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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    Zalta — Carmelics
    Thinkers/Zalta
    Zalta

    Zalta

    contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy

    b. 1952

    Edward N. Zalta is an American philosopher and senior research scholar at Stanford University, best known for developing Axiomatic Metaphysics (object theory) and for founding and directing the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), one of the most important open-access reference works in philosophy.

    WWikipedia

    Notable Achievements

    1

    Founded and directs the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP)

    2

    Developed axiomatic object theory (Abstract Objects: An Introduction to Axiomatic Metaphysics, 1983)

    3

    Advanced a neo-Meinongian theory of abstract and nonexistent objects

    4

    Formalized Leibniz's and Descartes' ontological arguments using object theory

    5

    Contributed to formal epistemology and the philosophy of mathematics

    Positions & Arguments

    (10)

    Modality & Possibility

    claim

    Being abstract is not simply the negation of being concrete.

    premise

    Some objects are not currently concrete but are possibly concrete.

    premise

    Numbers, sets, and similar objects are not the kind of thing that could be concrete.

    claim

    Abstract objects necessarily lack causal powers.

    claim

    Ordinary objects include both actually concrete objects and possible objects that are not in fact concrete but could have been.

    premise

    Abstract objects are, by definition, not concrete at any possible world.

    premise

    Necessarily, anything with causal powers is concrete (□∀x(Cx → E!x)).

    premise

    If abstract meant merely 'not concrete', then abstractness would be compatible with possible concreteness, which fails to capture the modal status of mathematical objects.

    premise

    Actual existence (E!x) implies possible existence (◇E!x).

    Natural Theology

    claim

    No known ontological argument for the existence of God is persuasive.

    At a Glance

    Ideas

    10

    Topics

    2

    Era

    contemporary

    Tradition

    Analytic Philosophy

    Topic Influence

    Modality & Possibility9
    Natural Theology1

    Related Thinkers

    Bertrand Russell2 sharedDavid Hume2 sharedImmanuel Kant2 sharedPlato2 sharedAristotle2 sharedRudolf Carnap2 sharedDavid Hilbert2 sharedRené Descartes2 shared

    Dive Deeper

    Explore Modality & Possibility→See Natural Theology→