Individuals, Essence and Identity

The aim of this book is to give a working representation of what metaphysics is ta the beginning of the 21st century. The historical contributions reveal the roots of metaphysical themes and how today's methods are linked to their Aristotelian and Leibnizian past. The volume also touches on: the relationships between ontological and linguistic analysis; the questions of realism and ontological commitment; the nature of abstract objects, the existential meaning of particular quantification; the primitiveness of identity; the question of epistemic versus ontological vagueness, the necessity of origin, the nature of natural necessity; the possibility of intermittent existence; the notion of a temporal part and its place in an account of persistence; the question of identity and change across time and possible worlds, and many more.