Saturday, July 11, 2009

A tangled web I've weaved.


Above is a web of my current research interests.  The web illustrates both the interrelatedness of many of my interests, as well as how certain foci affect others.  I'd say the heart of my research interest is personal identity.  But this subject, as you can see, depends upon more general questions about individuation and identity, which are themselves related to general issues in modality.  This shows, in part, why my interest in personal identity led me to modality and the nature of propositions.

The arrows are indicative of either (a) subcategory or (b) primary interest only within a category, or (c) the intersection of categories.  E.g.,  (a) modality is a subcategory of metaphysics; (b) the subcategory of propositions qua propositions is too broad to be under modality and possible worlds, but my interest in the nature of propositions tend to be concentrated in modal contexts; and (c) modal epist. and moral responsibility are at the intersections of distinct categories. 

Also, this web reveals some of my prejudices.  For instance, I think that Axiology is a subdivision of Metaphysics, but Epistemology is not.  But, as indicated by Epistemology's "lower than Metaphysics" status, I think the mode of knowing (or the way of knowing) follows from what (quid) is known--viz., I think metaphysics is prior to epistemology in a substantive sense. 

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