Powers: the no-successor problem

This essay considers the implications for the powers metaphysic of the no-successor problem: As there are no successors in the set of real numbers, one state cannot occur just after another in continuous time without there being a gap between the two. I show how the no-successor problem sets challenges for various accounts of the manifestation of powers. For powers that give rise to a manifestation that is a new state, the challenge of no-successors is similar to that faced on Bertrand Russell's analysis by causal relations. Powers whose manifestation is a processes and powers that manifest through time (perhaps by giving rise to changing through time) are challenged differently. To avoid powers appearing enigmatic, these challenges should be addressed, and I point to some possible ways this might be achieved. A prerequisite for addressing these challenges is a careful focus on the nature and timing of the manifesting and manifestation of powers

Heaven Forbid! What Sort of Sign is This?

Also CSST Working Paper #99.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51274/1/508.pd

Acting-arrangement Ontology Introduced

In this thesis I begin the task of setting out and arguing for an account of the ontology of the world. The account of ontology I propose, acting-arrangement ontology (AAO), is radically new - it follows from a recognition that two seemingly prosaic and previously underappreciated features of our world are, I shall argue, the twin keystones of its ontology: acting and arrangement. My aim in this preliminary work is to develop and set out the main pieces of this ontology, showing how they fit together to form a compelling whole, so as to make a case that this account of ontology warrants further investigation