Abstract Entities av Sam Cowling

1949,-

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<P>Think of a number, any number, or properties like <EM>fragility</EM> and <EM>humanity</EM>. These and other abstract entities are radically different from concrete entities like electrons and elbows. While concrete entities are located in space and time, have causes and effects, and are known through empirical means, abstract entities like meanings and possibilities are remarkably different. They seem to be immutable and imperceptible and to exist "outside" of space and time.</P><P></P><P>This book provides a comprehensive critical assessment of the problems raised by abstract entities and the debates about existence, truth, and knowledge that surround them. It sets out the key issues that inform the metaphysical disagreement between platonists who accept abstract entities and nominalists who deny abstract entities exist. Beginning with the essentials of the platonist¿nominalist debate, it explores the key arguments and issues informing the contemporary debate over abstract reality: