Can Something New Be Produced by Moving Things Around?: Local Motion and the Problem of the Metaphysical Status of Artefacts, 1300-1500

In the late Middle Ages, there was an intense debate about the metaphysical status of artefacts, in particular about whether an artefact is a new thing over and above the natural things that make it up. Realists about artefacts argued for a positive reply. In this paper, I will examine the following...

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Bibliographic Details
Subtitles:"Late Medieval Hylomorphism"
Main Author: Majcherek, Kamil ca. 20./21. Jh. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Philosophy Documentation Center 2023
In: American catholic philosophical quarterly
Year: 2023, Volume: 97, Issue: 4, Pages: 481-503
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Summary:In the late Middle Ages, there was an intense debate about the metaphysical status of artefacts, in particular about whether an artefact is a new thing over and above the natural things that make it up. Realists about artefacts argued for a positive reply. In this paper, I will examine the following objection against artefact realism raised by artefact nominalists: The making of artefacts involves nothing more than local motion of already existing natural things or their parts, and local motion by itself does not lead to the production of any new thing; therefore, the making of artefacts does not involve the production of any new thing. I will look at various attempts by realists to respond to this argument and offer one possible complication for the nominalist view.
ISSN:2153-8441
Contains:Enthalten in: American catholic philosophical quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.5840/acpq2023830281