Abstracts


The following papers have been accepted for presentation at AAP 2013. If you've just submitted an abstract, it may take a few days to appear.

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Name: Dr Zoe Drayson
Institution: ANU
Title: On The Level
Abstract: Talk of 'levels of explanation' draws on the idea that the world is hierarchically structured by one or more of the following ordering relations: part-whole relations, asymmetric dependence relations, bridge principles, functional relations. Focusing on different relations generates different notions of level (e.g. mereological, nomological) but traditionally, these notions of level are assumed to "comport" (Schaffer 2003). In this paper I explore whether comportment is the case with regard to mereological levels and levels of realization, focusing on Kim's (1998) claim that realizer/realized property-ordering comes apart from part-whole ordering and Gillett's (2003) account of part-whole ordering as a species of realization relation. I conclude by considering the particular issues this raises for using levels as explanatory tools.
Keywords: Explanation, levels, realization, mereology