{"title":"A Teleological Answer to the Special Composition Question","authors":"Jason Bowers","doi":"10.1111/1746-8361.12270","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Every contemporary answer to van Inwagen's Special Composition Question faces counterexamples. I defend a teleological answer that avoids these counterexamples. The Teleological Answer claims that a collection of materials composes something exactly when those materials are arranged in order to perform some proper function. After demonstrating this account's immunity to its competitors' counterexamples, I respond to objections.</p>","PeriodicalId":46676,"journal":{"name":"DIALECTICA","volume":"73 1-2","pages":"231-246"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2019-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1746-8361.12270","citationCount":"5","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"DIALECTICA","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1746-8361.12270","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Arts and Humanities","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 5
Abstract
Every contemporary answer to van Inwagen's Special Composition Question faces counterexamples. I defend a teleological answer that avoids these counterexamples. The Teleological Answer claims that a collection of materials composes something exactly when those materials are arranged in order to perform some proper function. After demonstrating this account's immunity to its competitors' counterexamples, I respond to objections.
期刊介绍:
Dialectica publishes first-rate articles predominantly in theoretical and systematic philosophy. It is edited in Switzerland and has a focus on analytical philosophy undertaken on the continent. Continuing the work of its founding members, dialectica seeks a better understanding of the mutual support between science and philosophy that both disciplines need and enjoy in their common search for understanding.