Theo Todman's Web Page - Paper Abstracts

Author's Abstract

• This paper introduces a theory of vagueness according to which borderline cases are the result of indeterministic metaphysical laws.
• Section 1 introduces the concept of a metaphysical law, sections 2 and 3 explain what it would mean for these laws to be indeterministic, and section 4 shows how this kind of indeterminacy can help to explain the phenomenon of vagueness. Section 5 then concludes by contrasting this theory with other possible accounts.
• I should note that I am officially agnostic about the theory developed here. The view is undeniably strange, but there is much to say on its behalf.