Basic structures of reality : essays in meta-physics

252 Pages·2012·1.04 MB·English

by  McGinn

Basic

Structures of
Reality
This page intentionally left blank
BASIC
STRUCTURES OF
REALITY
ESSAYS IN
META-PHYSICS
Colin McGinn
1
3
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further
Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offi ces in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright © 2011 Oxford University Press
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McGinn, Colin, 1950–
Basic structures of reality : essays in meta-physics / Colin McGinn.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-19-984110-3 (alk. paper)
1. Physics—Philosophy. 2. Metaphysics. I. Title.
QC6.M315 2011
530.01—dc22 2011009272
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents
Preface vii
Part One
Introduction : Philosophy and Physics 3
1. The Concept of Matter 12
Postscript: Particles as Fields: An Objection 43
Appendix 1: The Uniformity of Matter 4 8
Appendix 2: Divisibility and Size 5 3
2. What Is a Physical Object? 58
3. The Possibility of Motion 74
4. Motion, Change, and Physics 96
5. The Law of Inertia 110
6. Mass, Gravity, and Motion 123
7. Electric Charge: A Case Study 128
8. Two Types of Science 142
9. The Ontology of Energy 165
10. Consciousness as a Form of Matter 175
11. Matter and Meaning 192
Part Two
Foreword to Principia Metaphysica 211
Principia Metaphysica 213
Index 231
This page intentionally left blank
Preface to Basic Structures
of Reality
T his book consists of a series of essays written over a ten-year period, all of them
published here for the fi rst time. They were not originally conceived as chapters in a
book, but as independent works. I have knitted them together into book form—and
they do form a natural unity—but each essay can be read independently of the
others. This has necessitated some repetition, for which I hope to be forgiven. The
essays deal with questions at the intersection of physics, ontology, epistemology, and
philosophy of mind. I hesitate to describe the book as “philosophy of physics”: it is
better described as philosophy conducted in the company of physics. I might even
call it “philosophical physics” by analogy with “philosophical psychology” (as op-
posed to “philosophy of psychology”). It aims to develop a philosophical under-
standing of basic physical concepts. It does not attempt to do metaphysics by doing
physics; nor does it subject physics to a metaphysical critique. Rather, it seeks to ar-
ticulate the philosophical content of physics: what it presupposes, its distinctive
mode of theorizing, the kind of knowledge it generates, and its wider signifi cance.
My interest in the subject has two main sources. First, I have had a longstanding
interest in the science itself—from an amateur perspective. I think this has some-
thing to do with the way physics combines the speculative and the rigorous. Physics
is mind-stretching and controversial, both historically and contemporarily, yet also
mathematical and experimental: it is rigor mixed with intellectual soaring. Physics is
the imagination rendered mathematical. I see an affi nity with philosophy, which is
also speculative yet rigorous: big mind-stretching questions treated with careful
analysis and argument. Philosophy is wonder rendered logical. Philosophy and
physics thus make natural partners. Second, physics attempts to plumb the depths of
the world—it asks ultimate questions and seeks ultimate answers—and thus repre-
sents human inquiry at its most ambitious. It is therefore an ideal place to examine
the scope and limits of human knowledge. Physics is a case study in epistemology. I
have a special interest in that because of my interest in natural mysteries—phenom-
ena of the world that baffl e our theoretical efforts. How mysterious is the physical
world? Are its mysteries related to other mysteries—such as the mystery of con-
sciousness? What is the source of the mysteries of physics, if there are such? In phys-
ics we see the human mind at its outer limit—thrusting and striving, succeeding and
viii failing. Physics casts its sharp light on the natural world, but it thereby highlights the
vast darkness that surrounds the patches of illumination (or so I shall be arguing).
e
c
a P art Two of the book, boldly entitled Principia Metaphysica, continues the theme
ef
Pr of knowledge and its limits, combined with intellectual striving—the desire to reach
a fi nal comprehension of reality and the accompanying sense of baffl ement and
limitation. It mainly concerns laws of nature. As to form, the text is arranged as a
series of aphorisms, in the style of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus . For the fi rst and only
time in my intellectual life, a set of ideas presented themselves to me in the shape of
philosophical aphorisms—almost as if I were taking dictation from an impatient
and importunate alien. I decided not to fi ght it, though I did trim and tinker, expand
and elucidate. I fondly view it as a philosophical poem, larded with metaphor,
oblique and haughty—somewhat infuriating perhaps. Make of it what you can.
I mostly worked on these essays in solitude, not soliciting responses or presenting
them publicly (though I did do a couple of sparsely attended seminars on the mate-
rial here in Miami). However, I was the fortunate benefi ciary of continuous discus-
sions with my colleague Peter Lewis, who both criticized my ideas and reassured me:
his open-mindedness and calm skepticism were invaluable. I am also grateful to
Otavio Bueno for his receptiveness and probing questions. Galen Strawson made
many incisive and insightful comments on the text I submitted to the publisher. All
three amply earned the appellation colleague .
Colin McGinn
December 2010
Miami
PART ONE