Works in Progress

Ontological Pluralism and General Quantification

(metaphysics, ontology, ontological pluralism, general quantification, ontological categories)

Pluralists need a general quantifier to avoid Merricks's dilemma. I argue McDaniel's pluralist lacks one because being isn't unified by analogy. I find a general quantifier by appeal to a topmost category.

Russellian Objections to Modal Meinongianism

(metaphysics, logic, non-existence, modality, Russell, Meinong) 

Russell claimed and Meinong denied that everything exists. After looking at Russell’s objections to Meinong from LEM and LNC, I reformulate them against Priest's modal Meinongianism.

Was David Lewis an Actualist?

(metaphysics, modality, actualism, possiblism, essence, David Lewis)

Actualists think everything is actual. If anybody was not an actualist, it was Lewis, author of the most influential book on possible worlds. Following van Inwagen and Menzel, I argue Lewis was an actualist.

What Are the Per Se Attributes of Being Qua Being?

(Aristotle, being, ontology, properties, generality, necessity, essence)

Appealing to APo, Shields formulates a condition satisfied by the attributes that every being has qua being. I use the condition to revise an inventory of such attributes identified by Aristotle in Met.

Divine Priority

(philosophy of religion, metaphysics, mereology, identity, modality, time)

Divine simplicity supports God’s aseity, but leads to contradiction. Fowler offers an alternative—divine priority—based on Schaffer’s priority monism. I further develop divine priority.