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  • Cited by 181
Publisher:
Acumen Publishing
Online publication date:
February 2013
Print publication year:
2002
Online ISBN:
9781844653416

Book description

In The Philosophy of Nature, Brian Ellis provides a clear and forthright general summation of, and introduction to, the new essentialist position. Although the theory that the laws of nature are immanent in things, rather than imposed on them from without, is an ancient one, much recent work has been done to revive interest in essentialism and The Philosophy of Nature is a distinctive contribution to this lively current debate. Brian Ellis exposes the philosophical and scientific credentials of the prevailing Humean metaphysic as less than compelling and makes the case for new essentialism as an alternative metaphysical perspective in lucid and unambiguous terms. The book develops this alternative metaphysic and considers the consequences for philosophy, and for some other areas of investigation, of working with such a metaphysic. Ellis argues that these consequences are profound and that a new essentialism provides a comprehensive new philosophy of nature for a modern scientific understanding of the world.

Reviews

"An engaging, non-technical introduction to fundamental issues in metaphysics and the philosophy of science. Ellis has done us all a favour in rendering accessible topics that have a direct bearing on the way we see ourselves and our relation to the cosmos."

John Heil

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