Current Students

John Pemberton

My thesis, Lasting ontology, argues that the basic ontology of the world is like a spaghetti rather than a mosaic (as is widely supposed). A lasting entity is (roughly) one which exists through time and is ontologically prior to its temporal parts (i.e. like a strand of spaghetti rather than a mosaic tile). Lasting ontology resolves fundamental problems associated with changing and change, I argue. These views are inspired by Aristotle’s (lasting) ontology, and especially his accounts of change, powers, possibility and mereology. I show that we can develop lasting ontologies which are parsimonious, fit well with contemporary science, and solve many long-standing metaphysical conundrums (including problems of composition and causation).

http://personal.lse.ac.uk/pemberto/

Supervisory Team: Anna Marmodoro, Matthew Tugby

Start Date of PhD: September 2020