Philosophy of Nature

A Guide to the New Essentialism

Bibliographic Data

ID19903099
AuthorsBrian Ellis (The University of Melbourne, corresponding author), B D Ellis
Year2002
Publication date2002-09-30
Open AccessYes
TypeBOOK
VenueThe philosophy of nature (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherAcumen Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/upo9781844653416
OpenAlexW4253794549
Open LibraryOL27080629M
ISBN9781844653416
LanguageEN
Citations received62

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

Analytic philosophy · Contemporary philosophy · Epistemology · Essentialism · Metaphysics · Philosophy of science · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Philosophy · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · Essentialism (Philosophy) · Necessity (Philosophy) · Philosophy of nature

Tools

Open DOI