This book presents a novel metaphysics of concrete entities. The author uses the theory developed to address three major topics in the metaphysics of concreta: fundamentality, persistence over time, and phenomenal consciousness.
The book provides a new theory of what “bundles” particular property instances, or tropes, into material property bearers. The theory is based on two new ideas. The first is that the primitive nature of one
sui generis
monadic property called
markedness
bears on the bundling of other properties’ tropes. The second idea is that the geometric and topological features of a given markedness trope help to determine which tropes it bundles. The author argues that this new markedness bundle theory determines all property co-instantiation at the levels of both type and token, positioning markedness tropes as the fundamental concreta. The theory also explains bundling across time, yielding an advantageous account of material persistence. Finally, markedness tropes operate as de facto
panprotopsychist
property instances: fundamental non-consciousness tropes that uniquely explain where and why consciousness properties are exemplified. The book solidifies the case for markedness through sustained critical analysis of competing theories of fundamentality and persistence, focusing in part on their inability to account for unending mereological and plural structures.
Concrete Particulars
will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in metaphysics and philosophy of mind.