Mereological nihilism: quantum atomism and the impossibility of material constitution

Abstract

Mereological nihilism is the philosophical position that there are no items that have parts. If there are no items with parts then the only items that exist are partless fundamental particles, such as the true atoms (also called philosophical atoms) theorized to exist by some ancient philosophers, some contemporary physicists, and some contemporary philosophers. With several novel arguments I show that mereological nihilism is the correct theory of reality. I will also discuss strong similarities that mereological nihilism has with empirical results in quantum physics. And I will discuss how mereological nihilism vindicates a few other theories, such as a very specific theory of philosophical atomism, which I will call quantum abstract atomism. I will show that mereological nihilism also is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that avoids the problems of other interpretations, such as the widely known, metaphysically generated, quantum paradoxes of quantum physics, which ironically are typically accepted as facts about reality. I will also show why it is very surprising that mereological nihilism is not a widely held theory, and not the premier theory in philosophy.

Cognitive Instrumentalism about Mental Representations

“…To see why, first consider the theoretical disagreement about whether the property of being an object is observable (cf. Carmichael 2015; Grupp 2006, as examples of two, opposing views on this matter). Clearly, anyone taking up the instrumentalist stance must take a stand on this disagreement, because the instrumentalist stance only gets off the ground by assuming that the property of being an object is, indeed, observable 24 .…”

When do parts form wholes? Integrated information as the restriction on mereological composition

“…2 For defence of nihilism, see Rosen and Dorr (2002), Grupp (2006), Liggins (2008), Sider (2013), and Contessa (2014).…”