Repository | Journal | Volume | Articles
(2009) Axiomathes 19 (2).
No time, no wholes
a temporal and causal-oriented approach to the ontology of wholes
Riccardo Manzotti
pp. 193-214
What distinguishes a whole from an arbitrary sum of elements? I suggest a temporal and causal oriented approach. I defend two connected claims. The former is that existence is, by every means, coextensive with being the cause of a causal process. The latter is that a whole is the cause of a causal process with a joint effect. Thus, a whole is something that takes place in time. The approach endorses an unambiguous version of Restricted Composition that suits most commonsensical intuitions about wholes.
Publication details
Full citation:
Manzotti, R. (2009). No time, no wholes: a temporal and causal-oriented approach to the ontology of wholes. Axiomathes 19 (2), pp. 193-214.
This document is unfortunately not available for download at the moment.