Time, change, and freedom : an introduction to metaphysics /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Smith, Quentin, 1952-
Imprint:London ; New York : Routledge, 1995.
Description:vi, 218 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Language:English
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/1723903
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Oaklander, L. Nathan, 1945-
ISBN:0415102480 (hbk.)
0415102499 (pbk.)
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Review by Choice Review

Smith (Western Michigan Univ.) and Oaklander (Univ. of Michigan, Flint), who have worked out original theories on time in various publications, here discuss them and their implications for such issues as change, God, personal identity, and freedom--all to serve as an introduction to metaphysics. To emphasize the dialectical nature of metaphysics, the body of the book is presented as dialogues between several philosophy majors and professors, while the lengthy appendix on time in scientific theories is straightforward exposition. This format enables the authors to deal with some of the most difficult issues of metaphysics in a relatively simple and clear fashion, so that at least more advanced and persistent undergraduates can profit from it. In his The Elements of Metaphysics (1990), William R. Carter covered, also in analytic fashion, a similar but broader range of topics, without the focus on time but with more attention to classic and recent thinkers, and in a readable and stimulating manner. Neophytes in metaphysics could start off with Carter and then follow up with this more abstruse work, which, however, only larger libraries may want. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate; general. G. J. Dalcourt Seton Hall University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review