality & Possibility3
    Consciousness & Mind2
    Truth & Knowledge1
    Free Will & Foreknowledge1
    Moral Responsibility1

    Related Thinkers

    Immanuel Kant5 sharedDavid Lewis5 sharedAristotle5 sharedDavid Hume5 sharedPlato5 sharedGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz5 sharedJohn Locke5 shared

    Dive Deeper

    Explore Modality & Possibility→See Consciousness & Mind→
    Isaac Newton4 shared