This book contains a concise introduction to one of the most fundamental branches of philosophy, which deals with reality and its nature. It is based on a series of lectures which the author has been giving for several years to first-year undergraduate students as part of their Philosophy of Being, Cognition and Value program at the University of Warsaw. Among the topics discussed are such metaphysical questions as "Are we fundamentally free?," "Does time really pass?," "Are there any abstract objects?," "What is causation?," "What are necessary and possible truths?." The book is aimed at...

This book is a collection of essays whose topics center around relations between analytic metaphysics and modern physical theories. The contributions to the volume cover a broad spectrum of issues, ranging from metaphysical implications of selected physical theories (quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, general relativity, string theory etc.), to specific problems in scientifically-oriented analytic metaphysics, such as the problem of emergence and reduction, the part-whole relation, and the question of objecthood, properties and individuality on the fundamental level of reality. The...

This book analyzes metaphysical consequences of the quantum theory of many particles with respect to the fundamental notions of identity, individuality and discernibility. The main focus is on the proper interpretation of the quantum formalism in relation to the role of permutation invariance and the adequate representation of the properties of individual subsystems. Two main approaches to the issue of the individuation of quantum particles are distinguished and thoroughly discussed.  These approaches differ radically with respect to their metaphysical consequences – while one of them...