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1、II.NATURALISMANDPROCESS1.InthislectureIproposetoexploresomefundamentalissuesconcerningtheontologyofchangeandprocess.Asinthefirstlecture,Ishallformulatetheargumentintermsofthemanifestworldofmiddlesizedobjects,andonlylater,inthethirdlecture,drawimplication
2、sforthefinergrainedworldwithwhichsciencepresentsus.2.Themanifestworldisprimarilyaworldofthings,animateandinanimate,andpersons.Thingsbelongtokindswhicharecharacterizedbyclustersofpowers,capacities,dispositionsandpropensities,or--touseageneraltermintendedt
3、ocoverallthese,andmore--causalproperties.Thecausalityinvolvedisbothimmanentandtranseunt.Theparadigmoftheformeristhelawfuldevelopmentofaclosedsystem;ofthelatter,theinteractionoftwosub-systems.3.Theessentialfeatureofcausalpropertiesistheir"iffyness"--their
4、analyticconnectionwithsubjunctiveconditionals.Thus,foranitemtobewatersolubleisforittobesuchthat,ceterisparibus,ifitwereinwateritwouldbedissolving.4.Philosophershaveoftenmadeuse,explicitlyorimplicitly,ofacategorialdistinctionbetweeniffyorconditionalproper
5、ties,ofwhichsolubilityisaprimeexample,andwhatmightbecalledpureoccurrent1properties,i.e.,propertieswhich,althoughtheymaybeconnectedwithotherpropertiesbysubjunctiveconditionals,donotconsist,asdoessolubility,ofpropertieswhichplaytheantecedentandconsequentro
6、lesinasubjunctiveconditional,thuscomingtobeinwateranddissolving.5.Itisafamiliarstorythatthistidydistinctionbetweeniffyandnon-iffypropertieshasmanyproblematicfeatures,particularlywhenitcomestofindingexamples.Comparethetaskoffindingconvincingexamplesofnega
7、tiveproperties.Theseproblemsareofapiecewiththatoffindingausefortheabstractdistinctionbetweenstatementswhicharetruebyvirtueofexplicitdefinitionsandstatementswhicharetrueasamatterofempiricalfact.6.Nowthesespecificproblemslieoutsidethescopeofthislecture.But
8、sinceIshallattempttodrawotherwell-defineddistinctions,somemethodologicalcardsmustbelaidonthetable.7.ThusIshallassume,withoutargument,thatphilosophicalinsightisgained,essentially,byconfrontingdiscourseaboutman-in-the-worldw
