Elements and Patterns of Being

The Harvard philosopher Donald C. Williams (1899-1983) was a key figure in the history of analytic philosophy. <p/>He played a crucial role in reviving metaphysics at a time when other philosophers ridiculed criticized and committed it to the flames. He constructed an explanatorily powerful and parsimonious ontology and cosmology founded on logic science and common sense. His most influential articles were on the metaphysics of properties ('The Elements of Being') and the meta-physics of time ('The Sea Fight Tomorrow' 'The Myth of Passage'). His ontology of abstract particulars or tropes and his four-dimensional manifold theory of time remain leading hypotheses in metaphysics. Because of his novel contributions and his defense of metaphysics he made a lasting impact on philosophers of the next generation who in turn believed in the substance of metaphysical inquiry. <p/>A. R. J. Fisher brings together Williams's seminal articles in metaphysics along with previously unpublished essays that shed new light on his philosophical outlook and complete his metaphysical vision. This volume with its comprehensive Introduction is set to be the definitive source for Williams's work both for historians of analytic philosophy and for contemporary metaphysicians.<br>