Achille C. Varzi is an Italian-born philosopher whose work delves deeply into philosophical logic and metaphysics. His research navigates complex themes such as vagueness, formal semantics, mereology, and issues of identity and persistence over time. Varzi’s approach has evolved from exploring common-sense realism to embracing a nominalist-conventionalist stance, reflecting a keen interest in the ontology of everyday understanding and naive physics. Beyond his academic contributions, he is also an active writer for the general public, engaging a broader audience with philosophical ideas.
The TOPOl Library promotes philosophy as a dynamic and engaging pursuit that challenges conventions and explores alternative realities. It emphasizes dialogue, tolerance, and the importance of considering diverse viewpoints to enrich philosophical discussions, fostering a spirit of inquiry and openness to new ideas.
The explosive progress of logic, since Frege, has produced applications in linguistics, mathematics and computer science. Students and practitioners of any of these fields, and of philosophy, will find this book an excellent reference or introduction. Now expanded to include non-classical logic, logic for the computer, and more. The central concepts are explained as they come into play in informal writing and conversation--argument, validity, relevance, and so on. This study guide progresses to concepts such as probability calculus.
Exploring the nature of spatial representation, the authors delve into the relationships between objects and their locations through mereology and topology. They establish a comprehensive framework to address fundamental philosophical questions, such as the essentiality of parts to wholes and the criteria for identity based on spatial co-location. The book also examines the distinctions between material objects and events, concluding with discussions on logical movement analysis and map semantics, offering a broad perspective on spatial entities.
Aaron Cotnoir and Achille Varzi present a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to mereology, the study of relations between parts and wholes. They introduce a variety of theories and offer all the tools needed to engage in this ever- evolving field of inquiry, for readers at all levels, from newcomers to experts.