Abstract

Priority Monism and Part/Whole Dependence (A. Steinberg)

Forthcoming in Philosophical Studies. The final publication is available at www.springerlink.com.

Abstract: Priority Monism is the view that the cosmos is the only independent concrete object. The paper argues that, pace its proponents, Priority Monism is in conflict with the dependence of any whole on any of its parts: if the cosmos does not depend on its parts, neither does any smaller composite.